David Taylor

About David

Councillor David Taylor is a former Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council (2009-10) and has been a  County Councillor since 1989. He represents the Beauvale division which includes the borough wards of Brinsley and Greasley (Giltbrook & Newthorpe), and the Beauvale ward of Greasley Parish Council. He is a member of Brinsley Parish Council and was a member of Broxtowe Borough Council for 19 years, including a year as Mayor of Broxtowe in 1987/88.

He is married to Glenice with 4 grown-up children and 4 grandchildren. He qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) in 1962 and embarked on a 37-year career in local government finance. He concluded this as Chief Internal Auditor at Rushcliffe Borough Council.

David famously describes himself as "an active opponent of political correctness". Apart from his political and professional life he is a keen cricket fan and has been a Member of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club since 1947. 

David is available to meet constituents at any convenient time at a suitable venue. His contact details are displayed on the left of this page.  

David's latest Councillors' Divisional Fund awards...

Each Nottinghamshire County Councillor now has an annual fund of £10,000 to support worthy initiatives in the division they represent. The Councillors' Divisional Fund aims to make use of each councillor's 'grass roots' knowledge to identify projects, events, people and clubs that work hard to benefit and promote their local area, but often lack access to resources. Even a small amount of funding can sometimes make a huge difference. 

If you know of a deserving initiative in the Beauvale division that might be eligible to receive a CDF grant, please contact me. You can click the following link to read the eligibility guidance criteria.   

Follow this link to the Councillors' Divisional Fund web page to see some of the latest projects I have been able to support.

David's latest news...

Council plans to adopt a committee system

Pending approval at the Council’s Annual General Meeting on 17^th May 2012, Nottinghamshire County Council plans to exercise its new power under the Localism Act 2011 to adopt a committee system of decision-making. This will replace the current Leader and Cabinet model adopted under the Local Government Act 2000.

The rationale for a committee system is that it is the most democratic and transparent form of governance. It ensures all 67 democratically elected Councillors are able to fully participate in decision-making and shaping the policy of the Council. It ensures greater transparency in that all reports are publicly available prior to any decision being made, and all decision-making meetings are held in public.

Reports were taken to the Full Council meetings in January and March (Item 11), with final approval being sought, as stated above, in May.

(Posted 17/4/2012)

Council tax frozen again in 2012/13 

At the Nottinghamshire County Council budget meeting on 23^rd February it was agreed to freeze county council tax for a third consecutive year. With public finances under strain across the country, the council has saved £87 million so far, £44 million of which has been reinvested directly into frontline services. In the coming financial year we will spend: -

• £2.8 million more safeguarding children;
• £5.2 million more on care for older people;
• £2.7 million more on adults with mental health & learning disabilities;
• £1.4 million more on adults with physical disabilities; and
• £1 million more to support young carers.

 

 We are also committed to invest £289 million in capital over three years on:-

• Improving school buildings;
• Modernising day centres;
• New youth clubs;
• Improving libraries;
• Improved broadband services;
• Improved roads and pathways;
• New and improved bus stations.

 

Councillor Reg Adair is the council's Cabinet Member for Finance & Property. In his speech presenting the budget, he outlined the results of the council's budget consultation. In response to public feedback, we are: - 

• providing additional library opening hours at 15 locations across the county;
• holding Meals at Home charges at £3.95 for 2012/13; and
• not increasing charges for Blue Badge holders in 2012/13, unlike many other local authorities. 

 

(Posted 28/2/2012)  

Budget Conversation underway

Nottinghamshire County Council has announced proposals for its 2012/13 budget. 

Nottinghamshire residents are invited to give feedback the budget proposals and take part in our Budget Conversation, which is open until Friday 29^th January 2012. The results of last year's consultation led us to change some of our proposals and we will be listening very carefully again. Please let us know your views.

(Posted 16/11/2011)

Grants available for sports clubs in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Council is challenging local sports clubs and organisations to come forward with new projects that encourage people to get involved in sport. The reward, from the Community Sports Fund, is a maximum of £1,500 to Clubmark accredited clubs and £1,000 for other not for profit organisations such as voluntary or community organisations. The money can be used to help with costs such as coaching fees, facility hire, equipment costs and publicity costs but it must be spent within 12 months.

To be eligible for the fund, applicants must be a club or organisation based in Nottinghamshire and affiliated to their national governing body. New organisations will need to demonstrate their intent to affiliate.

We’re passionate about supporting grassroots sport at all levels and clubs need funds - that ‘s why the Community Sports Fund is such a fantastic scheme as it gets money straight to where it can have the most impact. The best ideas for projects, that encourage new people in sport through a structured programme of activities, will benefit. To apply for a Community Sports Fund visit www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/sport-support

The closing date for applications is 2^nd October 2011.

(Posted 15/8/2011)

£2.5 million boost for Supporting People

Despite local budget pressures and a reduced grant from central Government, Nottinghamshire County Council has invested an extra £2.5 million in its Supporting People programme.

Supporting People is a national programme that provides housing related support to help vulnerable people live independently. It will see its Government grant in Nottinghamshire reduced to £17.6 million this year, threatening the County Council’s previous year’s Supporting People spend of £22.5 million.

However, thanks to a new £1.5 million investment from the local NHS, plus a further £1 million diverted from the County Council budget, the Government’s allocation has been given a vital boost in Nottinghamshire. This limits the reduction in the County’s Supporting People budget to just over 10%, from £22.5 million to £20.11 million. The restricted budget reduction has also been made possible by the County Council’s decision early this year, following public consultation, to keep its savings on Supporting People to £10 million over the next three years rather than two higher reduction options of £12.5 million and £15 million.

These funding measures support feedback gained from a second, two-month public consultation on Supporting People services this year (in Feb/March), to form new proposals which went before Full Council on 30^th June 2011. These proposals ensure that:-

• Most accommodation based services continue to be funded, albeit at reduced levels;
• ‘Floating support’ services, which offer support to people in their own homes, will be delivered consistently across issues of homelessness prevention and offender, drug and alcohol, gypsy and traveller and young people’s services;
• Mental health services are reviewed and delivered more efficiently;
• Young people’s services are reviewed for greater efficiency;
• Community alarm and warden services for older people are replaced with a new short term service targeted at helping vulnerable people to remain independent in their own homes.

 

We’ve talked to those who use the services, to our District Council partners, to project providers and voluntary and community groups, including church leaders, to find ways to make savings through efficiencies. We will target the money at front line services that meet the needs of those who are most vulnerable and in greatest need.

Nottinghamshire was successful in securing Government money under Supporting People when the programme first started eight years ago but we’ve seen this central funding steadily fall by nearly £11 million since that time. We believe that after the £10 million savings have been made, the level of funding in Nottinghamshire for these services will still compare well with other Council areas.

(Posted 20/7/2011)

More grass cuts

Nottinghamshire County Council is increasing the number of times it will be cutting grass verges this year.

As part of this year’s budget savings it was originally intended to reduce the frequency of routine grass cutting in urban areas from six to four times a year. However, we have listened to public feedback and have now increased that frequency to five cuts. In rural areas the frequency remains at two cuts a year.

At the same time we have issued guidelines for a growing number of residents who are happy to cut the grass verges outside their homes. Again, this is a direct result of feedback from the Council’s Big Budget Conversation consultation process, when hundreds of people said they would be prepared to cut verges if it helped to release money for use on other priorities, such a repairing potholes. 

The guidelines highlight what needs to be considered when cutting grass near the roadside.  They can be found online at: www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/roadverges

(Posted 14/7/11) 

School buildings investment

I am delighted to report that Brinsley Primary & Nursery in Beauvale division is one of the schools set to benefit from the first phase of Nottinghamshire County Council's new £100 million programme to refurbish and improve school buildings.

At the Annual General Meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council on 19^th May, the Cabinet Member for Children & Young People's Services, Councillor Philip Owen set out the full Schools Capital Refurbishment Programme List, covering three years up to 2014.

In line with the "Three R's" set out by the Government for school building works (Refresh, Refurbish, Re-use), Nottinghamshire County Council has set the criteria to prioritise the schools most in need of improvements for the first year. The condition of roofs, external walls and windows, electrical arrangements and mechanical issues such as boilers have been considered. 

More in-depth surveys of the schools in the first year list will take place from June and works on a small number of schools will begin during the summer holidays. The Council started a review of school buildings across the county following the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The County Council will be funding around £30m of the programme with the remaining money coming from the authority’s Government grant for school maintenance.

(Posted 1/6/2011)

Crossing safer in Brinsley

After 30 years of trying, I am delighted that a crossing and central reservation have finally been installed on Church Lane in Brinsley, between Broad Lane and Moor Road. Local residents and children in particular can at last cross more safely to the Council's playing field facilities and village hall. I want to place on record special thanks to the Cabinet Member for Transport & Highways, Councillor Richard Jackson, who visited Brinsley and gave this project his support. Thanks also go to Brinsley Parish Council and Broxtowe Borough Councillor John Booth for their help with this campaign.

(Posted 25/5/2011)

Council Budget 2011/12   

At the Nottinghamshire County Council Budget Meeting on 24^th February 2011 I joined my Conservative colleagues in voting to freeze Council Tax for a second successive year. In doing so, I approved £4.1 million of changes to the Council’s original budget proposals in direct response to the outcomes of the Big Budget Conversation. Extra money has now been found from reserves for the Supporting People programme, grant aid to voluntary groups, libraries, country parks and welfare rights advice.

With less formula grant funding from the Government, Nottinghamshire County Council has to find more than £80 million of savings in 2011/12 by reducing management and administration costs and reviewing expenditure on non-essential services. Just over half of this is being reinvested to meet growing demand for our most vital services, including: -

• £15 million more for specialist foster care placements;
• £6.3 million more to look after adults with acute learning disabilities and mental health needs;

• £2.8 million more on children’s social workers;

• £2.8 million more on services for older people;
• £1.5 million more to care for adults with physical disabilities; and
• £1 million more for young carers.

 

The budget was approved at the Council meeting by 34 votes to 29.

(Posted 28/2/2011)

Gritter Twitter

Nottinghamshire County Council will now be advising the public of when the county’s roads will be gritted, using Twitter. During the cold weather last winter there were a number of calls to the Council’s Customer Service Centre asking when the roads would be gritted. Now people can sign up to the Council’s Gritter Twitter feed to receive the latest gritting alerts.

In an age of social networking and 24-hour news, the Council recognises the need to give people ‘live’ information that will help them plan their journey. You can sign up to follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nottscc

(Posted 11/11/2010)

Improvement Programme latest 

At the full meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council on 21^st October I joined my Conservative colleagues in supporting the recommendations for action contained within the Nottinghamshire County Council Improvement Plan Progress Report.

The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Martin Suthers set out the financial challenges facing local authorities across the country and stated that Nottinghamshire County Council needed to save £150 million over the next three years.  

He said this would require savings of £69 million in 2011/12, to be achieved through a series of major initiatives including reprioritisation of services, improvements in business management and a review of property owned by the Council. 

Of this £69 million, it is intended to reinvest £39 million largely in services for our most vulnerable service users. The council has faced a 59% increase in children’s social care referrals over the last year and a 25% increase in the number of children in care over the last two years.  

For Children and Young People, a proposed reinvestment of £22.5 million will provide:-

• more specialist foster placements for children

• more support to young carers
• more children’s social workers
• development of free school transport for secondary school children.

  

Our Adult Social Care & Health services are under similar pressure, with 500 extra people aged over 80 and 4,000 extra people over the age of 65 in Nottinghamshire every year. Our proposed reinvestment of £13 million in 2011/12 will provide: - 

• the care and support services necessary to meet this increased demand
• more support for adults with physical disabilities
• more support for adults with learning disabilities and mental health needs
• extra resources for independent sector care.

 

I joined my Conservative colleagues in arguing that Nottinghamshire County Council must live within its means and ensure frontline statutory services are maintained.

(Posted 5/11/2010)

New Greasley Beauvale Primary School building underway

I am delighted to report that work commenced in June 2010 on a brand new school building for the Greasley Beauvale Primary School in Newthorpe. I have actively campaigned for this project for several years and look forward to its completion.   

In an excellent example of cross-council co-operation, Greasley Parish Council have helped Nottinghamshire County Council to deliver this exciting project by leasing an area of land at a peppercorn rent to ensure the necessary recreational facilities are provided in the form of Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) for the school and the wider community.

(Posted 18/8/2010)

Council AGM

At the Annual General Meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council on Thursday 20^th May 2010 I completed my formal duties as Chairman of the Council, to be succeeded by my good friend and colleague Councillor Thomas Pettengell. I have had the pleasure of meeting many fantastic people in the course of my travels around Nottinghamshire, each of whom should be proud of the role they play in making this county such an inspiring place to live and work. I wish the new Chairman well as he begins his year in office and I am sure he will enjoy the role every bit as much as I have. 

Chairman’s Charity

As reported in the local press, I can announce that my chosen Chairman’s Charity, The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), will receive around £3,000 thanks to the fundraising efforts of colleagues and friends across Nottinghamshire.

Upon my election as Chairman last year I remarked that the RNLI may seem a strange choice of charity for the Chairman of a landlocked county many miles from the nearest coast. However, the simple fact is that I have always been in awe of the bravery displayed by our lifeboat crews and their readiness to put their own lives on the line to save others.

My year as Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council has been immensely enjoyable and I pass on my sincere best wishes to my successor, County Councillor Tom Pettengell.   

Chairman's duties

I am continuing to enjoy my year as Chairman of the County Council, visiting all parts of Nottinghamshire and meeting some very interesting people, particularly young people. I am impressed with the work carried out by our own employees and I am looking forward to hosting a reception for those staff who pulled out all the stops to maintain road safety and deliver vital services during the recent spell of exceptionally cold weather. They deserve our heartfelt thanks and praise.

(Posted 8/3/10)

County Council Budget 2010/11

At the Nottinghamshire County Council Annual Budget meeting on Thursday 25^th February 2010 I joined my Conservative colleagues in voting for a freeze in council tax for the forthcoming financial year 2010/11.

My colleague Councillor Reg Adair, Cabinet Member for Finance & Property, presented the first budget of the new Conservative administration which included a range of management and efficiency measures to save £30 million. This money will be re-directed into front line services including key priority care services: -

• £3 million more to provide specialist placements for young people

• £1.7 million more to meet additional costs of Safeguarding Children at risk
• £6.1 million to meet the growth in services for people with mental health and learning disabilities 
• £1.9 million more towards the costs of services for people with physical disabilities
• £2.3 million more to meet additional costs of care home fees for service users living in independent sector homes
• £2 million more towards increased costs of care for people living independently in their own homes
• £700,000 more to meet costs arising from the provision of services as a result of the reduction in the Supporting People Grant and
• £2.5 million more to account for the ever growing numbers of older people requiring some form of care.

 

In Councillor Adair's speech introducing the budget proposals he pointed out that even with a council tax freeze, Nottinghamshire County Council will still be spending £11 million more in 2010/11 than in the previous year.

(Posted 8/3/10) 

Improvement Programme

Like every council in the country, Nottinghamshire County Council faces ongoing, significant and unavoidable increases in demand for key services. At the same time, it faces an unprecedented and long-term reduction in the resources available to it. Present forecasts are that the Council must reduce its current expenditure by at least £88m, or 18% of its revenue budget, over the next three financial years. Most of this reduction will be used to fund increased demand in other service areas. £30m of reductions have already been identified for 2010/11, leaving a further £58m to be found in 2011/12 and 2012/13.

In the past, reductions have been achieved through a process of allocating savings targets across departments. However, the scale of the financial challenge is now such that a more strategic approach is needed to achieve reductions in a structured and consistent way.

At the County Council meeting on 25^th February 2010 the Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Martin Suthers gained approval for a new Improvement Programme to deliver these aims, called ‘One Council - One Business - One Plan’. This will involve an estimated investment of £21 million over five years to deliver total aggregated savings of over £200m over a five year period.

The Improvement Programme will include: -

• a complete overhaul of the Council’s approach to procurement

• implementation of an integrated Business Management System and changes in processes

• rationalisation of the Council’s property portfolio and improvement in flexible ways of working

• a fundamental review of all services followed by a comprehensive programme of organisational redesign

• departmental improvement programmes that deliver service-specific developments and

• the Chief Executive’s own programme to deliver improvements in partnership working, communications and organisational development. 

 

The aim of ‘One Council-One Business-One Plan’ is to drive out inefficiency, target resources, minimise the impact on service delivery and create an organisation that is fit for purpose and financially sustainable in the long term. 

(Posted 8/3/10)

New Strategic Plan

Nottinghamshire County Council's new Strategic Plan 2010-2014 sets out our promise to the people of Nottinghamshire; our priorities for the next four years; and how we aim to support the people of our county to be aspirational, independent and to share with us responsibility for the future.

This Plan complements the wider Nottinghamshire Sustainable Community Strategy which is the collective plan that outlines how organisations in the county will work together to promote and deliver a better Nottinghamshire.

Our plan is ambitious. It is a plan based on what local people tell us they want, and what they want to see happen. The success of our plan relies on us working well together with local people and organisations. Whilst we face challenging financial times, nevertheless we have opportunities to promote and deliver a better future for Nottinghamshire.

(Posted 8/3/10)

Gritting

The exceptionally cold weather which affected Nottinghamshire and most other parts of the UK between December and February led to unprecedented pressures on local authority gritting supplies. Nottinghamshire County Council possessed stockpiles far exceeding Government recommendations and was able to keep its priority routes gritted even when other councils had exhausted their supplies. The biggest difficulty was obtaining replacement supplies, given the exceptional pressure on the two national companies who supply the country’s salt. 

Taking these events into account, it was agreed at the recent County Council budget meeting to increase the gritting budget by £50,000 for 2010/11. It is also intended to use 6mm rather than 10mm salt, which will improve spread rate and increase our gritting capacity still further. 

(Posted 8/3/10)

A608 pedestrian crossing

Further to the opening of the new Brinsley Play Area (see below) I asked the Cabinet Member for Transport & Highways to examine the possibility of installing a pedestrian crossing on the A608 through Brinsley. All of the recreational facilities in Brinsley, like the park and the football pitch and the village hall, are on one side of the road, and all the residents are on the other.

The Cabinet Member has now been out to view the location and agrees that a crossing is required. I expect further developments regarding this in the near future.

(Posted 2/11/09) 

New Brinsley play area now open

I was delighted to take part in the opening of a new £135,000 recreation area on Church Lane in Brinsley. It features small climbing equipment for young children and a series of multi-movement and activity equipment for older children.

The work took two months to complete and was funded by Nottinghamshire County Council's Building Better Communities Programme together with the Department for Children, Schools & Families (DCSF) and Brinsley Parish Council. The recreation ground was selected as a high priority for improvement in Broxtowe Borough Council's Play Strategy last year, thanks to the determined work of the Friends of Brinsley Play Area, who were a key driving force behind the scheme and organised the opening ceremony.

(Posted 2/11/09)