What a week that was !

Followers of the Cambridge Ward blogspot could be forgiven for thinking that the Cambridge Ward team had forgotten them this week given the few posts made.  This is far from the case and I hope that posts today  will more than make up for the scarcity of strories so far this week.

For my part I have had a very busy week with meetings every night:

• Monday I was glad to attend an event organised by the Merseyside Police Authority which gave residents of our area the opportunity to learn about the work of this body and also to ask specific questions regarding police activity in our area and Southport in general.
• Tuesday was a meeting of the committee for Overiew and Scrutiny for Health & Social Care.  These meetings give councillors the opportunity to ask questions and be given up to date information from our health and social care providers icnluding Southport Hospital, Sefton NHS, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) and the scoial services team from Sefton Council.  I raised a number of questions at this meeting including a request for an update about the phlebotomy services in Southport and the removal of the drop in service, assurances that no jobs would be lost when the cervical smear tests are moved to Liverpool Royal and perhaps most importantly for a guarantee that the NWAS staff understood and followed the protocol regarding children in need of emergency medical cover being taken to Southport hospital if necessary.
• Wednesday was full governors meeting at Marshside Primary School where I am chair of the Financan Committee.  It's always a great opportunity to find out how the school is doing and to learn that under the new head Tony McCoy the school goes from strength to strength.
• Thursday was a full council meeting to agree the budget for 2010/2011 and also agree the level of council tax to be charged.  It was an interesting meeting especially since all parties had worked together for many months to deliver the budget.  Each party praised the work of the officers and also the unions for their help and support of the budget process and it would have been a very amicable affair if Labour hadn't decided to throw their toys out of the pram.  Serious times need people who can be relied upon to take serious decisions and that includes local councillors with responsibility for 280,000 people.
• and Friday is a Banger and Beer fundraiser for the Birkdale Ward team.