Bedford Borough Council's Grants Committee, chaired by Mayor Dave Hodgson, met last week and allocated £276,000 to voluntary sector groups carrying out a wide range of extremely important functions within the Borough. Grants were made to a variety of groups such as BECHAR, which provides vital services to the homeless and rootless, the Citizen's Advice Bureau, Bedford Women's Refuge and Victim Support.
Local fears that Bedfordshire Police is set to be merged with the Hertfordshire Force have increased after Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Bedford and Kempston Henry Vann uncovered a bid for £500,000 of funding from the Government's 'Merger Exploration Fund.'
Bedford Borough Council's approved budget has brought down the Council Tax increase for residents from a forecast 11.5% before Mayor Dave Hodgson's election in October to a below-inflation 2.3% after £9 million of savings were identified. The budget includes £5.9 million for road and pavement maintenance, as the Liberal Democrats continue the fightback against the former Tory County Council's massive backlog of repairs, and extra funding for a range of green initiatives including recycling in both the urban and rural areas and the Mayor's Climate Change Fund.
Government education funding second worst in region last year.
Dave Hodgson was elected Mayor of Bedford Borough in October last year, and took office 100 days ago this week. Despite this short timeframe and a toxic financial inheritance from the Conservative County Council, a review of the first months of Dave Hodgson's period in office shows that he is getting things done for local residents and is working with his Liberal Democrat colleagues to make Bedford Borough a great place to live, work and do business.
Mayor of Bedford Borough Dave Hodgson has welcomed the news that Sainsbury's will open a major regional distribution centre at Marsh Leys Industrial Park in Kempston. In a major boost for the local economy, around 300 new jobs will be created at the centre, which sees Sainsbury's occupy the site vacated by Woolworths last year.
