Five per cent tax
rise – just to avoid
police cutbacks
by Terry Johnson
WARRINGTON households will have to fork out an extra 10p-a-week to avoid police cuts this year.
A six per cent hike in the police part of Council Tax is projected just to ensure the thin blue line doesn’t get any slimmer.
The threat to frontline policing arises because an extra 3.6 per cent grant from the Government leaves Cheshire with a funding gap of nearly ?4m.
A 6p-a-week increase for band-D properties would not cover pay awards and inflation and leave a shortfall of 30 posts.
A 10p-a-week increase – a rise of five per cent – would meet pay and inflation costs. But an extra ?1m is needed to meet legislation changes, support criminal justice and forensics.
To meet all bills and avert staff reductions, an eight per cent surge in funding – or 16p-a-week – would be needed.
The budget options for 2006-07 were spelled-out at a meeting of the Warrington Police Forum, which was also told of a number of operational initiatives.
Chief Supt Nick Ingram (pictured) said 480 fixed penalty tickets had been issued to drivers flouting the seat belt law and using mobile ‘phones. A further 759 drivers were ticketed for speeding.
Detection rates for recorded burglary and vehicle crime had improved in 2005. Fatal and serious accidents on Warrington’s roads had reduced 23 per cent.
Broadband “lifeline”
for the disabled
by John Hendon
WARRINGTON is to pioneer the UK’s first broadband information line for disabled people.
The service has been described as a ?lifeline? for the disabled who can feel shut off in their homes.
BroadbandCONNECT has awarded a grant of nearly ?16,000 to provide the new link for people with disabilities, in and around Warrington.
The money will subsidise a one-to-one internet advice line, giving the disabled home access to information on independent living, work, training and education from a team of experts.
Terry Wadsworth, Trustee of Warrington Disability Partnership, which has been awarded the grant from a community chest fund, said: “This equipment has brought the organisation into the 21st-century. It will enable staff to provide a high speed, quality service to our customers.
“It will also allow us to research government and charity websites for the latest information”.
Service users can access sites from home and the Disability Partnership’s information point in Warrington Market.
Brun Corbishley, DP assistant operations manager, said: “With the increase in demand on our services, we wouldn’t have been able to support our customers’ needs to our full potential without this new broadband and telecommunications system”.
BroadbandCONNECT is an initiative of Cheshire and Warrington Digital Development Agency and funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency.
Nurse in “community
matron” initiative
by Terry Johnson
AWARD-winning senior nurse Scott Harrison is to join a UK pilot project to become an innovative ?community matron?.
The Warrington health visitor will help people with long-term conditions like diabetes, asthma, arthritis, depression and heart failure find their way through the facets of the NHS.
Scott and colleague, Liz Berry, won the prestigious Foundation of Nursing Studies Mallabar Award last year for their work to improve healthcare for people with learning disabilities.
He is presently an associate community matron until he graduates in June….and already has a caseload of 40 patients.
Scott said: “The programme is about allowing experienced nurses and therapists to extend their skills and do what they do best – proactively manage patient care.
“I will have time to be with the most vulnerable people, listen to their needs and co-ordinate their care much better. It’s also about keeping people out of hospital as much as possible, so they can be treated in more appropriate settings”.
Aden Walker, 35, one of Scott’s clients, said: “When you have a learning disability, it is very hard to understand what people mean when they write to you or say things about you and use big words. Scott drew pictures and and talked to me a lot. He is brilliant.”
The pilot, which is to be rolled out across the country, is part of a national push to help people with long-term conditions.
It includes the Expert Patient Programme, a free six-week course held at sites across Warrington, which aims to help people better manage their conditions.
Ex-pupils invited
to go to the ball
by staff reporter
SCHOOLBOY memories will be vividly recaptured for former pupils of Warrington?s Sir Thomas Boteler High next month.
They will be returning to their old school – now re-named Sir Thomas Boteler C of E High School – to enjoy a champagne reception, meal and dancing to an eight-piece showband.
The magnificent oak-panelled school hall is the venue for a spring ball on February 11 which will help fund Boteler’s bid to become a specialist humanities school.
Head teacher, John Sharples, is encouraging people to make the most of the rare opportunity.
“It might be a bit unnerving to be wined, dined and entertained in the same hall you associate with schoolboy memories – but a number of former pupils are delighted by the prospect and have already reserved tables”, he said.
Further details from 01925-636414, or email [email protected]
MP Helen champions
“heart start” initiative
by John Hendon
SEEKING hearts and minds is bread-and-butter to politicians. But Warrington South Labour MP, Helen Southworth, went a step further when she applied newly-acquired life-saving skills following a ?cardiac arrest?.
She used resuscitation skills at a British Heart Foundation training session to highlight the need for expertise by members of the public in an emergency situation.
Seven out of 10 cardiac arrests occur out of hospital and only a small number of victims survive. Heartstart UK teaches the public how to fight back.
Mrs Southworth, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Heart Disease, said: “Chances of survival after a cardiac arrest drop by up to 14 per cent for every minute without basic support applied. A speedy response is crucial”.
9,000 drivers B-tested
in festive crackdown
by John Hendon
A TOTAL of 9,003 drivers were breathalysed by Cheshire Police during the last six weeks of 2005.
Police mounted two crackdowns across Cheshire and Warrington, starting on November 14.
Of the 6,060 motorists tested in the December campaign, 225 drivers were found to have excess alcohol.
Five per cent of the 409 drivers involved in injury collisions tested positive.
The campaign also saw officers target drug drivers, with four arrests.
National figures show the Cheshire Forces’ commitment to purging drink-drivers.
Forces who conducted more B-tests than Cheshire included two Metropolitan and Essex forces which have larger manpower and other resources.
Cheshire Police spokesman, Chief Supt Derek Barnett, said: “This Christmas we put extra emphasis on catching drivers impaired by drugs – the numbers of whom are increasing”.
Lorry fire
TWO fire engines were called to Hawleys Lane, Warrington early today when fire broke out in the engine compartment of a heavy lorry. They used hose reel jets to extinguish the blaze, believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.
