Here is the full text of Lord Young's speech to the Conservative Conference in Birmingham on Health and Safety. It is great to be back. When the Prime Minister first asked me to review the operations of Heath and Safety laws and this compensation culture that so bedevils us, I first thought – it must […]
Lots of coverage today over a decision by Conservative run Plymouth City Council to ban Russell Burt taking owls from his aviary out for a walk. Apparently a member of the public complained that taking them out in the daylight was a breach on animal welfare. Not so – while owls have excellent eyesight at […]
Government Ministers have revealed that they have taken swift action to tackle an enforcement notice issued against John Denham, the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The Department for Communities and Local Government issued a legal notice against its own Minister for breaking fire safety rules. The Department is the lead government […]
Freedom of Information requests from Itsmyclaim.com show that on average each unitary or county Council is paying out £883,000 a year to people who have tripped on broken paving stones. The total comes to over £100 million. But the company, which specialises in lowering the cost of claims, estimates that for the real cost to […]
Lib Dem controlled St Albans Council banned running in the traditional Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race. It was on health and safety grounds. The road was wet and the Council said that ion previous years the "odd person" had slipped – although they conceded that the only treatment needed had been a plaster. When the Council Officer […]
Cllr Mike Rook, the acting Leader of Harborough District Council, responds to last week's story about the reindeer ban. Unfortunately the media have chosen to distort the situation considerably – I can only assume that they are short of real news this week. Yes, we had to cancel an event last Friday on the advice […]
I'm afraid that Conservative controlled Harborough District Council is the latest to be plunged into a scandal about health and safety absurdity. 12 reindeer were booked to entertain shoppers in Market Harborough. A very jolly idea and one organised by the Council. But the Council own health and safety officers then decided to cancel it […]
Surrey County Council has completely banned alcohol being available during office hours at their County Hall. I gather this will apply at the staff restaurant and even be applied to official guests of the Mayor and to Christmas festivities. It strikes me as terribly draconian. A Council spokesman says it is part of "promoting healthy […]
Camden Council (a Lib Dem led Lib Dem/Con coalition) has apologised after Lorna Watts, a self employed dress maker, was told she couldn't borrow a pair of scissors at Holborn Library. She later checked with three other libraries but found the same policy applied. Miss Watts says: "It's ridiculous – public libraries are supposed to […]
Are none of our traditions sacred? For as long as I can remember tennis fans have been camping out overnight to get into Wimbledon. To avoid the pavement getting blocked in recent years the queue has formed in the adjoining park. But this year officers from Merton Council told the fans to take down heir […]
An encouraging survey from the Local Government Association suggests that Councils are increasing the amount of adventure equipment in playgrounds. 3,500 playgrounds are being built or refurbished in a manner that it is hoped will banish the "cotton wool culture." Cllr Margaret Eaton, the Chairman of the LGA, says: “Children playing outside – getting grass stains […]
Graham Alexander, a retired electrician who lives near Salisbury, has trimming a communal patch of land for 43 years. There has never been any problem. The neighbours all appreciate his selfless efforts. But now he has been banned from Conservative controlled Wiltshire Council on health and safety grounds. On Saturday the Wiltshire Council leader Cllr […]
Tonight's Panorama features a report by Quentin Letts on health and safety May Contain Nuts. The theme of the documentary seems to be that amidst a plethora of absurd and onerous box ticking that constrain us going about our daily lives there has been a lack of focus on areas of genuinely high risk – […]
The BBC reports that two Labour councils, Sunderland and South Tyneside, will each save around £10,000 a year by contracting out lifeguard duty to a charity. From this summer RNLI will patrol Sandhaven in South Tyneside and Seaburn and Roker beaches in Sunderland. The RNLI are "delighted." I suspect that as well as being cheaper […]
Taxi drivers are among the most staunch Conservative supporters. London cabbies had an important role in securing the election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London last year – even giving out receipts including a Back Boris message. But Newport Council, a Conservative led authority with Lib Dem support is unfortunately in dispute with its […]