And the HDC website problems continue!

The NEW website continues with problems. Some of the problems I encountered and I wrote about last time have been changed. But I have now come across a new problem.

There is a pop up with keeps asking me for authentication. Well I'm not looking for anything secret. Nor have I joined this website. So why is this asking me for a user name and password?

This new website is not very good. I know HDC has got massive money problems but this NEW website has obviously been done on the cheap. And it is showing!

Update on the HDC 2009/10 budget

I was checking up on what is happening with the current HDC budget. It turns out that HDC has reduced projected budget deficit from £3.8 million to £2.6 million. Link to the report under item 4.


Item 1.2 says: It is now expected that the outturn will be £22.2M, a reduction in the budget deficit of £1.2M, £2.6M will still need to be taken from reserves.

Whilst that is significant it is not as significant as the next paragraph which says:

1.3 COMT (Chief Officers Management Team) are conscious of the level of savings that will be necessary in future years and that if these are to be achieved efficiently there may be one-off costs to allow them to be achieved. As reserves fall it will be more difficult to make such “invest to save” decisions. It will therefore be proposed as part of the final budget paper that the reduction in the use of reserves this year (currently forecast at £1.2M) be used to create a reserve to help fund the achievement of savings.

So HDC is now going to use reserves that haven't been used to prop up the budget deficit to use on "invest to save" decisions! If this council had a proper strategy to reduce this deficit the "invest to save" money should have been put aside already. It seems to be HDC was so intent on propping up the budget that it wasn't thinking of the savings HDC needs to make.

Time the Conservative run HDC came clean on the level of cuts that need to happen!

Report Item 4.

Police Authority looking at an increase of 2.95%

At the Finance Committee Meeting on 20th January the Police have closed the £1.1 million budget deficit gap. The recommendation is for a 2.95% rise in their portion of the Council Tax. This will go to the Authority when it meets on 11th February 2010.

Report 20-01-10 Item 11
Agenda 20-01-10

Profile of John Clare - Green Party parliamentary candidate

NOT JOHN CLARE

Not much on this candidate. He has stood a couple of time in Huntingdon. In 2007 be got 62 votes. At the 2009 County Elections John stood in the Huntingdon Division and gained 606 votes, beating both Labour candidates.

jdwclare@hotmail.com

Profile of Jennifer O'Dell - United Kingdom Independence Party parliamentary candidate

J. O'DELL - NOT THE CANDIDATE

Jennifer O'Dell
Not much information on this candidate. Lives out in Great Staughton.

Election Result.
In 2004 Jenny O'Dell stood at the HDC Elections in the Kimbolton and Staughton ward. Jenny beat the Liberal Democrats and Labour candidates with 198 votes.

UKIP Huntingdon PPC: Mrs Jennifer O'Dell jennyodell@mypostoffice.co.uk

HDC new website?

HDC has announced a NEW website. On today's notice page it says: "Wecome to the new Huntingdonshire District Council Website".

So as it is new I thought I would try this out. This is what I found.

I looked up how many Councillors there currently are? The answer the new site gives is 52 with 37 Conservatives and 2 Non-aligned. This is wrong. Whilst there are 52 Councillors there are 36 Conservatives with 2 UKIP and 1 vacancy. The vacancy is because of Paul Dakers resignation as a Conservative Councillor for the Fenstanton ward.

In the news section I can find no information about Dakers resignation. Nor is there anything informing the residents of Fenstanton about the vacancy.

On the same page there is also a link to Christopher Beazley MEP. Except he isn't a MEP any longer! Also under External links the majority don't work except the one for the Labour MEP which is also the same link as the Liberal Democrats.

This is not good. There shouldn't be teething troubles on a new website as it should have been fully tested before going live. Obviously hasn't been fully tested.

The ECC Chairs are not a Gift!

When the Town Council was looking to build this community centre one of the groups who signed up was The River Church. To make this formal, a Memorandum of Understanding was agreed. Both sides agreed to the following:

"The PARTNER (The River Church) will commit to the hire of the Eatons Community Centre for a three year period from 15th August 2008 and will provide theatre style chairs for the Main Hall and a projector for the meetings rooms and will be part of the management committee of the centre."

The article is presumably from a press release. In the article the chairs are referred to as "a gift". But the Memorandum of Understanding is an agreement. The River Church gives the chairs and the projector and in return the Town Council has guaranteed the ECC will only be used by the Church on a Wednesday nights and  Sundays.

So in return for some chairs the Church gets a guarantee to use the ECC. Whether at £5,500 over a 3 year period, which works out at £35 a week, is worth this guarantee is a commercial decision by The River Church.

My definition of a gift is: "Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation." Obviously the chairs are part of the Agreement and they are not being bestowed without compensation. The chairs are NOT a GIFT.

Document

Memorandum of Understanding