Latest news with #AshleyBaxter
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Lincolnshire council calls for end to taxi licences 'loophole'
Calls have been made to close a "loophole" in the law that allows taxis licensed in other areas of the country to operate in Kesteven District Council said it had seen a "deluge" of Wolverhampton-licensed taxis which had had a "detrimental" impact on local has written to the government calling for an end to out-of-district of Wolverhampton Council said safeguarding was its "number one priority" in taxi licensing and that it was "the first to implement the government's statutory standards and best practice guidance", adding it was not allowed to decline licences based on where the applicant lived. Licensed taxi drivers are allowed to operate anywhere in England and Wales and are not tied to the district where they got their licence. Applications made in Wolverhampton are believed to be quicker and cheaper than those made issue of out-of-district licences was raised at a recent licensing committee of South Kesteven included a restriction on the authority's ability to monitor and manage drivers who did not comply with leader Ashley Baxter has written to local transport minister Simon Lightwood about the issue. He said: "The overall number of taxi and private hire drivers in our district has remained relatively constant in recent years."Many survived the significant impact of Covid but now face increasing financial pressure due to unfair competition from drivers licensed by other authorities."City of Wolverhampton Council reiterated that it was legal for applicants to apply to any licensing authority for a licence.A spokesman added. "It is illegal for the council to refuse applicants a taxi licence on the basis of where they live. "It is also illegal for licensing authorities to impose a limit on the number of private hire licences they issue."The council does not gain financially from taxi licensing, as the fees are legally ring-fenced for spend only on related activities." Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
The Lady's not for spurning: Margaret Thatcher's home town will hold week-long festival to mark what would have been Tory icon's 100th birthday
Margaret Thatcher 's hometown is planning a major festival to mark the centenary of the Iron Lady's birth. 'The Festival of Thatcher' is being backed by council leaders in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in celebration of the UK's first female prime minister. It would take place in the week of October 13, 100 years after Margaret Roberts , as she was then, was born in the market town. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, South Kesteven District Council leader Ashley Baxter told a meeting of its finance and economic overview and scrutiny committee meeting this week: 'My aim is that, with the events happening during the week marking 100 years since the birth of Margaret Thatcher, anybody coming into Grantham - regardless of whether they are the son of a blacksmith or the son of an industry baron - should realise that Grantham was the home of Margaret Thatcher. 'And they and should go away thinking, ''they told the story fairly, and that was a fair representation of what Margaret Thatcher's impact on the UK and the world was''.' Mrs Thatcher was born on October 13 1925 and spent her childhood in the Lincolnshire market town before heading off to Somerville College, Oxford, at the age of 18 to study chemistry. Despite her historic time in office, the former Tory leader's legacy remains controversial. Last year Grantham Museum rejected a plea to rename itself in her honour, with managers saying it existed to promote 'all of Grantham'. The late Conservative Prime Minister became MP for Finchley in 1959 and succeeded Edward Heath to become Tory leader in 1974, before leading the country from 1979 to 1990. The argument about how or even whether Mrs Thatcher, who died aged 87 in April 2013 after suffering a stroke, should be recognised in Grantham has rumbled on for nearly two decades. A statue of Mrs Thatcher has stood outside the museum, which is devoted to the history of the town and the surrounding area, since 2022. But it has been repeatedly vandalised.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hundreds of council homes to get energy upgrades
A council has agreed to spend almost £8m on energy efficiency improvements to its housing stock. South Kesteven District Council's cabinet formally approved a contract to upgrade an estimated 273 council-owned properties at a meeting on Tuesday. Measures include fitting solar panels and low-carbon heating measures. Work is expected to start in June. Virginia Moran, cabinet member for housing, said: "This is an extension of considerable work that we have already done on a number of properties." Council leader Ashley Baxter described the project as a "triple whammy", by "improving our council stock, reducing bills for our residents and improving the environment." It comes after the authority submitted a bid to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which awarded a grant of about £4m, which will be match-funded by the council. The contract, with Equans Building Ltd, is valued at about £7.8m over a three-year period, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. isten to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. Plans for 250 homes given the go-ahead New solar farm on outskirts of town is approved Council pays £250k a year to power disused factory Local Democracy Reporting Service South Kesteven District Council
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Hundreds of South Kesteven council homes to be upgraded
A council has agreed to spend almost £8m on energy efficiency improvements to its housing Kesteven District Council's cabinet formally approved a contract to upgrade an estimated 273 council-owned properties at a meeting on include fitting solar panels and low-carbon heating is expected to start in June. Virginia Moran, cabinet member for housing, said: "This is an extension of considerable work that we have already done on a number of properties."Council leader Ashley Baxter described the project as a "triple whammy", by "improving our council stock, reducing bills for our residents and improving the environment."It comes after the authority submitted a bid to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which awarded a grant of about £4m, which will be match-funded by the contract, with Equans Building Ltd, is valued at about £7.8m over a three-year period, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. isten to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Festival of Margaret Thatcher planned in Grantham for centenary
A festival to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's birth is due to be held in her home town later this former Conservative prime minister was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in 1925 and died in April 2013, aged Kesteven District Council is planning a programme of events during the week of 13 October.A council meeting earlier heard ideas being suggested for the festival, including themed beers with names such as Iron Lady or Grantham Lass, which would "relate to the Thatcher experience". According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, details of the programme are still being developed, with little yet confirmed about what will be included in the leader Ashley Baxter indicated the event could be called "The Festival of Thatcher".Speaking at a finance and economic overview and scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, he said he hoped the event would give a fair representation of the former PM's "impact on the UK and the world".Thatcher was the UK's first female prime minister and held the post from 1979 until her resignation in Whitfield, assistant director of leisure, culture and place at the council, described the anniversary as a "significant event for Grantham".She said: "There will be a lot of organisations wanting to put on events, performances and shows. "What we're trying to do is bring together a group of stakeholders so they don't all end up fighting for the same bite of the cherry, and so there's a co-ordinated approach."Conservative councillor Mark Whittington pointed out that 2027 would mark the 300th anniversary of the death of Isaac Newton and his former school in Grantham was planning to celebrate the said he and fellow councillors had met the headmaster of The King's School about plans for a year of events. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
