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BBC News Reports...

UN urges 'special' wave response

Delivery of aid remains a problem in many areas United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said the scale of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster demands an unprecedented world response. He said the international community had reacted well to the wave aftermath but long-term commitment was required. The World Bank, individual countries and citizens have pledged $500m in aid. The death toll from Sunday's disaster is continuing to rise as relief workers reach more remote areas. More than 123,000 people are now confirmed dead.

The Campaign for the Freedom of Information have published this useful article...

Your new rights to information

On January 1 the long-awaited Freedom of Information Act finally comes into force. The Act gives the public important new rights to the information held by public authorities. Worried about possible changes to your local school or hospital? The Act should allow you to see the evidence for them. Want to know whether the police are doing enough about burglaries? Use the legislation to probe their response times and clear-up rates. Unhappy about a regulatory body that never seems to do anything when people complain? Ask for their internal guidance on handling complaints and see their staff are doing what they're supposed to do.

The FOI Act is only part of the new openness package. Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) which implement a new EU directive come into force at the same time. These provide a more powerful right to information about pollution, conservation, the natural environment, land use, road building, genetically modified organisms, air and water-borne diseases, food contamination and many other issues. The regulations include the utilities and private contractors acting on behalf of a public authority.

Amendments to the Data Protection Act also come into force on January 1, improving your rights to see personal data held about yourself by public authorities, though not the private sector. You can already see computerised personal data and your own medical, social work, housing and children's school records. But other records are only available if held in a structured form that allows specific information to be located easily. That restriction is now removed, allowing you to see "unstructured" information too.

Some 100,000 public authorities are subject to the UK Act which covers government departments, local authorities, NHS bodies (including individual GPs, pharmacists, dentists and opticians), schools, colleges and universities, the police, the armed forces, museums, quangos, regulators, advisory bodies, publicly owned companies, the devolved assemblies and parliament itself - but not the security and intelligence services or the courts. The UK At applies to UK government departments and English, Welsh and Northern Ireland public authorities. A separate FOI Act and set of EIRs apply to the Scottish executive and Scottish public authorities and also kick in on January 1.

Using the laws couldn't be simpler. Send a letter, email or fax to the authority describing the information you want. If you want photocopies, or would prefer to have the information emailed or to inspect it in person, say so. The authority must comply with your preference where practicable.

Send your request to the FOI officer, whose contact details should be on the authority's web site, or directly to the official who handles the matter if you know who that is. You don't even have to mention the FOI Act or EIRs, though it's safer to do so. The authority has to treat any written request for information under the right legislation, whether or not you ask it to. If you're after environmental information even a telephone request will count, though putting it in writing is still a good idea.

You can ask for any recorded information held by the authority, regardless of when it was recorded. Old government files, which until now have been secret for 30 years will have to be disclosed, subject to the Act's exemptions.

Make your request as specific as possible. Work out as clearly as you can what it is you want or think might exist. Don't be afraid to phone the authority and ask what kind of materials it holds. Both the Act and the EIRs require authorities to provide reasonable advice and assistance to requesters.

The authority must reply to your request "promptly" and in any case within 20 working days. Under the UK Act, this can be extended for a "reasonable" period where decisions are taken under the Act's public interest test. Extensions are also allowed for requests received by schools during vacations, for closed files held by the National Archives, or for information held overseas or which has to be obtained from military personnel on active service. These don't apply to the EIRs, where the only permitted extension is for complex, large requests when up to 40 working days is allowed.

So long as you FOI request isn't too sweeping, you won't have to pay apart from photocopying, printing and postage costs. However, if the cost of finding and extracting the information you want exceeds a set limit, the authority doesn't have to provide it at all. For government departments, this limit is £600, equivalent to three and half days work at a set rate of £25 an hour. For other bodies it is £450 or two and a half days work. A £600 limit also applies in Scotland, though the first £100 of all charges, including photocopying, are waived and you pay only £1.50 an hour for staff time. Crucially, the time spent deciding whether to release information can't be included in any of these calculations. There are no cost limits under the EIRs. So if the information you want is environmental, be sure to point this out.

You won't be able to split a large request into severall smaller ones to avoid the limit. The costs of related requests to a single authority within 60 working days of each other can be aggregated under the UK Act (though not in Scotland). This is still a generous deal compared with some countries. Ireland's FOI legislation allows a fee of up to £500 or information that would be free under the UK Act.

The FOI Act contains plenty of exemptions. Information is exempt if its disclosure would be likely to prejudice (or in Scotland "prejudice substantially") interests such as defence, international relations, law enforcement, commercial interests, the economy, the frankness of internal discussions or the "effective conduct of public affairs". However, most exempt information will have to be released if the public interest in disclosure is greater than the public interest in confidentiality. The benefits of disclosure, in protecting public safety, exposing wrongdoing, preventing the public from being misled, accounting for public spending or ensuring informed debate may swing decisions in favour of openness.

Some exemptions have no "prejudice" test and disclosure depends solely on the public interest test. These include exemptions for legal advice, information obtained during investigations by the police or prosecuting authorities and information relating to the formulation of government policy. This doesn't mean that you won't get such information: the public interest test will still apply. Expect no access at all to court records, information about the security services or information whose disclosure is prohibited by other laws. Personal information about others won't be released if disclosure would breach the Data Protection Act. Information whose disclosure would be a breach of confidence is exempt, but this common law principle involves a public interest test. The EIR exemptions are different and fewer - and all are subject to the public interest test. One notable feature is that emissions data cannot be withheld on commercial confidentiality grounds.

If you are refused information, the authority should tell you under which exemption and why it thinks disclosure is not in the public interest. The first step in challenging a decision is to complain to the authority itself, which should review it at a more senior level. It's not your job to prove that the information should be disclosed. Say why you think the decision is wrong, if you can, but a simple request for it to be reconsidered will be enough.

After that you can complain to the Information Commissioner. His decisions are legally binding and authorities which ignore them could face action for contempt of court. Under the UK Act, though not Scotland's, there is a right of appeal against the Commissioner's decisions to an Information Tribunal. All decisions can be challenged in court on a point of law.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. The legislation's most contentious feature is a ministerial veto, allowing cabinet ministers to override the Commissioner if he orders a government department to release information on public interest grounds. Scottish ministers have a slightly more limited power of veto over Scotland's Commissioner. The veto's use can't be kept secret and could be judicially reviewed. But no-one is putting any bets on ministers being able to resist its use where politically damaging information is at stake.

Don't let that put you off asking and don't give up after an initial refusal. Public authorities are likely to be forced into much greater openness by the Act. No-one yet knows where the line will be drawn - it's up to you to find out.

 Council Tax...

It's early days yet but here is the official County Council statement following the December Cabinet Meeting. What do you think?

Cabinet proposes 4.25 per cent Council Tax rise

Worcestershire County Council’s Cabinet has proposed a 4.25 per cent increase in Council Tax for the next financial year.

Cabinet met yesterday (Monday, December 20) to discuss the County Council’s revenue budget requirements for 2005/06. The revenue budget is what the authority uses for its day-to-day running of services such as education, highways, social services and libraries.

Around two-thirds of this budget is funded by a Government grant, which has been provisionally increased by 5.8 per cent. So an increase of around 4.25 per cent would be needed to allow the County Council to continue improving services towards the standards residents expect and deserve.

Cllr John Gordon, Health Concern Leader and Cabinet Member, said: “We are making great improvements and the Audit Commission has said we are an Excellent council. This is because of the investments we have been making in services.

“We ran this council on the cheap for a number of years and the quality of our services reflected that. Now we are asking residents to pay for excellent services and that’s exactly what they’re getting.”

Cabinet will now talk to key stakeholders such as parish and district councils about the proposal before it comes back to Cabinet early in February. A final recommendation would then be made for Full Council’s decision on February 18.

Worcestershire County Council’s budget priorities are laid out in its Medium Term Financial Plan, which was unanimously approved by Full Council in February 2002.

A 4.25 per cent increase on a Band D property will increase the County Council’s share of the Council Tax bill by £35 from the current £824. West Mercia Constabulary, Hereford & Worcester Fire Service and district and parish councils will add their own precepts to make up the final bill.

 Electrical work in your home or garden...

New Government legislation comes in from 1st January. We found this online explanation...

Important notice for all householders

• From 1st January 2005 you will need Building Regulation permission for any electrical work in your home or garden.
• This means that all electrical work must be installed by a competent person or electrician.
• Work must have a certificate of compliance as per the Electrical Regulations or Building Regulations (BS7671)
• The aim of this new requirement is to reduce deaths caused by defective electrical installations.

Remember you will be breaking the law if you do not obtain the relevant approval or certification for installations. You will also be asked to supply evidence of satisfactory installation when selling or mortgaging the house if you own it.
EXCEPTIONS - Electrical work that does not need building regulation approval: Work connected to a 13A plug Certain minor works such as replacement of sockets, switches or roses Minor replacement of one cable Adding lighting points or sockets to existing circuits providing not in a bathroom, kitchen, sauna, pools, gardens etc.

Ocean disaster toll hits 114,000

Officials in Indonesia say the number killed there is now nearly 80,000 and the death toll from the worst-hit area is set to rise still higher.

Christmas Card Trivia....

We've always been struck by the strange Christmas Cards that arrive and by the changing trend in cards. One now "ex" Labour MEP use to send cards bearing seasonal portraits of Marx and Engels. We kid you not! An "ex" Labour County Councillor and her husband added to the seasonal merriment with a card bearing a map of Kidderminster allotments in the 1830s! We haven't had anything that strange this year but wait for our 2005 Christmas Card analysis.

Mind you I'm in no position to talk having sent this design (a reproduction of a mid 1930s card from M/S Piłsudski)on a Christmas Card this year...

...although only to a small circle of M/S Piłsudski devotees!

Fran approves of Portillo?

View the evidence!

Express & Star reported it like this...

Street sign replaced after battle

A street sign has been replaced in Kidderminster - after a two-year battle waged by councillors and residents.

BBC News reports...

The hunt for survivors is drawing to a close Aid workers around the Indian Ocean are struggling to reach millions of victims of Sunday's devastating tsunami waves. Relief teams and supplies are pouring into the region, but have yet to reach the hardest hit and remote areas. There are reports of desperate people fighting over aid. Aftershocks and fears of new tsunamis have sown panic among survivors in Indonesia and India. Millions remain at risk from hunger and disease, five days after the disaster, now known to have killed 84,000 people.

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent. (Author unknown)

One World Week 6th – 13th February 2005. We could take this opportunity to learn more about young people in other parts of the world. Included with this mailing is a booklet called ‘Connect’ which demonstrates how different faiths nevertheless have shared values. It suggests a number of different ways that young people can learn about different faiths and get together to talk about their lives and values. For more information visit www.oneworldweek.co.uk

As youth and children’s workers we want to make the UK a place where respect, co-operation and trust exist between people of different faiths and beliefs.

Bad Timing...

As the total of fatalities in the Asian floods soared above 50,000 BBC TV's "Changing Rooms" showed them tackling the aftermath of the Boscastle flooding. Arguments about whether or not walls should be painted beige or not after flooding seemed less than appropriate tonight. Couldn't they have left it for a few weeks?

If you agree then tell the BBC:-

What do YOU think?

We get lots of helpful comments and information from visitors to this blog.

Conversely we are often surprised when a posting we thought was uncontroversial stirs up real fury.

You can help. What do YOU like and dislike about this blog? What could we do to improve it? Use the "comment" function at the end of this posting to tell us or email us at oborski@btinternet.com

Car Park Chaos....

Fran just spent an hour trying to get out of Sainsbury's Car Park. The problem? (a) That awful junction combined with (b) idiots (mostly men she claims) driving the wrong way round the car park! Have fun!

"Around the Region"

...interestingly the Express & Star "Dudley & Wyre Forest" section - which barely ever mentioned Wyre Forest - has transformed into "Around the Region". So now we won't be able to complain if it scarcely mentions Wyre Forest! Cunning!

Meanwhile the nearest it gets to Wyre Forest today is to plug a barn dance at Hartlebury!

 Phone Masts...

A number of local residents have been in touch by e-mail expressing concern at the decision of the Wyre Forest Planning Development Control Committee to allow a phone mast on the Greenhill Industrial Estate. Most of the objectors had concerns about possible risk to health. Here is the core of Fran's reply...

"Approval for the mast was voted through by Conservative, Labour and Health Concern Councillors. The three Liberal members of the Committee (Paul Harrison, Siri Hayward and myself) voted against.

Here's how events in Ukraine are seen in Poland today...

Three Cheers for Democratic Ukraine!

West-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko took an unassailable lead in Ukraine's re-run presidential election, pledging an end to corruption and drift for the former Soviet republic, Reuters agency reports. He wants to align Ukraine, its economic potential squandered by years of mismanagement, with central and western Europe, fanning concerns in neighboring Russia that it will lose influence over a region where it held sway for 300 years. Poland has been instrumental in supporting Ukrainian democracy since Kiev declared independence from Moscow in 1991. During the election crisis, it sent the biggest number of independent observers there. Michal Kubicki reports.

Pick up on Radio Polonia Broadcast here!

Read Yuschenko's Programme here!

Christmas Greetings

from

Cllr Graham Ballinger, Cllr Paul Harrison,

Cllr Siri Hayward, Cllr Rachel Lewis,

Cllr Fran Oborski, Cllr Mike Oborski,

Cllr Mandy Poole, Mike Price,

Cllr Rob Wheway,

=== & ===

The Local Liberal Focus Team

Old Marks & Spencer...

The new occupants of the old Marks & Spencer site in Kidderminster were reported a couple of weeks ago in The Shuttle as saying the store will be refitted after Christmas. Let's hope so. Meanwhile a little bird tells us that the reason why so much of the windows are still boarded up is because the security people who boarded the site as it was vacated used a resin based adhesive to bond boarding directly on to to glass. Apparently it is not exactly easy to get the boarding off and clean the glass!

At last...

After two years of demanding action the new Baldwin Road sign has as last arrived! Photo shows Cllr Fran Oborski with the new street name plate.

Get off your back sides and get there!

The Agenda for the FINANCE & CORPORATE AFFAIRS POLICY & SCRUTINY PANEL of the Wyre Forest District Council ought to be extremely important!

Tonight it considered "Budget Strategy" and "Budget Reports 2005-2008"!

Important? Yes!

The Agenda says "Would Members please note that, to ensure continuity in scrutiny reviews, substitutes should only be appointed for the 'Policy and Scrutiny Panels' in exceptional circumstances."

The turn out tonight?

Out of an ELEVEN member Panel only FIVE members were present!

Of the SIX who were missing only TWO even bothered to send substitutes!

Worst offenders were the Conservatives. Only two of their five members were present. The other three did not send substitutes!

The turn out of Panel members was...

Liberal...

Out of 2:-

Present 2 / Absent without sustitute 0 / Absent but sent substitute 0

Conservative...

Out of 5:-

Present 2 / Absent without sustitute 3 / Absent but sent substitute 0

Health Concern...

Out of 2:-

Present 0 / Absent without sustitute 1 / Absent but sent substitute 1

Labour...

Out of 1:-

Present 1 / Absent without sustitute 0 / Absent but sent substitute 0

Liberal Democrat...

Out of 1:-

Present 0 / Absent without sustitute 0 / Absent but sent substitute 1

Husum Way Bridge...

...The new kerbing is courtesy of Railtrack NOT Worcestershire County Council. Apparently they thought there was enough parking on the bridge by train spotters to justify the expense! What do YOU think?

A goat is for life not just for Christmas...

FARM FRIENDS are the new gifts that change lives.

For £30, you'll get a toy goat and information pack to give to someone you love. Even better, your gift will also give an African farming family a real goat - and with it the chance to build a better life for themselves. It's the perfect gift for people who care - whatever their age.

020 7430 0440

or text 'goat' to 84862

FARM-Africa Charity No. 326901

www.farmfriends.org.uk