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Leicestershire MattersAutumn 2006 WE are working with older people, to ensure their voices are heard. To ensure that older people can get involved and comment on changes made by the County Council, we are setting up the older people’s consultative network. This is supported by the District and Borough Councils, community and voluntary organisations and the health sector.
For more information, or to register your group, please call 0116 305 7404/3 or e-mail: communicationsteam@leics.gov.uk
THOUSANDS of people contact Trading Standards each year and we have once again asked our Head of Consumer Services, Keith Regan, to answer some of your questions.
Dear Keith
Please help! The money coming in no longer meets my bills etc. I feel like I’m sinking under the pressure of debt!
You need some help to manage your debt. Many advertisements promise to clear your debt and put all your loans under ‘one roof’ but these cost you money and add to your debt problem!
Instead, please get some free, impartial advice by:
Calling the National Debtline on freephone 0808 808 4000, or visit the National Debtline website: (your local library provides free internet access)
Dear Keith
I’m about to start Christmas Shopping and remember a scare last year about decorations that caught fire. What should I avoid?
New laws mean that tree and outside lights now need to be made to a British Standard, so check the label. This new legislation has addressed most of our concerns.
However, please follow this advice:
For clear, practical consumer advice call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or visit the Consumer Direct website
WOULD you like to have your say about the services we deliver to you and help us to improve them further?
 If the answer is yes, then now is your chance to join our new Citizens’ Panel.We are currently recruiting Leicestershire residents to represent the views of people across the County. The Citizens’ Panel is one of our key tools for public consultation and a sounding board for changes and improvements in our services and policies.
Three or four times a year panel members are asked to complete a short postal or online survey which asks questions about the County Council, our policies and the services we deliver.
When issues arise where we need to understand people’s views and preferences in more detail, panel members are often given the first opportunity to take part in additional meetings or focus groups. These are small discussion groups comprising 10 or so people, although involvement in these is not compulsory.
The County Council is committed to ensuring that it understands the views of all sections of the community. Therefore, we are particularly keen to encourage applications for panel membership from groups who have traditionally been under-represented, including people from black and minority ethnic communities, people with disabilities and young people.
To apply online visit the Have Your Say pages and click on Leicestershire’s Voice Citizens’ Panel. For more information e-mail: abrown@leics.gov.uk or call Andy Brown on 0116 305 6096.
This form collects information about you which will be used to contact you about Leicestershire County Council’s Citizens’ Panel. It will not be disclosed to any organisation not associated with Leicestershire County Council (LCC) except where the law requires us to release that information. The information will be removed from our database if you request it.
AN important resident satisfaction survey has been delivered to 5,000 homes across the County.
The recipients, selected at random, have until the end of November to complete the survey. It is an opportunity to tell us how satisfied you are with County Council services such as your local waste site, library and our customer services.
Every three years the Government requires all Councils to conduct a random survey of its residents, using a number of set questions.
By filling in the survey you will be helping us to identify areas where we can improve further.
Tony Kershaw, our Cabinet Lead Member for Communication and Consultation, said: “It is important we receive a good response to the survey, which will help us to deliver even better services to residents.
“The form should only take about 20 minutes to complete and I would urge everyone who has received a copy and has not yet replied to do so as soon as possible.”
A story on the survey results will be included in a future edition of Leicestershire Matters.
For more information visit the Have Your Say pages or e-mail: haveyoursay@leics.gov.uk or call Andy Brown on 0116 305 6096.
A FORUM dedicated to representing the views and needs of older people from black and minority ethnic communities has been officially launched at County Hall.
The Leicestershire and Rutland Minority Ethnic Forum has been developed initially through a grant from the Big Lottery Fund. It is supported by Leicestershire Together – a strategic partnership of local organisations led by the County Council, including Age Concern Leicestershire and Rutland, and the Leicestershire Minority Ethnic Partnership.
Membership includes independent black and minority ethnic groups of older people from around the County. The forum enables them to represent their needs more effectively and offers opportunities to consult with service providers about planning and decision making.
For further details about the Leicestershire and Rutland Minority Ethnic Forum call Rina Morjaria on 0116 299 2241 or e-mail: Rina.Morjaria@ageconcernleics.com
LEICESTERSHIRE residents are being invited to have their say on the proposed development of new housing in the County.
The East Midlands Regional Assembly is leading on the consultation for the Regional Plan document.
We would like to hear your comments before we make our final views known to the Assembly.
The development of housing is an important issue as it could affect your environment and facilities, such as roads, schools and health care.
We have concerns that a lot of greenfield land in Leicestershire has been taken up by recent developments, and believe the County’s existing countryside should be protected. For that reason we are advising that house building should be reduced from the levels suggested by the Government.
View the Regional Plan.To give your views please call Andrew Simmonds on 0116 305 7027 or e-mail: asimmonds@leics.gov.uk
The consultation period ends on December 21st.
WOULD you like to make a difference to the lives of young people? Are you concerned about crime in your community?
 If the answer is yes, you may wish to volunteer to work with our award-winning Short-term Interventions Team.Part of the Leicestershire and Rutland Youth Offending Service, the team works with young people aged 10-17 who have offended and received a final warning from the police.
Volunteers are given training and support to work with young people to prevent them re-offending.
The young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions, use their leisure time constructively and consider the consequences and implications of offending for themselves and the victims of crime.
Richard, from Cosby, has been a volunteer for 14 months. He said: “Working with young people can be an extremely rewarding experience.
“It gives you the opportunity to help them turn their lives around and achieve their goals.”
If you would like to volunteer, or for more information about the initiative and other volunteering opportunities, call Debbie Stobbs or Lorraine Simpson-Ward on 0116 269 3706 or e-mail: dstobbs@leics.gov.uk or: Lsward@leics.gov.uk
Pictured - Making a difference… volunteer Richard (left) offers advice to a young person.
DID you know that if you live in a rural area you may be able to access Council services through your local post office?
 We now have 43 Connect help points in towns and villages across the County – 11 of which are within rural post offices.Connect help points provide information about many County, District and Parish Council services.
For example, you can get details about education, health, community groups, jobs and sport in your local area.
Much of this information is provided via our Connect website: You can log onto this by using one of the PCs which are available for you to use at all of our help points. Friendly staff are at hand if you need help with using the computers.
Our rural help points can be found within post offices at:
Barkby: Main Street
Billesdon: Church Street
Coleorton: Lower Moor Road
Great Easton: High Street
Husbands Bosworth: High Street
Newton Burgoland: The Green
Old Dalby: Chapel Lane
Stanton Under Bardon: Main Street
Stathern: Main Street
Stoke Golding: Church Walks
Whetstone: High Street
For a complete list of our help points visit the Connect website. For further details e-mail: hgriffiths@leics.gov.uk or call our Customer Services Team on 0116 305 6252.
Pictured - Stoke Golding Help Point… our Cabinet Lead Member for Rural Affairs, Lesley Pendleton (left) with subpostmaster Elizabeth Kingsley.
IF you visit the Leicestershire Villages website you can get a wealth of information on villages in the County.
Simply visit the Leicestershire Villages website and click on the map to choose the area you wish to visit, then browse through news, views, events and the history of your chosen village.
You can also use the website to promote your organisation, events and activities to the 100,000 visitors who log-on every month. This service is free, you just need an e-mail address to register and after this, you can add information.
With the ‘find my nearest’ service, you can search for facilities around your village - from pubs to plumbers as well as information on local planning applications and roadworks. You can also submit feedback on particular projects such as planning applications.
The website has information and contacts for the County and District Councils, and links to external organisations including benefits advice, jobsearch facilities and details on public transport.
Training sessions are held in Loughborough, if you would like to get more involved – dates are posted on the site’s events calendars.
For more details e-mail: admin@leicestershirevillages.com or call 01509 643448.
WE want to find out if our wild flowers are flourishing in the County – and you could help!
 The Women’s Institute has joined forces with us to survey 12 common wild flowers, such as bluebells and cowslips, in Leicestershire and Rutland.The WI is encouraging members of the public to join it in recording these wild flowers and their habitats over 2007 and will hold a public exhibition of the results in 2008.
 These results will be held at our environmental resources centre and will help provide experts with an idea of the state of some of our most important wildlife habitats.
The Leicestershire and Rutland WI has raised £54,000 for the survey through various awards, including the Heritage Lottery Fund. The survey is also supported by the Community Heritage Initiative.
A free booklet can be downloaded by visiting the Celebrating Wildlife pages, alternatively, contact the Leicestershire & Rutland Federation of WIs, 135 Loughborough Road, Leicester LE4 5LQ, call 0116 266 1342 or e-mail: wihouseleics@aol.com
To help inspire you to look for wild flowers this spring – we are running a competition where you can draw or paint your favourite spring wild flower!
There are fantastic prizes of gardening kits on offer for the best entries and the winners’ pictures will also feature in a future issue of Leicestershire Matters!
Simply draw a picture of your favourite spring wild flower and post it together with the Flower Competition entry form (downloadable Word document) (downloadable PDF document) to the PR Unit, Room 211, Leicestershire County Council, County Hall, Glenfield, Leicestershire LE3 8RA – by 15th January, 2007. (We may not be able to return pictures.)
 Help
with file formats used on this websiteWildflowers you could draw include: the lesser celandine, primrose, marsh marigold, cuckoo flower, red campion, cowslip, bluebell, ragged robin, meadowsweet, field scabious, heather, harebell.
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COUNTY residents and those from further afield have celebrated the first ever Leicester Shire Food & Drink Week.
Events were held at locations including Hinckley, Market Harborough, Ashby de la Zouch and Leicester, giving people an opportunity to sample local delights.
The week culminated with the East Midlands Food & Drink Festival in Melton Mowbray, which, with over 200 exhibitors, is the largest regional food festival in the country.
ARE you looking for a unique Christmas gift for a loved one or a friend?
Our new service - gifts online - offers a range of excellent quality photo products that can be personalised with your choice of colour or caption.
You can chose from hundreds of images from our museum, aviation and railway collections and these can be printed on gifts including calendars, cushions, mugs, mouse mats and T-shirts.
These can be ordered on-line and will be delivered to you within one to four weeks – so why not order now in time for Christmas!
Visit the Collections pages and the Railway Archive pages
For more information call 0116 305 8320 or e-mail: museums@leics.gov.uk
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