Northern Rock

When the news broke about the stricken mortgage lender Northern Rock, I nervously scanned the queues on television to see if I could spot our own Mike Ellesmore with a suitcase ready to ask for the councils £5m he placed there on deposit! Clearly he had more sense and knew the Bank of England would bail out the company. The councils £5m is invested with maturities ranging from October 2007 to March 2008. The investments were all time deposits and are covered by the Bank of England guarantee. Wow!

Just to update readers the Council manages fixed rate long term debt totalling £76m, together with an investment portfolio that currently stands at around £90m. Whilst the level of long term debt remains fairly stable, reflecting the need to fund the capital programme, the amount of cash available for investment varies throughout the year and can fall to £40m. The cash is held not only for Council purposes but also for third-parties such as schools.

Handitills

A reader wrote in a little while ago complaining about the Handitill being out of order and suspected it was a way of perhaps paving the way for them to pay by other means.

Now we learn the council has admitted that collecting council tax by cheque or by cash is the most expensive. They say 67p per transaction as opposed to 1.1p for Direct Debit. Clearly no argument. The recommendation is to close the Handitills located at Bostal, Crayford, Sidcup, Thamesmead and Welling and seek alternative ways of receiving cash by Direct Debit, touchtone and electronic payments at the Nat West bank who have branches in Sidcup, Bexleyheath and Northumberland Heath.

Late Holiday

We have just returned from a break in Tenerife where the temperatures soared daily in excess of thirty degrees. Too hot really. We were again surprised to learn that spending on the islands infrastructure is on the decline but there doesn’t seem to be any letup in the construction of new apartments. There were more cars than ever on the roads, certainly more per head of population than in Bexley. The local authorities on Tenerife believe the best way to slow traffic is by roundabouts and two thick wires stretched across the road surface with a sufficient gap to make you want to slow down. Otherwise they still have no traffic lights and all seem well on the roads. We didn’t think too highly of British Airways. We booked Club Class both ways. Going out was not too bad but coming back one might as well have not bothered. I cannot understand why parents with young babies insist on taking them on holiday with their continual crying. It’s totally unfair on the baby and passengers. Now we learn the airlines are going to allow the idiot mobile telephone brigade to use their instruments on aircraft. A mistake.

Christmas parcels for our troops

Bexley’s staunchest Royalist and supporter of our armed forces is Ennis Smith from Crayford who is once again urging residents to make up small parcels of gifts for our lads serving overseas - especially those in Afghanistan and Basra.

Ennis asks that we do not send sprays, talcum powder or glass. She recommends small shoe box sized parcels containing playing cards, puzzles, sweets, games and books and other small items like handkerchiefs and mittens that will help cheer our lads up while they are away from their loved ones.

If readers who are willing to help could contact Ennis on 01322 551550 she will be able to confirm that your special parcel can be left at a branch of Sainsburys where she will arrange to collect them. Ideally before December 1st. Your gift parcels will reach many lonely outposts at Christmas giving our armed forces a timely reminder that they are not forgotten and there is life, love and a future at home.