Working all year around for Stratton Conservatives

31/01/10 - St Philip Ward Update

St Philips Resident Survey

By now , Residents will have received through their letterbox a survey about Life in the St Philips Ward . We ask that all Residents please take the time to fill in the questionnaire and return the form in the pre paid envelope provided. The comments provided will be used to help your Ward Councillors to evaluate and act on the problems you have raised. Paul Findlow writes'' All replies are confidential and no details will be passed onto any third party. I ask that whatever your political persuasion you take a couple of minutes of your time to fill in the form . A full detailed breakdown on the problems raised will be given in a future edition.

Councillors Pay Rise

This year , your St Philips Councillors agreed with the current Conservative Administration, that the Annual Pay should be set a zero per cent increase. Paul Findlow writes'' In these unusual and difficult times it only seems fair that the Public feel they are getting value for money and that Councillors are not seen to be grabbing money out of the Public Purse when other hard pressed Residents are suffering real hardship due to the Recession. ''

All political parties on Swindon Council have supported this proposal.

Utility Watch in St Philips

Kingsdown Road-Temporary Traffic lights over A419 bridge for the intermittent unloading of materials ,9-9.30am only.-Due to finish 19.02.10.

Meadowcroft , Wales & West Utilities replacing mains

Pot Holes and the Bad Weather

Following the recent period of snow we your Councillors are aware of more pot holes appearing in our roads. Our Highways Inspectors are already out checking our roads and are starting with our main gritting routes and we have already starting filling pot holes in.

Please report any pot holes including their location ( outside which house) to 01793 445501 or www.swindon.gov.uk/streets. Alternatively you are aware of any problems in your Road then please inform a Councillor.

Cancer Treatment in Swindon

Readers may remember that in a past edition of the Stratton Outlook Paul Findlow wrote an article on the lack of Radiotherapy services in Swindon for cancer patients. Following a meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee on the 18 November there is a initially some progress being made.

The Committee received a report setting out the need for radiotherapy services in Swindon and the next steps necessary to meet that need. It was noted that cancer patients from Swindon currently had to travel to Oxford to receive their radiotherapy treatment and the main concern was to reduce this travelling time. Initial research indicated that the projected requirements of the catchment population for Swindon would justify establishing two linear accelerator machines here. Two machines would allow for routine maintenance down time but there was spare capacity within the area should there be any breakdowns or longer periods of maintenance required. However, there was a great deal of further research needed before a decision could be made on whether to proceed.

The committee noted the report and gave its full support to the project, requesting that the Primary Care Trust provide further reports as the project progressed. Paul Findlow writes '' This is a step in the right direction, and will hopefully have some even better news in the future ''

Positive Rating for Council's Children's Safeguarding Services

St Philips Residents may be interested to learn that Swindon Borough Council has been highly praised by Ofsted for its work with children and young people.

Ofsted has graded the council as currently the top performing local authority in the country for "safeguarding and looked after children" under the new inspection framework, which started in September 2009.

In a report published, Ofsted officially rated the council "good" overall for both its safeguarding services and looked after children services. The report, which is made up of 33 "grade descriptors" found that a quarter were "Outstanding" (eight), with a further 23 rated as "Good" and only two deemed "Adequate".

Cllr Gary Perkins, Cabinet Member for Children Services, said "I am very proud of this result which has been achieved through sheer determination and a real team effort across Children Services to raise standards even further. This news follows a recently graded outstanding Ofsted rating for our adoption services, so well done to all staff and partners and may the good work continue as we continue to strive towards excellence."

Ofsted inspectors made an unannounced visit to the council in December and carried out a thorough assessment of the council's Children Services over a two-week period, speaking to staff, parents, carers, elected members, statutory and voluntary partners and community representatives, including looking at case studies, processes and systems.

The inspection had a very strong "multi-agency" focus on the various service areas that are charged with supporting some of the most vulnerable children and young people in Swindon. This included schools, the council's key partners (voluntary and statutory), other council wide departments and the full range of children's service areas within the council.