Northamptonshire - we're in an awful mess, and we don't mean maybe...

As a weekly columnist for a Northamptonshire newspaper, the situation at the County Council should be the gift that just keeps on giving.

Every week I could write about the latest twists, turns and resignations, point the finger of blame, tut and shake my head - but what good would it do?  It would just depress you and me even further.

We all know we're in an awful mess and we don't mean maybe (Madonna, 'Papa Don't Preach'), so instead I'd like to ask what are we going to do about it?

Come on, we're sensible people, one of us must have an idea?

No, sorry, me neither - that's surely why we elect, pay and trust these people to make these big decisions for us.  To look after our elderly and vulnerable, educate our children, provide decent public transport, fix potholes etc.

I read that a unitary authority is being touted as a possible solution to the county's current woes.

But then I heard a district councillor say that this isn't a 'silver bullet' solution.  I had to look this up because I thought silver bullets were used to kill vampires, but it turns out it's werewolves, and it's a term for a miraculous fix, like the waving of a magic wand.

The idea of a unitary authority seems sensible, on the face of it.  Instead of two layers of local government - County Council and District or Borough Councils - we would just have the one, responsible for everything. 

So, in theory, no more passing the buck and council staff saying 'that's County's fault' or 'that's your local council's responsibility'.

But what we desperately need now though is somebody to please tell us truthfully, honestly and without any personal agenda of any kind, what the pros and cons are of such an arrangement.

This county can't afford any more costly mistakes.  If there's going to be a big change, it is essential that it is the right one, and one that benefits the ordinary people of Northamptonshire.

Money, money, money...

I was quite concerned to hear about potential plans to scrap one and two pence pieces.

There was a discussion on BBC Breakfast about it, and I joined Louise Minchin's abject horror when she was told that some people just throw copper coins in the bin. 

She, like me, was aghast that people would literally throw money away.  It also made me cross, because I thought to myself why don't they just put it in charity boxes if they don't want the small change themselves?  Such a waste of resources.

I appear to be becoming more of a Luddite the older I get; I still use cash, I still carry cash - not large amounts, it's not worth mugging me before anyone thinks that - and I'd hate to imagine a world with no cash, just solemnly tapping your card or phone against a gadget to gift away sums of your hard-earned money.

The problem with not seeing how much you're spending is that you have a tendency to spend more.  If you've got money in your wallet, and you have to hand it over each time you make a purchase, it makes you think a lot more about how much you are spending.

In fact, I've heard advice given by various financial gurus to people who are trying to cut back on their shopping habits to pay with cash to focus the mind on what they're actually doing.

But also, without two pence pieces, what are we going to use in those seaside arcade games where you pop the coin in and hope to win more, along with a prize that you didn't really want or need in the first place?

I've spent many a rainy morning or afternoon in North Norfolk with my daughter feeding the two pence machine, and winning some then losing some more.  And no, I'm not rich enough (or daft enough) to upgrade to the ten or twenty pence machines. 

Please, Bank of England, don't take away our traditional wet-weather seaside pleasures!

Options

It's GCSE Options selection time for many teenagers throughout the country, including Bach Jnr.

This is proving somewhat of a challenge as it's a big decision - after all, which one of us really knew aged 13 or 14 what we wanted to do when we grew up? 

Thinking back, at the age of 14, I wanted to be a lead singer in a band when I was older and then marry Morten Harket!

I talked about this at length with my friends, and it turns out that most of us are no longer doing the jobs for which we studied or trained originally either.

For example, a barrister is now an early-years teacher, a teacher is now an ordained Minister, and I'm - well, I'm not sure what my job title is these days, let's just say I'm not doing the job I thought I would be.  Things, life and circumstances change, and we just have to adapt to them.

I think the key is not to drop too many subjects which might prove useful in later life. 

With only an 'O' level in Biology science-wise to my name, I was never going to be able to go on and train to be a brain surgeon or similar.

Not that this was ever realistically an option - my Operation game proved that I didn't have the necessary steady hands required, given the chap's red nose lit up alarmingly on numerous occasions - but you get my point.

Initially, I had done well at Chemistry at secondary school, but then we got a different teacher who took to spending large chunks of the lesson in the prep room investigating the effects of nicotine on his respiratory system, and my Chemistry knowledge decreased dramatically as a result.

In fact, rather embarrassingly, it took me most of the first term to figure out that the moles he kept talking about weren't in fact little underground-dwelling furry creatures but Molecules of Elements.  Perhaps it's just as well for everybody that I didn't become a medic!

The 'Beast From The East'

The 'Beast From The East', or proper winter as it was called back in the day, has been and gone.

I wonder who first coined that phrase, and every time it appeared on television and in the papers did they turn to people and say "I came up with that name, that was my idea!" in a rather annoying manner? 

Even though I got my big coat out, following the advice of Northern friends on social media, I'm relieved to see the back of that weather.  It was the six foot high snow drifts that I found particularly unpleasant and a little bit scary; snow that's taller than me isn't something I relish.

We did have the discussion in our house that folk in Canada and continental Europe must chuckle to themselves when they see Britain grinding to a halt with snow amounts that they would consider a mild winter.

The best thing to come out of it - apart from the various reports of community spirit and people doing good deeds for neighbours and strangers alike, of course - were instructions from a council on how to walk on the ice.

No, this wasn't courtesy of Northants County Council, who must have been relieved that the 'Beast From The East' knocked them from the top story on both national and regional news for a couple of days.  The weather gave us a break from the endless Brexit negotiations too.

The council advice for negotiating icy pavements was to mimic the walk of a penguin.  Seems quite sensible - after all, if there's a creature that knows a lot about snow and ice it's our little feathered friends from the Antarctic.

I thought I'd give it a try.  There I was, walking outside my house, adopting the penguin walk of loose knees, toes slightly out-turned and arms out at my side for balance.

But after a severe bout of laughing, which did absolutely nothing to assist, I reverted to my usual ice walking stance - similar to John Wayne after four hours in the saddle.  Elegant it isn't, but it seems to work for me!

Who can use Corby's Urgent Care Centre?

I've been reading the #NotYou social media posts with interest.

If you haven't seen them, campaigners trying to save Corby's Urgent Care Centre have been highlighting groups of people that will no longer be able to use this excellent facility if the new proposals for it go ahead.

From my understanding of reading their information and the 'Re-setting Corby's NHS' brochure, the proposals say that the walk-in Urgent Care Centre will become an appointment-only Same Day Access Hub just for people registered with Doctors in Corby.

If you've got a minor injury or illness you can no longer walk in, wait and be seen. 

Instead you have to ring your own Doctors, be assessed by a navigator, get an appointment either at your own surgery, if they have one, or be redirected to the Same Day hub, if they don't - but only if you have a Corby GP.

If you haven't got a Corby GP, even though the Urgent Care Centre is your nearest medical facility when your surgery is closed, you won't be able to go there. 

As it stands, this will particularly affect Gretton Surgery, in Corby Borough, as it is served by a Doctor from Uppingham.  Even though its residents live in Northamptonshire, under these new proposals they won't be able to use it.

It will also affect a huge number of people living locally, who rely on the Urgent Care Centre on evenings and weekends when their Doctors are closed.

Also what about the children who go to school in Corby but live elsewhere; the thousands of workers who travel into the town every day; people visiting friends and family from outside the area; and the many people taking part in sporting events in the town?  Where do they go if they have a minor injury or illness while in Corby?

We are repeatedly told about the pressures upon KGH's A&E, and to only go there in an absolute emergency.

Where do we go if we can't access Corby's Urgent Care Centre?

Have your say about the proposals by e-mailing info@arch-comms.co.uk or writing to Freepost NHS Corby Responses.  The deadline for responses is 8th April, 2018.