Swine flu update: note from District Council

Weekly Briefing for Members

As of Friday 4 September 2009

The number of swine flu cases reported in Hertfordshire remains at a low level. A second wave is anticipated and work continues to plan for both antiviral collection and a vaccination programme.

The PCT is working on plans to equip a network of pharmacies with the systems to allow them to open as full antiviral collection points (ACPs) in the near future. There are currently two pharmacies operating as ACPs, one in Hoddesdon and a new one in Tring. A full list of ACPs operating in Hertfordshire can be found at http://www.wherts-pct.nhs.uk/content.asp?id=927.

It is expected that the return to school will lead to an increase in the number of people reporting swine flu symptoms. Parents will be receiving a joint letter from Children, Schools and Families and the PCT at the start of school term. This letter will outline the latest update on swine flu and will explain that it is not anticipated that schools will close if they have cases, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Chris welcomes calls to scrap Form 696

Chris has welcomed calls to scrap the Metropolitan Police’s Form 696 which requires organisers to fill in a police form a fortnight in advance of any live music event.

He said: ‘This form has troubled me for some time. I am glad that it has not spread outside the Metropolitan Police area but it remains an affront to civil liberties. It is undoubtedly potentially racist and a brake on the development of live music.’

For more details see the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/30/form-696-ehrc-discrimination-music

EEDA offers loan programmes

Local entrepreneurs can get their hands on loans of up to £200,000 to help start-up and grow businesses, even if they have been refused by their banks.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has loan programmes in place to help businesses looking to borrow between £500 and £200,000.

‘Small Loans for Business’ offers between £500 and £50,000 to regional businesses whose funding applications have been refused by the banks.

Alternatively, EEDA’s ‘Regional Growth Loan’ can provide up to £200,000 for small to medium-sized businesses that have a real potential for long-term growth and a workable business proposition.

The news comes on the back of the Federation for Small Businesses’ criticism of UK banking for small businesses and their call for “alternative sources of finance to be provided locally.”

Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, said:

“Business owners often think that they have nowhere to turn if they are refused credit from the banks, but that’s not true. Here at EEDA, we are offering loans with flexible repayment terms to businesses with viable business plans – businesses which may just be seen as too risky for banks to support in the current climate.”

EEDA are also providing a helping hand to companies unsure of their funding or finance needs through their ‘Understanding Finance for Business’ programme. Delivered by St John’s Innovation Centre, it has been designed specifically to prepare companies for raising finance – whether through a bank, venture capitalist, business angel or even public-sector grant funding.

To find out more about regional loans and grants, or to register for the Understanding Finance for Business programme, visit www.eeda.org.uk/finance.

New automatic parking signs – some teething problems

Residents will have noted that the signs are still being tested. There are issues with predicting correctly the numbers of free spaces in the London Road car park – it is pay and display and the numbers can be distorted by the passage of vehicles to and from private parking provision.

There is also some contractual work to be done in relation to the Maltings.

Meanwhile, some of the new direction signs are going up. The old ones will come down shortly and there will be a net reduction in posts: so more information and less street clutter!

White lining problems

Yes: there are some problems with the new white lines on London Road. A temporary loading bay to allow for construction work has become permanent. And there is a Keep Clear sign outside the Odeon car park (a distant memory)!

Abd they STILL haven’t repainted the rather vital Keep Clear signs on Watson’s Walk – despite my repeated requests.

On the case!

Chris makes further protest about pavement repairs

Chris has protested to Herts Highways again about the nature of pavement repairs. This time the issue is the removal of blue brick paving at the junction of Thorpe Road and Bardwell Road.

Herts Highways claim that this is because there has been vehicle ‘runover’ and that removal of the blue biracks is the only way of dealing with it. Chris comments: ‘This has not been flagged up as a problem. The replacement of blue braick with black top looks terrible.’

Commentary: Life through a distorting lens

Extracts from an article by Roger Protz, Morning Advertiser

Put to the test

In spite of a late sideswipe at the supermarkets, the main thrust of Panorama was that not just happy hours but the 2006 Licensing Act were to blame for the chronic state of affairs in Oldham.

I put the new licensing laws to the test last Saturday night in my home city of St Albans. Before the new law came in to effect, St Albans did have a problem with drinking. It has half the population of Oldham, but a lot of pubs — close to 60.

Most of the pubs are crammed into the city centre. When they all shut at 11pm on Friday and Saturday nights, sensible people stayed at home. Over-beered people poured out of the pubs and mayhem followed.

Late last Saturday night, when I drove through the centre of St Albans, the pubs were busy, but there were no marauding crowds on the streets, “doing the circuit”. The pubs stagger their closing times. The 11pm swill and mass exit is a thing of the past.

So, Richard Bilton and the editors at Panorama, come to St Albans and most other town and city centres at the weekend.
You will find a different image to that offered by just one street in Oldham, packed not with pubs but with bars and nightclubs.
The BBC won’t show a positive image because it doesn’t suit the corporation’s agenda. Panorama, once a respected flagship BBC news programme, is now no better than the red-top tabloids and their wild distortions.

The beleaguered British pub needs and deserves better.