Residents urged to get dogs micro-chipped in line with the law

 

News from Medway Council

Dog owners in Medway are being urged to take advantage of free dog micro-chipping in line with a change in the law.

From 6 April it will be compulsory for all dogs over the age of eight weeks in England to be fitted with a micro-chip, which stores contact details of the owner.

Medway Council offers a free, at-home dog micro-chipping service for residents in a bid to reunite dogs with their owners quickly after being picked up by council wardens.

The authority’s successful Day for Every Dog campaign will return this summer, which will provide even more opportunities for owners to make use of the free service in various Medway locations. Last year’s week-long event resulted in the micro-chipping of 171 dogs.

Once the new rules come into effect, if a dog without a micro-chip comes to the attention of the council, its owner may be served with a notice requiring the dog to be micro-chipped, and may face criminal prosecution and a £500 fine if they do not comply with the notice.

Anyone breeding dogs will be responsible for micro-chipping their puppies before they sell or give them to new keepers, and all imported dogs will need to have a micro-chip.

Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder in charge of community wardens, Cllr Rupert Turpin said: “With the new law coming into effect in just a few weeks, I urge residents with dogs without micro-chips to contact the council and book an appointment for the free service as soon as possible. There is no excuse not to as it’s free and wardens can deliver the service within the home.

“Since the setting up of the Medway Council Stray Dog Service Facebook page we have seen lost dogs reunited with their owners more quickly, but the process will be even more efficient once micro-chipping becomes a legal requirement, hopefully resulting in many more easily identifiable dogs.”

To book free dog micro-chipping or for more information call 01634 333333.

Join the Medway Council Stray Dog Service Facebook page to help reunite lost dogs with their owners, or help to find them new forever homes.

Medway Council aiming to protect frontline services in 2016/17 budget

Medway Matters

Medway Council is striving to protect frontline services following the provisional local government settlement which sets out funding available for the next financial year.

The budget for 2016/17 will seek to protect all the vital services residents expect and deserve – a task which is becoming increasingly more difficult as government funding continues to decrease.

Several government grants previously received by the authority have, for 2016/17, been rolled into the total Revenue Support Grant (RSG), meaning the council will lose almost £12million in grant support from central government compared to 2015/16 – that’s a 30 per cent drop.

This is in addition to reductions of 11.9 per cent and 8.3 per cent in grant support in 2011/12 and 2012/13 respectively (circa £20million), followed by further reductions in Revenue Support Grant alone of at least £35million since 2013/14.

Despite this, the authority is working on proposals to balance the budget without impacting on important day to day services such as highways, waste collection, libraries and leisure.

The council will keep weekly bin and recycling collections, one of a handful of authorities in the country to do this, and car park fees will not rise – as the authority has pledged to keep these at the same level until 2017.

Medway is also determined to support its libraries and new community hubs which have thrived in recent years and have been key in offering residents a whole host of council services from easily accessible, central town locations.

In order to fund and protect the more than 140 services the council provides for the 270,000 people living in Medway, the budget proposals will seek a basic 1.994 per cent rise in council tax. Then in response to an ageing population and dwindling funding from central government, it is likely that the council will exercise its new power, announced by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement, to increase council tax by a further 2 per cent to partially fund demographic growth in the social care budget.

If approved before Full Council at the end of February, council tax charges, inclusive of the 2 per cent precept, would equate to £1,234.89 per year for an average Band D home – a rise of 91p a week or £47 a year on last year’s charge.

While Medway Council seeks to be as efficient as possible, council tax needs to increase to ensure a balanced budget – a legal obligation it must meet despite the fact that it is becoming harder to achieve this as government funding continues to decrease.

In fact, the revenue support grant for 2016/17 will reduce to £28million compared to the adjusted 2015/16 figure of £40.1million – an £11.9million loss in government funding that is the principal cause of the near £15million gap against the £316million overall draft budget.

Historically, Medway receives much less in government funding than other similar sized local authorities and this is a continuing feature.

Medway Council’s research shows that the £28 million it will receive works out at £103 per resident.

With funding cuts set to continue in the coming years, the council has to come up with more effective ways of providing services for less.

The authority has embarked on a digital transformation programme which will see services delivered for less online, and in social care there will be a stronger focus on people being supported to maintain their independence and receive care within their own homes.

On-going major regeneration in the area will continue to boost the local economy and George Osborne’s recent announcement of Enterprise Zone status for Rochester Airport as part of The North Kent Innovation Zone, will attract more businesses to the area.

Cllr Alan Jarrett, Leader of Medway Council, said: “Once again it has been an incredibly tough task this year to balance the books. Year on year we receive less money from central government, which is quite frankly backing local authorities into a corner and will inevitably lead to cuts in various areas over the coming years, something we have always strived to avoid.

“In Medway we pride ourselves on protecting frontline services, which we have managed to do again in these draft budget proposals, but in the future, continued cuts to our funding will be damaging to the level of service we are able offer local people.

“The 1.994 per cent rise in council tax and the additional social care precept is unavoidable if we want to maintain the important services that residents rely on and deserve.”

Details of budget proposals will be subject to change up until final decisions are made at the Full Council meeting on 25 February 2016.

The implications of the provisional local government finance settlement are available online at
democracy.medway.gov.uk/mgconvert2pdf.aspx?id=29326

Minister lifts Improvement Notice on Medway Council Children’s Social Care

I was immensely pleased that my Cabinet Paper on the recent Ofsted Report on Children’s Social Care which can be viewed here, was endorsed by my Cabinet colleagues yesterday .

Medway is no longer inadequate and the icing on the cake was a letter from the Children’s Minister informing us that he had lifted the Improvement Notice that had been in force for the last few years.

We will not take our foot of the throttle and will continue to drive improvement to Good or Outstanding by our next visit.

My thanks and congratulations go to all of our Officers, staff,  young people and partners involved for stepping up to the plate and delivering an improving service to our young people.

Particular thanks to the Children in Care Council who have played a major part in our improvement.

Photograph above shows me with the Children’s Minister Edward Timpson when I met him at the Houses of Parliament yesterday.

Summit will look at loneliness and social isolation

Medway Matters

Medway is to stage its first summit which looks at the issue of loneliness and social isolation.

The Medway Tackling Social Isolation Summit will see organisations such as Medway Council, Medway Community Healthcare, Medway NHS  Foundation Trust, Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, Kent Fire and Rescue, Age UK and the British Red Cross come together to understand more about how loneliness affects people’s lives and discuss how people, particularly the elderly, can be supported to reduce their time alone.

The issue has been highlighted this year in the John Lewis advert, featuring a man on the moon who is alone on Christmas Day.

Older people are significantly more likely to suffer from social isolation because they have lost friends, family, have no income and are not mobile enough to get out.

The summit will be held at 9am on 8 December and run by the Medway Health and Wellbeing Board at Gillingham FC.

Cllr David Brake, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Adult Services, said: “Nobody is immune to being isolated.

“We hope to learn more about how and why people find themselves socially isolated and how that impacts on their health, but more importantly discuss ways to help them reconnect to their communities.

“We need to utilise the energy and skills from within the community because there is untapped resource of people who could potentially volunteer and improve their own wellbeing while improving the wellbeing of others.”

Medway Council’s Public Health team will also launch a new information guide for older people called Stay Connected which will give contact details of a variety of organisations that can help people keep in touch with their communities as well as enjoy activities in Medway.

People can also access a new website, mymedway.org, which can help people find details on care services and information on events and volunteering opportunities across Medway.

Other population groups at risk of social isolation include carers, refugees and those with mental health problems.

The key risk factors for loneliness include being in later old age, particularly over 80 years, on a low income, in poor physical or mental health and living alone or in isolated rural areas or deprived urban communities.

It is estimated that across the present population aged 65 and over in the UK, that 5%-16% are lonely and 12% are socially isolated.

If this estimate was applied to Medway this would result in an estimate of 4,698 people over 65 years old being socially isolated and between 1,958 and 6,264 people being lonely.

 

A great Wigmore Residents Community Association meeting

A packed Wigmore Library for the Wigmore Residents Community Association (WRCA) this evening.

With my colleagues Cllr Mrs Diane Chambers and Cllr Howard Doe, local PCSO Sean and two officials from Arriva we met local residents to discuss a wide variety of issues.

I took the opportunity of meeting the Arriva officials Nick Elsden District Operations Manager and David Morton Assustant Commercial Development Manager and called for the return of the 116 Bus, the loss of which has caused extreme distress to our local elderly residents.

Also in the top picture is Mark Bargiggia the Chairman of the WRCA.

Young Black Achievers Awards 2015

NOMINATION FORM Young Black Achievers Awards 2015

Medway African Caribbean Association will be recognising the achievements of  Kent and Medway’s young black generation with an award ceremony to be held in November.

If you know a child or young person aged between 5 and 25 and would like to nominate them for an award then please complete and return this application form to MACA by

9^th October 2015

Medway African
Caribbean Association
Sunlight Centre
105 Richmond rd
ME7 1LX
Email :
medwayafricancaribbean@outlook.com

Rules and judging Criteria

Nominations must be for a child or young person aged between 5 and 25 years of age on or before the closing date

Nominations must be for those making a contribution in either Kent or Medway.
The nominees must be from the Black African or Caribbean community or mixed parentage communities of African or Caribbean descent

Multiple nominations for 1 person will not be accepted in different categories

The achievement must comply with one of the categories stated

The judging panel will consist of MACA members and independent members

The closing date for applications is midday on 9th October 2015

Previous winners are not allowed to be nominated in the same category

In the event of a possible conflict of interest, the panel may decide that a judge cannot sit on the judging panel if a nominee is known to them

Nominations will be accepted from organisations, individuals or families
The judging panel’s decisions will be final and there will be a maximum number of 3 winners per category

The awards ceremony will take place 6th November 2015
Further details will be given at a later date

Facebook saves the day for stray dogs in Medway

Medway Matters

Facebook has come to the rescue of lost dogs in Medway.

Since a committed community warden at Medway Council set up a stray dogs Facebook page, 100 per cent of dogs picked up by the team have been reunited with their owners, rehomed or fostered.

This comes just two weeks after the warden service was temporarily suspended due to the kennels in Upchurch being full.

It was at this point that Senior Community Warden Russel Songhurst set up the Medway Council Stray Dog Service Facebook page to combat the problem.

He said: “It’s been quite remarkable how much of a difference the Facebook page has made in a fortnight. It’s a good tool as it is immediate and the news of the dogs we’ve found spreads rapidly.

“I’m pleased to say all the dogs we have picked up in the past two weeks are now either back home, in a foster home or with loving new owners, and we currently have no stray dogs needing rehoming, which is unprecedented.

“A real positive that’s come from this is an increase in people rehoming Staffordshire Bull Terriers – they’ve been given a bad reputation, but they can be very friendly and are just as deserving of a loving home as any other breed.”

Russel posts photos of the dogs found on the social media account together with details of where and when they were picked up.

The Facebook page now has more than 370 likes, nearly 690 people have shared at least one of the page posts and almost 35,000 people have been reached as a result – according to Facebook insights.

Dogs picked by council wardens spend seven days in the care of the council at Jasmil Kennels in Upchurch, and if the owner is not found or doesn’t come forward to claim their dog, the kennels then become responsible for the pet and will try and find it a loving home.

If a new home or dog foster carer can’t be found, sometimes dogs are sadly put to sleep as a last measure.

Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder in charge of community officers Cllr Rupert Turpin said: “This is a good example of someone going above and beyond the call of duty because they really care about their job – congratulations to Russel for his hard work which has clearly paid off.

“While we have seen lots of dogs rehomed recently, more dogs would be reunited with their owners more quickly if they had micro-chips. Medway Council offers a free at-home micro-chipping service and as of 2016 anyone who does not have their dog micro-chipped will be breaking the law.”

Visit the Medway Council Stray Dog Service Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/mcstraydogs

A busy day with the Chair of the Medway Community Safety Partnership

A really interesting day today, firstly visiting the One Stop Shop that is run by the Medway Domestic Abuse Forum at the Sunlight Centre in Gillingham.

With my Cabinet colleague Cllr Andrew Mackness the Chair of the Medway Community Safety Partnership we joined the Manager Debbie Simpson to find out all about the tremendous work that the team are doing, with the support of Partner Agencies , at the centre.

We are pictured above with Debbie.

After this it was off to Medway Police Station to visit the Community Safety Unit where we were given the opportunity to talk with all of the Partner Agencies involved, as well as meeting old friends and colleagues from my previous time as Chair of the Medway CSP.

I am extremely pleased to say that I am honoured to have been invited to rejoin the Community Safety Partnership, I look forward to working with Andrew and our Partners in the future.

We are pictured below with Acting Inspector Craig West, CSU Manager Neil Howlett and one of the Joint Family Management Programme Officers Tina Venus-Coppard.

Launch of fostering scheme for abandoned pets

Medway Matters

How do you fancy becoming a foster carer…for a dog?

Medway Council has launched an innovative new scheme to place stray dogs in loving homes until full time owners can be found.

The council picked up around 1,000 stray dogs last year and means kennel space is at a premium.

There are many reasons a dog ends up wandering the streets, sometimes it’s simply accidental and they’ve escaped from their owners, other times it can be more sinister as dogs are deliberately abandoned.

The rise in strays could be linked to people finding it tougher to afford to keep a pet.

But around 300 dogs are returned to their owners each year because they are microchipped.

You may not know it, but the council can offer you free microchipping for your pet – giving you complete piece of mind should it go missing.

For those dogs where the owners can’t be simply traced through a microchip, the future isn’t as bright.

Once picked up by community wardens, they spend a week in the care of the council at Jasmil Kennels near Sittingbourne

If the owner is still not traced or doesn’t come forward to claim their dog, the kennels then become responsible for the pet and will try and find it a loving home.

If an owner can’t be found, the dog sadly has to be put to sleep as a last measure.

That’s a situation nobody wants to see and is why the new foster carers for pets scheme could help prevent that by placing dogs in an approved and loving home.

Placing them in a home while a full time owner is found helps free up space at the kennels and – more importantly – is better for the dog.

Call us on 01634 333333 for more information and to register your interest or click here to watch the video

Local Medway school sees off competition from schools across Kent and Medway to win the 2015 Lord Lieutenant’s Inter-Schools Challenge.

In the presence of a representative of The Lord-Lieutenant of Kent, Viscount De L’Isle, “Team 2” from The Howard School, Rainham beat seven other schools from Medway and the surrounding area to win this year’s Lord Lieutenant’s Inter Schools Challenge trophy. Teams representing eight schools participated in a gruelling day of challenging activities designed to develop team spirit, test courage and stamina, build communication and teamwork skills on Tuesday 14^th July from 09:00 to 15:30, at Brompton Barracks, Gillingham ME7 5DQ.

In the third event of its kind, lead organiser Challenger Troop CIC, along with the Royal School of Military Engineers (1 RSME Regiment), facilitated a range of command and communication-based activities for 10 teams of 10 KS4 students from schools.  Each team had 10 challenges to complete in a set time and were scored on the result. Assessment was based on overall team performance; effort, participation, team-member engagement, leadership, communication, teamwork and completion of the task in the time allocated were all taken into consideration.

Major Dennis Bradley DL, a representative for Viscount De L’Isle, presented a trophy to the winning team from the Howard School. Deputy Mayor of Medway Cllr Steve Iles presented awards for the runner-up, Team 1 from The Howard School. In addition, awards for the Most Outstanding Individual Team-Member’s Contribution to the Team and Task were presented by Cllr Mike O’Brien, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, Medway Council and a ceremonial plaque was presented by 1 RSME to the team (again, Team 2 from the Howard School) who completed their bridge challenge in the fastest time.

Simon Dean, CEO of Challenger Troop, said “This event is very much in the spirit of the Armed Forces Community Covenant, where local communities come together to support the Armed Forces community and encourage activities, which help integrate this into local life. As a provider of uniformed youth leadership and engagement programmes, we see on a daily basis how the values and standards of the Armed Forces can help and support disengaged young people in our community.”

ENDS

 

I also had the honour of presenting medals to the Most Outstanding Individual Team Member.

Notes to editors: 

Photo Caption:

Victorious Victors: Team 2 from The Howard School, Rainham celebrating winning the 2015 Lord Lieutenant of Kent’s Inter-schools trophy. Celebrating with the students are Major Dennis Bradley DL (second from the back right). Cllr Mike O’Brien, Medway Council (furthest right) Cllr Vince Maple (Cllr for Chatham Central and Howard School Old Boy – back left) and CEO and Founder of Challenger Troop, Simon Dean (Front left)  

• Participating schoolsinclude Fort Pitt Grammar School for Girls (Chatham), Gravesend Grammar School (Gravesend), Folkestone School for Girls (Folkestone), Astor College (Dover), The Howard School, (Rainham), Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School (Rochester) and  Thomas Aveling School (Rochester),
• Challenger Troop, founded in 2009 is a Community Interest Company (not for profit) no: 06319421 Head Office, TA Centre St John Roads Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. TN4 9UU
• Challenger Troop has no affiliation or direct association with the Ministry of Defence, Reserve Forces and Cadets Association.
• Examples of the programmes of we offer include: bespoke future leader courses, adventure training and teambuilding skills, bush craft and survival techniques, reward or enrichment activity days and sixth form leadership development training.
• Further information is available at www.challengertroop.orgor ring 0845 5485070

 

Islay O’Hara 

National Project Development Manager

T: 0845 548 5070 M.07583 632996

Challenger Troop CIC HQ, AR Centre St John’s Road, Tunbridge Wells Kent, TN4 9UU.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin