For politicians and political parties, it is possible to be too certain of yourself – to believe in your divine right to represent or to rule.  People can go to extraordinary lengths to shore up the positions of themselves or their political parties.  We have recently seen how a superficially trivial incident, with licence points being applied for speeding, has become something so much bigger.

We have had some high-profile debates about the damage caused to grass verges throughout Crawley.  There were three high-level conclusions represented by the acronym PPE (Provide, Prevent and Enforce) – provide more spaces, prevent damage and enforce against this behaviour.  Beyond all of this, we need to consider parking controls.  Fewer vehicles attempting to park in an area should mean less damage to the grass verges.

Crawley MP, Henry Smith, has today welcomed new statistics that show a record number of local youths started apprenticeships in 2011/12. The data also has provisional results for the number of apprenticeship starts in the first quarter of 2012/13 – in August to October 2012 230 people started apprenticeships.

The three main political parties have expressed a belief in localism – the idea that decisions should be made as closely as reasonably possible to the people who they impact.  There are some differences in terminology within the political parties but at a local government level, all three of them have tended to restate their basic commitment, especially at the annual LGA (Local Government Association) conference.