Gedling Borough Council and other authorities from across Notts may need to find millions of pounds to fund a pay rise for staff unless they get help from the Government.
In some cases as much as £1.5m could be added to individual authorities’ pay bills, with all council employees potentially receiving a £1,925 boost.
Two Nottinghamshire councils have called on Whitehall to help fund the rise if it goes ahead and prevent budget pressures.
It follows union calls for either £2,000 or a rise in line with inflation – now standing at 10.1 per cent – to help council workers cope with the cost of living crisis.
The National Employers – the organisation in control of public sector pay – came back with the £1,925 offer and ongoing negotiations will decide whether it is accepted.
If agreed, every member of staff employed by councils would receive the sum regardless of pay bands, working out at a 10.5 per cent rise for the lowest-paid workers.
And it could be backdated to April 1, 2022, putting pressure on councils to find the funding straight away for staff working in their organisations.
Most Nottinghamshire authorities say they are awaiting the result of the ongoing negotiations before confirming how it will impact their finances.
However, both Gedling Borough Council and Ashfield District Council have revealed it could add millions to the pay bills of the county’s lower-tier authorities.
Responding to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a spokesperson for Labour-led Gedling said the pay award will add almost £1m to its own pay bill, despite only budgeting for an increase £420,000.
The authority said it will need to make savings to make up the shortfall unless the Government agrees to financial support.
A council spokesperson said: “This would add in excess of £950,000 to our pay bill for which the current budgets only allow for £420,000.
“The shortfall of £530,000 would have to be taken from balances in the short-term and be set as a further efficiency target to be found in the longer term.
“Unless of course, the government agree to make a contribution to each council.”
At Ashfield District Council, the amount potentially added to the pay bill is even higher, at £1.5m.
And Cllr Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), the authority’s leader, believes more support is needed.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Government expects us to deliver key services on a shoestring. Our staff do an excellent job and that should be rewarded.
“That said, this will hit our reserves. The Government need to fund our public services properly – warm words don’t pay bills.”
Their concerns come after the Local Government Association urged for Whitehall intervention over similar increases to the National Living Wage, which could rise by 20 per cent in the next two years.
The body, which represents all councils in England and Wales, says without Government support, services could be “put at risk”.
Cllr Andrew Western, chair of the LGA’s resources board, previously said: “Councils know this year will be tough for many, especially those on the lowest incomes.
“Supporting those on the lowest pay is not only fair but improves the motivation, loyalty, productivity, and retention of hard-working council staff.
“However, staff pay makes up a huge proportion of councils’ costs and it is clear that the rising cost of living is going to have a huge knock-on impact on pay pressures for local government.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for a comment.
However, the Government did not respond to requests.
Discount retailer Aldi has now overtaken Morrisons to become the UK’s fourth largest grocer, Grocery Gazette has revealed.
Aldi’s UK grocery market share saw a 9.2% rise in the four weeks to August 7, whereas Morrisons sat at 9%.
PICTURED: Morrisons in Netherfield (PHOTO: Neil Slack Photography)
More customers are now using discount retailers for their weekly food shops after supermarket inflation hit 11.6% last month, its highest level since 2008.
Rising food prices has seen Aldi and Lidl gaining a combined 1.8% of grocery sales in the last 12 weeks, with £2.3 billion annual sales gained within the last year, Kantar data shows.
This news comes as Aldi has partnered with surplus food app, Too Good To Go in a bid to ramp up its ongoing battle against food waste.
In comparison with this same time last year, Morrisons had a 10% market share.
US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice recently purchased Morrisons. The deal, which saw Morrisons dealing with substantial debt, came with concerns that it would have to increase its food prices.
The price of some bus services running in Gedling borough is set to increase next week as a result of rising inflation, and the high cost of fuel, parts and wages.
Nottingham City Transport have announced plans to introduce new fares from Sunday, August 28, 2022, in response to what they say are ‘significantly increased operating costs’.
The transport firm says fuel and staffing costs are much higher than at the start of the year, with diesel costing NCT up to 50% more and its gas price almost double.
They say NCT driver pay rates have also increased by 8.5-9.5% this year, in response to the national shortage of bus drivers, with higher rates of pay introduced to recruit new drivers and minimise cancellations that are affecting the industry.
Despite these significant cost pressures, the average fare increase is below the current 10.1% rate of inflation, at 6%, as NCT continues to absorb much of the higher costs being faced.
David Astill, NCT’s managing director said, “We appreciate these are difficult times for all and our business is contending with cost increases too. We have absorbed as much of the increase in staffing and fuel costs as we can and as a result, the increase on our main fares is well below the current rate of inflation. We are confident our fares continue to offer value for money with many discounted fare options for the regular traveller.”
New prices in the Nottingham City Area, which apply to all payment methods, will be:
Adult
Under 19
Group
Short Hop
Frozen at £1.50
–
–
Local Fare Clifton
£1.50
£1.50
–
Standard Single
£2.50
£1.50
–
Standard Single x 10 Trips (App only)
£22.50
£13.50
All Day Ticket – Nottingham
£4.70
£2.70
£7.00
All Day Ticket – NCT Network
£7.00
£5.50
£10.00
Park & Ride
–
–
£5.00 per car
Outer Area fares on South Notts 1, Pathfinder 26 and Sky Blue 46, 47 will increase for the first time in 3½ years, with single fares rising by up to 80p and day return fares rising by up to 90p.
New Easyrider Everyday and Anyday prices (and equivalent passes on the NCTX Buses app) are:
A persistent offender has been jailed after he was spotted pushing a stolen fridge freezer down the road in a wheelbarrow in Calverton
Officers patrolling the village were alerted to the theft of the fridge, a washing machine, dish washer and toilet from a nearby property.
Witnesses later reported seeing a man wheeling the fridge through the village.
Michael Wilson was arrested at his home by police officers
Michael Wilson, 47, of Labray Road, Calverton, was arrested at his home address a short time later at around 3pm on August 15, 2022.
On searching the property, officers found the fridge freezer which was still in its packaging.
Wilson, who has previous convictions for burglary, was also found to have a small amount of cannabis in his pocket.
He appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (August 17) where he was jailed for 30 weeks after admitting possession of drugs and handling stolen goods.
Police Constable Carly Smith, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Wilson is a persistent offender and we hope this result provides reassurance to the community.
“We have had a lot of reports of crime in this area but the public should rest assured that our officers are working tirelessly to remove this type of law breaking from our communities and to take offenders off our streets.”
Residents in Gedling borough are being warned of serious disruption to post over the next few weeks.
Postal workers employed by Royal Mail are set to strike for the first time in 13 years in a national dispute over pay.
When are the Royal Mail strikes?
Royal Mail staff plan to strike on:
Friday, August 26
Wednesday, August 31
Thursday, September 8
Friday, September 9
How will services be affected?
The company has apologised to customers, but says it has plans to minimise the disruption.
In a statement it said: “Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but they cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce. We will be doing what we can to keep services running, but customers should expect significant disruption.”
On days when strike action is taking place, Royal Mail says it will:
Deliver as many special delivery and tracked 24 parcels as possible
Prioritise the delivery of Covid test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible
Not be delivering letters (with the exception of special delivery)
Items posted the day before, during or in the days after any strike action will be subject to delay.
Why are the strikes happening?
The move follows an overwhelming vote earlier in July, in which postal workers voted by a margin of more than 97 per cent to take strike action.
This is in pursuance of their union’s pay claim, with the Communication Workers Union stating this is against a backdrop of the company imposing a two per cent increase on the workforce without reaching agreement with the trade union.
Workers are demanding a “dignified, proper pay rise”.
“We can’t keep on living in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks,” CWU general secretary Dave Ward has said.
“When Royal Mail bosses are raking in £758m in profit and shareholders pocketing £400m, our members won’t accept pleads of poverty from the company.
“The CWU’s message to Royal Mail’s leadership is simple – there will be serious disruption until you get real on pay.”
In response to the proposed action, a Royal Mail spokesman commented: “Instead of engaging meaningfully on change that will secure future jobs, the CWU has decided to ballot against change.
“We are losing £1million a day, and we need to change what we are doing to fix the situation and protect jobs.
“This change is also needed to support the pay package we have offered to CWU grade colleagues, worth up to 5.5 per cent.
“This is the biggest increase we have offered for many years and the CWU has rejected it.
“This would add around £230million to Royal Mail’s annual people costs when the business is already loss-making.
“The CWU has put forward ideas for change that would cost over £1billion, while not delivering the changes needed to ensure Royal Mail can grow and remain competitive in a fast-moving industry.
“These actions do not represent a union that supports change. We wanted to meet this week but were disappointed the CWU could not make it – we hope to meet next week.
“The CWU have their heads in the sand and are failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
“Royal Mail can have a bright future, but we cannot achieve that by living in the past. Customers want more parcels, bigger parcels, delivered the next day, including Sundays, and more environmentally friendly options.
“By modernising, we can offer more of what our customers want at a price they are willing to pay, all while protecting jobs on the best terms and conditions in the industry.”
There have been a large number of pubs in Arnold over the years, with some 40 public houses being recorded in the town at various times.
Many of these may in fact be the same pub as they changed their names from time to time with the Old Spot now being called Cooper’s Brook and the Horse and Jockey now being called Eagles Corner. These being two recent examples of this trend.
Pub names were traditional and therefore old pub names have a meaning connected with the area, history or position of the establishment. Many original pub names were derived from a simple sign or object since most people could not read so the boozer had to be easily identified.
The Plough was an easy object to put outside a pub in the countryside. Some sign artists depict the Plough as the constellation; this consists of seven stars and so leads to the name the Seven Stars found in Arnold, Redcliffe, Bristol, Shincliffe, County Durham, Chancery Lane, Robertsbridge and High Holborn
The Seven Stars pub building on Calverton Road, Arnold was much older than its first recorded date of 1805 and is possibly from the 1700s. It is known that there were four pubs in Arnold in 1644 but not where they were positioned, or their names, so there may have been a previous building on this site. This may well have been called The Plough and had a plough as a sign. It could have also been The Star as this was traditionally the pub name of the building nearest to a St Mary’s Church. The Seven Stars and The Star being common in this form. An example of this was that my younger daughter used to live in a converted pub in Thetford, Norfolk next to the local St Mary’s Church and this had been called The Star.
The Seven Stars in Arnold had been owned in the 1800s by the Robinson family and was one of a number of local pubs they acquired early on as part of their business ventures. The two brothers John and Samuel Robinson, who started Home Brewery and Daybrook Laundry, bought pubs before they started the brewery.
The brothers appear to have given this one up on Seven Stars however as it was a Hutchinsons Basford Brewery pub in 1913.
The sale along with others was possibly to raise money to start the Home Brewery. They must have bought it back again at a later date as it sold Home Ales later in its life.
Earlier landlords of this pub appear to have been from the same family and it was possible that it was family owned rather than having tenant landlords..Thomas Sulley was the publican of the Seven Stars Pub in Caverton Road, Arnold in 1881 Joseph Sulley was the publican in 1891 (presumably his son) and another Thomas Sulley was the publican in 1905 (presumably Joseph’s son).
In the 1800s venues around Nottingham included the Seven Stars in Arnold, would have been kept busy with inquests in to sudden deaths.
During the first half of the 20th century pit deaths in Notts were running at around five every month with 1929 topping the list with 64 men killed. Many of the local ones at Bestwood, Calverton and Gedling pits involved local Arnold men and these inquests were held at the Seven Stars.
These deaths from accidents included: Roof falls, falls down the shaft, falling objects, being killed by tools, being kicked/crushed/bitten by horses…and one death from a diseased animal. Men were caught in machinery, drowned, electrocuted, burnt, scalded, run over by moving tubs, asphyxiated or killed by rope breaks. Working the pits was a very dangerous occupation at the time.
When the Seven Stars finally closed its doors in 1969, the licence was transferred to the Long Bow pub which replaced it further up Calverton Road,
The last licensee Keith Robins went to the Flying Horse on High Street, Arnold. This was another pub with a long history but that’s a story for another day.
Gedling Borough Council is urging those who have not claimed their £150 tax rebate using a paper voucher not to miss out.
The government issued the council tax rebate earlier this year to help with increased home energy costs
The rebates were mostly paid to residents via direct debit – but not everyone could accept payments in this way.
The council allowed people to claim the cash from a Post Office using a paper voucher, but they have revealed not all these vouchers have been used.
A council spokesman said: “We recently launched a scheme for residents who we could not pay their Energy Bills Rebate directly where they could claim the rebate from a local Post Office before August 13th, using a paper voucher sent to them in the post.
“A small number of these were not claimed before the expiry date.
“The scheme has now been extended until August 31, 2022 and new invites are on their way this week to residents that failed to redeem their first voucher.
They added: “The new vouchers also include an updated list of forms of ID that can be used to claim the rebate, including blue badges and local authority issued bus passes.”
Highways chiefs have agreed in principle to install a zebra crossing on a busy Mapperley road, following a family’s high-profile campaign.
The crossing will now be installed on Digby Avenue – which has been described as a “racetrack” by residents with motorists driving down at “ridiculous speeds”
The road passes three schools, a park and residential complex for older people.
Pictured: Minnie Willis-Crowther,left, with Gedling MP Tom Randall MP, right, whose idea the crossing was, on Digby Avenue where a zebra crossing is desperately needed and will now be installed.
The campaign for the crossing was started by the Willis-Crowther family, who live on the road.
They set up a petition last year calling for a crossing on the road which went on to attract over 800 signatures. The idea for the petition came from the family’s five-year-old daughter Minnie.
The campaign was also backed by Gedling MP Tom Randall, who wrote to all residents in the street informing them of the petition and also helped collect signatures from those living on Digby Avenue and from parents at the nearby schools.
The petition was handed to Nottinghamshire County Council by Arnold North Cllr John Clarke (Lab), who told a meeting of councillors that “This road is in serious need of some traffic calming.”
The petition prompted Nottinghamshire County Council to carry out a traffic review, with a decision now being taken to include a crossing in their 2022/23 integrated transport plan for delivery.
Gedling MP Randall said he was ‘thrilled’ by the decision and visited residents earlier today to congratulate them on their campaign success.
He told Gedling Eye: “There was a strong response on the doorstep to the idea of a crossing. Many residents were concerned at the busy traffic, particularly at peak times. I am pleased the County Council has acted upon this and I hope that this crossing will help all local residents, from children going to school to walkers off to Digby Park.”
PICTURED: Gedling MP Tom Randall collecting signatures calling for a pedestrian crossing on Digby Avenue (PHOTO: Facebook)
Nottinghamshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, said: “This is yet another example of Nottinghamshire County Council listening to the priorities of our residents and taking steps to protect the safety of school children and other pedestrians.”
Nottingham University Hospital’s director of communications has apologised after she blocked the Twitter accounts of parents whose babies have died in the care of the trust.
Tiffany Jones, director of Communications and Engagement at the trust – which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital – has also since deleted her Twitter account.
PICTURED: Queen’s Medical Centre
One of the parents who was blocked, Kimberley Errington, whose baby Teddy died in November 2020, said she was “shocked and utterly dismayed” at “yet another unbelievable blunder” involving the trust.
She tweeted to say she had noticed she had been blocked by Ms Jones on Thursday evening (Aug 18). Some other parents then also tweeted that they had been blocked.
By ‘blocking’ someone on the social media platform, a Twitter user prevents another specific user from contacting them, seeing their Tweets, and following them.
Anyone who visits the profile of an account that has blocked them sees a message alerting them of the block.
Oh dear I wonder why the Communication and Engagement Director @nottmhospitals has felt the need to block ALL the dead-baby mums and dads who’s lives have been destroyed. That’s not very engaging is it @tiffanyemma? 🙈🙉🙊excluded once again, for what? pic.twitter.com/ig6Z4rJJF0
“I apologise wholeheartedly for the upset my decision to block some individuals from my personal Twitter account may have unintentionally caused”, Ms Jones wrote on August 19.
She added: “I have reflected and made the decision to delete my Twitter account.”
Ms Jones’ account profile displayed her job title and tagged the trust before it was deleted.
NUH’s maternity services are ‘rated’ inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which has also criticised the trust’s culture and leadership.
Senior midwife Donna Ockenden is due to start a review into the trust’s maternity units next month.
NUH’s social media policy, approved in 2019, covers both work and personal accounts – and says social media users must not “criticise or cause embarrassment to the Trust, its patients, healthcare partners, other stakeholders or staff in a public post”.
It is not clear when individual families were blocked by the account.
Ms Errington, whose baby Teddy died after “undoubted failings” by healthcare professionals, said: “I want the hospital and their senior staff to start accepting their mistakes and shortcomings, learn from them and stop repeating them.
“Listen, learn, engage, own and then act; with compassion and empathy.”
Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose baby Harriet died at Nottingham City Hospital in 2016, were also blocked by the account.
Mrs Hawkins said: “I was on Twitter and I didn’t recognise the name of the account, so I clicked on it and saw I was blocked.
“We have never tweeted her or direct messaged her so it’s completely random.
“Considering her job as director of communications, to block bereaved parents is completely confusing and wrong.
“She is a mouthpiece for the organisation so this is our concern – that the culture of NUH is to block us out.”
A spokesperson for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We offer our sincere apologies for the undue upset caused.
“We know the devastation caused to families when we have not delivered the best care in our maternity service and we are committed to engaging with and listening to families in order to make the necessary improvements.”
