Putting mental health support for young people and families first.

County Council Budget Meeting 8th February

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse

The Liberal Democrats say that Covid has changed everything and are calling for a Warwickshire that is:

  • Fairer ­– giving opportunities for all
  • Caring – for all our residents
  • Greener – there is no planet B

Our budget amendment to the Conservative administration is to: reduce planned budget cuts, especially in 2021 -2022 to give services the space they need to redesign and restructure themselves, so they can operate effectively in the post-pandemic climate.

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Warwickshire, said in introducing the amendment:

“First, we need to place on record our thanks to the NHS, Social Care staff all and WCC staff along with every single person who has helped and supported communities through this difficult time. It is right that we need to look forward and tackle head on the legacy that Covid will leave us with, such as increased mental health issues, particularly with young people. The NSPCC says the amount of counselling for loneliness provided by its Childline service has risen by 10% since the pandemic started.  The NSPCC also says, ‘As each lockdown was eased the numbers increased dramatically, along with reports of domestic abuse’. Liberal Democrats would reduce the planned budget cuts in order to allocate a large sum to invest in essential services now. We have also brought Climate Change to the fore and urge the County Council to accelerate its actions.

We have proposed the lowest Council Tax possible without damaging the services that are needed to support recovery after the pandemic. The Conservative Government is forcing Councils to raise Council Tax and at the same time shelving proper funding of adult Social care, and the Liberal Democrats believe these priorities are wrong.”

Families and young people are at the heart of our proposals, all designed to tackle the legacy of Covid:

What future for our siblings
  • Allocation of £4 million over the medium term towards supporting families and young people who have suffered increased anxiety and mental health issues through the pandemic. Because of Covid we need to strengthen safeguarding in Warwickshire.
  • A £150K allocation for the ECO Schools programme to help Warwickshire increase its biodiversity .
  • A £150k allocation towards developing partnership working across the whole of Warwickshire at every level, empowering localism through Town and Parish Councils and supporting the work of WALC.
  • £200k towards implementing the new duties regarding Domestic Abuse and to develop new prevention programmes.
  • Allocation of £300,000 towards new cycling routes and improving rights of way and forestry.

We have also brought together funding pots to create stronger foundations:

  • Climate Change, accelerating the work needed to make Warwickshire County Council a net zero carbon producer by 2030. Supporting the greening of our towns and supporting the awards of High Street funds. Support for joint City of Culture greening initiatives that benefit Warwickshire’s residents. Business cases should also seek to support a green economy, targeting micro businesses that are innovative.
  • A Fairer, Caring Fund that prioritises strengthening Warwickshire’s towns and communities by working in partnership, making us a leader in supporting the extra work needed in areas such as autism and dementia.

COVID-19 Information

Lets Work Together

Council Tax up and highways maintenance funding slashed by Government


Councillor Jerry Roodhouse (Eastlands) has expressed his dismay as Warwickshire County Council is set to lose over £5.7 million for local road maintenance.  

The Department for Transport has announced capital funding of £1.385bn for local road maintenance and pothole filling across the country for 2021/22, a £400m reduction on last year’s allocation of £1.783bn. 

Councillor Jerry Roodhouse who is Vice Chairman of the County Council Network is calling on the Government to do more and set a long-term plan for investing in our local road and transport networks. 

Commenting. Councillor Jerry Roodhouse (Eastlands), said: 

“The bad weather recently has not helped our aging infrastructure and Councils rely on this capital funding to ensure our road and footpath networks are kept in good condition. Warwickshire’s allocation from Government is a fraction of what’s needed when you consider the investment required to maintain and keep everything up to standard. With Council Tax increases being set by the Conservative administration at Warwickshire County Council, this is a slap in the face for residents.” 

Warwickshire           24,428,00018,828,000–            5,600,000
Set to loose over £5 million
Local road maintenance and pothole funding 2021/22: CCN response

Louis Adam

Candidate Police & Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire.

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Will stand up for victims.

Louis Adam lives in Warwickshire and works in the construction industry as a structural engineer. He is the Stratford District Councillor for Long Itchington & Stockton and ran for Parliament in the 2019 General Election in Warwick & Leamington. On his plans if elected as Police & Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire he says:

“We need to be better at understanding what crime is being committed around the county and look at how it’s affecting people. That way we can target resources in areas that need support.

“When crimes are committed, we have to look at the reasons why and work in our communities to prevent them, not just react after the damage is done.”

More needs to be done regarding major problems such as gang, knife and cybercrime. I am keen to deliver consistent victim support and youth services, protecting people’s physical and mental health. Our Police need to work closer with our local authorities. Community Support Officers need to be empowered. Louis says: “We can’t promise a fix-all, but we can work with people to make the resources we have go further.”

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Vote on May 6th

Make Your Vote Count

Early intervention and more support for schools key to preventing mental health issues, says Norman Lamb MP on visit to Warwickshire

nl-jr-ksc-cw-mind-171116

Cllr Jerry Roodhouse, Norman Lamb MP and Kay St. Clair – Chief Executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Mind

On Thursday 17 November 2016, Norman Lamb MP, Chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority on Mental Health, visited Warwickshire to see first-hand how services are coping with the demand placed on them from people suffering from mental health problems.

Norman is a former Minister of State for Care and Support in the Coalition Government and was influential in ensuring that the Government introduced the first ever access rights and maximum waiting time standards in mental health.

During his visit Norman spoke to Warwickshire County Council’s Interim Strategic Director of People Group, John Dixon and Communities Strategic Director, Monica Fogarty about mental health services in Warwickshire and how the West Midlands Mental Health Commission could support services across the county.

In Kenilworth, Norman visited the Castle Brook care home which is using the latest technology and apps to help people with dementia. The state-of-the art care home uses night-time monitoring software to enhance the daily life of patients.

At Coventry and Warwickshire Mind based in Rugby, Norman met users of the service and senior staff. He witnessed how playing musical instruments is used as therapy for many users.

In the evening Norman attended a dinner hosted by Rugby Liberal Democrats at Arnold House in Rugby, where he spoke about the importance of early intervention to prevent mental health issues developing and the need for more funding and support for schools.

Commenting, Cllr Jerry Roodhouse who organised the visit, said:

“We are delighted that Norman was able to visit Warwickshire and see how different services are working across the county. Norman’s passion for mental health was evident throughout. What’s important is that we continue to treat sufferers as equal citizens and the Government continue to invest in vital services that spot the signs of mental health issues before they arise, giving people a better quality of life.”

After the visit Norman Lamb MP, said:

“I have met real people with real mental health experiences and seen first-hand the excellent work that is going on throughout Warwickshire to support people with mental health problems. The stigma around mental health is changing and more people are talking about it. However, we still need equality for mental health services within the NHS. This will only happen if sufferers can access the services where they live and schools, charities and local authorities are also given the resources they need to intervene early to prevent problems from developing.”

18,000+ children could lose free school meals under Tory plans

free school meals matter

Thousands of children in Warwickshire could lose their right to a free school meal under Conservative plans to review the scheme.

Universal free school meals offer every infant child a healthy meal at lunchtime, which saves families more than£400 per child per year.

Evidence shows where children have been given a free school dinner, their results improved compared to youngsters who didn’t get one.

These academic improvements were most marked among children from the poorest backgrounds.

There are currently 18,020 children who receive free school meals in Warwickshire, who would lose them if the Conservatives follow through with plans reported in the media recently.

Lib Dem spokesman for Education & Learning, Cllr John Whitehouse (Kenilworth Abbey) said: “If this goes ahead, the Tories will show they are willing to take an axe to the education budget at the expense of children’s learning.

“By scrapping this policy they would take food off the plates of thousands children across Warwickshire who now benefit from a free healthy meal at lunchtime.

“The Liberal Democrats fought tooth and nail to get this through in Coalition because we want every child to have the best possible start in life and be able to concentrate in class, and all the evidence shows that a healthy meal helps with that.

“Instead of further investing in our children, the Tories are turning up at the school gate and stealing their lunch money!”

ENDS

Notes:

All evidence on the benefits of universal free school meals comes from the independent evaluation of the 2009 pilots:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184047/DFE-RR227.pdf

The School Food Plan, written by independent school food reviewers Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, recommended introducing free school meals for all primary school children:

http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/plan/

Lib Dem councillors object to “gagging” by County Council

Warwickshire county councillors who are also district/borough councillors are being prevented from taking part in a vital vote next week.

A special meeting of the Adult, Social Care & Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee is being held on the 15th July to consider a report on the re-structuring of housing-related support (Supporting People services), but so-called “twin-hatted” councillors have been told that they are barred from voting on the matter.

Cllr Kate Rolfe (Lib Dem, Stratford South) said: “As councillors we are there to represent our electorate, and to prevent us voting on such important issues is undemocratic”.

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Jerry Roodhouse (Rugby Eastlands & Hillmorton) has made a formal request for dispensation for twin-hatters to be applied in this case.

 

Link to Committee Report:

https://democratic.warwickshire.gov.uk/Cmis5/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=t7IQzF%2fWsLZoRLuMwI1%2fjCfkmWJbeDu2hp7mS5hFDLVxV0bmNUR2%2bA%3d%3d&rUzwRPf%2bZ3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw%3d%3d=pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ%2fLUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ%3d%3d&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3d%3d=hFflUdN3100%3d&kCx1AnS9%2fpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3d%3d=hFflUdN3100%3d&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2bAJvYtyA%3d%3d=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&FgPlIEJYlotS%2bYGoBi5olA%3d%3d=NHdURQburHA%3d&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3d&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3d

Safeguarding Warwickshire children

Warwickshire Liberal Democrats are continuing to seek assurances that Children’s Safeguarding is working effectively in the County.

 

This comes in light of the recent reports from Rotherham and elsewhere, and today’s report published by Ofsted entitled “The sexual exploitation of children: it couldn’t happen here, could it?”

 

Jerry Roodhouse Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Warwickshire County Council said: “We need clear assurances from the Warwickshire Safeguarding Board and senior officers, that we in Warwickshire are doing all we can to ensure we have the correct safeguarding systems in place. It is the duty of elected members to ensure that this is the case.”

 

The Lib Dem group put forward a motion on Child Sexual Exploitation at the last Full Council meeting on 28th October, which received the unanimous support of all elected members. Subsequently the Children & Young People Overview & Scrutiny Committee has agreed to set up a special meeting to scrutinise in detail the Annual Report of the Safeguarding Board. It will also establish a small group of councillors to work with officers on the implementation of new multi-agency working group arrangements early in 2015.

 

Liberal Democrat councillors will continue to play a full and active role in ensuring that elected members get the assurances they need, that everything possible is being done to ensure that children are safe in Warwickshire.

 

The Liberal Democrat motion approved by Full Council on 28th October was as follows: “This Council notes the tragic and systemic failures exposed by Professor Alexis Jay’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham (1997- 2013),that whilst the report focusses only on the failures of the agencies in Rotherham, previous cases show that these problems are not exclusive to one area, that Professor Jay identified a lack of scrutiny and of political leadership on the issue as key factors in the circumstances that led to so many children being exploited in Rotherham. The Council therefore: 1) resolves to ensure that Warwickshire’s own local safeguarding board and  members have all the means necessary to monitor and challenge the practices within the council. 2) calls on all other local agencies working with vulnerable children to ensure similar co-operation with the political and professional scrutiny necessary to guarantee Warwickshire’s protection of every one of its children from the experiences detailed in Professor Jay’s report.

Lib Dems Call for Transparency at LEP

cwlep

Liberal Democrats believe that transparency is the key to seeing  how public money is spent and how important decisions are made.

The Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) is the major organisation in the sub-region through which the Government is channeling large amounts pf public investment in order to deliver growth. Yet no minutes of CWLEP Board meetings are made available for public scrutiny..

Warwickshire Lib Dems leader Cllr Jerry Roodhouse has called on the LEP to open up and become more transparent. He stated:

“In this day and age it is unacceptable for a body such as the LEP to keep its doors shut to the public and be secretive about how decisions are made. Transparency is important especially where public money is being spent. My hope now it that they will change and open up.”