Labour Group Leader Cllr Paul Jones was shocked by the public announcement of the closure of 3 of Amber Valley's Police enquiry Offices at Alfreton, Belper and Heanor.

The reason for this was that he had written to the Chief Constable about this very issue on the 8^th December and received a response from Chief Superintendent Karl Smethem on 19^th December which stated '..there is consideration been given to both our Enquiry Office hours and whether to retain all buildings. At this stage they are exactly that , considerations, and no decision has yet been made. In considering the Enquiry Office opening hours we have consulted with our users and conducted surveys regards footfall etc. In considering our buildings we will be examining each building on its merits and if consideration is being given to closure, then consultation will take place.'

This position was reinforced by Inspector Richard Smith when he attended the meeting of Heanor and Loscoe Town Council on 5^th January 2012 to answer the Town Council's concerns on this matter.

Despite the above the Constabulary announced yesterday their decision to close the Offices. So much for consultation or any details of how they reached the decision.

Their justification for the closures are set out on their website which can be accessed by clicking HERE

The agreement by Amber Valley to sell off its land on Nottingham Road Ripley to Morrison's is a concern to any right minded person not only for the way it was done but the possible impact on Ripley.

Members of the Council were kept in the 'dark' about the figures involved in this transaction up until 9.45pm on the night of the Council meeting on Wednesday 18th January and were only given 40 minutes by the Controlling Tory group to read all the details before having to vote on the matter. The Chief Executive told members that the negotiations had only just been concluded yet a meeting had been scheduled for last Monday 9th January to discuss and vote on this very item. It was only cancelled because of Labour's objections to the lack of information available to members. If that information was not available why did the Tory
group call the meeting with the support of the Mayor, who is a Tory Ripley Councillor?

Why have the Tory Council have sold the land to a Supermarket Company is also a concern . In its own Retail Study Roger Tym and Partners, that there is little support for such a development.

'Page 161 paragraph 9.22 states ' we have seen the existing food stores in the Borough are generally under-trading at present, and that there is relatively limited quantitative capacity for additional convenience goods floorspace. As many of the existing food stores are located within defined town centres,there will be a requirement to balance the need for improved/additional provision with ensuring that the vitality and viability of existing stores is not adversely impacted...'

paragraph 9.23 states ' We have identified that over the course of the study period, a qualitative need for additional food store provision in the Alfreton area arises. There is no strong qualitative requirement for elsewhere in the Borough...'

Both these issues raise concerns about the way the current administration operates

To read Amber Valleys Press release see below

The latest set of unemployment figures show the folowing
Unemployment

In the three months to November, unemployment was at 2.685 million.This is the highest level it has been since Jun-Aug 1994 when it was at 2.691 million.

This represents a rise of 118,000 since the previous three months.

It is only the fourth time since the recession when unemployment has gone up by over a 100,000 in a three month period.

Youth unemployment

Youth unemployment now stands at 1,043,000 (1.04 million) in the three months to November.

This is the highest level since comparable records began in 1992.

This is down to a three month on three month rise of 52,000.

Long-term youth claimant count

Long-term youth claimant count is up to 147,600.

This is the highest since June 1997 when it was at 152,000.

Since January 2011 it is up 74,500 – a rise of 102 percent.

Long term unemployment in over 50s

Up by 23.9% since January 2011

Women unemployment

• Women’s unemployment stands at 1,128,000 in the three months to November.

• This is the highest it has been since Sep-Nov 1987 when it was at 1,141,000.

• It is down to a rise of 59,000 since the previous three months.

• This is the fastest rise in a three month period since Mar-May 2009 when it rose by77,000.

Public/ private sector jobs

• The number of people in public sector employment was 5.99 million in September 2011, down 67,000 from June 2011.

• The number of people in private sector employment in September  2011 was 23.12 million, up 5,000 from June 2011.

 Amber Valley Tory group refused to support a Labour motion which asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reconsider the Government's ' attack 'on the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Group leader Cllr Paul Jones said ' I am disappointed that the Tories do not feel that they can support the hard working members of staff who have done so much to maintain services
to the residents of Amber Valley despite a difficult local Government settlement.You can only conclude that the Government dislike of Public sector staff is shared by the Tory group on Amber Valley.

During 2011 there were 151 by elections involving 158 seat across England and Wales. An analysis of these by Professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher for the local Government Association magazine  'FIRST' makes good reading for the Labour Party.

In the article they wrote

'Labour emerged as the most successful party, gaining 23 additional seats whilst losing only one to the Liberal Democrats. Nine of Labour's gains came in Conservative wards with seven gains made from the Liberal Democrats....It is interesting to compare the relative success of a party in defending its own territory.

Labour held 30 seats and lost one. The Conservatives lost 21 but held 62 (a loss rate of 25%).But the Liberal Democrats lost 14 and only held 12 -a lost rate of 54%.

The change in vote share confirms the broad pattern of national polling figures,with theConservative vote virtually unchanged from 2010,the Liberal Democrats falling by 7% and Labour rising by 9%.

Another useful measure of current party strength can be gauged by retained vote: each party's by election vote as a percentage of the vote it received in the previous May election.Given the
relative decline in voter turnout between a by election and the main contest we expect parties to lose votes,but by how much?

Labour's vote held up best of all,with a retained vote of 77% suggesting that around ¾ of voters that supported the party at the May election also turned out at the subsequent by election.

By contrast, the retained vote for the Conservative candidates fell to just 60%,a decline of 6 % compared to the previous year.

Local Liberal Democrats struggled persuading only 46% of its May supporters to vote again.This is a level not witnessed since the late 1980's when the alliance with the SDP was
disintegrating.

Figures from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Contabulary show a proposed reduction of 149 Police Officers for Derbyshire to meet the Tory Government 'Cuts'

March 2010 figures have been used as the baseline, because all forces began a recruitment freeze in that year, and as a result workforce numbers started to fall. The proposed figures shown for March 2015 were provided to HMIC by the force in June 2011. The force and authority’s plans for the workforce will continue to be refined as the change programme progresses.

For the full report on the Derbyshire Constabulary see below