What is Good Business Sense?

While Sandwell Um & R about a few days free parking, or have meetings to decide if parking charges should go up, I see that a forward looking shopping centre is extending the opening times of business over Christmas period and they also offer FREE parking.

This will undoubtedly help their traders still suffering from Labour's mess and give a welcome boost to jobs for local people.

Hold on ??? before you get in the car and rush off and risk getting a parking ticket, its not one of the 6 towns of Sandwell, sadly its the old favourite Merry Hill.

Blogger said

I wonder who else will move to Merry Hill ?, its simple maths

Come On Sandwell Council give us Free Parking for Christmas

Other Boroughs have shown their intentions, What About forgetting your anti car Policy
for a week or two.
It might even boost trade in our towns !

Repairing the Mess

Following the mess we inherited from Labour its taken a while but the latest figures from the ONS show some very good signs

Unemployment Down to 2.53 million (down 50,000 on the previous quarter)
Youth (16-24) unemployment down to 957,000 (down more than 60,000 on the previous quarter,
Employment up to 29.59 million (up 212,000 on the previous quarter).
Public Sector Net Borrowing in September 2012 was £12.8 billion, £0.7 billion lower than in September 2011.
Overall crime in England and Wales in the year ending June 12 fell by 6 per cent from the previous year
Inflation is also Down

Now it also looks like the UK is back into growth, 
                                          these figures will upset Doom & Gloom Labour.

Reference

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9623251/GDP-figures-to-show-Britains-double-dip-recession-is-over.html
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/index.html
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/period-ending-june-2012/index.html
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/october-2012/index.html
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/cpi/consumer-price-indices/september-2012/index.html

Well Done Express & Star

Our heart felt congratulations on your success with the Green Shoots Fund

Quote
"Bids will be chosen on the basis of job benefits and the potential for growth in the economy".

Sandwell Tory said
Very true words, helping small companies to take on staff is the right way forward 

Reference
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2012/10/19/express-%E2%80%88star-wins-1-4m-to-boost-local-firms/

Meanwhile following a visit from the Labour Shadow Home secretary

                I wonder if the Leader of Sandwell Council showed the Labour Shadow Home secretary

                                                        The shops that have closed ?
                               or perhaps did they visit the land where Labour bulldozed our schools?
                                 or even the acres of land were council houses once stood ?
                                                  or the Public money eating machine? 

      and what should be top of the list
                                 Did they pay to park ? or were they in the council limo?

Pile of Rubbish in Oldbury

A reader emails that this rubbish has been there for almost 2 days, just 100 metres away from the Council House main entrance

Sandwell Tory said          Perhaps they haven't seen it?

A Public Inconvenience

Just weeks after announcing that the visitor numbers at the £70M public arts building in West Bromwich are on the increase, it now transpires that the toilets at the public are to have a £30,000 upgrade.

The strange thing is
I wonder if the increase in visitors is just down to more people using the toilets ?

as the manager is quoted as saying

"It would allow people to enjoy day to day activities in West Bromwich Town centre without the worry of not being able to find such facilities in the town

Sandwell Tory said

What are they saying?
Has Sandwell Labour given West Bromwich the most expensive toilet in the world ?
Was this £70M new building  DDA compliant when it opened ?

After all £70 M is a very inconvenient amount and for that price we could have centrally heated toilets
with full carpeting and valet service in every town in the borough and still had change left over, but Sandwell still totally amazes me that for years Labour let our Schools rot, but our council always seems flushed with money for the Public

but on a serious note while they continue spending money on the Public, is West Bromwich high street is going down the pan?

Please read KPMG's comments on the public


Ref E&S page 5 11th Oct 2012

Sandwell Again?

As you walk, drive or bus to work, to your jobs tomorrow in the private sector, paying all your taxes

(Council Tax, Parking tax, that’s if you can find a housing office open)

Spare a thought for Sandwell council workers, who if they lose no time in a year can now look forward to a reward in the shape of vouchers and leisure passes

Quote

Rewards have already been agreed from Sandwell Leisure Trust in the form of leisure passes and the Birmingham Hospital Saturday fund health insurance provider. BT will contribute £200 in vouchers.

You could not make this up?

Sandwell Tory said

Can I suggest all of us in the private sector ring BT asking for a reduction in our phone bills if we go to work all year?

1, I wonder if its a benefit in kind and taxable?

2, are you paying for this from the the possible car parking charge hikes ?

Reference

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2012/10/09/sandwell-council-offer-rewards-for-staff-with-no-sick-days/

Sandwell Comedians

Labour were the managers of our economy spending and taxing their way through their last term in office, ending in mess we are now all in and its Labour's policies over the last 30years which have dictated the route of our once fine town centre, West Bromwich

Not content with Bulldozing

5 picture houses

2 x Baths

2 x Dance halls

a range of Pubs

An Indoor market

They then set about introducing parking charges ? and customers migrated to other towns and specifically to out of town shopping.

Trade in our premier town decreased, Your local Conservatives battled to get free parking and at the same time open up the high street to vehicle traffic to help the traders, did the council listen?   NO!

Now it is announced that Sandwell Labour are proposing to double the cost of parking charges to residents and workers in the town,who will soon be paying £4 a day to park.

To a shop worker in West Bromwich  town that means £24 / week if they work in one of the few shops that are still left open

Can they be serious or is this some surreal joke?.

The last of the shop owners are up in arms at the proposals, even shop owners in the smaller town

are incensed, as I said in my last post “Are Labour coming for your money “

But are the parking charges the same across the borough?

Sandwell Tory said

I challenge Sandwell Labour to introduce £4 / day parking in

Smethwick , Oldbury , Bearwood and Blackheath in Election year

Who will be next to follow the WBBS? 

Do you think this fits perfectly to  Sir Winston Churchill's , views on Socialism?,   

" its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery".

Sandwell Council Tax

Under the Coalition Government councils held council tax to a Zero% rise for the last two years, I sit here wondering what excuse Labour will use to put up the residents Council tax charges next year, now the coalition is allowing councils to set the final figure

will it be an unlucky 13 for Sandwell residents?


Here are some possibles, What do you think?

We had an exceptionally bad Winter ?
Its the Governments fault?
Its not our fault? 
We've had to spend a lot on flowers for the High Streets?

Sandwell Tory said
Do feel Labour are coming for your money?

Sandwell Good news

Sandwell Council has finally given contracts to a number of companies to start the house rebuilding program after leaving a number of sections of land barren for years

Our thanks go to the Coalition Governments Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) for the investment that allowed this building to start
 Homes will build homes in Greets Green, the Windmill Lane area of Smethwick and Harvills Hawthorn

Sandwell Tory said
 We wish the HCA many thanks as housing as been a problem in Sandwell for years

Red Ed & his Radio 4 moment

Driving into town on the 34 this morning, I had the radio set to Radio 4 and Red Ed was the guest.

Ed was asked a couple of simple enough questions "what would you do?"and "what are your policies?"  Simple enough you may ask

 

Trouble is I lost count on how many times the interviewer said "Come on give us a clue"

 

After what seemed time eternal the interviewer said I'm not going to get an answer let's move on

 

Not one answer was given

 

Sandwell Tory said

Coming from a Labour man who is trying to please all the people, all of the time and now blatantly using Tory phrases in his speeches, I feel sure that if he joins the Conservative Party,

 

David might even give him the answers.

Red Ed's NOT so original moment

So Ed's big speech as come and gone ? I liked is bit about "One Nation", so did Conservative Prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, who orininally used it. Nice one Ed what else have you "borrowed"
so lets have a look !
Another section that surprised me by its inclusion in his Labour speech was his proposal for a
Tech baccalaureate,  which originates from a report by Prof Alison Wolf in 2011 commissioned by a
certain M Gove MP , yes you've got it Michael Gove,

Can we now say that  Ed's agreeing with us ?

I see that Professor Wolf has also said
"I was very pleased when the Coalition government accepted all the recommendations of my Review of Vocational Education.
I have also been delighted and impressed by the speed with which they are being implemented,



But Red Ed missed out that bit, so sadly son your to late its already being done,
 
Nice try but just 1/10 for effort 
and more home work needed!


Sandwell Tory said

I see Ed went on to Say  "One nation: a country where prosperity is fairly shared", on this I think he meant One nation: a country where we can give you even more debt!


incidentally how is Dave ? and  Ed Don't forget Sandwell,  146 out of 151