New Council for 2009-10

The Annual General Meeting of Aylesbury Vale District Council was held in the Civic Centre, Aylesbury on 13th May.
There are a number of changes in the Council leadership for the forthcoming year: Cllr Janet Blake has been appointed Chairman of the Council in succession to Cllr Netta Glover, and Cllr Neil Blake has been appointed the cabinet member for resources.
I am honoured to report that I have been appointed to succeed Cllr Neil Blake as the Chairman of the council's Audit Committee.
This is an important committee which has the responsibility of approving the annual financial statements on behalf of the council, and also reviewing the risk management and internal audit work. It is a great privilege to have been chosen and I am looking forward to chairing my first meeting on 29th June.

Stop Aylesbury Vale Incineration

SAVI is the recently formed pressure group which is campaigning to stop the plans to build a new incinerator at Edgcott near the Calvert landfill site.

There are concerns about the health effects of incinerators, the impact of the additional waste lorries on our country lanes, and the threat to our beautiful historic woodlands such as Finemere Wood and Romer Wood.

Please see their new website via the link below, which contains a petition to Gordon Brown:

http://www.besavi.co.uk/

I made a strong representation to the County Council against the proposal to locate the incinerator at Calvert during the public consultation exercise last year.

Gordon Brown promises to look at Aylesbury

Full marks to David Lidlington MP who used his question at Prime Minister's Questions today to raise the issue of youth apprenticeships in Aylesbury, and managed to extract a promise from the Prime Minister to look into the situation.

A report on the exchange:

12.20 When youth unemployment is rising, why, asks Tory MP David Lidington, are apprenticeship budgets being cut in his constituency? Brown insists more is being invested in apprenticeships but promises to look at the situation in Aylesbury.

Let's hope that for once he keeps his promise.

Update: in his blog, David explains what prompted him to raise the question:

'In this weeks’ Prime Minister’s Questions I asked Gordon Brown to explain why the Government’s Learning and Skills Council (LSC) had cut the funding that it had promised training providers in Aylesbury for the next academic year. It seems to me that at a time when unemployment is rising amongst young people we need to invest in training to help ensure this country’s future.

Both ATG Training and Aylesbury College have warned me that the LSC’s indicative budgets would mean a big reduction in training. At worst, this could make it impossible for them to continue some courses which apprentices have started in good faith.

I have now written to the Prime Minister, asking that he looks into the particular difficulties that Aylesbury College and ATG Training face.

I will make sure to post an update once I have received a response from the Prime Minister.

To find out more, please click here to view the Hansard from 6th May Westminster Hall debate.'