About John
John is one of the County Councillors for Carlton East. He is the Shadow Portfolio Holder for Personnel & Performance, and is also a member of the Nottinghamshire Police Authority. He also sits on the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Health & Wellbeing Standing Committee.
Latest News
3rd June 2011
Councillors John Clarke, Darrell Pulk and Jim Creamer have today
issued a joint statement regarding Gedling
School:
“We’re pleased and relieved to hear that Gedling school is
now in talks with E-ACT and the Department of Education with a view to converting
to academy status, and we hope that the first steps on the scheme are approved
at the County Council’s Cabinet meeting on 8th June next.
It has been a long hard road for parents, pupils and
families, but with academy status on the horizon, we hope that this will ensure
that Gedling school continues to provide education locally that everything
appreciates and cherishes.
We would like to congratulate everyone involved with the
campaign as it looks as if all the hard work will bring the needed welcome
result.”
Spring 2011
At the Nottinghamshire
County Council Budget Meeting on 24th February 2011 I joined my Labour
colleagues in voting against the Budget proposals.
While we welcomed the extra
spending being made by the County Council on child protection and services for
vulnerable adults, we did not agree with the proposals to reduce funding to
other areas such as the Libraries service, Supporting People programme and
grant aid to voluntary groups.
We asked the majority group
to consider a more detailed consultation with the public and partner
organisations in order to allow a longer term approach to making efficiencies,
with a view to many possibly not being needed as the economic situation
improved.
However, our proposals were
not accepted, and the Budget was eventually passed with a majority of five
votes.
12th November 2010
Councillors Darrell Pulk, Jim Creamer and John Clarke have today
issued a joint statement regarding the potential closure of Gedling
School:
“Everyone will be aware of the potential for Gedling
School to be closed if the recommendation is approved at the County
Council’s Cabinet meeting on 15th December next. We are totally against the closure of the school.
We’ve been speaking to pupils, parents, teachers,
staff, governors and local residents and completely support their
campaign to keep Gedling School open. Now, more than ever, it’s vital
that we protect our educational assets and safeguard the future of our
children’s development and local community.
We will continue to consult with everyone involved
both before the Cabinet meeting and during the (minimum) 6 week
consultation period, should Cabinet approve the closure plan
consultation. If, following the consultation, Cabinet agrees to go
forward with closing the school, there will be a further 6 week
statutory consultation period.
Unfortunately, as Labour group members, we are unable
to vote at Cabinet meetings, but we do hope to convince the
administration that the closure of the school is not the correct path
to take for our children, local families and businesses, or our
community.”
27th October 2010
"At the Council Meeting on 21st October, along with my colleagues in the Labour group, I voted against the proposals being made by the County Council to make spending cuts of £150m over the next four years.
The Labour group made it completely clear that we welcome the extra spending in Children’s and Adult’s services but we also stated that we felt it inappropriate to withdraw funding from other vital areas such as Surestart and Supporting People, and that the Council was moving too fast with its cuts and not taking full cognisance of the impact on the most vulnerable.
The Labour group presented a longer-term alternative which would’ve seen the £50m from reserves currently earmarked for redundancies instead being reinvested into vital services, and enabling the County Council to retain skilled staff who wished to remain, while allowing others to leave through natural staff turnover.
We believe that our longer-term approach would minimise the impact on external partners, minimise the need for redundancy payments, retain valuable staff and achieve the necessary financial goals.
Our proposals were, however, dismissed, and the administration instead voted to implement their original plans to make immediate service cuts."
Current Campaigns
If there are any issues in your neighbourhood or locality that you feel aren't being dealt with, then please let me know, and we can have a look at what's happening (or not happening) and try to do something about it!
(updated 4th June 2010)
BREAKING NEWS - GEDLING TIP TO CLOSE IN AUGUST?
At last night's Cabinet meeting (3rd June 2010) at Gedling Borough Council, the Conservative Leader, Roland Spencer, confirmed that the Gedling Household Waste Recycling Centre would be closing in August, although no specific date was available. More news as it becomes available.
Council Tax relief for Armed Forces Members
At the last full Council meeting, John suggested to the Conservative leader that the County Council should be looking into working with other local councils to implement a saving for those members of our Armed Forces who are currently stationed away from home. There was a positive response from the leader, and as soon as we have a reply, then we'll let you know if we've been successful.
Tidying up redundant building sites
We are currently campaigning to try and get redundant building sites tidied up, as some are a real eyesore and there are also health & safety issues where access is not secured. If you live near to any of these sites which have been abandoned and appear to be in an untidy and unsafe condition, then please don't hesitate to let me know. We are in the process of getting petitions together, letters to the press and we want the landowners to know that they can't treat our neighbourhoods and communities like this.
Councillor's Divisional Fund
The Electoral Division Initiative that we introduced a few years ago is now called the Councillor's Divisional Fund. However, the principle remains the same:
Each councillor receives £10,000 to help fund local organisations, causes, individuals and schemes, who would not normally have access to financial support for their smaller projects.
Please contact John if you would like to apply for some CDF funding. Here are just a few examples of the useful funding which was provided by John in 2009/2010:
