Councillor Dorothy Cartwright

Participation at Council Meetings and Panels

I have attended Full Council meetings during 2010/2011 with the exception of November 2010 due to holidays. At these Council meetings I have also actively participated when necessary in areas that I feel strongly about and where I think that it would be beneficial to Tameside residents, Council staff and the Council itself.

As a Councillor I am proud to sit on the Personal and Health Services Scrutiny Panel which I attend regularly and bring my own personal views and health background and experiences to support the Panel which questions outside bodies regarding the health and well-being of patients in Tameside. This Panel is very important to me because health issues are something that I am passionate about. My background and long standing involvement with health both locally and nationally spans over 32 years and which I believe has given me much grounding to challenge and question local health difficulties when they arise for the benefit of patients and their care. During this past year the Panel has given me the opportunity to participate in important reviews that affect some of our Tameside residents such as the review on Tackling Obesity, Sunbed Tanning, Update on Tameside Local Involvement Network (LINKs), to consider reports from Monitor and Care Quality Commission regarding Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which was later followed by a review of Acute Services in Tameside, Transforming Community Health Services and the potential impact the initiative may have on the delivery of health services in Tameside, Provision of Acute Services in Tameside from Tameside and Glossop NHS (PCT), Tameside Out of Hours Services, Coroner's Service, Tameside Bereavement Services, Cardiovascular Disease in Tameside, Tameside Stroke Rehabilitation Services and a site visit to the new Tameside Hospital. Most important of all was the scrutiny and special extensive meetings surrounding the problems highlighted in the media concerning Tameside and Glossop Foundation Trust where questions needed to be answered to the Panel from senior hospital directors regarding health care concerns for our Tameside patients. I was actively involved with these meetings and my great concern was that it was important to put problems to right so that Tameside residents had a local excellent safe and caring hospital that they felt comfortable with if needed.

I also sit on the Technical, Economic and Environmental Services Scrutiny Panel of which I find challenging, informative and interesting. I am fully involved in all the topics and able to participate effectively because we have enormous back up from senior Council staff. Major topics for the past year have been Parking and Traffic Management in Town Centres, Refuse Collection Service, Winter Gritting, Recycling Activities, Waste Disposable Site visits, Review of Conservation Areas, Street Lighting, Apprenticeships, Evaluation of Scrutiny Outcomes including (Section 106 Agreements, Stretch Limousines, Maximising Recycling and Minimising Waste, Planning Matters, Traffic Calming and Vehicle Speed Management, Pest Control, Maintenance and Inspection of Bridges and Structures, Cemeteries and Crematoriums). I was involved in a very interesting site visit in Stalybridge during our review of Conservation Areas because Stalybridge Is one of nine Conservation Areas in Tameside and is considered a high priority. Conservation and its protection is extremely important especially with listed and protected buildings. All planning applications and their passing of plans for update and alterations should be considered very carefully to protect our towns and environment. All subjects discussed at Scrutiny Panel are of value to residents, staff and all the Tameside area, especially when we are discussing safety and value issues that are important and affect the whole population.

Participation at District Assemblies

I sit on both Dukinfield and Stalybridge District Assemblies where each meets separately at their respective Town Centre Civic Buildings. I find both District Assemblies important because I see them as an avenue for local Ward people to bring and discuss their grievances, opinions and views to the Panels. Important also is that the wonderful work and events happening locally can be presented to the public as well as allowing them to be updated on local issues and information provided by the Police, Patrollers, Fire Brigade and Youth Workers.

Participation on Outside Bodies and Partnerships

As a Councillor I am a Member and participate on the following PACT (Police And Communities Together) monthly meetings for Dukinfield/Stalybridge Ward:

• Dukinfield/Stalybridge PACT
• Dukinfield/Stalybridge Co-ordinators Homewatch PACT

Having been a Councillor for almost two years I am amazed at the huge problems that many residents face daily in their lives. I personally try to solve as many as I can but in many cases I do have to refer on to Council staff who in my experience do a wonderful job and act quickly and efficiently. I am easily contactable at my home address by telephone, through the Council e-mail system or at any of my regular monthly surgeries which are advertised in the Advertiser and Reporter. In my opinion I sincerely feel that I work very hard on everyone’s behalf in the Dukinfield/Stalybridge Ward and try to solve residents problems and give my support.

I find all the above group meetings informative and helpful in supporting residents and alleviating crime, especially the alcohol, drugs, vagrancy and vandalism problems in the centre of town.

Homewatch PACT meetings are extremely informative, supportive and valuable to combat local crime. The Police, PCSOs and their teams are helpful and easy to contact between meetings if problems arise.

I also sit on Tameside Development Forum which I find very interesting and helpful for training purposes for Councillors.

Tameside LINKs (Local Improvement Networks): Just over 2 years ago I was elected to LINKs to sit on their Board. LINKs were a new Government initiative throughout the country to look at health issues within a local area to protect patients and look into local health concerns. In our case this is Tameside area and includes Tameside and Glossop Foundation Trust, Tameside and Glossop NHS (PCT), GP Surgeries and Dental Care. This has been a great challenge for me because it all fits nicely with Personal and Health Services Scrutiny Panel which I sit on and it has been established that I will be a link between the two Committees. My health background and expertise fits nicely with this to allow me to speak on behalf of patients across Tameside. I have been actively involved with Tameside LINKs who organised a special Hospital Event at Ashton Town Hall last summer for families and patients to air their views and problems regarding Tameside Hospital Foundation Trust. Another such follow-up event is being held in June 2011. It has been proposed in the near future that LINKs will have a name change to Healthwatch.

I am an active member of the LINKs Board and attend all meetings and I am a member of their Governance Sub Group. I also represent LINKs on:

• Tameside Hospital "Improving the Patient Environmental Group" (IPEG)
• Tameside and Glossop NHS "Long Term Conditions Board"
• LINKs Hospital Working Group
• Tameside and Glossop NHS Foundation Trust Councillor of Governors (recently appointed)

Constituency Work

Having been a Councillor for almost three years I am amazed at the huge problems that many residents face daily in their lives. I personally try to solve as many as I can but in many cases I have to refer to Council staff who in my experience do a wonderful job and act quickly and efficiently. I am easily contactable at my home address at any time by telephone, through the Council e-mail system or at any monthly surgeries. Over the past three years I have taken on many individual problems for residents with satisfactory outcomes. I always contact the resident to follow up their problem and if not resolved within a reasonable amount of time I continue to chase up the matter until it is resolved. In my opinion I sincerely feel that I work very hard on everyone's behalf in the Dukinfield/Stalybridge Ward and try to solve resident's problems as quickly as possible by listening carefully and giving my support regardless of their political views.

Members Advice Surgeries

I am available at surgeries held regularly during each month. However residents do not need to wait for surgery days if matters are urgent because I can be contacted at any time at home by telephone.

Surgeries are as follows:

• Stalybridge Civic Hall each Wednesday, 1.00pm - 2.00pm
• Dukinfield Moravian Church, Yew Tree lane, 2nd Monday in the month, 10.30am -11.30am

Training and Development

• Yearly Budget Meeting
• Tameside Works First
• Other events that pertain to my Councillor work

Achievements during the Year

I feel that in my opinion I have carried out all that has been asked of me in my role as a Councillor and that I have been working effectively to the best of my ability for residents in Dukinfield/Stalybridge Ward and to all with the Committees and Panels that I am involved with. I have supported the PACT and Homewatch PACT with meetings and especially helping them to keep young people off the streets by contributing part of my Ward monies to supporting a Youth Drama Group in Dukinfield/Stalybridge Ward. I am involved with many other community bodies which I support and assist financially. The remainder of my Ward monies has been donated to Dukinfield Moravian Church, Stalybridge Congregational Church, Stalybridge Unitarian Church, Tame Valley Scouts (High Street, Stalybridge), Tameside Blind Association and Tame Valley Girl Guides. My visits to Stalybridge town centre are still constant due to alcohol, drugs and vagrancy problems. Underage drinking of alcohol still seems to be a major problem but I think we are now seeing some reductions in this area. Last summer I spent quite a great deal of time with residents around Gorse Hall Road and especially at Hunters Court where residents, some with health problems were marooned in their flats due to building works. After many conversations with New Charter and the Building Company I was able to come to a reasonable conclusion to help with the problems. One of my main achievements during the past year has been working hard with a small group of dedicated people to arrange the setting up of Dukinfield East Residents' Association which when complete will meet regularly to give a voice to residents and improve community relationships. I still continue to be vigilant regarding the past Tesco proposed expansion and will still continue on this subject for all concerned in the Stalybridge district. I will certainly not let my efforts go to waste as you may have noticed in early November when Tesco had yet another stab at trying to purchase land for another even larger store. I chased the matter up again and joined with others to fight this issue for the benefit of Stalybridge residents, local retailers and to protect Stalybridge from being eroded. I can assure everyone that my answer will always be a big no to Tesco's. I pledge to fight and work hard for our Ward and will continue to strive and make a difference to people's lives and will put their views first. I would sincerely like to thank all Constituents of Dukinfield/Stalybridge Ward for their continued support and friendliness.