Sussex Magazines

Plans to expand and move Sidley Primary School to help cope with the rising birth rate in Bexhill have moved to the next stage.

East Sussex County Council has agreed to publish statutory notices to more than double the size of the school and to move it to a new site in Gunters Lane at the former Bexhill High School Year 7 building.

The decision was made by the council's Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness, Cllr Nick Bennett, at a meeting this week (on Tues 31 Jan) and follows a public consultation at the end of 2011.

At the meeting, Cllr Bennett was told that a total of 1,200 consultation documents were distributed between 21 November and 19 December and only a very small number of replies had been received. Of the 66 responses received views were mixed.

Of the small number who raised concerns the main issue, the meeting was told, was traffic and parking in Gunters Lane. These were legitimate concerns that would be considered as the details of the project were developed.

Cllr Bennett said: “The reality is we have to do something to create more school places in Bexhill. The projections show we will have a shortfall of school places in the town in the future and so it's really important we plan now and look to increase the spaces we have.

“Having issued 1,200 consultation documents I'm a little disappointed that only a very small number of people responded. I recognise some have raised concerns about traffic in Gunters Lane and those will be examined by the design team as we develop this project.”

The expansion of Sidley was part of the solution to the issue, he added, while a smaller expansion of St Mary Magdalene was also being discussed and considered.

Cllr Bennett said: “I'm really pleased these plans have the support of Sidley School and we have earmarked more than £1m to address the school place shortfall in Bexhill. We've worked with schools in the area to consider various options for school expansion and these are the proposals that make most sense.”

The need for extra school places was highlighted in a previous report to the Lead Member meeting. It indicated that across Bexhill birth rates have risen from 289 in 2004/05 to 368 in 2008/09, an increase of 27%. And while longer term forecasts are less certain it is expected that the demand for places in the future will potentially outstrip the number of available spaces.

The publication of statutory notices means a further four week period of formal consultation known as the representation period. A final decision on the proposals will be taken in April.

• Lead Member for Children's Services – meeting papers for 31 January 2012
• Sidley Community Primary School

Young people in Lewes are to decide how to spend more than £5,000 to improve youth facilities and activities in the town.

Lewes Town Council is contributing £4,000 and East Sussex County Council a further £1,500 to the exciting new project.

The scheme, being led by the Town Council with support from the County Council is all part of a drive to involve young people in the community by giving them responsibility over the way a proportion of the Town Council's budget is spent.

To launch this exciting project, called Lewes Town YouthBank, the council wants to give a team of young people the keys to the Town Hall!

The young team is being given the task of coming up with their own ideas about the best way the money can be given out to as wide a range of young people and youth projects as possible in the town.

Cllr Roger Murray from Lewes Town Council said: “This is a really good way of building up social responsibility in our young generation and giving them a sense of mattering in the community.”

Cllr Nick Bennett, the County Council's Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness added: “YouthBank is all about getting young people involved in making real decisions and at a county level it has proved extremely successful previously. I am really pleased we're able to work with Lewes Town Council on this project and that they are so keen to get young people involved.”

A meeting of interested young people took place in the Town Hall in December and they have come up with the idea to launch a youth led grant-giving scheme later on in the year.

The group will meet on a regular basis to set the criteria, design the publicity and they hope to be ready to open the grant scheme by April.

The Lewes Town YouthBank group will then invite young people to apply for some of this money to improve the things to do in the Lewes town area. It will also be this group that make the decisions on who will receive a grant.

The next meeting of the YouthBank group takes place on Monday 27 February at 5pm in Lewes Town Hall. There are still places available. If young people (aged 11 to 19 or up to age 24 with a disability) want to join the young decision-makers there's still time.

Youth groups wishing to apply for a grant should register their interest so that they can be put on a mailing list. When the grants are ready they will be the first to know.

To find out more about this project contact: Tracey Johnson – phone: 01424 726086 or email: tracey.johnson@eastsussex.gov.uk

Further information

This town council initiative is being supported by East Sussex County Council's Targeted Youth Support Service as a way to help local areas develop new and innovative ways to involve young people in have an active and meaningful say over the things they have to do in the area.

Lewes Town Council voted to put aside £4,000 from the Town Council's budget with an additional £1,500 from ESCC to make a total of £5,500 available to young people.

The County Council is also providing a worker who will train young people to make fair decisions as well as being on hand to support young people to develop bids and to monitor the scheme.

The initial group of young people have been identified through presentations and workshops to Chailey School, Priory School, Ringmer CC, Landport Youth Centre and Sussex Downs Community College.

Ten young people attended the first meeting on 12 December and it's hoped that a team of around 15 to 20 young people will form the YouthBank panel. Young people wishing to be part of this initiative should contact Tracey Johnson (above) – all are welcome.

The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has welcomed the announcement on 1 February that it is to receive an additional £672,000 under the Government's Growing Places Fund.

Ministers have confirmed the regional allocations of the £500 milllion fund, which is designed to boost economic growth by getting the required infrastructure built to enable the creation of new homes and jobs and get stalled projects moving again.

As a result of changes to the formulae used to allocate the funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships, the South East LEP will now receive just over £33 million. This is an additional £672,552 on top of the allocation originally announced last November.

The South East LEP will consider a shortlist of schemes for funding and an announcement on the first tranche of allocations will be made on the successful projects in the next few weeks

South East LEP Chairman, John Spence, said "This funding will help provide a shot in the arm for the economy of the South East and therefore the whole country.

"It is right that the Government supports the businesses and local authorities from across the South East LEP to develop local solutions for local challenges. The LEP will add value by prioritising the schemes which have optimal impact on enterprise and growth for our area and the country as a whole.

"We are clearly geared up to put this funding to work as quickly as possible and will respect the principles of subsidiarity in ensuring that our local partners – both private and public sector – use it to drive real growth across the LEP."

Further information

This press release was issued on behalf of South East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The South East LEP is a partnership involving leaders from business, local government, and further and higher education which is working towards creating the most enterprising economy in England. It covers East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend, and Thurrock

It is the largest strategic partnership of its kind outside of London. It represents a combined population of 3.9 million people and is home to more than 130,000 businesses, which provide more than 1.3 million jobs. It is a critical port and gateway area in a strategic location between London, Europe and the global economy.

The areas covered by the LEP are the country's economic powerhouse contributing £55 billion a year to the national economy.

For more information visit the South East LEP website. You can also follow SELEP on Twitter @southeastlep

For more information on SELEP please contact Stewart Henderson in Essex County Council's Communications – phone: 01245 433150 or email: stewart.henderson@essex.gov.uk

In this cold weather is it time to get your home checked out to beat those winter blues and maybe sort out some of those never-ending DIY jobs?

A new winter home check service is available to help vulnerable people get advice and support to keep their homes warm. There is also an extra grant available for older people which could help to help fix those small things that need doing.

The Winter Home Check Service includes:

• a full assessment of the home to identify how to keep it warm

• small preventative works such as reducing drafts, improving insulation, clearing gutters, lagging pipes and clearing chimneys

• providing additional temporary heating.

Cllr Keith Glazier, Lead Member responsible for Public Health, said: “This service will be of real lasting benefit to vulnerable people, which will not only help them to keep their home warm, but also keep them healthy and well, particularly when the weather takes a turn for the worse. I would urge people to use this service if they can”.

The Winter Home Check Service is one of the first steps which the Council, has put in place, as part of a longer-term Warm Homes strategy. This follows a Government grant of almost £250,000 earlier this month for a partnership project involving the County Council, the District and Borough Councils, the NHS and the voluntary and community sector.

To be eligible for this service (one application per household) an East Sussex resident needs to fall into one of the following categories:

• a vulnerable adult over 16 years old
• disabled (or any member of the household is registered disabled)
• a family with children on a low income.

You also have to be getting one of the following benefits:

• Income support
• Council tax
• housing benefit
• Working families/Child tax credit with income less than £16,040
• Job Seekers Allowance
• income based employment and support allowance or
• joint claim Jobseekers Allowance.

In addition, if you are aged 65 or over, and have no more than £10,000 in savings, regardless of income, you can also apply for a Handyperson grant of up to £200 to help with small maintenance or repair jobs around the home.

This could be anything from putting up shelves, clearing garden waste, plumbing, assembling flat-packed furniture and much, much more.

If you would like more information, or want to refer anyone for help, please contact: Social Care Direct by phone: 0345 60 80 191.

More information can be found on the following pages:

• Handywork and repairs
• Grants towards heating, insulation and energy efficiency.

An experimental one-way system in Rye is to be made permanent as it has been so well received by local people.

The one-way system in Deadmans Lane will be made permanent from Monday 6 February.

The scheme was brought in seven months ago as drivers travelling in opposing directions were having difficulty negotiating the road. It was developed in consultation with local home owners to tackle this problem. The scheme introduced:

• a one-way system westbound on Deadmans Lane from its junction with A268 to Hillyfields footpath
• a reduced speed limit from 30mph to 20mph along the whole length of the lane
• ‘no waiting at anytime' restrictions on both sides of the lane at its .outhern end

After monitoring and reviewing the scheme, it has found to have successfully resolved the problems in Deadmans Lane and will be introduced on a permanent basis.

Councillor Carl Maynard, Lead Cabinet Member for Economy, Transport and Environment said, "I am very pleased that this scheme has been successful and resolved the traffic issues we have been discussing with local people.

"By working with local people and introducing these changes on an experimental basis we left room to make any tweaks that may have been needed. But as our monitoring has shown that traffic is now better accommodated and everyone seems very happy with the way it is working, we can now make these changes permanent."

East Sussex County Council's Library & Information Service will be helping to celebrate the lives and achievements of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community next month.

The Library Service will be highlighting LGBT history month in February 2012 with events for people to enjoy at libraries in Hastings, Forest Row and Eastbourne.

The events are as follows:

• Saturday 18 February, 11am to 9.30pm, Stade Hall, Hastings
  Opening the Closet Door: a celebration of LGBT life histories
  A free event supported by Hastings and Rother Rainbow Alliance, Hastings Borough Council, East Sussex Record Office and Library and Information Service. Exhibitions, workshops, speakers and performances.
• Wednesday 22 February, 7pm to 9pm, Forest Row Library
  Joanna Briscoe
  Celebrated author of ‘Skin', ‘Mothers and other lovers' and ‘Sleep with me' – adapted for ITV – talking about her new novel ‘You'. Plus the return of our popular LGBT quiz! Why not order a book by Joanna to read in advance from our e-library. Tickets £3 including refreshments.
• Saturday 25 February, 5.30pm to 7.30pm, Eastbourne Library
  Bourneout Literary Evening
  Presented by Bourneout, Eastbourne's LGBT forum. Open mic comedy, readings and literary skits. Free event. To book call 0345 60 80 196.

To find out more general information about the County Council's Library Service, including what's on offer in your local library and how to access services online, visit our Libraries section.

The search for new foster carers in East Sussex continues this month with another information and recruitment event organised by the county council's “outstanding” fostering service.

This next session will be at St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, on Thursday 9th February, from 5pm to 8pm in the Azur Marina Pavilion, with tea, coffee and cookies.

The event is an informal ‘drop in' session. Staff from the council's Fostering Service will be there to talk about all aspects of becoming a foster carer, and all the different types of fostering.

In addition, local foster carers will be there, so visitors can find out find out first-hand what fostering really means: about the rewards – and challenges! – and the support that is available.

Cllr Belsey, Lead Member for Children and Families, said: “Our Fostering Service has just been given a glowing report by Ofsted inspectors, who graded the service ‘outstanding' in every area.A truly remarkable achievement and one of which we are very proud.People can come along to our events in the sure knowledge that they'll be talking to some of the best in the business.”

“If you have ever thought about helping a local child in need, then you may be surprised at how many different ways there are to get involved. Our team can tell you about all the different types of short term or permanent fostering, as well as fostering for parents and babies, and for disabled children.”

“Our foster carers come from all walks of life and from all kinds of backgrounds. The one thing they all have in common is a genuine desire to make a difference to a young person's life. I'd strongly urge anyone, if you think you could help, then please attend this event."

The Februrary event is the second of a series of recruitment events, which are running throughout 2012 on the second Thursday of the month (but not Aug or Dec) between 5pm and 8pm. The events will alternate between venues across the county, at Eastbourne, Uckfield and Hastings.

If you'd like to know more about becoming a foster carer please see our main section:

Residents in East Sussex are being warned about bracelets that contain poisonous red and black Jequirity beans.

The County Council's Trading Standards team has sent out a local warning following a national alert about the bracelets and the beans that contain the toxin ‘abrin'. The toxin is a controlled substance that could cause serious harm if swallowed.

Trading Standards advise that none of these bracelets are known to have been sold locally. However, the bracelets have been sold through 36 retailers across the UK – one of which is the Eden Project in Cornwall.

People who have bought the bracelets are being urged to bag them and then wash their hands and avoid touching their eyes. The bagged item may be disposed of safely in the household waste. They should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 if they know of a local source of the item.

Residents and businesses in East Sussex are once again being asked to hand in scam mail to their local library.

For the fifth time, the County Council's Trading Standards team is running a ‘Scamnesty' campaign across East Sussex. In a bid to identify scams and the scammers, the County Council is urging people to take any scam mail that they receive to their library during February 2012.

Councillor Carl Maynard, Lead Member for Economy, Transport & Environment says the scam mail issue continues to be of real concern. He said: “Misleading mailings make false promises of huge bogus lottery wins or other high value prizes, but they always insist on payment to the sender before any winnings can be claimed.

“Targets of these scams – often the elderly or vulnerable – can find themselves on the receiving end of wave after wave of letters, with some being sent up to 600 misleading letters a month from across the world. Those that fall victim to the mailings can send off hundreds of pounds a month over many years and despite the riches promised in each letter, they never win a penny.”

Councillor Maynard is asking for people to help again this year with the Council's drive to identify the scammers. “In recent campaigns, our residents and businesses have given us thousands of examples of scam mail. This has helped us to see how big the problem is and identify the multitude of different scams doing the rounds and the scammers behind them.”

Last year, following the County Council's Scamnesty campaign:

• Warrants were executed in January by the Metropolitan Police at five London 'virtual office' addresses and scam mail was intercepted at a large UK mail sorting office in a major crackdown on mail scammers. The targets were identified with the assistance of intelligence gained from scam victims in Eastbourne and Hastings.

• Trading Standards held a Scams Awareness networking event in April which was attended by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, East Sussex County Council Adult Social Care and the Conquest Hospital.

• A sculpture constructed using over 30,000 scam letters seized during the course of an operation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency was displayed at Brighton Marina in June. The structure was made by students from a college in Brighton.

For further information or advice contact Consumer Direct on 08456 04 05 06.

For more general information about the work of Trading Standards please visit our section Trading Standards – help and advice for consumers.

Families are to be asked for their views on some changes to Children's Centres in East Sussex.

Under the proposals services provided to families through Children's Centres would not be cut, instead the County Council is looking at merging some pairs of centres to ensure services are provided as effectively as possible and to reduce management costs.

Out of a total of 35 centres across the county, the County Council is looking at merging four pairs of centres.

However, no buildings are being shut and those that will no longer be stand alone Children's Centres will continue to provide community services.

Cllr Nick Bennett, the Council's Lead Member for Learning and School effectiveness said: “This is not a cost-cutting exercise, however the proposals will prevent the need to appoint additional management posts. This is really about making sure all our Children's Centre buildings are fit for purpose, are in the right place, and can all really provide the best range and quality of facilities and services for young families.

“All families who currently receive services from our Children's Centres will continue to do so, and the vast majority of centres will not be affected in any way by these proposals. For a relatively small number of families it may mean services are delivered from a different location but it will be from better buildings with better facilities. Families will not have to travel much further to access the same services.”

The pairs of centres that would be merged under the plan are:

• Eastbourne's West Rise centre would merge with Eastbourne Shinewater
• Robertsbridge centre would merge with Battle
• Pebsham would merge with Sidley
• Hailsham's Dunbar Drive centre would merge with Hailsham East Children's Centre.

Services from the West Rise centre in Eastbourne would be provided from Shinewater. Discussions are ongoing with West Rise Infant School but the intention is that the building will continue to be used by the nursery that uses the site and possibly other community activities.

Currently, Robertsbridge is not really a centre at all but is a hired room in the youth centre from which Children's Centre services are provided. This change would simply be a formality as the room would no longer be designated as a discrete Children's Centre; there will be no change to the services we provide from there.

Similarly the centre in Pebsham is a not a separate Children's Centre building but a former classroom at Pebsham School used to provide some Children's Centre services. The room would no longer be classed as a discrete Children's Centre but it is likely that it would continue to be used for community purposes and by the school.

Discussions are on-going about the Dunbar Drive building in Hailsham. The intention is it would continue to be used by the county council as social care resource centre and to support children in care. Children's Centre services would continue to be provided from Hailsham East Children's Centre and from the Diplocks Community Centre which is in a far more appropriate location.

No staff will lose their jobs as result of the proposed changes but a number of vacancies and additional posts will not have to be filled.

Cllr Bennett said: “I want to be very clear that these are not cuts to services, in fact the impact on services will be minimal. These proposals are about using our Children's Centre buildings more efficiently and effectively. There is a clear and reasonable rationale for each of the mergers we are proposing, especially for those smaller centres that are currently not really individual centres at all and not capable of providing the kind of services we want.”

Further information

For more information on the Children's Centre consultation proposals see the Cabinet meeting papers:

• Cabinet meeting papers 26 January 2012 – see agenda item 7