Mark Cooper In The County of Hampshire

Greedy Fire Authority Tories Try To Grab More Expenses - December 2009

I was on the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority between 2005 and 2009 and became very involved in its administration. So much so that I was appointed a member of the management team and also did the senior officer pay reviews. So it was very sad to read about the abuse of the expenses system by Conservative members of the HFRA reported by my County colleague David Simpson, this week.

David reported the following to me… “Hampshire Fire & Rescue Authority’s Conservative members tried to put their hands in the public’s pocket so they could line theirs at the recent Fire Authority meeting. Rarely do politics intervene on the authority as each councillor usually tries to do what is right for Hampshire’s Fire Service.

This week that changed as Tory greed took over…

An Independent Panel had recommended that the mileage allowance paid to councillors for attendance at approved meetings should be reduced from 53.8p to 40p per mile traveled. Their reasoning was that the tax man allowed 40 pence to be paid without tax. Anything above that is ‘profit’ and accordingly is taxed.

Conservative councillors put forward that it ‘should be the same mileage rate as staff are paid’. On the face of it that is good equality stuff and nothing to argue about. But it was pointed out that staff were paid one of a number of rates so which rate were they talking about.

They could not say.

The Tory Chair then tried to bulldoze it through by saying, “So we are all agreed then”. I (Cllr Simpson) intervened and said, “There is no way I will vote for something unless I know what is”.

Reluctantly, Tory Councillors agreed to delay the decision until officers found out what the rate was.

It turned out that officers get either an essential users allowance where they get a set rate each month if they have touse their cars on Fire Service business, or a casual users’ allowance where they need to use a vehicle occasionally. Councillors would receive the casual users’ rate. For virtually every Councillor this meant a rate of 60 pence per mile or a massive 50% over the recommended amount.

The rates are:
451cc to 999cc = 42.0p
1000 cc to 1200cc =47.7 p
Above 1200c= 60.1 pence per mile

When the Tories realised their attempt at a backdoor increase had been found out they decided to simply delete the paragraph that said the amount should be reduced to 40 pence per mile. This had the effect of leaving the rate at the current 53.8p. Then, in order to stop any re-consideration of the recommended 40 pence rate, they removed another paragraph saying ‘there should be a full appraisal of Members allowances next year’. In other words, leaving the mileage rate at 53.8 pence next year, as well.

The Tory majority pushed this through, on a recorded vote, so it can be checked.

SAME OLD TORIES – THEIR HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS SO THEY CAN LINE THEIRS.

BBC Radio Solent - 8th October 2009 - Press Release - Bring us your rubbish

Veolia, the company that incinerates Hampshire’s domestic rubbish is seeking to import rubbish into Hampshire from other local authorities.

Hampshire County Council’s planning committee was asked to make the change at its meeting in Winchester this week. County planning officers were recommending that Veolia be allowed to change their planning permission granted in 2001.

The 2001 planning permission for the Marchwood Incinerator restricts the waste stream "to that collected by or on behalf of the Waste Collection Authorities in Hampshire and waste from other sources in Hampshir e. Veolia’s proposal is to vary this condition to give greater flexibility in the operation of the plant by extending the sources of waste to include commercial waste and from other waste collection authorities when there is spare capacity".

As recycling in Hampshire has increased, there is less domestic rubbish available to keep Marchwood burning at full capacity. The incinerator recovers heat and generates electricity which runs the plant with a surplus sold to the National Grid.

Mark Cooper, Liberal Democrat spokesman on the County’s Regulatory Committee pointed out that whilst incinerating Hampshire sourced commercial waste, when there was spare capacity, was not a problem, incinerating domestic refuse hauled across Hampshire's borders from neighbouring local authorities was a problem.

“I suspect that Hampshire residents will be very unhappy when large numbers of refuse trucks from Dorset or Wiltshire trundle across New Forest roads such as the A31 and the A36 to access Marchwood every day”, said Cllr Cooper. “It cannot be sustainable nor des irable to import waste from outside Hampshire.This is very much at odds, too, with the original policies Hampshire County Council laid down for the incinerators”.

The Councillor has written to Environment cabinet member Mel Kendal to ask whether the importation of rubbish from other County Councils is now official County policy.

“Veolia is using the planning system to circumvent Hampshire’s original waste disposal policies”, says Councillor Cooper. “Residents need to know whether the administration supports the importation of waste or whether the change has crept in under the radar”. The Regulatory Committee deferred the application to obtain clarification on the lorry numbers and the policy issues.

“It has been said that Veolia and the County Council were trying to sneak this change through un-noticed. It only came to Committee because the local Councillor, David Harrison, objected, says Cllr Cooper.

“Apparently, the Chineham Incinerator, near Alton, had the same planning permission granted under delegated powers and not a soul seems to have picked it up....so HCC are already allowing the principle of cross boundary refuse transfers to keep our incinerators at full belt”.

“Council Tax increase should be zero after years of overcharging” - 27th February 2009

Hampshire County Council Liberal Democrats called for Zero Council Tax increase at HCC’s February Budget meeting.

They proposed an alternative budget for Hampshire which would also improve services by giving people the benefit of the money they have been overcharged in past years and by cutting £2.0 million from the £4.5 million county budget for publicity and "spin".

The Liberal Democrat budget gave a £5 million boost to road, footway and verge maintenance throughout Hampshire to clear the backlog of potholes following 12 years of Conservative control. At present, according to the Audit Commission Conservative controlled Hampshire is at bottom of the County Council spending league (34th out of 34) on footpath maintenance. “No wonder I get more complaints about pavements, potholes and puddles than anything else”, says Romsey’s County Councillor, Mark Cooper.

The Liberal Democrat budget amendment also prevented any more cuts in valuable bus services, put more new books of the shelves of Hampshire libraries and helped families and small businesses during these difficult economic times.

The alternative budget was supported by Councillor Mark Cooper: "The Conservatives have stashed away £180 million in reserves and balances after overcharging people with inflation-busting council tax increases for the past three years. They plan to use £18.2m of this money to have a less high increase in election year, but that still leaves an obscene amount of tax-payers' money sitting idle in the bank and earning very little in interest at the moment”.

"The Liberal Democrat budget allowed Hampshire residents to have a council tax increase holiday this year. People need relief in these harsh economic times. It would also have helped local businesses by committing

Hampshire to pay all bills within 10 working days”.

True to form, Hampshire Conservatives voted down the Liberal Democrat 0% Council Tax increase.

A message from Mark Cooper
Above is a photograph of the bluebells of Beggarspath Wood. (taken mid April 2008...but the show of Bluebells this year is proving to be equally spectacular) The Princes Foundation for the build Environment plans to enclose this woodland tightly on two sides with its proposed development of 1,600 dwellings.

The pressure on the woodland ecology of 1,600 dwellings and their 3,920 residents will be significant. Scenes such as the bluebell carpet will be threatened by the proximity of the very high density settlement.

Additionally, 43 acres of high quality farmland alongside and to the west of the woodland is scheduled to go under concrete.

Protecting the woodland, preserving the farmland...this is what I am trying to do.

Mark Cooper was elected County Councillor for Romsey Division in 2005 & again in 2009. He is the minority group spokesman on Regulatory Committee (the County's Planning Committee). He is also a member of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority and a member of the HFRA Corporate Management Team.