Mel Shepherd

About Mel

Born in Nottingham, Councillor Mel Shepherd attended the Jesse Boot and Mundella schools before going on to Leeds University where he achieved a degree in German.

He went into business in the lace industry with his father and later lectured in modern languages and business studies at many local colleges of further education.

Councillor Shepherd was previously a County Councillor from 1993-2001 when he served on the Education, Social Services and Environment Committees.

He is excited about his new role as Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care & Health and looks forward to being in a position "to get things done". He is keen that the Council is run efficiently for the benefit of its customers.

 

Mel's latest news...

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 frontline 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 Stategic 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)

Vale Liaison Group survey

The Vale Liaison Group, of which I am Vice Chairman, is carrying out a survey of local people around Arno Vale Park with a view to reducing anti-social activities on the park in the evening. 

(Posted 6/10/09)

Digby Avenue Parking

I am looking at the provision of white 'H' lines in front of some drives on Digby Avenue because of parking problems at school arrival and leaving times.

(Posted 6/10/09)

Tram

On 24th September 2009 Nottinghamshire County Council voted to withdraw its financial support for the NET Phase Two transport scheme. As a Conservative County Councillor I was elected on a manifesto which stated: "We will avoid spending a small fortune on tram extensions which few people in the county will be able to use."

During the Council debate, several Conservative Members presented the argument for this change of policy. Some referred to the increasing costs of the scheme, whilst others supported the Cabinet Member for Transpoprt & Highways' assertion that flexible bus services, rather than a fixed tram line, represent the most suitable public transport solution to serve the whole of Nottinghamshire. 

Some of my colleagues took the opportunity to state that, contrary to some media reports, the Conservative position on the proposed tram extensions has not changed. They pointed out that the previous Labour administration had entered into certain legal agreements in relation to NET Phase 2 which must be respected to protect the interests of the County taxpayer, but the new Conservative administration is quite clear that it does not support the proposed tram extension routes. 

(Posted 5/10/09)

Workplace Parking Levy (WPL)

Also at the Nottinghamshire County Council meeting on 24^th September 2009, the Cabinet Member for Transport & Highways, Councillor Richard Jackson stated that the new Conservative county administration is opposed to Nottingham City Council's proposals for a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL). He expressed concern about the financial impact such a Levy could have on County residents who work in the City and stated his belief that the WPL would be unlikely to cut congestion. Councillor Jackson argued that the scheme could lead to significant parking problems in the County area, frighten off economic investment in the City and County and hit business confidence at a time when it needs to be nurtured. 

(Posted 5/10/09)

 

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

Following a decision taken by Cabinet on 8th July 2009, each County Councillor now has an annual fund of £10,000 to support worthy initiatives in the division they represent. 

CDF 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 Arnold South division that might be eligible to receive a CDF grant, please contact me. 

Here are some of those I've been able to help so far: - 

Gedling Playgroup

I have secured £500 for the Gedling Playgroup to provide equipment for their activities in Arno Vale Park.

(Posted 6/10/09)

St Mark's Church

I have provided £400 to St Mark's Church in Woodthorpe to support training courses for Supporting Families.

(Posted 6/10/09)

 

Mel's committees...

Councillor Mel Shepherd's current committee service includes:-

Cabinet

Supported Employment Steering Group

Learning Disability Partnership