REPORT TO PARISH, BRANTHAM WARD 

APRIL 2023

Babergh District Councillor Alastair McCraw

ELECTIONS AND VOTER PHOTO ID.

You will shortly become aware that for our District and Parishes, there will be elections on May 4th. Brantham Village Hall is the usual polling station here. For the first time, to solve a non-existent problem, voting for these will require photo ID. This, despite virtually no evidence of voter fraud. A publicity campaign on what ID will count will help. The polling card will not count! Basically, Passport, Drivers Licence(including Provisional), Blue Badge, some Travel Cards (not all though, so check) and a variety of other less likely cards. A Voter Authority Certificate is also available through Gov.uk. Take up of this has been appallingly low and badly run it seems.

Lacking any of those, it might be simpler to apply for a postal vote which remains unchanged by this expensive silliness. The deadline for these is Tuesday 18th April at 5pm. See 'How to Vote' on the Babergh Elections page. It's fairly simple. People have done this for years.

 I think this will make people less likely to vote, when we should want the opposite. Local elections rarely reach 40% turnout. 'Why do this?' and 'Who wants it?' are interesting questions. But it's the law. Getting the franchise to where it is has been 1000-year struggle with sacrifices made. At this lowish level, I think you're voting for people anyway, regardless of party. Their job is to do the often boring, but sometimes important work, so you don't have to. You elect peoples judgement in a constantly changing world. To make decisions in full possession of the facts and to keep you informed. Ask questions, read the leaflets. Please be nice to everybody but vote if you can. It's more valuable than we realise. Contact me if you have any questions about this. I'll try to be short (probably).

With the extra time needed to check ID, Babergh are still looking for people to fill positions to make the elections run smoothly. See the website or ask me for contact details. It's paid.

IN OTHER NEWS

The Budget covered last month was passed, as described last month…. Our Chairman (her choice of title) raised £11,000 for the Blossom Appeal, for a Breast Cancer Unit at Ipswich Hospital, in a recent Civic Dinner at RHS, Holbrook. Quite an achievement, the student staff were great and nice to have it in our neck of the woods. …..In Housing, at the same time that we are trying to bring empty properties back into use, we've obtained ,along with the rest of Suffolk, £2.2M to help improve standards in private rented homes. At the same time, the Cabinet have also agreed a Housing Enforcement Policy with potential civil penalties for the Private Rental sector that covers around 17% of housing in the two districts. Advice will be available for both landlords and tenants. It's a grown up, responsible approach to tackle poor conditions in the private sector which is often overlooked.

AND FINALLY

I draw your attention again to the Babergh End of Term report which provides a very useful overview before the election. https://tinyurl.com/bdh7mvwp  I could expand easily, but I'd better leave something for a leaflet.

In the period covered, Babergh have both maintained services and kept their share of Council Tax increases near 3% a year. That doesn't mean that there isn't more work to do and improvements to be made. And the current fully functional 'Rainbow' administration, which I personally hope we keep, have plans to do just that. Independents have been instrumental in running the Council in this term and councillors from other groups have been joining us in our sensible, compassionate and non-partisan approach over the last four years.

Gov.uk. / Babergh.gov.uk. / 0300 123 4000 / Suffolk.gov.uk/ tendringdc.gov.uk

You're very likely to see me in your street during April, delivering leaflets and happy to talk, as we all know. Please let me know about anything important by phone and email primarily. I'll always work to respond quickly. Or if you see one of the bike stable, wave or look for me nearby.

Alastair McCraw. 07812 564188 (or 07548 154296) [email protected]

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