From September 2017, 30 hours funded childcare has been available for eligible 3 and 4 year olds. 1,337 children across Bedford Borough currently have access to 30 hours childcare, the highest number in the region.
Over 7,500 people have signed up to become members of Bedford Borough Council's LibraryPlus scheme which gives increased access to council libraries.
Mayor Dave Hodgson has echoed the Chief Inspector of Prisons' call for the Government to take 'immediate and decisive action' to improve the situation at Bedford Prison after an inspection revealed more shocking details of disorder and an absence of control. The extraordinary findings come after the Government took the prison into special measures back in May. The Chief Inspector of Prisons has issued an 'Urgent Notification', giving the Government 28 days to respond with the measures it will take to improve matters at the facility.
Commenting on this week's report from the Public Accounts Committee into skills shortages within the armed forces, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrat Councillor Sarah Gallagher said "The findings of our inquiry are really shocking. Despite a huge shortfall in staff and skills, the Government hasn't got a grip on what needs to be done to recruit more skilled specialists into the armed forces and Ministry of Defence, and to keep the ones we already have.
In comments following the announcement of the preferred 'corridor' for the route of part of the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway road, Mayor Dave Hodgson has warned the Government that communities will not accept its demands for additional growth on the route if it cannot deliver the infrastructure to support it. His comments come after the start of work on the crucial Black Cat to Caxton Gibbett section of the Expressway was delayed by two years earlier this summer.
The project to replace Borough-owned highway street lights with LED street lights has successfully come to completion this year.
