Apprenticeships Up 38%!
The latest provisional data* on Apprenticeships (for 2012/13) reveals uptake has increased by 38% across Bedford Borough - while the wider picture shows performance across England down 1%.
5 Dec 2013
News
The Deal That Protects All Council Leisure Facilities and Secures £3 million Extra Investment
I have yet to write here about the excellent outcome a short while ago of the tendering process we undertook to help safeguard the future of the wide range of public leisure facilities run by the Council. As is well known, with councils facing extraordinary, unprecedented cuts to their funding, leisure facilities have come under threat of cuts across the country, with many areas nearby and beyond seeing leisure centres, swimming pools and other facilities closed.
DH
30 Nov 2013
Utility Companies Ordered to Return and Fix Their Repair Jobs
Utility companies and others who have dug up the borough's roads are being ordered to return after checks by the Council found more than a third of road reinstatements were not up to standard.
29 Nov 2013
Front Line Comes First in Three-Year Savings Plan
Earlier this month, my Cabinet agreed savings of over £18 million over the coming three-year period, as a vital contribution to the need for further vast spending reductions in that period in the face of unprecedented cuts to Council funding and rising demand for services.
DH
29 Nov 2013
New B & Q Means More Local Choice and More Local Jobs
Earlier this month, I was invited to help mark the opening of Bedford's own B&Q store, which sits on a newly-developed site across the roundabout from Kempston Interchange Retail Park. This large new store will be welcomed by shoppers, with new choice and competition introduced. Crucially, the new store creates ninety new jobs, and as store manager Lee Carter explained to me, the vast majority of those recruited are local.
28 Nov 2013
Bedford's Big Christmas Lights Switch-On Is Tonight!
Tonight sees Bedford's big Chirstmas Lights Switch-On taking place along the Embankment, with the show starting at 7pm. This is always a hugely popular, family-orientated event with people of all ages lining the Embankment to enjoy the show, which this year will once again feature a spectaular fireworks display.
27 Nov 2013