Highways are one of the biggest issues that I have to deal with. Now I know not everything is perfect but I do also think we have come a long way in recent times.
It’s not unreasonable for residents to not understand why, when I as County Councillor report an issue on their behalf, it isn’t dealt with as a matter of priority. There are several reasons why this doesn’t happen.
Starting with good old Potholes. I can register them and get them inspected. Should they meet the 40mm depth required for attention after inspection then it will get logged to be done but unless extremely dangerous they can only assure me that they hope to get the hole sorted in 28 days. I will tell you now with 11 Parishes and requests from all I cannot possibly keep a check on the 28 day ruling. There are many other things to be considered that County provide. That said we are not doing badly and that includes the drainage work that they are gradually getting on top of.
I am sure most of you who have been in business will understand that, for instance Highways, Adult Services and other services provided have to be done by going out to contract and when a contractor is chosen it isn’t totally down to the cheapest but who provides the best service for what you are paying and at times it’s difficult to get something put in to a programme that isn’t in the time line for work to be carried out by the contractor. That’s the way things are but I still say I have been successful in getting some things done that were probably not in the time line of a particular contract. I can but try.
Time to remind everyone that if they want to book a time for the waste and recycling sites they are now all operating on the winter timetable so please check for your area before booking a time.
Adult Services which is probably the biggest of our contracts has just been judged by CQC (Care quality commission) to be good. Yes, outstanding is always better but Good is a very high standard so we’re not doing so badly in fact I think we’re doing pretty well. Always improvements to be made and we will make them.
Some of you may have seen our Cabinet member for Children’s Services and Education Cllr Jacquie Russell on Panorama. This was mainly on the SEND children programme and believe me we are working hard to make sure every child is helped it is not easy. The Government money does not cover the costs and the costs of particularly high looking after our SEND children is enormous. We have recently finished a special School, Woodlands Mead especially for SEND children and you are looking at £25 to £35 million. I give a wide span because I don’t have the final figures for the last School we built but you can see the sort of Ball park you are in. However it’s important that we make sure all the children have the best that we can do for them and many of our Primary Schools also find it difficult with accommodation for these extra help children. You can’t stop trying though and as I’ve said before our Children’s Services have leapt forward over the last 5 years and we now await still the OFSTED people to come and see how we’ve done.
I’ve tried not to put too much about devolution and local government reorganisation in but very happy to run through it with any Parish that would like to know more.
The situation at the moment is that the County Council, East and West Sussex have been accepted for a Mayoral role and that elections will be next May. The discussions now are all around Local Government re organisation.
The County position has been sent in asking for one Unitary for West Sussex and that would mean everyone got the same standard of Service acknowledging the fact that County do 80% of local Government services and if all the other Districts and Boroughs went and became part of one Unitary for West Sussex instead of the 70 Councillors we have now there would be an extra 20 and all the Services like for instance waste and recycling and other services would be under one organisation. The Districts and Boroughs have each submitted their own opinions and they all want 2 Unitaries, oh except for Brighton of course who have put in a scheme for 5!!. At the end of the day we don’t make the decision the Government department does so we all await their decision. As yet the Minister hasn’t let us know if County will have elections in 2026 or not. Some think and I agree that it could be confusing if people have to vote for a Mayor and then have a vote for a County Councillor who will only be there for something over a year because County, Districts and Boroughs all disappear in 2028.
As ever if you need to contact me it’s janet.duncton@westsussex.gov.uk and mobile 07979152898.
Janet Duncton,
County Councillor Petworth division,
WSCC representative on South Downs National Park