New Planning Policies

The Lincolnshire Structure Plan sets out the planning policies for the County. New applications will pass or fail depending on how closely they comply to these policies. The plan contains over-arching policies like housing allocations. Also some planning applications are decided by the County Council such as sites for waste disposal, mineral extraction, wind power and gas storage. The plan was adopted on September 27th and will last for three years. www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/structureplan

The Regional Spatial Strategy is now out for consultation. Comments welcome. www.emra.gov.uk/regionalplan/index.htm

HBS Contract

I am on a partnership board looking at the contract held between County Council and HBS. We are in year 7 of a ten year contract. When it was set up, there were apparent savings as the job was done for less, but our needs change and each additional item can be costly. There will come a time when the contract has to be rewritten for renewal or go out to tender.

I would appreciate your views from the working face, as to where there appear to be problems with the contract and how you think it could be improved. Do you think the contract is well monitored and managed? Also please let me have any good news stories as well!

Face to Face with Marianne Overton, County News

Councillor Marianne Overton is leader of the Independent Group at Lincolnshire County Council
Marianne Overton adds something a bit different to the senior team of Councillors being younger, female and independent of any party politics. She also does something a little unusual in her summer breaks. She runs expeditions for volunteers to live and work in remote areas of Central Africa, directly helping conservation in the third world. Over twenty years she has led international teams in difficult conditions worldwide, from the Arctic to the Amazon, so she knows a bit about how to handle complex challenges!

Marianne Overton writes;
What is an Independent Councillor?
Independents are well known in their communities with a track record of getting things done in their area. We are not tied to any national party politics, which means that we directly represent our communities. We listen and communicate very carefully with the people we represent. People in Lincolnshire sometimes don’t realise how strong the independent movement is in Lincolnshire. Independent members got 30% of the vote in the areas where they stood, and thus represent a large section of the community. The three independent Councillors were all elected by a large margin.

Communication
At County Council, independents have an important role to play, concentrating directly on the issues at hand and speaking up clearly, regardless of national party guidelines or party whip.
Thus we investigate issues thoroughly in order to make individual decisions, committed to improving life in our communities.

Effective
Our group of Independents is small but effective. We have particular skills and strengths in environmental and health issues, sensible and sustainable economic development, family support and working closely with our communities in order to represent their needs and aspirations.

Work Done – so far!
Independents are an influential voice on the County Council, leading and shaping policy in some key areas and there is more to be done:

• calling for and getting better local policing and safer communities
  
• ensuring there is continuous detailed work in improving the health service;
  
• giving strong support to small shops, post offices and the local economy;
  
• launching Biofuels into Lincolnshire to support farming and reduce reliance on fossil fuels from the Middle East;
  
• working to reduce accidents and get improved roads and footways, safer crossings and seeking the much needed Boston Bypass;
  
• helping identify shortcomings in social services and getting the service properly run;
  
• Supporting schools and opposing the large-scale merger plans;
  
• improving the Council’s Leadership, with training and an inclusive, responsive ethos and improving communication both within the Council and in the community.
  

Up to date accounts of work done on your behalf are given on our website www.independentvoice.org.uk

I represent Branston and Navenby Division and I am always delighted to hear from any Lincolnshire residents on issues they feel are important.

marianne.overton@biosearch.org.uk

Southern Lincoln Bypass

In support of the residents of Waddington, it is important that the route drops as neatly into the ground as possible and that the blight policy compensating residents is sensitive as possible. The County Council consultation on how that is best done is about to take place. I urge residents to respond so that their voice can be heard.

I was deeply involved in getting the Leadenham Bypass, which is a good example of how a bypass can be fitted into the landscape. Experience shows that it is only the best route that will be supported by external government funds.

Following consultation on "corridors" last year, route 2C between Waddington and Waddington East was decided by the Portfolio holder at the County Council as the best route. The new consultation about to begin is on the finer details of route 2C.

The evidence has again reviewed the evidence for corridor 3 and the final decision is about to be announced. However, even without a detailed study, one can see that a much longer route will be less used as a bypass and therefore not stack up in the cost-benefit analysis, especially when competing with other bypass demands in the East Midlands. Even the Lincoln Eastern bypass didn't get through the last round and we still have to get it on the list for post 2011!

A preference for route 3 for the southern bypass was passed by North Kesteven District Council Executive of six members, not by the full Council of 41 members. Full Council, which includes the local representatives for Waddington, was not given the opportunity to debate the Council's response. Some villages were consulted, but not Coleby, which is directly and adversely affected by route 3.

Many residents of the villages south of Waddington are sympathetic to the plight of the people of Waddington, but do not want to take the traffic in their stead. If a bypass is really wanted, opting for a route that is not viable will undermine our bid when competing with other well-supported road improvements in the East Midlands.

Route 3 is not exactly "firmly in support of the residents of North Kesteven" as that ignores the fact that a number of villages do not want route 3. Route 3 avoids Waddington Village and brings the north-south traffic neatly to Harmston, Coleby and the Cliff Villages on the A607. Around 10,000 vehicles per day are estimated to pass along the A607 near Coleby, increasing at a rate of 2-2.5% per year. Traffic is calculated to increase with more housing and with the building of the Eastern Bypass. We certainly do need an interim strategy for our villages to deal with the traffic prior to the bypass being up and running, especially if we continue to encourage increased development.

Exaggerated and Fictitious

Jane Froggatt, Chief Operations Officer at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust today spilled the beans describing how staff in the ULHT were pressurised to "fiddle" the waiting lists to hide patients from the inpatients waiting list for orthopoedics. Thus it falsely appeared ULHT was meeting its targets, when really there were people waiting over six months for their operation. At least sixteen patients were waiting over 32 months for their operation. In a meeting held in public today, Jane told the Health Scrutiny committee how records had been "exaggerated and fictitious entries made" to make it appear as if the patient was reasonably suspended from the waiting list.

A patient is normally suspended from the waiting list if they need a temporary delay for medical reasons for up to three months. To be on the waiting list, patients need to be fit, available and willing to have the operation. In some areas such as Chesterfield there are as few as 38 patients suspended from the waiting list, but in Lincolnshire we had 1200. In the worst cases, up to 25% of patients were on the suspended list, whereas the guideline is not more than 10%.

Hospital cancellations were wrongly classified as cancellations made by the patient. Staff at ULHT also offered patients non-existent appointments at short notice, and put them to the back of the queue when they refused.

"It was a failure in systems and processes resulting from a culture of fear, bullying and intimidation", said Jane Froggatt.

Leader of the Independent Group, Marianne Overton was appalled. "It is a shocking revelation and deeply disappointing that people have suffered like this. Hiding the truth has allowed it to carry on until now and prevented us from dealing with the issues. It shows the importance of a decent complaints procedure, where complaints are properly investigated by all concerned, not just ULHT. We do need independent "watchdogs" with teeth and commissioners who chase up complaints with determination. The suggestion of a culture of fear and intimidation in ULHT is deeply disturbing and must be promptly remedied.

Clearing the backlog of patients by the end of February will need an increase in capacity and add to the financial troubles of the health service. There is already a shortfall in both money and capacity in Lincolnshire and new contracts need to be set up at NHS tariffs. Technology has advanced and those changes in procedures will also need to be taken into account."

There is a helpline for those who think they may have been affected.

The detailed report now goes to the SHA and may or may not become fully public.
This comes at a time when the government has announced that it proposes taking away the statutory right of inspection, currently held by the three Patient and Public Involvement bodies in Lincolnshire (PPI’s). These represent the patients and public and are able to insist on entry to any premises where health service is delivered. These are also due to merge into one on October 1st, along with the merging of the Primary Care Trusts. In the summer of 2007, it is expected that the PPI’s will be dissolved and replaced by the countywide "Local Information Network" (LINks) – but will it have teeth?