VIEWPOINT FOR 21 OCTOBER 2008
FROM DR RICHARD TAYLOR

The news that Wyre Forest District Council has £9 million reserves in Icelandic banks has been greeted with shock that a Council can hold reserves of this scale and concerns about possible lack of care with the investment of our money.

On hearing the news the first thing I did was to seek reassurance from the Chief Executive that there were no immediate problems with resources for day-to-day running of the Council. 

Having obtained this reassurance I sought explanations. 

• First I learnt it is usual for Councils to hold reserves for major capital investments in the future or for unforeseen emergencies. 
• Regarding the investment policy I have spoken to officials of the Local Government Association (LGA) and they tell me that the Icelandic banks maintained good credit ratings until just before the crash. They are attempting to find out from credit rating agencies why they were so slow in flagging up the risk but they support our Council and others in the same situation, that there is nothing in any of the Councils' actions to suggest recklessness or unwise investment not based on good advice. 
• The LGA are working to get all the money back and I have written to the Chancellor to support his efforts for the same aim.

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I am writing this before the deadline for The Shuttle and therefore before the outcome is known of the debate on the remaining stages of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. 
As expected I have had many letters from both sides of the argument about abortion and looking at the programme Mr Speaker has selected for debate it is most unlikely that any of the new clauses or amendments relating to abortion will be reached. Thus they will not even be debated and cannot be voted upon. 

My first reaction is one of relief because abortion was never meant to be a part of this Bill and it was tacked on at the wishes of people on both sides of the argument who thought this would be a good opportunity to debate abortion. 

Surely the Government should make time for a separate, well-informed debate on abortion and thus remove the motives for tacking it on to this Bill rather than just allowing the matter to fall because of lack of time.
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The Kidderminster Male Choir Autumn Concert was again a sell-out and a huge success last Saturday. Their volume and tone control and their enunciation improve with every concert that I go to. I especially enjoyed the Vicar of Dibley's theme music composed by Howard Goodall and Emrys Jones' inspiring setting of Isaac Watts' best loved hymn, "When I survey the wondrous cross". For this concert they were joined by the Millennium Eagle Jazz Band whose evident enjoyment and mastery of their music reminded us all what a superb listening and visual experience trad jazz really can be.
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The Town Hall was packed again on Monday evening when the thriving Prostate Cancer Support Group which now has over 450 members welcomed Martin Bell as guest speaker. He enthralled his audience with reminiscences and conclusions from his several careers as war correspondent for 30 years, Independent MP and now UNICEF's Ambassador for Humanitarian Emergencies. 
His personal experience of the horrors of war which led to his uncompromising condemnation of the Iraq war was widely appreciated.

R.T.

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