David Elvidge has hit back at claims that Beverley Town Council are not doing enough to work with young people in the Town.
Cllr Elvidge said that if he get re-elected in May he will look more closely at how the council is staffed putting forward ideas that could save on the wages while engaging with young people.
Speaking to HU17.net Cllr Elvidge said;
“Looking forward if re-elected in May I want to review the manning of Beverley Town Council and seek support to employ a modern apprentice.”
“This would be an almost unique opportunity to give a young person training in business administration, desk top publishing and multimedia working in a Town Council environment.”
“Imagine the benefit to that person working on our festivals and gaining that real time experience?”
A bold move but one that makes sense. If the council are able to utilise Apprentices it would enable them to help free up some of the £99,779 spent on the wage bill.
Having served with the council since 2007 working in an area where he grew up and continues to live Cllr Elvidge says the needs of young people have never been too far from his heart, he said;
“When he first joined Beverley Town Council I remember my first big project where I brought forward plans for the Town Council to fund extra hours for the detached youth workers in Beverley.”
“This allowed them extra time to work with groups of young people where the Council identified possible issues.”
“Over the years we have been involved in many other schemes that have helped bring the community together.”
“We painted over graffiti on the Mill Lane Estate and rolled our sleeves up and got hands on to clear litter working with residents of all ages cleaning up their skate park.”
Music is fast becoming a big part of Beverley. There are number of events and venues and this is an area Cllr Elvidge is also keen to explore.
“If I get back into office I will be urging that as a council we again look at supporting more live music on the street with funding so we can see if this helps attract people and visitors into Beverley.”
“I am keen to hear from any members of the community views on these ideas, what ideas you might have and what you would like your Town Council to do for you.”
You can contact Cllr Elvidge on email – munchjess@munchjess.karoo.co.uk
Wow, employ one person as an apprentice? What about the rest of our town youngsters?
Kate O’Mara please suggest something?
This is another example of Cllr Elvidge “hitting back” at a body of which he is a part as if he has no responsibility for its decisions. We’ve seen it time and time again in relation to ERYC decisions. He voted against the youth provision in the budget. The Tories wanted to budget £10,000 for Christmas Lights, but cut the youth provision. The Labour Group’s attempts to review the staffing hours at the council – our largest budget line – have met with little enthusiasm from the Tories. Interesting that, with an election looming, Cllr Elvidge is suddenly full of bright ideas and plans for the next council. Why haven’t we heard them in this council?
I want to know why Humberside Police and some of the big events are still getting grants. In fact the the grants system from where i am system is such a closed shop and no different to ERYC the same people are always given vast sums of cash.
While I like the various festivals are they really worthy of taking so much from the pot that should be used to support small local groups who deliver much needed services all year round?
From the outside looking in their is an unhealthy obsession with food that which seems to suck up a lot of time yet delivers no commercial return for the council.
If Cllr Elvidge has such good ideas to share why has he waited until now? I have sat through many meetings of the Town Council where he has said either nothing or just made negative comments. He seems to have very few positive suggestions and often looks to more experienced councillors of his own team before voting. He has had plenty of
opportunities to support more youth work or, in fact, any opportunities for young people. If, as he is quoted, he was one of those who
initiated the support by BTC for youth work then why is he not actively supporting this plan now to increase it in the wake of ERYC’s massive cutbacks.
The next chance to review whether the Town Council has made the right decision about not increasing youth provision will take place at Full Council on Monday 23rd Feb. Don’t forget you can, like I have done,
attend the meetings and listen. If you want to speak about an issue, there is a public section at 6.15. I am always surprised more people don’t use this chance.
His idea for offering an apprenticeship has some merit but it is an odd
way to reveal it for the first time to Council through HU17. Let’s also
ask David to explain how this will save on the wages bill and how time
will be given to support this young person. He will also know that the
Council budget he hopes to review will not take place until the next
round of budget setting that begins before Christmas. His comments do
raise the wider issue of whether the town gets good value from about 90
hours of officer time each week plus the time of the handyman.