Barry Stamp's Political Diary

This morning I spent nearly three hours meeting with Paul Bates the Chairman of the Stafford Taxi Drivers Association. I’d asked for the meeting to discuss with him the problems facing his members brought about by the various road works and building developments in the town. However the meeting developed into a much wider discussion which included driver safety, fares, the number of taxis in Stafford, and red tape placed on taxi drivers by the Borough Council.

What was clear was that Taxi drivers were certainly being put under pressure from all sides and that few were making more than a basic living. Changes in road patterns and more importantly the layout of the taxi rank at the station were causing major problems. However Paul was more concerned with the level of fares which are set by the Borough Council. He produced official figures which showed Stafford fares were lower than most surrounding local authority areas, while on the other hand the Council insisted the drivers only used cars that were nearly new. He admitted that this requirement meant that the public enjoyed the use of good vehicles but he had to point out that Stoke-on-Trent allowed drivers the use of much older cars while allowing them to charge higher fares. To make matters worse the Borough Council also stipulate where taxi owners must take their vehicles for the MOT tests – which incidentally must be carried out every six months. This job is given to the County Council’s Fleet Care Garage which appears to be struggling to keep up with all the work it is doing. All in all the taxi drivers do seem to get a raw deal in Stafford, and while I do think it is time the rules they work under are reviewed I’m also clear the fares they are allowed to charge must be kept to a reasonable level as many people, especially those in rural area rely on taxis for transport. It is a fine balancing act that must be accomplished – one which gives the taxi drivers a reasonable living while not putting the cost of taxis out of the reach of ordinary people

I spent this morning at Walton High School, along with a representative of the Labour and Conservative Parties. The event was designed to allow sixth formers the opportunity to listen to and question the parliamentary candidates for the Stafford Constituency. Unfortunately I was the only candidate to turn up, as David Kidney was in London, and David Chambers had just come out of hospital.

The audience numbered about 100 and they certainly asked some interesting and probing questions. All in all the morning was extremely interesting and certainly gave me a good insight into the minds of some young voters. The questions ranged from fighting terrorism to the damage the proposed M6 Toll Motorway would have on Stafford. However the one question that got the biggest round of applause was one on the future of top-up fees for higher education. It’s clear that our policy on scrapping the fee was well received and will ensure the Lib Dems will get quite a lot of support from young people in the General Election.

Tonight’s Borough Council Liberal Democrat Group meeting was very productive. The meeting concentrated on the Conservatives proposals for next years budget. Once again they have publicly stated they intend to keep any rise in Council Tax to the headline rate of inflation. This of course is causing problems when it comes to balancing the books and just like last year a number of services will cost more next year. One are we took quite a time over was the proposed increase in burial costs which are going to be hiked by 25%. It’s a pity the controlling group are taking this stance as it will hit local residents when they are at their most vulnerable, or then again perhaps this is the plan. When families are mourning the loss of a love one they are hardly going to notice the increase when it is presented to them as part of the undertakers bill! As might be expected I will be opposing this increase at the next Resources Scrutiny meeting and at Full Council which must finally approve the budget. However the Conservatives have such a large majority it is highly unlikely the budget will be changed!!

Remembrance Sunday. Today was quite hectic. It started with the wreath laying and remembrance service at Haughton. The village service is always well attended and today was no exception. Everyone meets beside the Village war memorial just before 11.00am and after the wreath laying we all move to St Giles the village church for the service proper. As usual one wreath was laid by Matt Gymer. Matt has along army career and finally left the army with the rank of Major. Now in his 70’s Matt’s health has not been good, but he is always there when there is a village event and over the years has raised thousands of pounds for charities both local and national. It was Matt who was Councillor for Haughton before me, and I still have pangs of conscious when I remember knocking him off the Council over twelve years ago. The village would be a much poorer place without people like Matt.

Following Haughton’s service I went to Penkridge. As Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Stafford I’d been invited by the Anglo German Remembrance Association. The group holds a service of remembrance at the German War Cemetery on Cannock Chase and then returns to Penkridge for a reception. At the reception I sat next to a German Air Force officer who turned out to be based at RAF Stafford. It was an interesting hour or so, discussing the future of the RAF and the German Air Force. What I learnt was that the German Air Force is going through a similar cost cutting exercise to that in the UK, and that the Officer did not know if he would have a job to go back to when he returns to Germany in a couple of years time!

This morning was a rather sad affair. I attended the funeral of Councillor Stan Goodall. I’ve known Stan for quite a few years. He was both a Borough and Stone Town Councillor. Although a Conservative, I had a lot of time for Stan and would always listen to his advice. He was obviously well like as the church was packed, and if the sentiments express by all the people I spoke to are repeated he will certainly be missed.

This evening I went to Hyde Lea Parish Council. This, I am sorry to say, was \my first visit. The Council only has five members and meets just four times a year, but even so makes a major contribution to the local community. I was a little shocked to see that I was down on the agenda as “guest speaker”! In the end I talked about my experiences of policing developments in the Haughton and Gnosall area. John Eaves – the Council Chairman – is particularly keen to improve the level of police presence in the village. It is evident that Hyde Lea suffers from the same problems as most of the other Villages to the west of Stafford – namely the community police officers are rarely seen. It appears that these officers are being redeployed to Stone and Stafford to help policing there, but this unfortunately leaves villages like Hyde Lea with a limited amount of cover. After a short discussion everyone agreed that the only way to get to the bottom of this problem was to invite the new Divisional Inspector to the next meeting of the Parish Council to question him of his policing priorities and his plans for future staffing deployment.

Well the cat is out of the bag now. The County Council have published their plans for the reorganisation of schools in the Stafford area. The general principle was not unexpected. It is clear to everyone that there are more school places than pupils in primary schools in the town. However what will be questioned is how these surplus places are to be removed. It is very early days in the process, but already schools will be rehearsing the arguments as to why they should remain open while others should close. However what everyone must not loose sight of is that at the end of the day it is the quality of education for each child that should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind rather than the fight to keep individual buildings open. One really pleasing point of the whole report was that no mention was made of Ranton School which, because of its small size, I was really worried would be earmarked for closure. For those that were named the fight has just begun!

Today was spent at the Liberal Democrats West Midland Regional Conference in Solihull. I’d put an emergency motion down which as the Conference to call on Alistair Darling to scrap his M6 Toll Motorway plans. This motion was accepted and I had just four minutes to propose it from the Conference platform. I’d prepared in outline what I was going to say, as I find this much better than reading a pre-prepared speech. The motion was seconded by my good friend Richard Stevens Chairman of the Stone Constituency, and we had already decided the tack we would take, and which points we would each cover.

Mine and Richards speech went well, and we were supported by another couple of speakers. However, there was one speaker who was against the motion. Martin Lewis, another member from Stone opposed the motion not because he wanted the M6 Toll but rather because he said the motion called on Alistair Darling to scrap his consultation plans, and in martins views we should at the very least ask people what they thought! I’m not sure if he really believed this, or if he was just objecting to the motion to stimulate debate. Either way no-one rose to his bait and in the end the motion was carried unanimously. If you wondered which way Martin voted, the answer is simple. He didn’t. It turned out we was not a voting rep, and so was ineligible!

This morning I visited Flairmet – an engineering company based on the Ladford Fields Industrial Estate at Seighford. Flairmet is a successful engineering company, which makes wrought iron railings, gates, and garden fittings. It is run by Jamie Calder – a women in a mans world. I wanted to visit Jamie to talk to her about the difficulties small businesses in the Stafford area are facing. I was surprised to hear one of the main problems is trying to find suitable staff. Perhaps working in an engineering factory is not as glamorous as sitting behind a computer in an office. What ever the reason Jamie does have problems! Also high on her list was the growing number of forms she receives from Government Departments. Currently she is struggling with forms which will allow her to be recognised as a sub-contractor by the Revenue which will give her advantages when it comes to reclaiming tax. It is clear that she spends a great deal of time working on these projects which add little value to her business. Small, successful businesses like Flairmet should be encouraged as they add a great deal too both the local and national economy, but at present they are being strangled by bureaucracy!