Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

I have written to the Planning Inspectorate urging them to uphold West Berkshire Council’s decision to refuse planning permission to the erection of 32 houses on the land rear of The Hollies, Reading Road, Burghfield Common, West Berkshire RG7 3BH.

 

 

Please find attached below the Dear Colleague letter that I have received over tackling anti-social behaviour

Dear Colleague,
ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ACTION PLAN

Tackling anti-social behaviour is an absolute priority for this Government. Everyone has the right to live without fear of facing anti-social behaviour, to leave their home without fearing intimidation, to shop in a vibrant high street free from disorder and disrepair, and to use and enjoy their parks and community spaces. The public must trust that there will be action taken when they report the intimidation and harassment they face.

Today’s publication of the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan reinforces the Government’s commitment to stamp out anti-social behaviour and restore the right of people to feel safe in, and proud of, their local area. The plan is an ambitious and wide-reaching new approach that will give Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC), local authorities, and other agencies the tools to tackle the blight of anti-social behaviour facing communities across England and Wales.

The plan sets out a radical new approach to tackling anti-social behaviour split across five key areas:
• Stronger punishment for perpetrators, cracking down on illegal drugs, evicting anti-social tenants and making perpetrators of anti-social behaviour repair the damage they inflicted on victims and communities;
• Making communities safer by increasing police presence, deploying tougher financial penalties for wrong doers, and keeping our streets orderly;
• Enhancing local pride by taking actions to revive high streets and revitalise parks and green spaces;
• Prevention and intervention through funding one million more hours of provision for young people, expanding the eligibility criteria for the Turnaround Programme,
focusing on targeted support for children most at risk and working with delivery partners on National Youth Guarantee; and
• Improving data, reporting and accountability by simplifying and improving existing reporting structures and increased accountability through better and more transparent data collection.

As part of the plan, we are funding immediate justice pilots and hotspot policing in a number of police force areas but the Action Plan makes clear they will be rolled out across England and Wales in 2024/25.

We are also launching today a targeted consultation which marks the first phase of the Community Safety Partnership review. The consultation will seek views on strengthening the accountability model of Community Safety Partnerships to align their work more closely to Police and Crime Commissioners, making sure they work together effectively to cut crime. Through the consultation, we are also seeking views on changes to the anti-social behaviour powers and tools to strengthen and broaden their use. The consultation will be published on gov.uk and will run for 8 weeks.

Tackling anti-social behaviour requires a strong and effective partnership response from all agencies working together and the measures we have outlined in the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan give the police, local authorities and other agencies a wide range of powers and tools to deal with every situation of anti-social behaviour that may arise.

With every good wish,

Suella Braverman KC MP Michael Gove MP

Home Secretary Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities & Minister for Intergovernmental Relations

Please see below the recent reply that I have received from the Asylum Accommodation team following the meeting where I raised various points of concern

Dear John Redwood,

Thank you for attending the asylum accommodation MP engagement session on 23 February 2023. We hope that you found this informative and useful. This email is a follow up with points raised on that call. Please accept my apologises for not responding to your email sooner, my team is continuing to deal with a huge increase in correspondence and we are trying to balance getting responses with maintaining service delivery and regular engagement. I do hope this information is still relevant and of use to you.

As discussed on this call there are two hotels within your constituency which are being used to house asylum seekers – Double Tree by Hilton Reading and Flexistay Reading. There are currently no plans to decommission these hotels. There are also currently no plans in the pipeline to add further hotels within your constituency. However, as you will be aware with the current situation and pressure upon asylum accommodation that this could change fairly quickly. Do be assured however that we will inform you if there are any hotels we intend to use.

With respect to your questions on decision making, we are committed to reducing the time people spend in the asylum system and have a number of initiatives in order to do this.

Firstly, Asylum Operations is being restructured into three separate casework units, each with different responsibilities and overseen by a dedicated Deputy Director;

– Pre-2022 Act claims
– Post-2022 Act claims
– Children’s (both pre/post 2022 Act) and Secondary (including Further Submissions and Statelessness) claims.

The introduction of a new asylum operating model will enable all claims to be processed more efficiently, and we have also invested in a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives intended to speed up decision making and reduce the time people spend in the asylum system. We are also continuing to develop existing and new technology to help build on recent improvements such as digital interviewing and move away from a paper-based system. We are streamlining and digitising the case-working process to enable more effective workflow, appointment booking and decision-making. Additionally, the Home Office have introduced specialist decision-making units, providing greater ownership and management of cohorts of asylum cases, and we also have extensive recruitment and training plans in place for our caseworkers, including career progression options.

In terms of our wider regional plans, all Local Authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales became an asylum dispersal area by default on 13 April 2022. This shift to ‘Full Dispersal’ will help to increase the number of suitable properties that can be procured for dispersal accommodation for destitute asylum seekers. Allocation plans have been developed in partnership with local government regions and nations, to agree a more equitable spread of dispersed accommodation across the UK. Most regions’ plans (9 of 11) are at 70% or more of the region’s procurement target. We will use regional governance to progress towards 100% through monitoring procurement against plans.

We also wrote to each Region/Nation on Friday, 20 January 2023 setting out the agreed Full Dispersal plan for each region/nation and confirming our position on the SMP principles. We are in the process of establishing governance and assurance framework that will monitor progress against plans and highlight areas where further work is required. We will continue to work collaboratively with LAs to agree regional plans for the implementation of full dispersal. All governance boards have now been established between HO, LAs and Accommodation providers to monitor the progress of property acquisition against the agreed plans. The first Governance Board for the South East was held on 21 March 2023.

If you have any further questions then please do not hesitate to contact my team.

Kind Regards,

Asylum Accommodation MP Engagement Team

I have supported our Conservative Councillors in trying to keep our weekly bin collections. I was pleased to see this press release from them:

Conservative Councillors Win Vote to Keep Weekly Bin Collections Following Petition of 1800 Residents

Wokingham Conservative Group and one of the Borough’s Independent councillors voted to retain weekly bin collections despite the Liberal Democrat/Labour Coalition administration’s plan to reduce bin collections to fortnightly.

The vote came after a debate on a petition of 1800 residents’ signatures.

The petition, presented to Council last month, reflects concerns for larger families, for people who have more waste to dispose, such as nappies, and for residents who do not have room to store rubbish.

At the Budget Council meeting in February Liberal Democrat Cllr Ian Shenton described the petition as “spurious”.

This follows a Council consultation where only 24 per cent of responders said that they liked the idea of fortnightly collections.

The Council consultation on waste did not include an option to retain the current system of weekly collections or blue bags, preventing local people from expressing a view.

Wokingham Conservative Councillors would retain weekly waste collection and make savings by enabling residents to recycle more of their household waste. The cost to the Council of disposing of recycling is significantly cheaper than that of general waste.

Despite other nearby authorities moving to fortnightly collections, previous Conservative administrations in Wokingham Borough have kept weekly waste collections for 20 years, through careful management of the Council’s finances.

Cllr Norman Jorgensen, Shadow Executive Member for the Environment said “It is clear the majority of residents wish to retain weekly waste collections. I am pleased that an Independent councillor recognised just how unpopular this policy is and has voted with us.

“The Lib Dem/Labour Coalition didn’t give residents the chance to express their views on keeping weekly bin collections. I am glad we were able to bring resident’s views to the Council despite Liberal Democrat’s attempts to discredit it as “spurious”.

“Waste collection and recycling are important universal services that everyone in the Borough relies on. This policy will not save any money in the short term. In fact, it is expected to cost £2 million to implement. And future savings are not guaranteed. Remember this is the administration who said, when they scrapped the caddy liners, that they would increase recycling, saving the Council £300k. As we predicted at the time food recycling has not increased.

“Residents are being expected to pay more for less – this is not value for money for taxpayers.”

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, Leader of the Conservative Group, said, “This was a vote on one of the Liberal Democrat/Labour Coalition’s key policies. They have wasted months trying to force through this unpopular and flawed decision.

“The Liberal Democrats didn’t include imposing fortnightly bin collections on residents in their election literature. In fact, some members of the Liberal Democrat Executive previously campaigned to keep weekly waste collections.

“Now residents have had their views heard. I hope that this will make the Lib Dem administration think again.”

ENDS

Radio interview with BBC Radio Berkshire’s Phil Kennedy, you can find it below between:

3:11:35 – 3:16:02

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0f4flz6

We discussed childcare support for those in Wokingham, business taxation and the need to go further on tax cuts

I have received the letter, reprinted below, from the Secretary of State regarding the Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review. In response to concerns about sentencing for perpetrators of domestic homicide, the Government commissioned an independent expert, Clare Wade KC, to review sentencing in domestic homicide cases to establish whether current law and sentencing guidelines were fit for purpose and identify options for reform. These concerns were brought to light by the family of Ellie Gould, a young woman, who was tragically murdered by her ex boyfriend. Both Ellie’s parents, and her aunt, who is my constituent, campaigned tirelessly for changes to sentencing.

Having raised the concerns of Ellie’s aunt with the Secretary of State for Justice, I am pleased that the Government has taken on onboard the recommendations made by Clare Wade KC and have published the measures they are taking.

17 March 2023

Dear Colleague,

DOMESTIC HOMICIDE SENTENCING REVIEW

Tackling violence against women and girls is a priority for this Government, and we are committed to protecting victims and ensuring that the most serious offenders spend longer in prison. We are working tirelessly to deliver this commitment, including taking decisive steps to increase the volume of rape prosecutions, which we are on track to deliver through our Rape Review Action Plan, quadrupling victims funding from £41m in 2009/10 and launching a 24/7 rape helpline so victims have the support they need. As part of this priority, the Government commissioned an independent expert, Clare Wade KC, to review sentencing in domestic homicide cases to establish whether current law and sentencing guidelines are fit for purpose and identify options for reform.

Today, I am publishing Ms Wade KC’s Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review (the ‘Wade Review’) and announcing a package of reforms to ensure sentencing reflects the seriousness of domestic homicides. The published review can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-homicide-sentencing review. The Wade Review makes a number of other recommendations and the government’s position will be outlined in a full response to be published before the summer recess. The measures announced today demonstrate our commitment to delivering tougher sentences for the perpetrators of these horrific crimes and allow for necessary legislation to be introduced as soon as possible. All recommendations in the review and the measures announced today apply to England and Wales.

We will increase sentences for murderers with a history of controlling or coercive behaviour against the victim.

The Serious Crime Act 2015 introduced the criminal offence of controlling or coercive behaviour. Controlling or coercive behaviour can comprise economic, emotional or psychological abuse, and is a purposeful pattern of behaviour over time. Controlling or coercive behaviour by the perpetrator towards the victim was identified in 51% of the murder cases analysed for this Review, yet the courts were inconsistent in reflecting this in sentencing.

The review recommends that a history of coercive or controlling behaviour should be added to the statutory aggravating factors to murder. We will introduce legislation to make this change as soon as possible. It is absolutely right to ensure abuse before death is properly considered and these serious offenders are kept off our streets for longer.

We will consider further reform by consulting on a 25 year starting point for murders preceded by controlling or coercive behaviour While the addition of a history of coercive or controlling behaviour as a statutory aggravating factor to murder will be an immediate step to increase sentences, we do not rule out toughening sentences further. We will launch a public consultation this summer seeking views on whether there should be a starting point of 25 years for cases of murder where the perpetrator has controlled or coerced the victim before killing them.

The current sentencing framework recognises the particular seriousness of the illegal possession and use of knives in public with a 25-year starting point for murders where a weapon used has been taken to the scene with intent. It is important that this starting point is maintained and therefore we will not be accepting the recommendation made in the Wade Review to disapply it from domestic cases. However, the changes announced today will ensure that the framework also recognises the particular seriousness of domestic murder, including where a weapon has been used, and this consultation will ensure all reform options have been fully explored.

We will make ‘overkill’ a statutory aggravating factor in the sentencing framework for murder. Overkill is defined in the Wade Review and wider literature as the use of excessive or gratuitous violence, beyond that necessary to kill. It amounts to violation of the body and causes intense distress to the families of victims. Overkill was identified in 60% of the murder cases analysed for this Review. The Wade Review recommends that overkill should be added to the statutory aggravating factors to murder. This would mean that a judge must consider increasing an offender’s minimum custodial term where overkill has occurred.

We will introduce legislation to make this change as soon as possible. This change will ensure the horror of overkill and the anguish it causes families of victims is taken into account when sentencing such cases. While sentencing always depends on the facts of the case and is a matter for our independent courts, this change could see sentences increase by around 2 years or even more in the most serious cases.

Building on our ban of the ‘rough sex defence’ in the Domestic Abuse Act, we want to see longer sentences for perpetrators of so-called rough sex manslaughter. The government made clear in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 the ‘rough sex defence’ is not recognised in law as a person is legally unable to consent to “serious harm”. However, there continues to be concern about low sentences in some cases of manslaughter where consent to so-called rough sex is argued. There have been recent cases where offenders have received less than 5 years in prison after killing their partner through rough sexual activity, despite blatant disregard for the victim.

The review recommends manslaughter sentencing guidelines should be amended to consider the offender highly culpable and impose a higher sentence where death occurs during violence alleged to be consensual during a sexual encounter. This could mean a starting point of between 8 and 12 years for sentencing. The production or revision of sentencing guidelines is a matter for the independent Sentencing Council. However, today I will ask the Council, which has a statutory duty to consider my request, to consider revising sentencing guidelines to reflect the recommendation made in the Wade Review. While this is our preferred approach, we will keep legislative options under review to ensure we can deliver reform.

I am grateful to Laura Farris MP, who has championed this issue. These measures build on the pledge from the Prime Minister to drive a zero-tolerance approach to violence against women and girls by ensuring that sentencing delivers justice for the victims and families. Our actions today show that this government is firmly on the side of victims. I am very grateful to Clare Wade KC for her work on this review. I would also like to pay tribute to Carole Gould and Julie Devey for their tireless campaigning after the tragic murders of their daughters, Ellie Gould and Poppy Devey-Waterhouse.

Yours sincerely,

RT HON DOMINIC RAAB MP

I am glad to see progress with sorting out the NHS pay disputes. I have along with others put to Ministers the idea of a one off back payment for this year  given the sharp acceleration of inflation in the first part of the year. I have pointed out that the NHS needs to fill a large number of medical staff vacancies as we need to get the waiting times and waiting lists down and put in extra beds with staff to support them.

Yesterday I met a group of local teachers to discuss their pay. We agreed that talks need to resume between the government and the teaching unions, and agreed that the cost of living squeeze has taken its toll on the spending power of their salaries as with others.

They told me of difficulties in recruiting and retaining teachers locally, especially in some subjects like computing where there were other jobs than teaching readily available in our area. I said more data and examples would be helpful to their case, as employers do need to ensure pay levels are high enough to fill vacancies.

I agreed to renew my conversations with Ministers about these pay issues following my meeting with them. I have of course had various talks with NHS and Education Ministers over how to resolve the pay disputes already and made suggestions to them.  They also asked about a possible extension to boundaries for London weighting in pay, which I said I would also put to Ministers. This has not been on the government agenda, and talks about national pay levels are a more likely route to early changes in salary.