So, the County Council haven’t listened to local people and have gone ahead with the sale of Westwood Care Home.  Six of the County’s care homes have been sold off allowing the buyers to cherry pick the best ones with Westwood going at the budget price of £300,000.  A quick scan on the internet reveals that similar homes are currently on the market for more than a million pounds.

This quick buck sale has had local business people telling me that if they had known it was going that cheap they would have bought it and run it for the local community. Family’s are also up in arms because they had offered to put a bid together and run it themselves.  Mr Cameron’s Big Society in action – but the Tory-run Notts County Council turned it down. 

Eric Morley, who was one of the few MPs to go to jail for his fraudulent expenses claims was let out early this week.  Far too early in my view.  A survey last week by the Committee on Standards in Public Life suggests that public confidence in MPs fell steeply between 2008 and 2010.  Whilst MP’s continue to be imprisoned for their expenses fiddles and continue to whinge in Parliament about the new expenses system we will not move forward. 

Chancellor George Osborne has been forced to downgrade the outlook for the UK’s economy for the third time this year. Now even the IMF is saying he needs a Plan B. Cuts to front line services in Bassetlaw impacts on how much people can spend in the community. By all means cut waste but Osborne needs to support new jobs in areas like ours, not keep cutting them.

Ensuring that there are jobs for our young people should be an essential part of a job creation strategy.  Youth unemployment in this area has increased by a shocking 26% since last year and its now 14% higher than the national average.  We lost a generation of young people with the pit closures in the 1980’s and action needs to be taken now to stop us going down that route again.

I’ve been told that there are more than 700 homes that have been standing vacant in Bassetlaw for more than six months.  I’m concerned about the derelict homes that don’t seem to have any owner.  Derelict properties are not just an eyesore, reducing the market value of neighbouring properties but they are a danger to the public.  The Council has the powers to take action and bring them back into use for local people.  We have a shortage of affordable rented homes in this area and the sooner action is taken, the better.