Concern as the bill rises for John Prescott’s devolution dream
DURING THIS week of 2003 it was announced that plans were afoot to get 35,000 motorists off congested Yorkshire roads and on to buses by spending more than £ 100m on improving services.
Over the following five years the Yorkshire Bus Initiative aimed to deliver a step change in bus quality and reliability across the region, including Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford and Doncaster.
Nearly 200 new buses would run more frequently on key routes, while extra bus lanes and priority traffic lights would improve reliability.
Electronic information displays were to be installed at key stops and interchanges, and passengers would access service information by phone.
Improvements on the most heavily used bus routes through socially deprived areas were expected to start within 12 months before being rolled out to other parts of the region.
Funding would come from existing council budgets, government grants and profits generated by the initial upgrading of main routes.
The bill for John Prescott’s devolution dream could well soar by millions after he decided to turn the following year’s Yorkshire miniparliament referendum into an allpostal affair.
The Deputy Prime Minister was accused of throwing more money away in a panic to avoid a derisory result, after sending voting papers to 3.7 million electors.
His department denied the claim, while devolution campaigners said the all postal vote would ensure greater participation in the decision on whether to create a directly- elected Yorkshire assembly.
However, Mr Prescott’s officials did confirm that an all- postal ballot would be up to 50 per cent more expensive than a conventional polling station operation.
A fresh crackdown on crime in parts of inner- city Yorkshire were set to be announced by the Home Office. Chapeltown in Leeds was to be named as one of the latest ‘ policing priority areas’ – an initiative first launched by Home Secretary David Blunkett in 2002. The move, backed by £ 50,000 of additional funding, would allow West Yorkshire Police to focus on particular crimes and anti- social behaviour problems in the inner- city district. Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said that giving Chapeltown policing priority status would provide a “tremendous opportunity” for all agencies in the area to work towards a “better, safer quality of life for local people”.
A Yorkshire nurse used all her skills to save a little boy after he was dragged lifeless from a swimming pool. Eight- year- old David Crawford, from Glasgow, had been spotted lying motionless on the bottom of the pool on the Spanish island of Fuerteventura, where his family were on holiday.
He did not have a pulse when he was pulled from the water. Strenuous efforts made to revive him appeared to have been in vain. Luckily, Michelle Carroll, a nurse from Rotherham, took over and bought David back to life.
Mrs Carroll, 33, who worked for NHS Direct in Sheffield, had only been at the holiday complex with her family for a few hours when the drama unfolded.
“I dashed over and I could see he was blue. There was no sign of a pulse. I managed to clear rubbish from the pool out of his mouth, and then started to work on him.
“I haven’t done practical nursing for a while, but you don’t forget these things. It seemed like an eternity, but after about 20 minutes I could feel a pulse and David began breathing.”
Happily, he regained consciousness.
The Deputy Prime Minister was accused of throwing more money away in a panic to avoid a derisory result.