Mayor Dave Hodgson has welcomed the 'pause' announced by HEART Academies Trust of its unpopular plans to remove Head Teacher posts and local governing bodies at Cauldwell, Shackleton, and Shortstown primary schools. However he warned that the plans have not been changed, merely paused.
Commenting, Mayor Dave said: "As the parent campaigners has said, this is a welcome development.'
It was World Homeless Day last week, and in his regular email update, Mayor Dave Hodgson thanked volunteers and organisations helping to support rough sleepers and tackle homelessness locally. He also shared a video from his recent visit to SMART Prebend Day Centre's open day, where Lisa from SMART listed the items they are asking people to donate at the moment. You can read the full email, including the link to the video, below:
Mayor Dave Hodgson has been informed that the HEART Academies Trust is holding meetings tonight (16th) and tomorrow (17th) for parents and carers of children at Shortstown, Shackleton or Cauldwell Primary Schools about their deeply unpopular plans to remove the Head Teacher posts and local governing bodies from those schools. Both meetings are taking place at Bedford Academy on Mile Road, at 6:30pm.
Bedford Town Bridge has joined a wave of light across the UK to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week.
The bridge, which has been illuminated in Pink and Blue since the 9th October will join the wave of light tonight to show support for individuals, families and charities affected by the loss of a baby during pregnancy, at or soon after birth and in infancy.
Mayor Dave Hodgson has praised parents fighting against HEART Multi Academy Trust's 'alarming and extremely damaging plans' to remove Head Teachers and scrap local governing bodies from Cauldwell, Shortstown and Shackleton schools. Mayor Dave's comments came following a huge turnout by parents at last night's Full Council meeting, where over 150 people were in attendance to demonstrate their opposition to HEART's plans.
Mayor Dave Hodgson has insisted that if Theresa May's claim that 'austerity is over' means anything at all, the Tory Government must use its forthcoming budget to change course dramatically over its plans to continue with massive, punishing cuts for local services.
Commenting on a statement from the Local Government Association (LGA) about the £1.3 billion government funding cut Councils face in 2019/20, Mayor Dave wrote on Facebook:
This week, Bedford Borough Community Safety Partnership is running a 'Week of Action' in the Midland Road and Tavistock Street areas.
Starting on Monday 1st and running through to this Saturday, 6th October, Bedford Borough Council, Bedfordshire Police, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is working in partnership with the local community to concentrate on ways to help improve the two areas and this will include activities and events that local residents and businesses can be involved in.
Mayor Dave Hodgson has said a big 'thank you' to everyone who came out to speak to him during his 2018 Summer Village Tour.
He also uploaded a collection of photos taken during the tour on his facebook page, together with the following message:
"My 2018 Summer Village Tour came to an end earlier this month, and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came out to talk to me about the issues that matter to them and to their communities.
