October 2000

Kirkgate Centre bans motorbikes (October 19, 2000)

Council try to "gag" KDIS (October 7, 2000)

Campaign against Privatisation (Oct 6, 2000)

Council to "privatise" voluntary sector (Oct 4, 2000)

DNA advance snares killer after 23 years (October 1, 2000)

Kirkgate Centre bans motorbikes

The city centre car park at the Kirkgate Shopping Centre is to ban motorcycles from the end of this month.

The car park is currently undergoing a major renovation following a handover of the lease by the council to Centre owners Prudential.

The decision by Prudential will leave only 12 official motorbike parking places in the whole of the city centre.  The move has been condemned by the Motorcycle Action Group and flies in the face of the local council's own Integrated Transport Strategy.

The operations manager at the centre told KDIS that the new barrier system raised "health and safety problems with bikes" and added:

"It seems there's no money in bikes. Prudential want to see a return on their investment."

See Full story

Council try to "gag" KDIS

David Kennedy, Assistant Chief Executive of Bradford Council, has been condemned for his attempt to "gag" KDIS Online. Mr Kennedy contacted KDIS on Monday to say that he was writing to the American company Network 54, who host the KDIS Discussion Forum, to get them to remove "offensive" messages.

KDIS editor Anthony Taylor said:

"I consider this blatant attempt at censorship by a very senior officer of the council to be absolutely outrageous. It is nothing short of heavy handed intimidation and bullying which is, unfortunately, so typical of this council and its bureaucracy, who appear obsessed with secrecy and control.

"It should be made clear that KDIS itself has received no complaints at all, from Kennedy or anyone else. If Kennedy has any problems with the Forum, then he should contact us directly or place his concerns on the Forum itself. The fact that he is going straight to the Service Host speaks volumes about his real intention, which is to have the Forum closed down."

The messages concerned relate to allegations about the Newlands Regeneration board which is chaired by Labour councillor Bob Sowman. Those allegations are currently the focus of an Inquiry launched by Bradford Council last month.

Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the World Wide Web, it's creator Tim Berners-Lee condemned the trend of governments to censor and control it:

"Regulation is censorship - one grown-up telling another what they can and cannot do or see. For me, the idea is horrific. Universality is the key. You must be able to represent anything on the web".

The KDIS Discussion Forum is proving popular, with over 12,500 "hits" since it was set up at the beginning of this year. Mr Taylor added:

"This is not the first time the Council has mustered its very powerful resources to try and gag KDIS - a small, independent, amateur magazine that has operated for 20 years in one form or another. No doubt it will not be the last, and no doubt, like all previous attempts, it will fail."

See: Full statement by KDIS editor Anthony Taylor
See also Newlands Inquiry
See also: KDIS Discussion Forum

Update: 13 Oct, 2000. The Council has moved to officially distance itself from the actions of its Assistant Chief Executive David Kennedy. Council leader Margaret Eaton told KDIS that she believed Kennedy was acting "solely as an individual citizen and not in any official capacity." She added "It would be wholly inappropriate for Council resources to be used in the undertaking of such a futile exercise."

Campaign against Privatisation

A campaign against the privatisation of public services was launched last night at a meeting called by public sector union Unison. The "broad based" campaign will focus on the current plans to contract out the city's education services.

Mike Quiggin, secretary of Bradford TUC, said that privatisation of major public services never worked;

"It means low wages and poor service. Education in Bradford needs more money, full stop."

Amongst the 60 strong audience was local Education chief, councillor David Ward.

But the audience could be forgiven for feeling a little cheated - none of the advertised "invited speakers", which included 3 local MP's and Unison's Rodney Bickerstaff - turned up.

See also previous posting

Council to "privatise" voluntary sector

Bradford Council is set to scrap its annual £6 million grant allocation to the district's Voluntary Sector. It will be replaced by a process of "commissioning services" - the Council will list which services it will fund and invite tenders.

The process is similar to the privatisation of other services, such as refuse collection. A "commissioning body" will be set up to decide which service contracts to offer. The new strategy is expected to be in place by next March.

Council officers are currently outlining their plans in a series of "consultation meetings" across the district. The new scheme will be the first of its kind in the country, it is claimed.

Council Chief Executive Ian Stewart is said to want big cuts in the voluntary sector budget, and an end to the current grants process which "has failed to impact sufficiently on the dependency culture in much of the voluntary sector in the District".

Council officer Philip Baldwin said that he didn't believe the process amounted to "privatisation" but acknowledged the implications could be profound.