Do we want an off licence there?

Quite a bit of controversy locally over an application from a local garage to start selling alcohol. The BP garage is off Aigburth Road and surrounded by residential streets including quite a bit of sheltered housing. We have already had quite a few residents get in touch to object. Our job now is to make sure everyone knows about the application and so can decide on their own response. Annoyingly the current laws mean that as councillors we can't automatically object unless someone living very locally to the site makes a point of asking us to. And in licensing issues not everyone wants to use their name which can make it hard to get all the proper requests. Anyway, we are making sure people are aware of the process. Anyone who wants to comment has until 23rd May to do so.

Neighbourhood fund

Today I was at a meeting with my two ward colleagues, Councillors Peter Millea and Richard Oglethorpe, and one of our neighbourhood officers. Each ward in Liverpool has a different amount of neighbourhood fund to spend - decided on by the local councillors. We don't have a huge amount- 40,000 in fact - and needless to say we have a wishlist that would cost a lot more. What we want to do is based on a mixture of knowledge of the ward and feedback from local people. We went through a menu of possible spending options and agreed to meet again in around a months time.

ID cards put poorer people at risk

This from the Guardian today.. yet another reason to abandon the ID cards scheme

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An official report has warned that the government's plans for ID cards may put poorer people at greater risk of fraud, and that ministers are failing to coordinate implementation of the 10-year programme.

In a blow to Downing Street, which insists that biometric technology will make ID cards safe, the report says people with a "rich biographical record" will have better protection when the cards are introduced by the target date of 2017.

The warning, which prompted Tory calls to abandon the scheme, came in the annual report by the Independent Scheme Assurance Panel. It is formally charged by the Home Office with overseeing the implementation of ID cards.

The panel, chaired by the non-executive director of the Identity and Passport Service, Alan Hughes, says mistakes will inevitably be made by machine and man, and warns that not enough work has been done to assess them.

"The integrity of the scheme and trust in it are essential, yet it will never be free of errors (for example, the biometric matching services will always return some matching errors). Public trust in the scheme will be dependent on the protections within the scheme from misuse of personal data, and the diligence with which mistakes are corrected."

Poorer people could be at particular risk of having their identity stolen because their cards could be their only form of ID, unlike holders of credit cards. "Identity verification is a process and should not be dependent upon any one piece of data (biographic or biometric) alone. It is already difficult successfully to pretend to be someone who has a 'rich' biographical record - provided the verifying organisation does adequate checks. Care must be taken that confidentiality and integrity are supported by proper processes and policies are not over-dependent on technology."

Damian Green, the shadow Home Office minister, said the danger to poorer people showed the need to scrap the scheme. "Poorer people who don't have lots of credit cards will be exposed to the mistakes and will therefore have their lives made a misery by being unable to prove their own identity.

"Gordon Brown is getting used to U-turns. This would be one of his more sensible ones before he makes the lives of poor people in this country even worse."

Parliament will decide whether the ID cards should be made compulsory for British citizens. They are to become compulsory this year for non-EU foreign nationals living in Britain, and for 200,000 airport workers and Olympic security staff from next year.

Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, hopes to build up a "critical mass" to support the £4.4bn scheme by giving incentives to public sector workers in "positions of trust", including nurses, care staff and teachers, to sign up early. They will be allowed to obtain a card without renewing their passport.

The panel also pointed out that a ministerial committee charged with coordinating identity management across government had been disbanded, and highlighted a "risk of shifting sands": ID cards could take so long to introduce that technology will move on and "priorities will shift".

Crewe by election

Spent yesterday in Crewe helping with the by election campaign. Another day of great weather - to the extent that the HQ was offering sun tan lotion before we went out. A very efficient operation - hardly any waiting, jobs given out straight away.

Crewe soon.. and more walking

I am going over to Crewe later this week to help in the by election, but suddenly realised a major logistical problem that needed to be solved.

My trainers have literally fallen apart.

I think the crucial damage was done in Dignum Mead which, for the uninitiated, is part of a leaflet round in Netherley. I walked the shoes to destruction - next election I think I will get a reserve pair.

Anyway - trip to the retail park means problem solved and am ready to start walking again!

Another plug -environmental initiative in South Liverpool

Transition South Liverpool invites you to a Climate Change Visioning Day!
Transition South Liverpool is a community-based group thinking about what climate change and the end of cheap fuel means for Liverpool's future.
This is a chance for us to think about what the main issues are for Liverpool, and get some practical projects up and running that will make a real difference to a sustainable Liverpool given climate change and the end of cheap fuel.

What kind of projects would you like to be involved in? What groups would you like to see developing projects? Come along and exchange ideas!
Some key areas that might get projects going are waste, working with local businesses, energy, a local documentary project, local currency, local food, a car share, community composting, growing food in back alleys, local reusable bag project, and......???

Date: Sunday May 18, 2008
Time: 11am - 4pm
Location: Unitarian Church
Address: 57 Ullet Road

refreshments from 10.30am
There will be a break for a bring-and-share lunch

Suggestion donation to cover costs: employed £3,
not employed £2

Peak Oil and Climate Change are swiftly bringing big changes in how we live on a day-to-day basis: Global agreements on climate change come with legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets, which can only be met if we lower our use of energy. Peak Oil, which experts expect to happen within the next 20 years but possibly could be happening right now, will result in big price increases on all goods that rely on oil. In the current economic system, most of our food, clothes and other goods, come from abroad, meaning they require energy for transportation, but there are other energy inputs too. Industrial farming requires oil to power machinery, as does manufacturing. Fertilisers and pesticides are made using oil. Plastic packaging of goods is made with oil.
In order to reduce Liverpool's carbon footprint, and in order to increase the resilience of our communities in the face of an increasingly precarious link to the food and other essential goods, it is time now to take steps that will guarantee our community the chance to prosper in the future.

Home Start

Off to a meeting of people interested in getting a Home Start scheme going in parts of South Liverpool. It looks like we may be able to get at least some areas covered. Home Start is a registered charity which recruits volunteers who then visit families to offer some support. Its run at local level with each area having a committee and staff and recruiting volunteers locally. There used to be one in Speke/ Garston which closed a while ago. There is an existing scheme now based in Toxteth. I really hope we can make some progress - we all agreed to follow up various contacts and ideas.