Stafford Borough People's Panel

[Andreas Rex]

Thought this may be of interest to those who won't have received it:

Welcome to the first People’s Panel Newsletter - and thank you to all those who completed the first questionnaire.
The response was tremendous.

In total we had 700 responses and your views are now being used to help the Council set its budget priorities for next year. Your feedback has indicated that Cleaner, Greener, Safer Communities should be our top priority. This was followed by Prosperity for All and Health and Wellbeing.

In this first Newsletter I just wanted to give you some of the headlines from your feedback - and a brief look at some of the ways we are addressing the issues. Joint top of the pile was using our powers to ‘reduce litter’ along with ‘identifying priority areas’ for tackling crime. Last year we started a high profile campaign to clamp down on litter-louts which had excellent overage in the local media. It may surprise you to learn that around 50 fixed penalty notices for littering offences have been issued and we have a Crown Court case involving flytipping in the pipeline. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/litter.

The Council is part of the ‘Stafford Borough Community Safety Partnership’ along with the police and other agencies. Together we have just opened a ‘Safer Stafford Shop’ in the Guildhall Shopping Centre - the first of its kind in the region. A similar pilot scheme last year reduced crime in the Town Centre by around 30%. www.saferstafford.org.uk.

‘Reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill’ and ‘increasing household recycling’ was another of your big concerns. Thanks to residents across this Borough, and the introduction of a new waste collection service, we have already increased recycling rates to between 50 - 55%. This is an amazing figure - and a huge jump from less than 30% previously - which has catapulted us to the top set of councils in the country for recycling.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Here is a brief look at some of the other things we are doing to tackle concerns you have raised.

Laws to curb disturbances relating to alcohol

In June the Council introduced a ‘designation order’ to ban alcohol in Wildwood Park.

Increase use of leisure facilities to beat childhood obesity

During school holidays children are able to swim for free in the new Stafford Leisure Centre www.staffordleisurecentre.co.uk
and also at Alleyne’s Sports Centre in Stone. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/leisure

Attract new businesses

The council has worked with developers to bring half a billion pounds of investment to Stafford through promoting the borough on a regional and national scale. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/staffordrenewed

Reduce number of houses in fuel poverty

In the last 12 months the Council has assisted 650 households to access grants for insulation and heating measures to combat fuel poverty.

Bringing empty homes back into use

Grants are available to improve long term empty properties to bring them back in to use. www.staffordbc.gov.uk/housing.

Helping residents claim benefit which they are entitled to

We are currently looking at running a ‘take-up’ campaign which will be targeting elderly and vulnerable groups to help them claim money they are entitled to. Last year this amounted to £900,000.

All the survey results will be shared with the Council’s Resources Scrutiny Committee on November 11. They will be used in guiding the budget process and help refresh the Council’s priorities. Resources Scrutiny is a public meeting so please feel free to attend. Further details can be found at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/committees.

If you would like a copy of statistics from the first survey or need any further information about the peoples panel please contact Norman Jones.

EMAIL npjones@staffordbc.gov.uk
TEL 01785 619 199
WEB www.staffordbc.gov.uk/peoplespanel

Thank you again for the tremendous response - a second survey will be sent out to you in February 2009.

 

[My Name is URL]

Cheers Andreas, have just e-mailed Norman to ask for a copy of the stats from the report.

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

Helping residents claim benefit which they are entitled to

We are currently looking at running a ‘take-up’ campaign which will be targeting elderly and vulnerable groups to help them claim money they are entitled to. Last year this amounted to £900,000.

Does this include young people? Why is it that pensioners get all the attention - they get twice as much money than me and I get all the sh*t for being given taxpayers' money so that I can eat...

It seems age discrimination only counts if it's older people because they might have worked at some point in their lives and have the social structures in place so that they can get organised (e.g. social clubs, bingo, plus they sometimes live together in the same building and share living space) whereas young unemployed people usually can't afford to go out and meet people or are unable to interact for other reasons tending only to see others in a similar situation in the jobcentre queues.

Rant over...

 

[db]

Does this include young people? Why is it that pensioners get all the attention - they get twice as much money than me and I get all the sh*t for being given taxpayers' money so that I can eat...

It seems age discrimination only counts if it's older people because they might have worked at some point in their lives and have the social structures in place so that they can get organised (e.g. social clubs, bingo, plus they sometimes live together in the same building and share living space) whereas young unemployed people usually can't afford to go out and meet people or are unable to interact for other reasons tending only to see others in a similar situation in the jobcentre queues.

Rant over...

come on lunar, surely you can see how selfish you sound here?? old people need help, and (for the most part) they have earned that help by living a long and fruitful life! i know that's not always the case, but we have to generalise and give them the benefit of the doubt..

no matter how helpless you might feel, you're not.. if someone held a knife to your throat* and forced you to do something, you would be able to.. many old people couldn't - they are literally incapable of the same degree of motor skills and mental agility that we are..

arguing that you are entitled to live off the state/good nature of others is all well and good, but demanding the same help as the old and the infirm and moaning when they get a little extra help is just selfish..



* and don't give me the jeremy kyle "i'd let them do it and save me the bother," response

 

[Astro Boy]

:realitycheck:

:bitemytongue:

and now the peoples panel...................

 

[MyCult]

:realitycheck: clap :bitemytongue:

I might not bite my tongue though....

Why is it that pensioners get all the attention - they get twice as much money than me and I get all the sh*t for being given taxpayers' money so that I can eat...

A majority of these pensioners have spent their entire lives paying into a system that has produced the benefits you now enjoy. Without them you wouldn't be getting shit for getting handouts, you’d be eating shit because it is the only free thing you can catch.

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

So you are saying that because I have mental health problems (i.e. I am ill and incapable of doing some things, just like the old people - in fact some are still very active and able well past 60) and couldn't finish my education that I decided to do so that I could get a better job that pays more money so that I could pay more into the system I deserve to starve to death or eat faeces? So anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to pay taxes should die if they have no income or savings? Do you realise your opinions amount to murder and force people into crime?!!!

Anyway, I have a medical assessment later in the month. This is where they decide if I am ill enough or not - I should know the results in time for the festivities...

 

[MyCult]

That is clearly not what I said. I may have been a little too cutting.

The point I was try to make is that in my opinion pensioners not only need more benefits than the younger people but they also DESERVE more benefits.

 

[db]

So you are saying that because I have mental health problems (i.e. I am ill and incapable of doing some things, just like the old people - in fact some are still very active and able well past 60) and couldn't finish my education that I decided to do so that I could get a better job that pays more money so that I could pay more into the system I deserve to starve to death or eat faeces?

no.. you are doing neither.. don't be so melodramatic..

So anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to pay taxes should die if they have no income or savings? Do you realise your opinions amount to murder and force people into crime?!!!

no, they don't.. there is a reason why everyone seems to be in agreeance here and you feel you are "ganged up on" (again).. is it because:

a) the majority opinion here is correct?

or

b) you are right and everyone else is wrong; they are just mean?

i know you claim "mental health problems," but you seem like an intelligient girl so surely you can tell the difference between paranoia and fact??

Anyway, I have a medical assessment later in the month. This is where they decide if I am ill enough or not - I shall let you know the results, maybe in time for Christmas...

well, i wish you very best - honestly

i can speak from personal experience when i say the best thing for you would be to get yourself in a good routine.. it is better than any drugs/time off/counselling/etc.. humans need routine, and once you find your rhythm in life you will be much happier..

 

[MyCult]

Smoking crack also cures hayfiever

Just read back through this thread found that and actually did laugh out loud

 

[My Name is URL]

I have a medical assessment later in the month. This is where they decide if I am ill enough or not

 

[db]

I have a medical assessment later in the month. This is where they decide if I am ill enough or not

lol one can never be ill enough



edit: actually, all joking aside, this is a good point.. you are obviously of the frame of mind "am i ill enough to still get benefits?"! you have stopped thinking "how can i get well?" and you now think of your life in terms of "how can i stay 'ill' enough to get benefits?".. i'm sure you will dispute this, but it is obvious what your "slip of the tongue" meant

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

It seems perverse, but to be able to get well I need to be able to prove I am not well... Being on Jobseeker's was not doing me any favours and was pointless because I was hardly applying for any jobs so I was effectively committing benefit fraud. I agree that getting a job would be beneficial, but it has to be the right job with the right employer to be a productive step. I am sure you would agree that it is better to take it one step at a time than rushing in and ending up back at square one. I have £6.16 to last me until Monday - last night I had to decide whether I would rather buy a drink or ensure that I have enough money left so that I could eat good food this weekend. I would prefer not to have to make that choice, but in general my priorities go something like this:
1. my survival and wellbeing
2. Stafford and saving the world
3. money

 

[age'd parent]

"I agree that getting a job would be beneficial, but it has to be the right job with the right employer to be a productive step."

NOT TRUE

This assumption that you need benefit, or a perfect job, annoys me.
I have had the same or worse mental problems when I was a lot younger, and when I left St Georges, I took the first job offered as a toilet cleaner at GEC, I eventually got back my health and went on to become a supervisor, in the cleaning firm, you seem able to function quite well in the community, apart from the delusion that you have a right to a perfect job.

Get out and do something, anything, that will take your mind of your perceived problems, the worst job possible will still be better for you than sitting feeling sorry for yourself.

 

[db]

"I agree that getting a job would be beneficial, but it has to be the right job with the right employer to be a productive step."

NOT TRUE

This assumption that you need benefit, or a perfect job, annoys me.
I have had the same or worse mental problems when I was a lot younger, and when I left St Georges, I took the first job offered as a toilet cleaner at GEC, I eventually got back my health and went on to become a supervisor, in the cleaning firm, you seem able to function quite well in the community, apart from the delusion that you have a right to a perfect job.

Get out and do something, anything, that will take your mind of your perceived problems, the worst job possible will still be better for you than sitting feeling sorry for yourself.

+1 skill

 

[ToriRat]

16 years of depression 8 of them medicated....total time out of work (not including maternity leave or since we came back to Stafford) .............6 months
I sympathise I really do but I didnt get better till I took back control from the bloodsucking vampire Doctors and decided I wanted to be better rather than wallowing in my own self pity for the rest of my life....
In the words of a CPN...Have you just tried being happy?

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

Have you just tried being happy?

This is what I am doing... I'm finding it difficult enough without putting the whole job thing into the equation.

I did get a job 11 months ago, and ended up leaving 10 months ago. I've never had a proper job, mainly because I've been a full-time student most of my life. I don't want another job that lasts only a few weeks on my CV, because it just looks bad and would make me feel even worse. I need to be able to hold down a job for more than a couple of months, and I don't see how getting a job I don't want (e.g. retail) is going to do this.

Part of the reason I don't have a job is because I can't face going through the application process - it is difficult to block out the thoughts of having a crap work history and spending two years in higher education without gaining any qualification, or even a certificate, while trying to sell myself on an application form, which covers exactly that. I spent over 6 months trying to apply for jobs - then I just accepted that it wasn't going to happen, and that I would be better without the threats to stop my JSA because I wasn't applying for many jobs.

I don't subscribe to other people's value systems, and it seems that having a job is the be all and end all of life to people nowadays - it never really has been for me, and I know that there is no point forcing things because they just break eventually! I'm going with the flow - if I come across a job that I feel like applying for, I will; if I get it, I'll give it a go. I'm not going to cause myself more stress to please other people, especially people I don't even know or care about.

 

[db]

Have you just tried being happy?

This is what I am doing... I'm finding it difficult enough without putting the whole job thing into the equation.

you don't seem to be able to grasp the concept that getting a job and integrating yourself into normal society is what would actually help you.. you might not think it, but that is what i (and others, who clearly have first hand experience of depression worse than yours) are trying to point out to you..

as i have stated before, human beings need routine.. once you get yourself in a nice routine, you will feel so much better.. having something to get up for in the morning, having a cup of tea, having a shower, making sure you're out of the house on time, listening to your ipod on the bus (you will be able to afford one when you're employed), interacting with work colleagues.. all of these things will seem like a challenge when you first start, and as you become more accustomed to them you will start to feel like you are achieving things, and you will feel more worthwhile in yourself..

you will deny all this i'm sure, but the difference is i (and others in this thread) are telling you from experience whereas you are simply speculating based on how you feel right now..

 

[My Name is URL]

Have you just tried being happy?

and I don't see how getting a job I don't want (e.g. retail) is going to do this.

Wish I could choose to not work because I didn't like the job I was in.... unfortunately I have bills to pay :-(

As for retail, I loved working in retail. Ok the customers could be a pain in the backside, but we had a brilliant laugh back in the day working at Iceland flirting with the checkout girls and the little old dears that came in, going out for beers after work....

I would say retail would be the perfect job for you, go in at the time you start, do a days work and then go home and forget about it... no pressure, no being on call, no (really serious) targets.....

The job i'm in now pays a decent wage but good old Blackberry means i'm on call all day every day... :-(

This may make me sound heartless or whatever and I DO NOT MEAN THIS SPECIFICALLY AT ANYONE especially not on here but I can never understand people who go off work with depression or similar.... Please don't anyone take this the wrong way, its just I think a lot of people are the same, until you have suffered it then you can't really understand / appreciate it.

Add to that my agreement on the whole with McGregors "Theory X" and I am always suspicious of people off work with illnesses that can't be seen - with those sort of things its always just opinions on whether a person is really too ill to work or not.

 

[tek-monkey]

My boss in Southampton wanted me to take time off when I was depressed, couldn't do it. Sitting at home all day on my own smacked up on happy pills wasn't my idea of a good time, at least at work I had distractions. Also means I met people, got out more and got my life back on track. I was only medicated for a few months though, doc kept trying to give me more so I stopped going to the docs.