Caught on camera: Worried patients film their treatment at Tameside Hospital because of its bad reputation

First Published by: Manchester Evening News

Worried patients are using camera phones to film their treatment at a troubled hospital – because its reputation is so bad.

Chief executive Christine Green said Tameside Hospital was battling to improve standards after a catalogue of shocking incidents dating back more than a decade. But she admitted: "Staff says they are fed up of people coming into the hospital saying ‘we understand such-and-such so we’ve brought our camera phones in to monitor everything’." She said most staff felt demoralised because of a few letting standards slip.

She said: "Ninety-nine per cent of our staff feels distressed and demoralised by the actions of this minority [of staff not meeting standards]." And she said workers were now under ‘unprecedented’ levels of scrutiny in a battle to drive up standards.

Ms Green said nurses and doctors are being urged to report poor performance by colleagues to managers. And she said staff who reported the mistakes of their seniors would be ‘celebrated’. Speaking at a Tameside Council health scrutiny committee 

Ms Green said: "Doctors and nurses might see something that is wrong but instead of challenging their colleague they leave it unsaid. We are really pushing that if you see something wrong, you have to act on it. "We have staff brave enough to report serious incidents for some of the highest people in the organisation and we will always celebrate that." She was speaking as bosses at the hospital – heavily criticised in a succession of reports for poor patient care – told of new plans to change working culture.

They include the introduction of weekly ward audits to check record keeping by nurses and inviting staff from other hospitals to carry out inspections. Tameside

Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Chair Paul Connellan said: "The message that has gone out across the hospital is that it’s not about doing average but about the highest standards. "We can’t give an unconditional guarantee but I can say the amount of scrutiny across the hospital at all levels is unprecedented."

Are you paying too much Council Tax?

Council tax freeze plan 'flouted', its all lies

First Published by: The BBC

More than 40% of English households face a council tax rise despite the government offering a grant in return for a freeze. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy figures show of an average increase of £4.39 a year.

The rise is because police and fire authority precepts which form part of the total tax demand are going up. There is a bigger average increase in Wales of £25 a year, but bills are expected to be the same in Scotland.

Last year, every council in England agreed to freeze Council Tax in return for a share of hundreds of millions of pounds from central government. However 15% of English councils, including 8% of "principal" local authorities (county councils, London boroughs and metropolitan and unitary authorities), are increasing council tax.

The institute's Ian Carruthers told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this survey provided the first overview of the situation. He said this was because it was based on "local decisions taken on the basis of local priorities by councillors in those authorities."

Principal authorities

According to the survey 43% of households will see their annual bills go up, often by a few pounds. In setting the council tax this year - they will be looking to maintain frontline services” Ian Carruthers Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

That is because the requirement of local police and fire authorities - called the precept - is added to the bill. Of those authorities increasing tax, none are raising it by more than 4%.

Mr Carruthers said: "What the figures are showing is that 85% of authorities have actually accepted the council tax freeze grant - which is a one year grant only."That contrasts with last year where the freeze was built into base line funding."

Mr Carruthers said the central government grant under offer was equal to 2.5% of the council's own revenue base.

'And the Kick in teeth is'

He added: "You are seeing more increases amongst police authorities. This is a particular issue they are facing - as during the year they will be replaced by police and crime commissioners.

They also suggest that across England, the average Band D council tax bill will increase by £4.39 (0.3%), compared with last year's average which was a decrease of 35p.

The largest average increase for a Band D bill is in the North East where it will rise by or £13.43 (0.3%) while London will see a decrease of £4.19 (0.3%).

Last month, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said raising council tax would be a "kick in the teeth" for hard-working households. He blamed Labour-controlled local authorities for increasing bills despite the money on offer to councils that promised a freeze.

But several Conservative councils also said they would put up council tax to avoid an even bigger increase next year. A Labour spokesman said: "Eric Pickles' plans actually mean that council tax will increase for low-paid workers next year.

"And this year Tory citadels like Surrey, Peterborough and Chelmsford are already putting up their council tax."

Are you paying too much for your Council Tax?

Ilminster Town Council states no rules broken in 39% increase

First Published by: Ilminster News

ILMINSTER Town Council has reassured residents it is playing by the rules, following on-line suggestions that the 39% increase in the town's Council Tax precept broke a recently implemented law.

A blog was published last week by former Chard resident Carter Magna, which suggested that since December 2011, any council tax rise above 3.5% has to be put to a referendum. Under the plans which were unveiled by Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, councils losing a referendum would have to revert to a lower increase in bills. 

Mr Pickles argued that those seeking to raise bills in difficult economic times required a democratic mandate to do so. However, the new legislation only applies to county and district authorities - and therefore the people of Ilminster are not required to go to the ballot box to have their say on the precept.

Explaining the situation, Ilminster town clerk Julia Thorne said: “This is only the case for district and county council - hence they are also being given a monetary incentive to it at 0%” “We are not being offered any such incentive so we have to put ours up. They might implement it to town and parish councils in the future, but they are not at the moment.”

Money from the increase in Ilminster's precept is being used not just towards a new skate park and multi use games area, but also to minimise the effects of funding and service cuts from the district and county councils.

WHAT'S yourview? Would you like to see the decision to raise the council tax in Ilminster put to a referendum or do you trust the authority to spend your money wisely?

Are you paying too much for your Council Tax?

- Councils To Keep The Business Rates They Raise

- Councils To Keep The Business Rates They Raise

- Treasury Consider “Super Council Tax”

- Treasury Consider “Super Council Tax”

Local authorities planning big council tax rises told to hold referendums

Published by The Guardian

The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, has announced that any local authority planning to increase Council Tax by 3.5% or more will be required to hold a referendum asking local people to endorse the move. Pickles described the move as a radical extension of direct democracy, but it is also likely to deter many councils from risking the judgment of their council-tax-payers.

The government says it has set aside £675m for a second year of council tax freezes. The Department for Communities and Local Government said if councils agree to the freeze, local taxpayers living in an average band D home in England could save up to £72 a year in council tax.

The power to trigger referendums was contained in the Localism Act and in some ways replaces the power to impose caps. Parliament will be asked to endorse the final vote threshold before councils set their annual budgets in the spring. Pickles said: “Since 1997 people have seen their council tax more than double, pushing typical bills to £120 a month.

“We are getting to grips with this with another council tax freeze deal and by radically extending direct democracy over big bill increases with a new local tax-lock.

“Councils have a moral obligation to help hardworking families and pensioners with the cost of living. “If they want to hike taxes on their local residents above 3.5% they’ll now need to get a direct democratic mandate to do it.”

The government also set out its provisional second-year funding settlement for English local authorities as announced a year ago. Councils will have an average spending power of £2,186 per household at their disposal. £27.8bn will be distributed in 2012-13 in a fair and sustainable way across all parts of the country, the department said.

For example, the average spending power per household in Hackney will be £3,050, compared with £1,537 in Windsor and Maidenhead, reflecting the fairness of the settlement, it said. Overall, the average spending power reduction for councils in 2012-13 is expected to be limited to just 3.3%, or £75 per household, less than last year’s comparable figure of 4.5%.

“The second year of our fair and sustainable settlement will mean councils still have on average £2,186 for every household they serve, enough to safeguard the most vulnerable, protect taxpayers’ interests and the frontline services they rely on,” Pickles said.

Are you paying too much Council Tax?

Council Tax 'rebels' they cannot be trusted

First published by: LGC

Keep track of which councils have rejected the government’s financial incentive to freeze Council Tax next year

Jump straight to full list of councils

Brighton & Hove City Council, the country’s first council to be run by the Green party, were the first to announce they would reject the governement’s funding for a council tax freeze and instead ask residents for 3.5% more next year.


Ever since the chancellor announced last Autumn that there would be funding for a second council tax freeze there have been mutterings about the financial pitfalls of the deal.
Instead of the four years of funding offered in 2011, and which was snapped up by every council in the land, this year’s offer is for one year only, leaving councils quickly facing a financial cliff edge which will have to be smoothed by spending cuts/savings or an even larger council tax increase in 2013-14.


Sensing this disquiet, LGC surveyed councils and found that as many as one in five were seriously considering turning down the financial incentive. Soon after our survey, it emerged that Teeside leaders had been discussing the issue and in a united front, bar Hartlepool BC, four of them announced they would increase council tax by 3.5%


Nottingham and Leicester City Councils weren’t far behind, and since then we’ve also heard from Gedling BC and Stoke-on-Trent City Council. So far, all likely suspects as councils run by national opposition parties, but would any Conservative and Liberal Democrat councils take a stand and turn down their government’s not very enticing one-year offer?


After Christmas we had our answer as Peterborough City Council went public, quickly followed by Surrey CC, Chelmsford BC and East Cambridgeshire DC. Interestingly all the Tory councils declared so far have kept their increase below 3% while the Labour and Green councils have opted for as large an increase as they can get without triggering a referendum.


More councils - of all colours - are expected to announce increases in the weeks before budgets must be set, so it will be interesting to see whether any Tory council breaches the 3% mark.

Are you paying too much Council Tax?

'Astonishing' new tax on Wimbledon developers

Published by Surrey Comet


A new tax on residential developments could be nine times higher in Wimbledon Village and town centre than Mitcham and Morden. Merton Council’s planned community infrastructure levy (CIL) of £385 per square metre in parts of SW19 has been branded “astonishing”.

The proposed rate for Mitcham and Morden is just £42, while the rate for Raynes Park and Colliers Wood is £140. But the councillor in charge of planning said the provisional rates had been based on viability assessments by experts – and their studies showed they would not impair development.

The council launched a consultation about the rate, which is likely to come into force next year, on Monday. The tax, which will be levied on developers for most new projects, will be used to fund infrastructure improvements including work on schools, parks and transport.

The Government announced councils must use CILs to largely replace section 106 agreements, which currently do a similar job but are set on a case-by-case basis. Jason Orme, editor of Homebuilding and Renovation magazine, called the planned Wimbledon rate “astonishing”.

Writing on his blog he said: “I suspect we won’t see too many new homes in Wimbledon for a while.” But councillor Andrew Judge, cabinet member for environment and regeneration, said analysis proved they would not deter development.

He said: “There’s a balance to be struck... it’s very important we are able to have decent community infrastructure of whatever kind.” The council has also proposed a CIL of £100 per square metre for new retail premises everywhere in the borough.

Coun Judge said analysis found businesses across Merton were facing similar financial pressures, so there was no reason to vary the charge. The council will not impose a CIL for new office space.

Coun Judge said the authority would look at the provisional rates again later this year and once introduced, they would be regularly reviewed.

What's the picture elsewhere?

Other London authorities revealed their plans for CIL rates on residential building.

Wandsworth announced a rate of £150 per square metre, apart from at Nine Elms in Battersea – where the figure is £575 – and in Roehampton where there is no charge. Croydon has proposed no rate in the town centre, but £120 per square metre outside of it. In Redbridge a flat rate of £70 per square metre was introduced for all developments on January 1.

Where are the lines drawn?

The proposed zone for the top rate includes Wimbledon Park and Village, as well as the town centre east of Edge Hill and north of Worple Road and Alexandra Road. Elsewhere, West Barnes and Merton Park are bracketed with Raynes Park and Colliers Wood in the middle band – while Morden and all parts of Mitcham, including Pollards Hill and Phipps Bridge, fall into the lowest band.


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