PROPOSED CLOSURE OF CARE HOMES

This next round of Care Home closures is a betrayal and a disgrace and flies in the face of all the words and speeches and guarantees given previously. The Conservative administration at County Hall is literally putting the Council on a course that is entirely negative, closes homes, puts pressure on the NHS and will harm residents and patients.

The people who have put their trust in the Council in old age and at their hour of greatest need are being betrayed, sold off and literally evicted. I could not be more angry, more upset and more worried. This literally places the lives of those who live in care homes on the line. The stress and the worry will, as it did before, lead to people dying early. It is sickening. 

This is a brutal approach, it is the approach of a Council that has failed and it is wrong.

The Council can blame who they like - but the raw truth is this is the direct result of the policies of the Conservative Party locally and nationally and the guilt lies firmly at their door.

The moment of truth will come when councillors vote in the Chamber and we will see who is voting to harm residents of Derbyshire. It will isolate those who live in our homes in trust, and we will see who is voting to evict them.

The Liberal Democrat Group stands firmly

In favour of the residents, retaining the care homes and against closure.

Cllr Ed Fordham, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Derbyshire County Council.

The 5th Edward Carpenter Equality Walk

 

Open letter: WILL YOU WALK WITH US?

As you may be aware there is a growing appreciation and revival of the work of Edward Carpenter (1844-1929). Edward was a radical, an author, poet, philosopher and an advocate and activist for lgbt+ equality.

For 40 years of his life, he lived and worked in Chesterfield and Milthorpe in North Derbyshire. Indeed, he lived here openly as a gay man with his life partner George Merrill (1891-1928).

For the last four years a group of us in Chesterfield have organised The Edward Carpenter Equality Walk from Chesterfield town centre to the village of Millthorpe. It is some 6 miles or there abouts (pub to pub!) and raises money for the charity Derbyshire LGBT+ which support the lgbt+ community, young and old and campaigns for the equality.

The first year of our walk we were joined by Peter Tatchell which made the event very special indeed. Next year will be the fifth walk and this letter is to ask if you would consider joining us.

The walk will take place on Sunday 1st September 2024 – we start at 11am in Chesterfield and arrive at Millthorpe at about 1/1.30pm. it is a lovely event and a stunning cross country walk and if you could join us it would be our pleasure.

Please do let me know if this is possible.

Best wishes.

Ed Fordham amd Sparky the Husky 

Recalling the animals

I placed this in the Facebook page Dog Friendly Chesterfield last week, and we successfully have the display at Chesterfield Town Hall, a wreath at the Holmebrook Valley Park lead free area, at Newbold Parish War Memorial and in a growing number of chapels and churches. 

REMEMBRANCE WEEKEND - recalling animal gallantry.

This morning, before dawn, myself a few other animal and dog lovers set up the animal Armistice Tribute on Shentall Gardens in front of the Town Hall at Chesterfield.

The purple poppies have become the symbol of service animals. The ribbons represent the colours of the Dickin Medal for animals which was instituted during WW2.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickin_Medal

It is too little known that many of the military animals have service ranks, service numbers, bravery medals and yes pensions. They should be recognised alongside everyone else.

Yesterday I, as a Group Leader on Derbyshire County Council, laid both a red and a purple poppy wreath at Matlock County Hall for the third year running.  The reception there from staff, fellow councillors and dignitaries has been overwhelmingly supportive.

Please do take time to go and see the memorial in front of Chesterfield Town Hall. Each of the stakes has a hand knitted poppy and the respresent each of the animal recipients of The Dickin Medal for Gallantry. 

https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/animal-awards-programme/pdsa-dickin-medal

This is the third year we have done this - the first year was at Holmebrook Valley Park (2021), subsequently at the RSPCA (2022) and this year 2023 at Shentall Gardens. We would welcome offers to host the memorial next year for the duration of November.

If anyone wishes to obtain a purple poppy stake to add to the display at the Town Hall or to have at home, in their garden perhaps, can come to my book stall on Chesterfield Market or TwelfthCraft in the Shambles in exchange for a donation to animal charities. There are purple poppies also for sale at the RSPCA shop on the side of the Chesterfield Markets and Market Hall.

Best wishes, Ed, Convenor, Dog Friendly Chesterfield

Footnote: there is still some resistance and reluctance to this from some sections of the Royal British Legion. I urge anyone who objects to speak to any of the dog handler veterans. Those Dog Handlers are strong and active and passionate advocates of the purple poppy - they know of the loyalty and service of animals that has, for too long, been overlooked.

Questions to the County Council

As you will be aware, councillors can table and ask written questions, the relevant Conservative Portfolio reads out an answer and we then get a follow. Since I have been asking more questions of the Conservative Administration they have moved questions to being virtually the last item on the agenda in an attempt to silence us.

Here are the four questions I have tabled for the next meeting.

1. With the cancellation of the midlands leg of HS2, to ask the Council if it will stand by all of its financial obligations of support to reconnect and complete the Chesterfield Canal restoration in the same timeframe
2. To ask what monitoring the Council undertakes of badger deaths in and across Derbyshire and particularly how many dead badgers have been found and removed on roads, footpaths, and highways by DCC for each year since 2017?
3. To ask if the Council will take new and additional measures to monitor and support schools in the face of reported increases in incidents of homophobia, transphobia and associated hate actions towards members of the LGBT+ communities in Derbyshire?#
4. To ask if the Leader regrets reporting ‘nothing’ to the last meeting of Council under the verbal ‘Report from the Leader and questions from councillors?

As ever, if there are issues you wish to be raised by me or any of the Liberal Democrat Group please do get in touch ed.fordham@gmail.com

Lack of accountability

 This letter should be fairly self evident in the context of the £46million overspend in the first quarter of the budget year at Derbyshire County Council.

To: ​Cllr Barry Lewis, Leader of the Council 

From: ​Cllr Ed Fordham, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group

 

cc.​Emma Alexander, Managing Director

 

Friday, 23rd August 2023

 

Dear Barry,

There is a fixed item on the agenda of each and everyCouncil meeting “Report of the Leader of the Council and member questions”. However, with questions only being allowed to be asked on subjects brought up in your report you have slipped into a habit of declaring that “I have nothing to report.”

On each occasion when you have said ‘nothing to report’ you know that this was disingenuous - that many things have occurred that you could choose to report to Council - but you have chosen not to. Either you consider them below the threshold of being worthwhile, or more simply you are seeking to avoid being held to account.

You know that your conduct in this regard is unworthy of you and your office. You would be critical of any other Leader of any Party who so frequently reported ‘nothing’. You know that this avoids being asked any questions from fellow councillors.

This situation would be an issue, in and of itself, but at the last Council you directly and consciously misled councillors. When you stood up in the Chamber and from the Leaders seat declared “I have nothing to report” we now all know that the opposite was true. Whilst you made out to councillors that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the business of the council the precise opposite was true. Indeed, we now know that the Managing Director of the Council was herself taking urgent steps as the Head of Service to inform all staff the following day of the crisis overspend of £46million. The same responsibility fell to you as Leader of the Council to communicate the scale of the problem to fellow councillors but you failed to do so and failed in your role.

It is now known that the papers for the Cabinet meeting had been signed off, the email was going to all staff at 9am, MPs, partner organisation and the media were all being personally briefed by senior staff on the scale of the financial crisis facing the Authority. Further, formal measures were being put in place ahead of Cabinet to limit spending, recruitment and thereby to directly affect service delivery in many areas of the Councils work.

All of this was going on whilst you glibly, blithely and indeed misleadingly told councillors that there was ‘nothing to report’.

You must surely reflect on the extent to which you have failed to understand the role of the Leader and failed to take questions from councillors in Full Council. On this occasion you have been found not just lacking, but you have deliberately and dangerous mislead all councillors. You had the formal opportunity to say something and you chose silence. Whilst the Managing Director has chosen a strategy of openness with staff - you chose silence in front of fellow councillors and peers.

It is appropriate that you should to apologise to all councillors at the next meeting of Council, or to enable others to fulfil the role of Leader in keeping with the constitution and the basic and core tenets of accountability.

Yours sincerely 

Cllr Ed Fordham
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
Derbyshire County Council

Football Pride

Anyone who knows me will be amused to learn that I'm sitting here in a plenary session at Football Pride.

But for the last three years I have been in a dialogue with Chesterfield Football Club (CFC) about lgbtq+ equality. As a councillor and as an lgbtq+ campaigner

I feel that football has a reputation as a home for homophobia - and I was keen that CFC were active in calling out that perception.

So today, at Football Pride, I’m not alone from Chesterfield - there are three of us here - myself and the tow fans who are the drivers of establishing Rainbow Spireites…

It’s great progress, and I’m proud of being a tiny part of this side of equality activism.

Sir Raymond Unwin - signed!

I’m out canvassing chatting to the voters and I comment that the house of the people I’m speaking to was built by local architect William Martin Ashmore. 

The resident enquires who William Ashmore is and I explain that he develops and builds most of lower Newbold, that he was close personal friends with Edward Carpenter and a direct contemporary and associate of Raymond Unwin.

Yes, Sir Raymond Unwin - who lived at Cross Street, Chesterfield and when he lived here was a budding architect and new on the block. I explain that with Barry Parker they go on to be giants of the architectural world.

The chap I’m speaking to says “in that case look at this” and there on the wall, on a brick at the front of the house the young Raymond Unwin has scratched his name into the wall.

Yes, really, here in Chesterfield, never seen before, the father of the Garden Suburb movement has etched his name into the wall of a house built by his best mate William Ashmore...

And as far as we can tell, this is totally unknown and has never been seen before by those interested in architecture, the history of Chesterfield or Unwin and Parker themselves.

I am excited and frankly flabbergasted!!