Author: Brian Riley

Usual Equality Rubbish Applies

Brian Riley Quotation of the day

The Sergeant in Hill Street Blues (1981) always sent his staff out onto the streets with the exhortation  “Hey, let’s be  careful out there”. If you ever wondered who else this might apply to – the answer is everyone. Along with being careful out there you should also be careful with what you say and how it is received. For example the Telegraph of the 6th September carried the following:

“A hospital advertisement for a senior doctor was published on an NHS website with a reference to “the usual rubbish about equal opportunities”. .. The advertisement sought a “regional anaesthetist fellow” to fill a one-year post at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University NHS Trust, Merseyside. But under the job description section of the advert… a hospital employee had inserted the phrase “the usual rubbish about equal opportunities etc…”.

The gaffe, which was in reference to the NHS’ equal opportunities policy, was “swiftly” deleted after hospital chiefs were
made aware of the damaging comment”. There but for the grace of God go you and I.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8742354/NHS-hospital-usual-equal-opportunities-rubbish-job-advert-sparks-investigation.html

Like a Recurrent Stomach Bug

Brian Riley Political - Local

Last year, on behalf of a constituent, I approached the County Council to object to proposals for restricted parking at the end of Hadleigh’s Church Street which ends in a hammer head. The reason the hammerhead was unrestricted was apparently because the yellow paint would not adhere to the cobbles. Technology moves on and as the right sort of paint was available, the Town Council wants to impose waiting restrictions, even though the world and his wife were quite happy with the status quo.
The County Council listened to my pleadings and the restriction request was thrown out – a triumph for common sense and residents’ needs.
Today’s post brings the minutes of the Hadleigh Town Council Environment & General Purposes Committee on 8th September. This is a hard working committee and for the most part I respect the people who take part. The minutes contain the news that the Town Clerk provided the Committee with a photographic diary of the area taken over the summer months. It was recommended that this information be sent to Suffolk County Council with a request to reconsider double yellow lines in this area.
One says to oneself – have these people nothing better to do?
I shall alert the residents and in the meantime write to the County Council stressing the need to adhere to their previous decision which reflected the will of the people.

Daily Tipple Boosts Health

Brian Riley Nice Things

The Daily Telegraph of 7th September (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/women_shealth/8744909/Daily-tipple-boosts-health-in-old-age.html)
contained an article on the benefits to women of drinking regularly. And to prove it here is a 1970 photo of my grandmother. She was born in 1891 and so would have been about 80 years old when the photo was taken. She lived for a further eight years – radiant to the end.

To the barricades!

Brian Riley Political - National and other

https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/6342 reads as follows:  At present the British Parking Association is lobbying hard to make vehicle keepers liable for parking penalties. The BPA are responsible for the very vague Part 3 Chapter 2 Clause 56 in the Protection of Freedoms Bill entitled “Recovery of Unpaid Parking Charges”.
The clause reads “Schedule 4 (which makes provision for the recovery of unpaid parking charges from the keeper of a vehicle in cases where it is not known who was driving the vehicle when the charges were incurred) has effect.”
British law provides the protection of innocence until proven guilty (paraphrasing the Magna Carta). Even the EU enshrines this in the The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. Clause 56 seeks to apply criminal powers to a civil matter.
Clause 56 will make the keeper guilty UNLESS they can prove their innocence and MUST be removed from the bill before parliament.
The Honest John column in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph contains the following comment:  “In case readers are unfamiliar with Clause 56, it will allow any member of the British Parking Association to pursue any registered keeper of any car for any parking penalty the BPA cooks up. It is an outrageous licence to support”.
Please sign the petition and circulate as appropriate.

The Bureaucrat Mind – Hopefully a Happy Ending in Sight

Brian Riley Local Colour, Nice Things, Political - Local

I had a phone call from a constituent  regarding a problem with getting rid of a small refrigerator. Babergh has a Refuse Hot Line to deal with oversize items who informed our man that his small refrigerator could not be collected as he lives above ground level on the first floor.
The refrigerator could however be collected if he placed on it on the pavement.
The constituent is in his eighties and lives in sheltered accommodation. The Refuse Hotline was unable to suggest how the refrigerator’s journey from the first floor to the pavement might be accomplished.
I referred the matter to the Council and received the following (edited) response:
This is the official (and correct!)  ‘jobsworth’ response. Despite appearing unhelpful, there are good reasons why we discourage our contractors from entering people’s properties. Health and safety – carriage of heavy loads etc., is only one issue here, but must be considered. Additionally there is the risk, as happened last year, of facing accusations of damage and removal of the wrong appliance (resulting in a not insignificant compensation claim!!). In addition – with the firm commercial hat on – our service and cost is based on a ‘time per call’ which is in reality a matter of minutes. We therefore need to manage the time spent by operatives on site to avoid variation claims by the contractor. 
Usually we would respectfully request anyone with difficulties to ask a neighbour or family member to help out in the interests of community spirit and this is normally successful. However, there are always exceptional cases that we should strive to resolve and this may be one – 80 year old in sheltered accommodation etc.
I will forward to the client team and establish if a solution can be arrived at, or suggestions can be made.
So definitely a bureaucrat with a heart and hopefully there is a happy ending in sight.
However the only valid reason for not going above the ground floor is the financial one and so once again the Council subtly shrinks the service levels and the people most inconvenienced are the vulnerable and the disadvantaged.

Update from Facebook – Stupidity

Brian Riley Quotation of the day

I received this today from my friend Lorraine Ann Hazley-Fayad:
“So sad…Please put this on your status if you know or are related to someone who suffers from stupidity. People need to understand that stupidity is real and should be taken seriously. You could be sitting near to a stupid person right now. There is still no known cure for stupidity and sympathy does not help.
Sometimes a 2×4 to the back of the head helps, but not a lot. But we can raise awareness! 53% won’t re-post this because they don’t know how to copy/paste”.
Of course, I couldn’t possibly comment

 

Hatchings 23rd August 2011

Brian Riley Local Colour, Nice Things, Political - Local

In early June I was buttonholed by a fellow parishioner at church drawing my attention to the parking arrangements opposite the Eight Bells in Angel Street. There is a raised portion behind the zebra zig zag lines (see photo) which is meant for no parking but which is often used for parking to the detriment of pedestrians wishing to cross the road.
When cars are parked on the raised portion the visibility of oncoming traffic is hindered which causes problems (in this case) to persons using mobility scooters but the problem applies equally to young children and adults.
Together with the local police constable we referred the matter to the County Council. The good news today is that the white lines have been painted.
So all in all – good news all round!

Hatched area

Where do I sign up? 18th August 2011

Brian Riley Nice Things

Thursday’s Telegraph features an article under the heading “Moderate wine drinking may help promote weight loss” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8707228/Moderate-wine-drinking-may-help-promote-weight-loss.html).
The article is based on a paper by researchers at Navarro University, Spain and published in the journal Nutrition Reviews.
So I’m seeing if Rioja can get me to just the right side of skinny.

Development Framework – Pollution Levels 18th August 2011

Brian Riley Political - Local ,

The Draft Core Strategy for Babergh is considered by the Council’s Strategy Committee.

The document is 116 pages plus appendices. Regrettably there is no comprehensive table of contents (page numbers are omitted) nor is there an index. The obvious question is whether this is deliberate. A document which has taken years to put together is debated for less than a day. How many councilors in the towns and parishes will read through the document?
However Page 6 Key Environmental Issues includes:
CO2 levels of emissions in the Babergh District are above regional and national averages and this part of East Anglia is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It is therefore important that we look at ways to contribute to reducing climate change in the district including more sustainable energy generation and energy use / conservation.
Traffic congestion, and air pollution due to traffic are also important issues in some parts of the district. The potential pollution hotspots relate to the A12 and A14 trunk roads and the A131 southern approach to Sudbury, which carry relatively high volumes of fast-flowing traffic. The Ballingdon Street, Cross Street and Church Street area of Sudbury has been designated an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) as a consequence of traffic  congestion and air pollution.
The above average pollution level assertions apparently come from a 2008 publication from Suffolk County Council. Page 55 of the Development Framework gives an indication of some of the measures to be taken to reduce greenhouse gases but nothing is specific. I suspect that the figures and the conclusion are out of context or otherwise flawed. It’s possible that the A12/A14 Copdock interchange has been monitored but this junction is not representative of the District. (see http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=611500&y=241500&z=3&sv=611500,241500&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=611500&ay=241500)

The hunt for truth (and its consequences) continues.