Just over a year from its opening, the award-winning Jobs Hub is bringing more fantastic career opportunities to the Borough. On October 14th the Jobs Hub will be hosting their first ever 'Jobs Market' at The Corn Exchange, Bedford. From 10am-3pm the Jobs market will offer residents career advice and guidance, job opportunities and help those wishing to start up new businesses.
Mayor's Free Parking Deal to commence on November 23rd, in time for the main Christmas shopping period Lurke Street Car Park to remain open until 12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, from November 22nd Queen Street multi-storey car park to open twenty four hours, seven days a week from Friday 22nd November. On the day that he signed the formal decision to introduce two hours' free Saturday parking in Bedford Town Centre, Lib Dem Mayor Dave Hodgson announced the planned start date for the Mayor's Free Parking Deal along with additional measures to support Bedford's night time economy.
I am pleased to be able to confirm the start date of the Free Parking Deal, and to confirm new late car park openings we are bringing in to support the night-time economy in Bedford Town Centre. The Free Parking Deal will start on November 23rd, after legally-required consultation on the changes to arrangements. So, it will be in place in time for the all-important Christmas shopping period for our town centre traders.
Mayor Announces Measure to Support Shoppers and Boost Town Centre Trade Further
In the face of the unprecedented cuts to local government funding in recent years, we have rejected the approach seen in a number of other areas of passing on the impact of this to hard-pressed local households via spiralling council tax or hikes in fees and charges. That's why alongside three straight years of average Council tax freezes, shoppers' car park charges have been frozen, in stark contrast to the situation elsewhere nearby and across the country. This has been extremely tough to deliver, with extra savings to be found elsewhere, but we've done it because we are committed to supporting town centre businesses and shoppers. Now we want to go further in this aim. So, starting before Christmas this year, I plan to bring in free parking in all town centre car parks on Saturdays for the first two hours of your stay.
Mayor Dave Hodgson's latest monthly article in the Times and Citizen newspaper highlighted the fact that reducing paediatric services at hospitals like Bedford was a recommendation of the discredited, abandoned Healthier Together programme, which the new NHS Commissioning Group have pledged to take forward. There is a real concern that the dreadful current crisis of lost services, which was caused by problems with the supervision of junior doctors, is being used to pursue an agenda of permanent cuts to the services available locally for children.