We awoke yesterday to very gloomy skies and a stark reminder that the autumn season is well and truly upon us. The weather forecast indicates higher temperatures during the day but in the meantime we have to wait for the heavy cloud to burn off. Although the Proms have finished their season, the BBC broadcast a retrospective in which they explored some of what might be considered the highlights of the season. So we saw another rendition of the classical guitar ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’ which is very well known to most Spanish people and I think rapidly better known and appreciated here in the UK. I also enjoyed the Mozart horn concerto – we used to play these in our car when we transported our son to his boarding school in York over forty yeas ago. This week I have a meeting of the U3A Classical Music group to which to look forward and one of the items we are to discuss is the emergence of the piano and also the ways in which female composers often had to subjugate their own identities in order to get their work acknowledged and played. In the political agenda, there is particular consternation about the two huge donations of \u00a336 millions each totally \u00a372 million given to Reform by crypto-currency billionaires. The issue is to be debated in the Lords and despite much huffing and puffing, it does look as though these donations were kept within legal bounds as the donors ensued that they were ‘living’ in the UK at the end of last March. At election time, there are strict rules about election-related expenditures but no limits on the ammounts that can be donated out of an election period. The established political parties are concerned that this volume of money means that Reform can have a full-time paid organiser in each constituency in the country which, in terms of the mechanics of the election such as leafleting, could bring Reform considerable advantages where other political parties rely upon voluntary contributions and run their campaigns on the proverbial shoestring. Anther concern is whether the American style big money politics is soon to be visited upon the UK and there are some political commentators who observe what they perceive to be the malign influence of MAGA (Make America Great Again) in the British political scene. The liberal commentators frequently report with a certain amount of glee the mess that several Reform councillors make up and down the country when the inexperienced but ideologically committed come across the realities of local government. Although committed to the elimination of waste, most of these councillors find that most of the local authority budgets are swallowed up in the provision of care for the inform and elderly and are committed to expenditures which they are obliged by law to make and thus their freedom of manoeuvre is very severely limited. County councils face the highest burden, spending roughly 86% of their net revenue expenditure on social care and this leaves precious little resource for anything else. Central government lay down the legislative framework and the minimum standards to be maintained but they leave it to the cash-strapped local authorities to implement, knowing it is the local authorities who have to carry the political opprobrium when need is unmet or there are service failures. But is not only adult social care that is potentially bankrupting local authorities. Eight in 10 councils warn they will become insolvent over mounting deficits related to the cost of supporting children\u202fand young people\u202fwith special educational needs and disabilities, a new survey by the Local Government Association suggests.\u202f The LGA said cost pressures reflect a sharp rise in need for support. There were\u202fnearly\u202f640,000\u202fEducation,\u202fHealth\u202fand Care Plans as of January 2025. The number has increased each year since their introduction in 2014.\u202f Councils are firmly committed to upholding the entitlements of all children and young people with SEND but are clear that the system needs urgent reform so children and young people receive the high quality support they need and experiences are improved for families. There are only some special accounting procedures that prevent councils from running out of money. Local authorities cannot actually go ‘bankrupt’ in the way that a company or an individual can. Instead, they issue what is known as a section 114 notice. This is a report from the council\u2019s finance officer that they believe that the authority is about to incur expenditure that is unlawful according to the Local Government Finance Act 1988. Expenditure can be unlawful for various reasons. But the primary reason why most authorities issue a section 114 notice is because they expect their expenditure to exceed their income for a particular financial year \u2013 which is not permitted under the 1988 Act. This is the situation locally in which Worcestershire is all but bankrupt. Worcestershire County Council (WCC) approved an 8.98% council tax increase for the 2026\/27 financial year. While technically just under 9%, the council had originally applied for central government permission to raise rates by up to 10% due to a severe budgetary crisis. Ministers ultimately capped their maximum allowable increase at 9%, making Worcestershire one of only three local authorities in England granted special dispensation to bypass the standard 4.99% tax cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I spent a quiet day today doing my finances as I needed to keep my records up-to-date I am contemplating going out to visit a National trust property as admission is free to NT members. In the course of my investigation of local places to visit, I did find a local vineyard in Worcestershire which seemed tempting until I discovered that they were going to charge \u00a340 for the tour and were going to include one glass of wine (no doubt at minimal cost) as part of the tour. But perhaps to compensate for a quiet day, there are going to be two interesting programmes broadcast in the evening. The first of these is going to be an in depth investigation of the Epstein affair which refuses to go away in the US as well as over here. I learnt today that a couple of survivors were not allowed to attend the Republican mid-term convention in the last few days as evidently die-hard Republicans did not want to be put on the spot about the files that their own Department of Justice is refusing to release, despite the Epstein Transparency Act. It is sometimes overlooked that this is a not a purely American scandal as Epstein’s paedophile operations crossed many borders. The French police, for example, have been denied access to the files even through some of the girls were transported from France and the British authorities have received a similar lack of cooperation when it comes to the case of Peter Mandelson. Thee second programme this evening is to be a documentary exploring the history and background stories surrounding the Bayeux tapestry which has been loaned by the French to the British museum authorities where it will be displayed until July, 2027. I gather that tickets are already sold out for the remainder of 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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