Fire services in Portsmouth

Published on Monday, 31st January 2017

Hampshire Fire and Rescue is one of the few parts of local government to have a clear and deliverable plan to protect services all the way to 2020 and beyond. The main strands are to merge back office functions with Hampshire County Council, to share offices with the police and to introduce new technology into fire fighting and to reduce staff numbers where it is save to do so. 

In this area, that will involve the introduction of some nimble vehicles, better adapted for city streets and will involve no longer having an extra crew for the aerial ladder platform. That latter change has been used by the Liberal Democrats to try and scare people, both last year when these changes were agreed and now. It is important to set the record straight:

• The aerial ladder platform can reach about 7 storeys. It is NOT used for high rise fires

• There are two other aerial ladder platforms in Hampshire and neither has its own crew. Portsmouth was an exception for political (and not operational) reasons – it was given a crew as a sop following the closure of Copnor

• Its main use is for observation after fires have been extinguished.

• Its secondary use is in factory fires, where it can be used to spray water from above

• In 2015, it was called out just 16 times

• On average, each of the eight crew (over four shifts) were called out just once every three months

• The aerial ladder platform is still at Southsea. Other firemen can man it

• When it is deployed, crews in Havant and Fareham backfill to maintain cover in Portsmouth

• The reason it was available at a recent fire in Albert Road was because it was broken down and NOT because there was no-one to man it. A vehicle from Southampton was sent and its only role was in checking the structure of the building after the fire was out.

The Fire Brigades Union has to argue to maintain staffing no matter what: that is its job. That the Liberal Democrats are going round trying to scare people witless for narrow political advantage is disgraceful. The reality is fire cover has never been better than it is now. The number of fires has halved in ten years and the equipment on fire engines has improved. 

Tags: fire

Secondary school rolls rise again

Published on Sunday, 22nd January 2017

While increases are also forecast for the infant and junior stages, the big shift this year is in secondary school forecasts.I don't have the numbers in front of me, but crudely the number of year 7 pupils expected in 2019/20 is about 70 higher than similar estimates for that year made twelve months ago. So even though we've created some 80 additional year 7 places this year through reconfiguring existing accommodation, the forecast school place deficit has not come down.

This may seem odd: on the face of it, predicting year 7 numbers is easy, you just count backwards to get the number in the year those pupils are currently in. That however ignores two factors: one, that significant numbers of Portsmouth children attend state primary schools and public secondary schools and two, that a large number of children from mainland parts of Portsmouth attend secondary schools outside the city's boundaries: mostly Purbrook Park and Portchester.

Hampshire is also experiencing growing school rolls, with the result that it no longer has spare capacity for Portsmouth pupils. This is a problem. If the latest forecasts are correct and if no further remedial action is taken, there will be no spare places at all in year 7 by 2019/20 (I think the estimate is we'd be one short).

Local authorities remain responsible for creating places in all types of school, whether academy or not. The capital budget for 2017/8 is not yet finalised, but some provision for further school expansion is likely to be included.

Tags: Schools

Portsmouth's economy grows

Published on Sunday, 22nd January 2017

The city's economy will be one of fastest growing in the country this year according to a report produced for law firm, Irwin Mitchell.

Its UK Powerhouse study monitors the performance of 38 larger urban areas and concludes that Portsmouth's economy will grow by 0.9% this year, placing it in the top ten. 

Last year's growth of 2.1% was much higher, but only placed the city in the mid-table as the country as a whole grew at a faster rate. This year's figures includes a sizable slowing of the economy due to Brexit, although as other forecasts of the negative effects of leaving the EU have proven wide of the mark we will see what actually happens.

The report is at http://www.irwinmitchell.com/ukpowerhouse 

Tags: Economy

Police and the council tax

Published on Sunday, 22nd January 2017

Hampshire Police intend to increase their slice of the council tax by 3.12%, the maximum amount allowed without causing a referendum; band D households will see their bills increase by £5 a year.

The office of the Police and Crime Commissioner is an independent precepting authority, meaning that it makes a charge that is part of the council tax and that the City Council has to collect, but which it has no say over in setting: that is a matter entirely for the Police and Crime Commissioner, Michael Lane. 

Hampshire Constabulary is one of the ten lowest spending police forces in England (out of 43). In part this is because the level of police cover required in areas without very large cities is lower, but also because it has historically spent less than comparable areas.

At a public meeting in the week, Michael Lane said that the force has saved £80m since 2010, which amounts to about 20%. Portsmouth City Council by contrast has saved 44%, so on the face of it there is more the police can do and personally I am not convinced at this proposed tax rise.

The official police consultation is at www.hampshire-pcc.gov.uk/preceptsurvey should you want to comment. Some background information on police funding is here

Tags: Budget, Police

Interaction saved

Published on Tuesday, 3rd January 2017

(picture shows me at the Interaction Christmas party)

Excellent news for people with mental health issues: the City Council has found a way of keeping the Portsmouth Interaction service running.

This service provides support and activities to allow people to gain confidence and move on with their lives. The pressure on budgets has meant this was in danger, but by working with its new leisure provider, BH Live, the council has come up with a deal that will see that organisation take over the running of the service as part of its contract.

With BH Live running the Mountbatten Centre and various other leisure venues across the city, it has the space and the facilities to provide this kind of help. This is a great example of the council thinking differently and managing to not just save but to improve services while still making the savings it has to make.

Tags: Adult Social Care

Housebuilding stats

Published on Tuesday, 3rd January 2017

Tables of government statistics sometimes make interesting reading: the recently published figures on the calculation of the New Homes Bonus being a case in point.

This gives an update on the number of houses completed and brought back into use by every local authority in England.

In Portsmouth 440 new properties were built and 234 properties back into use between April 2015 and April 2016. That may sound a large figure, but in comparison with other areas around the region it really isn't. Comparing it to the 66 councils that comprise the Southeast region, Portsmouth has the eighth lowest rate of household construction per 100000 people but the highest rate of empty properties brought back into use. The former reflects both a shortage of land and the council's restrictive policies on planning, while the latter reflects the large number of existing houses made available as a result of student accommodation being built in the city centre.

Many people always have the impression that there's a great deal of construction in Portsmouth, but the figures show otherwise and in many other areas the numbers are four times greater.

The full table is here. The areas with lower rates of housebuilding are Adur, Gosport, Medway, Mole Valley, Hastings, Thanet and Canterbury. The highest rate was in Vale of the White Horse, where was 4.2 times as much.

Tags: Planning

Eastern Road waterbridge

Published on Tuesday, 3rd January 2017

Of all the investments the council made in infrastructure last year, one of the most important received very little attention.

The local authority set aside £1.8m for repairs to the Eastern Road Waterbridge. These works were structural and the engineering advice was that without them, traffic flow would have to have been reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction. This spending accounted for a majority of the money spent on transport capital works last year but giving how vital it is to keep that road fully open it was unavoidable.

The repairs have now been carried out and the bridge should be secure for many years to come. As an aside, there is now an outside chance of getting the Highways Agency to add a protected turning for traffic leaving the A27 heading westbound, so that those vehicles do not have to go round the roundabout. 

Tags: Transport

Four-year funding settlement for local government

Published on Tuesday, 3rd January 2017

The annual spending settlement for local government was released just before Christmas and it contains few surprises. Last year the government offered all local authorities a guaranteed level of funding for four years and the latest settlement is in line with those promises.

In order to access the four year guarantee, councils had to submit efficiency plans and had to request that they wanted a guaranteed deal. Almost all did this, with only five of England’s 300+ local authorities refusing the offer. The two known hold outs are Lancashire and Surrey County Councils, both of which are in particular trouble, with the former burning through reserves at an alarming rate and the latter reportedly contemplating a 16% council tax rise.

Portsmouth City Council was one of the overwhelming majority that signed up for a deal, with the decision taken by full council in the autumn. I try not to make these posting partisan, but it was really disappointing that the Liberal Democrats pushed for the council to refuse it, so they could claim to be against austerity. The reductions in funding for local government are universal and nowhere has the option of just opting out and it is simply false to claim otherwise. Labour also abstained, but thanks to support from UKIP, the vote was passed and the council has accepted the offer of a four-year settlement.

Now that the settlement has been published, it is possible to compare the actual figures for those councils that refused the deal with the offer they were made a year ago. The numbers are identical. 

Guaranteed levels of income make planning considerably easier and also make it possible to operate with a lower level of reserves. There is still going to be further pain for local government, but having surety of what the numbers are going is helping Portsmouth City Council plan its finances on a two-year basis rather than the traditional one.

Tags: Budget

Request for funding for South Parade Pier

Published on Monday, 5th December 2016

The council charges an infrastructure tax on new development, a slice of which has to be spent in the area where the development takes place. The McCarthy and Stone building on the seafront means there is now a sizable pot of cash for this ward.

There has been a request for cash to provide a walkway around South Parade Pier. It’s a bit of a dilemma frankly and I would like to know what you think.

Tags: Pier