Rochester East Neighbourhood Panel, led by local Labour councillors Teresa Murray and Nick Bowler, is holding the first ever meeting of its newly formed Volunteer Warden Group, who will be taking part in a Community Clean Up event.

Volunteers are invited to convene at 6.30pm in the car park of the Delce Healthy Living Centre on Wednesday 23^rd May. The group will then take part in a walk and litter pick around the ward.

The effort is kindly supported by Simon Harwood, one of Medway’s Community Officers, who has helped facilitate this great community effort. All equipment such as refuse sacks and gloves will be provided on the day.

Cllr Teresa Murray said, “Clearly, residents are willing to help keep their neighbourhoods clean, but they also want the Council to do more to support them. Though the community team in Medway are great, many feel they are overworked, so this will also be an opportunity for residents to hold the Council to account; to show they expect and deserve a better service on street and alleyway cleaning.”

For further information please contact ward councillors Cllr Teresa Murray on 07855378043 or Cllr Nick Bowler on 07793806011.

Medway Labour joined campaigners outside the London Assembly AGM at City Hall today to oppose Boris Johnson’s plans for an airport in the Thames Estuary.

Campaigners were represented from all parties, including Green mayoral candidate Jenny Jones, Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the Assembly, and Labour’s Murad Qureshi.

Leader of the Labour Group, Cllr Vince Maple said, “It’s great to see strong cross-party opposition to the Estuary Airport so soon after the Mayoral elections.

“This sends a strong message to Boris Johnson that there is widespread opposition to his ludicrous proposals for an airport in the Thames Estuary.

“Medway Labour will stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone, regardless of party politics, to oppose this potentially devastating plan.”

Cllr Tristan Osborne, who attended the rally, said, “It was great to see such cross-party support at the rally.”

“The rally today was timely as it coincides with the publication today by Kent County Council of its Aviation Paper opposing an Estuary Airport.

“This has been a longstanding campaign for Medway Labour, which we will continue to fight.”

Medway Labour Leader Cllr Vince Maple welcomes Dave Arthur to the party

Dave Arthur, the former Green Party parliamentary candidate for Chatham and Aylesford in 2010, has today joined the Labour Party.

Dave who is 41 and lives in Chatham decided to join the party following the election of Cllr Vince Maple as the new Medway Labour Group Leader last week.

Dave said, “I see this as a political homecoming – the Labour Party are offering a clear alternative to the Tory-led coalition’s programme which is damaging the community I care about. Having a fair deal on issues like energy, transport, jobs and tax is important to me and I look forward to campaigning with the Medway Labour team on progressing these and other policies”

Vince said, “It is great to welcome Dave to the Labour team. It shows that our party is offering a positive alternative. Voters from across the community can see Labour under Ed Miliband’s leadership nationally, and the new Medway Leadership team locally, standing up for a fair deal in these tough times.”

Cllr Teresa Murray, Labour’s spokesperson for Health and Adult Social Care and newly elected Deputy Leader, asked Cllr Brake at the recent meeting of Medway Council, whether, if in light of the fact two private care homes in Medway are in trouble this month*, he was confident that the Council would remain able to step in to protect vulnerable residents in future.

This question follows the decision taken by the Conservative administration to privatise Medway’s three remaining publicly owned residential care homes**, despite public opposition.

Cllr Murray then asked whether providers who have had concerns raised by the Care Quality Commission (the body responsible for monitoring residential care), or who have displayed clear accounting or financial problems, would be excluded from the tender process to take over the running of Medway’s care homes.

Cllr Brake refused to rule this out.

Cllr Murray says,

“Cllr Brake showed he is prepared to risk the safety and welfare of our elderly residents by refusing to exclude care providers from the tendering process who have fallen below CQC standards. He has also left the door open for companies who only want to make money from their vulnerable residents.

“As we have already seen in my ward at Sherwood House, such providers make poor decisions and leave council tax payers to pick up the bill when they go bust. It also means old and vulnerable residents have to suffer the distress of being moved.

“With or without the portfolio holder’s support, I’ll be working hard to try to ensure the tendering process for taking over our excellent council homes keeps poor care providers out.”

Editors Notes:

*The Grange care home in St Mary Hoo has been told to make urgent improvements by the CQC, and Sherwood House in Rochester went into administration and has subsequently closed.
**Robert Bean Lodge, Platter’s Farm and Nelson Court.

Leader and Deputy Leader of Medway Labour, Vince Maple and Teresa Murray, campaigning against the Conservative's programme of cuts and closures to Medway's adult care services

Medway Labour colleagues have elected Vince Maple unanimously as the new Group Leader at their Annual General Meeting. He takes over from Paul Godwin who has chosen to step down after 13 years in the role.

Vince, who at 34 is the youngest Labour Group Leader in the South East, said,

“It is a great honour to have been elected by my colleagues to the post of Group Leader. It will be a difficult act to follow Paul’s leadership for the last 13 years. 

“I will continue to hold the administration to account and stand up for all residents of Medway. Politics has got a bad reputation in recent years, so I want to rebuild people’s trust over time. I want to make sure people feel their voice is being heard, because I know not listening is a complaint I hear repeatedly about the current Tory administration. The Labour team want to work with people across Medway to make it an even better place to work, learn and live.”

Prior to focusing on local government service, Vince was a trade union officer for the GMB union, previously working as a civil servant in the Department of Work & Pensions and the Home Office. He has served as Labour spokesperson on the Council’s Children’s Services and Finance committees and has been Deputy Leader of the Group for the last year. Vince was former Labour MP Jonathan Shaw’s election agent in the 2005 and 2010 general elections and was recently elected to the South East Region Board of the Labour Party.

Vince has spearheaded the ‘End Legal Loan Sharks’ campaign in Medway, which has received wide support from residents across Medway as well as cross-party support in the council chamber. He also worked with families and communities to successfully defend primary schools in Rochester and Chatham from the threat of closure by the Tory administration.

Vince has lived in Chatham for most of life, moving here as a child when his Dad was in the Royal Navy. Vince attended Luton Infant and Junior Schools and the Howard School. He currently lives with his partner Mary in Chatham Central ward, which he has represented since 2007.

Cllr Paul Godwin, who remains as a Chatham Central ward councillor, says,

“My sincere congratulations to Cllr Vince Maple on being elected as the new Labour Group leader. From my experience of working with Vince I know that he will do a great job in taking us forward in the future and he has my full support”

Labour’s new Deputy Leader is Cllr Teresa Murray who was also elected unanimously to the post. Teresa says,

“I’ll be very pleased to support Vince in his new role; he has proved himself to be a great champion for the people of Medway and represents them with energy and enthusiasm. These are very difficult times and we want to protect jobs and local services under attack from the government’s cuts, as well as those handed out by the Tory administration locally, which are affecting frontline services.

“Paul Godwin’s leadership has served us well and we will continue to have the benefit of his extensive knowledge of local government in the Labour Group.”

Teresa Murray has been a councillor on Medway Council since 2000, and was the Labour parliamentary candidate in the 2010 general election for Rochester and Strood. She currently works in Further Education as Head of Faculty for Public and Retail Services at Midkent College. Teresa lives in Rochester with her partner, has two adult children who also work in the public services and enjoys being a grandmother to two boys.

Teresa is a member of the University and College Lecturers Union (UCU) and serves on the executive group of the local Labour Party.

The Labour leadership team in full:

Leader & Finance: Vince Maple

Deputy Leader & Health: Teresa Murray

Children’s: Adam Price

Communities: Glyn Griffiths

Planning: Nick Bowler

Group Whip: Julie Shaw

Vince and Teresa

Turning 60 this year, and having led the Labour group for 13 years, Cllr Godwin is now looking forward to taking a step back, though he will continue to serve as a dedicated Chatham Central councillor.

His Labour colleagues from Medway Labour group wish to pay tribute to his tireless service to local politics, and committed leadership over the last 13 years. Cllr Godwin’s leadership has steered the group through a markedly changed political landscape with surety and aplomb, helping secure 5 more Labour councillors for Medway only last May.

Cllr Godwin said,

“It has been a great privilege to lead the Medway Labour Group over the last thirteen years, during which time I have worked with a loyal and dedicated set of Councillors in my Group. I have decided to stand down so that I can have more free time to pursue other things but I will continue to be an active Councillor as well as continuing my work on the Kent Police Authority until November and as Deputy Chair of the Kent and Medway NHS Social Care and Partnership Trust.”

Deputy Leader and Ward Colleague Vince Maple said,

“It has been a great pleasure to serve under Paul’s leadership, both as a ward colleague and as his deputy for the last 12 months. We saw a 50% increase in the Labour team last May, in no short part thanks to Paul’s leadership and vision. He is well respected by both those in the Labour group and across the community we serve”

Cllr Paul Godwin with his ward colleagues Cllrs Julie Shaw and Vince Maple

Medway Labour has expressed dismay as the latest GDP figures which reveal that the UK has now entered recession.

David Cameron and George Osborne complacently boasted their austerity plan had taken our economy out of the danger zone, but their failed policies, supported by Medway Tory Councillors & MPs, have led us down the wrong path.

Labour consistently warned that their austerity plan was self-defeating and that cutting spending and raising taxes too far and too fast would badly backfire. David Cameron and George Osborne arrogantly and complacently dismissed people who warned of the risk of a double-dip recession and the country is now paying a very heavy price. Their economic credibility is now in tatters.

The reason why last month’s Budget is such a disaster for Medway is not just because it unfairly cut taxes for millionaires while clobbering families and pensioners, it also failed to come up with the plan for jobs and growth we desperately need.

Not only has our economy shrunk in the last two quarters – a 0.5 per cent contraction, which means we are in recession – but our economy has actually shrunk by 0.2 per cent in the year and a half since George Osborne’s spending review.

The price of this recession is billions more borrowing to pay for economic failure. The Government’s pledge to balance the books by 2015 is now in tatters and the next Labour government will have to clear up George Osborne’s economic mess.

Commenting Cllr Vince Maple, Deputy Leader of the Labour Group;

“The Labour message here in Medway has been clear and consistent – the government sticking to it’s economic policy will continue to damage our community and is simply not bringing the growth and jobs which we need.”

“The longer this out of touch and incompetent Government sticks with these failed policies, the more damage will be done.”

There is an alternative: Labour’s five-point plan.

Cllr David Colman and Supervisor Sue Hedley at the Greet Street pre-school

Gillingham South councillor David Colman has stepped in to safeguard the Green Street Adult Education Centre Pre-school.

Medway Council decided to close the Green Street Adult Education Centre in March, which houses the pre-school, without consultation on its future.

This pre-school has been running for many years and is a cherished community asset, providing an open and friendly environment for young children in their formative years.

Cllr Colman stepped in to get the pre-school and council decision-makers round the table to look at local options for suitable alternatives, which are currently being pro-actively explored.

Cllr Colman said,

“The pre school has given over 40 years service to the community. To not have been consulted about their future was plain wrong.

“I am pleased to have got the council and the pre school talking to hopefully find a suitable alternative”

Pre-school Supervisor Sue Hedley said,

“Although the future is not completely resolved, the information and options from the council have improved. I know the parents and staff are grateful for Cllr Colman’s representations to help us find a positive outcome”

The nursery currently looks after around 55 youngsters and employs nine permanent staff.

A petition is being organised by the community to safeguard this centre which you can sign.

Medway Labour Group are extremely disappointed to see more cuts to frontline services in the latest tranche of ‘Better for Less’ announcements.

Up to 75 posts will be cut from the council, impacting vital front-line public services including bereavement, registrars and libraries.

Cllr Vince Maple, Deputy Leader of the Labour Group said

“Less than a year ago, the Tories in Medway stood on a platform of no cuts to front line services. The truth is coming out now with valued services like libraries and bereavement services being impacted on. There can be no doubt these are broken promises from the Tories in Medway with hundreds of posts being deleted and redundancies happening across Medway.”

“One way of saving some considerable money would be to cut back on the amount spent on consultants telling the council how to do its job. The Tories have a poor track record on managing the council purse strings, be it on capital projects like the Bus Station, Chatham Roadworks and most recently the Stoke Crossing or having to have dozens of exceptions to their procurement processes often meaning the residents of Medway are not getting best value for money.”