Home

Pits 'n' Pots Blogs


Building Schools for what Future?

11 Mar 2010
This week I attended the Governors' Finance sub-committee at Mitchell High school, one of the City's 17 High schools. Mitchell's examination results were poor enough to attract over £100,000 additional funding a couple of year's ago. Last year, Mitchell's results shot up, so much in fact, that it was the most improved school in the whole of England.
Tags:

Poor Relations?

09 Mar 2010
Why do the City Council feel it is ok to be treated as poor relations? I was looking at the Staffordshire Hoard website a few days ago and one thing struck me, the size of the Stoke-on-Trent City Council logo compared to those of other councils.
Tags:

Labour - Dead As A Dodo!

08 Mar 2010
Well done Gary Elsby, Barry Stockley and Mick Williams for finally taking a stand in that they are taking legal action against their treatment by the local Labour Party. I only wish I had done so when I could, and should have done. Needless to say, any assistance I can give, I will gladly do so. I know with the meetings I went to that there was no way Gary Elsby was going to be Labour candidate.
Tags:

The North South divide could get worse

08 Mar 2010
There was an interesting article in the Observer yesterday on the north south divide in the economy. In effect the piece by Ruth Sunderland was a damming indictment of the industrial policy of successive governments since Thatcher and the loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector.
Tags:

Good coverage in the media for Staffordshire this weekend.

07 Mar 2010
It’s been a good weekend for Staffordshire in terms of positive media coverage. I had heard some weeks ago that the Guardian were doing a feature on Leek in the section called Lets move to… the journalist who wrote the piece was very much impressed by the town citing the countryside as being great for walking. The strapline for the article was Britains answer to the Alps.
Tags:

NSRP Times Up?

05 Mar 2010
Big question marks now hang over the future of the NSRP, its board and its management as the “Strategic Partnership”, the anchor tenant in the proposed business quarter, falls apart.
Tags:

Be warned all who crave elected mayors

05 Mar 2010
Stoke-on-Trent got rid of its notoriously undemocratic elected mayor and council manager system last June. The abysmal legacy of that ruinous system will blight the City for some time to come. Effectively totalitarian in practice, M&M survived within a culture of secrecy and a public diet of misinformation if not at times downright lies.
Tags:

Weston Park V Festival Tickets Sale And Line Up Confirmed.

05 Mar 2010
It once again that time of year when the old pacemaker gets into high gear and I go crawling on my hands and knees to the wife begging her to let me go to the V Festival. Yet again Weston Park and Hylands Park, Chelmsford hold the V weekend, also know as the boot killing mudfest on account of how many good sets of boots I have lost there over the years, on the 21st and 22nd of August.
Tags:

Leaders To The Debate

03 Mar 2010
So, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg have finally agreed the terms and conditions for the three televised live debates ahead of the General Elections The first debate will take place in the North West and will focus on domestic affairs. The second will be in the South West and will feature global issues. The final debate will be in the Midlands and will focus on the economy.
Tags:

Budget Day Exasperation

01 Mar 2010
I am sitting at my computer finally having calmed down after Thursday’s budget setting council. My incandescent rage that has slowly extinguished throughout the evening was sparked by the absolutely diabolical proceedings in the chamber this afternoon. To be honest my anger with the performance of many of my colleagues from the other council groups is unlikely to go away for a good while.
Tags:

view counter
^Top