MK CIL Newsletter April 2024

MK Job Show

Last weekend Chris Checkley and I attended the MKJOBSHOW in Middleton Hall, which we have done for the last ten years, however this year we were missing a very special member of our team, Val Williamson. Val made us laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. She had a wicked sense of humour and overwhelming desire to help people get the best support possible.

Both Val and Chris have been an integral part of the team with their unique knowledge and experience of helping disabled people gain access benefits and their human rights. So many of them have been let down by society.

The photograph was taken on Saturday as a reminder that Val may not have been there in person but was looking down on us and was definitely there in spirit.

I still have a video from 5 years ago of Val and Chris trying to put a roller banner away. Knowing how independent they were I decided to watch and film them, which really brought tears of laughter to all of us that I will never forget.

Val will always be in my heart.

Gamiel Yafai Founder and CEO, Diversity Marketplace Co-author of 'Demystifying Diversity' and 'Yemen Proud'

Chris and Gamiel at the Job Show with Val’s photo on the table

The Job Show

I spent the Friday and Saturday at the Job Show with Gamiel Yafai. I arrived later in the day on the Friday to find Gamiel desperate for a drink break. In the ten years I have been attending I have never known it to be so busy.

I am amazed that Gamiel had a voice left at the end of Saturday, so many people after his excellent advice.

Most of the people I spoke to were in need of a listening ear. So many young people with degrees, but due to their lack of confidence were unable to pass interviews.

One young person highly qualified went for an interview and was turned down on the grounds that their vision problems would be a health hazard. If only employers would look beyond people’s disabilities, they would find hard working employees.

Milton Keynes University Hospital

Over the past few weeks I have been speaking to disabled people about MK Hospital. A friend has put a complaint into PALs about their horrendous ten day stay in MK Hospital. They were given incontinence pants to empty their bowels into. I can think of nothing more disgusting or humiliating than that. I thought it was a one off!! On speaking to another friend who spent time in MK Hospital recently, the same thing happened to them. Patients who have never had pressure sores are leaving with them.

It seems ICU care is excellent. The problems start when you are transferred to the main wards. I know the Spinal Injuries Association and an Occupational Therapist at MK Hospital are looking into the care problems. I hear that this not just happening in MK but many hospitals all over England. The big question WHY?

Chris Checkley, Trustee MK CIL

Dementia Information and Support Service

The Milton Keynes Dementia Information and Support Service is here to support people living with dementia, people with memory concerns and their carers.

Dementia Advisors are experienced, trained Alzheimer’s Society staff who can give information, practical advice, emotional support and tips and strategies based on your personal circumstances and support needs.

Support, information and guidance are delivered by phone, email, or face-to-face visits.

The Alzheimer’s Society office in Milton Keynes has now closed but we can still be reached by calling the Dementia Information and Support Service on 01908 669404/01908 232612 or emailing us at MiltonKeynes@alzheimers.org.uk

01908 232612 /01908 669404 to contact a Dementia Advisor

0333 150 3456 Dementia Support Line: open 7 days a week and some evenings for information, support and advice.

Email: MiltonKeynes@alzheimers.org.uk

Website: www.alzheimers.org.uk

Accessibility

IN

to

buildings and housing

Let us

AND LISTEN TO US GET ABOUT on

transport

and the streets

PARTICIPATE get involved with what affects us i.e. ‘EVERYTHING’

It seems to be that this month will be a commentary on delay, mainly deliberate, and of apathy regarding the issues that affect the Disabled Community.

We’ve had local discussion on e-scooters following the Government again kicking the can down the road regarding regulation of these. These were first introduced to our streets in August 2020 for what was initially proposed as a 12-month trial. This was continually extended such that we now have the situation that the Government has stated that the trial periods can be extended to May 2026. The Government has also stated that there can be extensions to geographical scope and fleet size. MKCC are, in conjunction with the Operators, now considering their next steps. We await the result of their contemplations.

Meanwhile the private market with totally uncontrolled scooters being allowed onto the streets and pavements continues to grow. The authorities have long ago given up trying to control their use on pavements, and in fact in this case, their use on the roadway. I followed an e-scooter in my car the other night, with the scooterist totally dressed in black with no lights doing 20mph. Traffic lights also meaning nothing, straight across them whatever the colour. The only thing in their favour was that they were on the road not the pavement, even if they shouldn’t have been there.

I have also read an article that highlighted the poor state of Bus stop design, you wouldn’t have thought that there was an incentive to encourage people to use public transport! The article continued by stating that many remain with varying degrees of accessibility, being obstructed by street furniture, lack of parking control, and insufficient room for multiple buses. In addition, there are problems with street infrastructure due to gullies, kerbs, hedges and with surfaces being poorly maintained and substandard. Others have access difficulties due to route gradients and associated issues, as well as a lack of dropped kerbs and crossings facilitating. Street lighting is poorly designed, managed and positioned.

And while we have made huge strides towards inviting, accessible and comfortable fleets our roadside waiting environment remains wanting, with poor provision of shelters, legible lighting, wheelchair space, seating location, specific publicity and Real Time Information. It states that only 13% of the UK’s bus stops are equipped with RTI, unlike most other publicly accessible amenities.

I’m not a regular user of public transport in MK, both buses and MK Connect, but I’m sure that many of those problems are present in MK. CIL would be more than willing to generate a listing of issues for raising to the Council, just provide detail to the contact details listed at the end of this newsletter.

Talking of MK Connect some of you may have already realised that the Council have modified its way of operating. I actually became aware of this at a forum I attended on 14th March whilst making a presentation and this was informed as part of another presentation.

So much for dialogue with stakeholders!

An aside was given, possibly because I was there, that the proposals would not apply to disabled journeys but have no confirmation of that. Have now received a statement of it happening, have tried to extract a link to forward within this article but have failed. So instead, I provide a synopsis of that statement.

Connect will introduce a new pilot scheme starting on Monday 8 April which will change the way some people use MK Connect. For the next six months we will be running a pilot scheme where Milton Keynes is split into three zones: a rural zone, a zone for Newport Pagnell, and a zone for the rest of the city. Instead of covering the whole of Milton Keynes, MK Connect drivers will serve one or two zones.

This means that some passengers traveling to or from rural areas will have their journey broken into two parts. Both parts might be in an MK Connect vehicle, or it might mean transferring to a bus. The pilot aims to determine whether people prefer a faster journey where they change vehicles, or a slower journey where they don’t need to, so we can make informed decisions for the future. This is being done with the aim of reducing waiting times in the rural area from a current up to 70mins down to 15.

So how will it work?

If you’re riding within one zone? You’ll be collected by an MK Connect vehicle with no need to change.

If you’re riding in either direction between the rural zone and Newport Pagnell? You’ll be collected by an MK Connect vehicle with no need to change. And if you’re riding in either direction between the MK zone and Newport Pagnell? You will likely catch a bus with no need to change. If there isn’t a bus available, an MK Connect vehicle will collect you.

However, if you’re riding in either direction between the rural zone and the MK zone you will need to change at the Market Hill bus stop in Newport Pagnell and will likely catch a bus into the MK zone. If there isn’t a bus available, an MK Connect vehicle will collect you.

This pilot scheme will only operate Monday to Friday between 6am and 7pm and Saturdays between 8am and 6pm. Outside of these hours and on Sundays, you’ll be collected and dropped off by a single MK Connect vehicle with no need to change, as now.

You should be advised if you need to change or not when you make a booking on the app or by phoning.

It’s been stated that anyone asked to change vehicles to complete their journey will only pay for one part of their trip (for up to two journeys per day).

If you haven’t found out all the relevant detail already by trial and error or have any further questions that this hasn’t answered, then you can get more detail by getting in touch via the Help section of the MK Connect app or email them at customer.services@milton-keynes.gov.uk.

As the comment above on bus stops if you do experience problems or issues then let us know via the contacts at the end of this newsletter. Doubt we can do much to help with any immediacy but at least we can generate a listing that we can use should they decide to actually undertake some consultation in the future on the development of everybody’s public transport services.

DRT was also raised at a recent DfT Accessible Transport sub-committee meeting. It was queried by the MPs on this sub-committee about these buses being outside of the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR). These regulations apply the accessibility that must be provided on bus and coach services, but DRT lies outside of them as they don’t carry sufficient passengers, which needs to be 22 or more.

There seemed to be little awareness of the nature of the service nor any real concern that they lie outside of the PSVAR. What chance that they will be brought into an expanded PSVAR then!

On that point there has been a very recent issue of the Council’s Commonplace publication which announces that the they are developing a 5th Local Transport Plan (LTP), which in the publication’s words “sets out our transport policies about buses, walking, cycling, scooting and driving for the next few years, and must respond to our climate and health challenges while at the same time supporting the growth of the city”.

This survey focuses on the journeys that you make now, and what makes you choose to travel the way that you do. Later on this year (in the summer), they’ll be asking you about what you think of our roads, buses, trains and Redways and also what the Council could do to make you travel a bit differently – like cheaper bus tickets, scooter hire - or maybe some free cycle training or even a free bike! So, look out for the later surveys after this one! Personally, I fancy some disability handbike training.

You notice though that it doesn’t mention Wheeling.

Wheeling isn’t just about wheelchairs but has become the generic term adopted by organisations like Sustrans and Transport for All to mean provision of infrastructure, design and regulations to enable free and easy movement for ALL those with disability requirements. It has now been accepted and adopted by the DfT and the Local Government Association (LGA) as meaning the same, so hopefully will soon work its way down to MKCC.

Another topic that has reared its head again is Pavement Parking. There was an Adjournment debate on the Parliament on 7th March. This is one that’s basically slotted in at the end of the session and is just a discussion and has no vote, or therefore conclusion. You can tell it had that status by the fact that in addition to the MP raising the question and the Government minister responding there were only 2, yes, not a typo, 2 other MPs present. Still, it was at the end of the day before the weekend break so low in the list of most’s priorities.

It was raised that it was on that date, 07/03/24, been 1,385 days since the consultation on this topic closed, and the clocks are still counting. So, the question was raised about what is happening? The inquirer made comment on the concern especially of the Visually Impaired community who not only have the inconvenience of the Pavement being blocked and having to go round it/them on the road and whatever that implies, but also run the risk of injury due to walking into them.

The defence was given that there had been a very large response to the Consultation with over 1500 responses to be read, reviewed and assimilated, with a number of differing Government Departments being involved. Which all takes time, their words not mine. It was also commented that many older houses had no garaging so used on-street parking. If parking on a narrow road would block the road to emergency vehicles, the pavement had to be used.

I think a fair number of modern estates have the same problem of insufficient parking provision and too narrow streets to accommodate on-street parking. Also, how many park in their garage? A fact that housing design should possibly address.

The outcome of the discussion was that there was going to be no immediate response to the consultation issued and that basically the government were honing in on two options, simplifying the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process so that cheaper and easier to apply and then having the Local Authority (LA) impose more restricted pavement parking areas or to have a blanket ban and then have the LA identify the areas where Pavement Parking is permitted. So basically one, with two variations.

The issue of Pavement Parking did get briefly raised in the other session I’ve commented on and the LA representative there argued strongly for the enforcement powers that London have of being able to impose on-the-spot fines be extended throughout the country. Must be a consideration as well.

So, looks like if anything ever does get done will be down to the LA! Either option does seem to mean that there is likely to be street signage of some type required and hopefully this will not be placed in the ‘clear’ area on the pavement where pedestrians and those with mobility needs can travel, to avoid blocking the parking space. Also, that sufficient access across the roads will be provided at regular intervals.

All in all, it comes down to the need for a total rethink on the design of Streets with ALL stakeholders being represented from the start, both new developments and how the existing are redesigned. I emphasise from the START, which is after all the recommended way by such learned authorities as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the British Standards Institute (BSI) and is the default process in London, and if it’s good enough for all of them then it should be good enough for us.

Surely the aim must be to develop a design that provides STREETS for ALL.

Finally, I’ll close by returning to a topic that’s the theme of this newsletter delay, and in this case also a recurring theme throughout my life, Fire, but nearly 7 years after the Grenfell fire of 14th June 2017 the Government have acted to address the situation that should never have been allowed to have occurred in the first place. They have now decreed that buildings above 18m should be fitted with an alternative staircase (or as might be referred to a 2nd Emergency Staircase). Wouldn’t have stopped Grenfell from happening but might influence the stay-put policy that clearly resulted in many deaths.

It should also be noted that in the early 1900s following a fire in a mine it was instructed that they all had to have an alternative exit! Underground needs it but going up into the sky doesn’t!!

Also worth noting that 2 years after the King’s Cross fire on London Underground all actions from the enquiry were completed or were part of a programme of completion. The latter being essentially wooden stair treads on escalators which were over an extended period to prevent disruption to the public and the working of London itself.

Don’t ask me why you don’t need a second exit below the 18m height, the justification for that hasn’t been explained in anything I’ve seen. But I’ll keep looking.

“Remember when you design something for people living with disabilities to use and access, you are designing it for everyone to use and access.”

That’s all folks

ErnieBoddington,AccessibilityLeadandTrusteeMKCIL

Spring is in full swing with the parks becoming more vibrant as nature transforms into full bloom after its Winter slumber.

The clocks have now gone forward and each day we enjoy extra daylight.

• https://www.theparkstrust.com/

• info@theparkstrust.com

• 01908 233600

• The Parks Trust, Campbell Park Pavilion, 1300 Silbury Boulevard Campbell Park, Milton Keynes, MK9 4AD

Answers to March Crossword – Food and Drink

Across

1 What ship was found floating with no sign of her crew?

3 Which company lost a March 2017 legal case against Transport for London when it attempted to stop written English exams for its drivers?

6 The main types of which form of transport are Non-Rigid, Semi-Rigid and Rigid?

7 Which form of transport, that derives its name from the French for “carriage with wooden Benches”, was once common for works outings during the early 1900s?

10 Which European port was the world’s busiest from 1962 to 2004?

13 In which country would you find the high-speed tilting train called the Pendolino?

16 Which shortened name is given to the North American Intercity bus carrier which began its life in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914?

17 Which city’s underground metro-lie is the only one in the UK which operates underground?

18 What do the English call what the Americans call an Odometer?

19 Which blue credit-card sized contactless smartcard is popularly used on public transport in Greater London?

Down

2 Incheon International Airport is the largest airport in which country?

4 Concorde’s first two scheduled flights were from London and Paris. Which country was the destination of the London flight?

5 Who captured “Morning Cloud” in the 1969 Sydney to Hobart race?

7 The M11 motorway is a 152 mile motorway that links which city with north east London?

8 Which Czech car manufacturer was founded in 1895 as Laurin and Klement?

9 The ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsized moments after leaving which Belgian port in 1987?

11 Which taxi service in Bangkok gets its name from the spluttering from its engine?

12 Refugees from which country give rise to the term “Boat People”?

14 Which form of personal transport was launched by inventor Dean Kamen in 2001?

15 Which manufacturer makes the “Accord”?

MK CIL are always looking for new volunteers. If anyone has any free time and is interested in joining our team of volunteers, please contact us. Our contact details are on the back page.

We have vacancies for:

• Trustees

• Treasurer

• Information Officers

• Benefit Form Fillers

Full training will be given.

Westcroft Community Shop

MK CIL and MK Samaritans benefit greatly from the proceeds of Westcroft Community Shop.

Any kind donations to support the good work that the staff and volunteers at the shop do, would be very much appreciated.

They want what you don’t need! All those unwanted Birthday, Wedding or Christmas presents that you don’t know what to do with. Take them to the shop and pop in for a browse around, you will be pleasantly surprised at what is on sale.

If you have any unwanted goods or would like to volunteer in the shop, please contact:

Address: Wimborne Crescent Westcroft MK4 4DE

Phone: 01908 506640

Saul Leiter: An Unfinished World

American photographer

Saul Leiter (1923 – 2013), one of the most important practitioners of the post-war period and a pioneer of colour photography, celebrated for his evocative images of New York City in the 1950s and 1960s, is the subject of a major survey at MK Gallery.

• Adult Creative Workshops

• Children’s Workshops

• Family Fun

• Cinema

For latest details about exhibitions and films at MK Gallery visit their website:

https://www.mkgallery.org

Or phone 01908 676900

If you have any comments to make on this newsletter or have any contributions for future editions please contact us

Founded in 1992

MK CIL

Milton Keynes Centre for Integrated Living

330 Saxon Gate West Central Milton Keynes MK9 2ES

Tel: 01908 231344

Email: info@mkcil.org.uk

Web: http://www.mkcil.org.uk

MK CIL is a Charity

All donations gratefully received

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