Category: Article

  • Lack of Local Police Priority Setting in Huntingdonshire

    Prior to Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright attending Huntingdonshire District council on the 26th of June 2013 I suggested the lack of arrangements for local police priority setting, and holding the police to account for their performance against local priorities in Huntingdonshire was an important issue that I would like to see raised. In […]

  • Consultation on 20MPH Limit for Most North Cambridge Streets

    Example of 20 MPH limit signage proposed in consultation Cambridge City Council are consulting on a 20MPH speed limit for most streets in North Cambridge. My Response I want to see Cambridge’s roads made safer, particularly for cyclists and pedestrians. I do not however think that the proposed 20 MPH zone scheme is the best […]

  • Battle to Film at Huntingdonshire District Council

    I decided to observe Huntingdonshire District Council’s full council on Wednesday the 26th of June 2013. I was particularly interested in hearing the debate to be led by Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright who was scheduled to speak to the council and take questions from councillors. Prior to attending I looked up the council’s […]

  • Hunts District Cllrs Get Opportunity to Grill Commissioner Bright

    Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright Huntingdonshire District Council have invited Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright to lead the council’s “headline debate” at its meeting on Wednesday the 26th of June. The show starts at 7pm and 45 minutes have been scheduled for councillors to grill Commissioner Bright. Huntingdonshire District Council is “in […]

  • Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright Announces ALERT

    Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Graham Bright used the June 2013 Police and Crime Panel meeting to announce a new technology system for Cambridgeshire Police, called: “ALERT”. Commissioner Bright told the panel that the system would enable neighbourhood watch groups to: know the very next morning whether there’s been a burglary, whether there’s been some […]

  • Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel Annual Meeting 12 June 2013

    On the 12th of July 2013 I observed Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel’s annual meeting. The only substantive item of business was a review of decisions made by the Police and Crime Commissioner. The meeting turned into a total farce as it emerged the panel was under the impression it was to scrutinise the decisions […]

  • Cambs Police and Crime Panel Unaware of Internet

    In advance of the Annual Meeting of Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Panel, which is to be held at 14.00 on the 12th of June 2013 in the Civic Suite at Huntingdonshire District Council I’ve been taking a look at the panel’s recently published Rules of Procedure (PDF). I observed the rules being debated at the […]

  • Speaking at ACPO Transparency in UK Policing Event

    On the 10th of June 2013 I spoke at an event titled “Transparency in UK Policing” run by the Association of Chief Police Officers. Around a hundred and fifty people from all but one or two of the country’s police forces were present, along with staff from the information commissioner’s office and central government. I […]

  • City Council To Launch Cambridge Hyperlocal Website

    Soon (mid-June 2013) a Cambridge ShapeYourPlace website will be launched for a trial period, presumably at cambridge.shapeyourplace.org. Shape Your Place websites are run by Cambridgeshire County Council, at taxpayers’ expense. Such websites already exist covering various parts of the county (eg. Ely, Wisbech). The websites aim to enable people to “discuss local issues with their […]

  • Cambridge University Students’ Union External Trustees

    I recently volunteered to be an external trustee of Cambridge University Students’ Union. In the interests of transparency I’m publishing my application and the background to it here. A call for volunteers was posted publicly on the CUSU website, CUSU’s social media accounts, and elsewhere on the web. A couple of people, from various backgrounds […]