That's got to be worth working for

Kent County Council has long recognised the importance of sustainable jobs as a means of bringing independence and opportunity to those who for whatever reason, have been excluded from traditional pathways to employment.

So it was with interest that I heard about Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs), an initiative from the Department for Work and Pensions. The Government is looking to use LEPs to bring real jobs to around a quarter of a million people by 2010.

As the report in KM's Kent Business above explains, I was delighted to sign a Local Employment Partnership agreement on behalf of Kent County Council. According to the Department of Work and Pensions, we're the first local authority in the county to have signed up to this, and I hope it will send a signal to all that we're serious about bringing real life chances to everybody.

And the benefit to the County Council? Through work placements, on the job skills training and workplace mentoring, KCC gains access to a whole new pool of talent.

That's got to be worth working for.

The Case for Change

The latest Government consultation relates to a 'who pays for care' argument known as "The Case for Change - Why England Needs a New Care and Support System". The fact that the system needs overhaul is not in dispute; Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis says himself that if he were devising a health and social care system now, he certainly "wouldn't start from here".

But with hundreds of thousands of patients, service users and family carers feeling the pinch of the credit crunch; rising fuel prices affecting care staff and meals on wheels; and social care departments nationally at breaking point, how is this question - arguably the most critical issue affecting public services in years - being asked? A website has been created - and you can find it by clicking on this link.

Local authorities are being asked to "create forums, networks and task groups which involve staff across all sectors, people who use services and carers as active participants in the change process". A very big ask, you might think. A very large price tag to convene all these groups and ensure fair consultation. But help is at hand - the Government is giving local authorities funding to assist.

How much does Kent County Council, with its forty thousand plus staff, its one and a half million residents and its twelve district councils get?

Five hundred pounds.

Abusing the Brave New World

Someone commented recently that my blog site "seemed to accept very few comments". The truth is, I can see no reason to accept comments which have nothing to say, or that don't really further the debate.

But tonight, I received a comment on a story about Pepenbury, the independent living facility for adults with learning disabilities in Pembury. The comment simply said "It's amazing" - which didn't make a whole lot of sense.

I followed the link attached to this innocuous comment, and found a web site with the sickest content I've seen in a long time - largely focussed on the writer's sister.

The web in general, and blogging in particular gives us all a chance to talk freely and share ideas and opinions. In this Brave New World, it's a shame that some people are allowed to share that same licence.

The poorer for his passing

A week and a half ago, I attended a briefing for Canterbury Councillors at Cow Lane Day Centre. The briefing went well, and afterwards I went for a quick beer with three colleagues - Alan Marsh, Mike Harrison and John Law. It was a lovely summer's evening and we all chatted happily in the evening sun.

But just three days later, John Law had a massive stroke, and despite the best possible care and attention, John passed away in the early hours of this morning.

John and I were both elected to KCC in 2001, and struck up an immediate rapport. He was tenacious and forthright, and could be one of the most stubborn men I had ever met. But he was passionate, and hated to think of tax payers' money being wasted.

The sudden loss of a friend and colleague is a sobering experience, and your mind turns to your own life. Is it fulfilling? Is it all you intended it to be? Are you loved or just liked? Respected or just tolerated?

John was surrounded by his family when he passed away, and when the Council Chamber stands at its September meeting as a mark of respect to John, many will be thinking how KCC will be the poorer for his passing.

In desperate need of a HIP replacement

You may recall the latest Government wheeze for house sellers was the Home Improvement Pack. Introduced back in 2007, new legislation dictated that every house marketed for sale after 14th December 2007 must have a HIP.

Details of energy consumption and other environmental benchmarks are included in the report, which at a cost of between £300 and £700 is typically undertaken by the estate agent or a specialist company.

Many people said at the time that this was another "Government poking its nose in" waste of time and money, and at a time when the property market is all but collapsing - due in no small part to Government's mishandling of the economy in recent months - this seemed a burden too far.

And now the news it out. Of 130,000 homes on the market, just 89,000 actually have a Home Improvement Pack. Nick Salmon of the National Association of Estate Agents claims that the packs do nothing to make the process more transparent, and calls for the idea to be scrapped.

For vendors up and down the country, this is an unneccesary nonsense which, like many of the Government's "bright ideas", has been ill-thought out. But my sympathies go to the seven thousand people, many of whom gave up lucrative jobs to train as assessors. How betrayed must they feel right now?

I hope she isn't watching

You know how when someone close to you dies, it seems like every time you turn on the radio or TV or open a paper, there's something about death? I had been invited this weekend - yesterday, to be precise - to the wedding of a constituent of mine. She first mentioned her wedding to me over a year ago, and there's been a lot of preparation for the special day.

So how surprised, and disappointed, I was to receive a text message on Friday afternoon, to say that after a lot of thought, the wedding had been called off.

And how coincidental it is that over the weekend, almost every sad wedding-based movie ever made seems to be showing on TV. I hope she isn't watching.

The Great Skype Swindle

A year or so ago I downloaded Skype and began using it as a means of communicating with colleagues at work and my family, particularly on the many occasions when I was staying at hotels, where often the Wi-Fi is free but the phone can be forty-odd pence a minute.

I also put some credit onto my Skype account, just in case I ever needed to call a landline or mobile number from my laptop. What I didn't realise was Skype's terms and conditions, whereby apparently if you haven't used this facility for 180 days, Skype take your money anyway. Oh - they send you three automated reminder emails. That's good of them isn't it?

I know, I know - all I had to do was make a call from my Skype number to another phone and I could have kept my credit for another 180 days. But this can't be right, can it? If Skype want to know if I still want to keep my account, can't they just ask me? Apparently, "if you don't use your remaining credit the balance will be expire to comply with normal business accounting rules." But where else does this happen? Does the credit you built on your electricity, gas, water or phone account get taken by the utility company if you don't use it? I think not.

In my case, I only lost ten pounds' worth of credit, but how about all those others who had more money than me 'taken' in this way? It's a real shame, because I've taken the Skype software off my machine and wild horses wouldn't make me use them again, because it's not a fair way to do business.