Letters

Letters I’d rather my taxes paid for SEND

In his letter published on 14th May, I understood Jeremy Bloomfield to be critical of the fact that cost of supporting a child with specials needs equates to that of ‘leading public school education’. I suggest that a child with special needs is at least as deserving of this expenditure as someone who typically has many advantages in life already. I am very happy for my taxes, at whatever level, to be spent on supporting a child with special needs. By the way, I believe my taxes subsidise the running of public and private schools due to their being eligible for charitable status and this I do object to. Janice Blackwell Wincanton

n Further to Mr Bloomfield’s letter in your last issue, I agree that the amounts of money spent on the children with special educational needs and disabilities mount up and seem eye watering, but I hope this might help shed some light on this area. The following must be considered by the council with regard to meeting each child’s needs; Home to school transport. This will invariably be a door to door service for many, possibly in specialist vehicles with a passenger assistant to care for the child’s needs in transportation. Given the geographical spread of special schools, even within Dorset, a greater distance is travelled by many, if not most. Class numbers in special schools are smaller, SEND Teachers are on average, paid more reflecting their specialism, dependent on a child’s EHCP requirements. There may well be further teaching assistants required on a one to one basis and in addition inputs from specialist practitioners such as educational psychologists, speech therapists etc. There may be specialist equipment needed adapted for each child, possibly adaptions required to school premises to support a child’s needs. 40

Cartoon by Lyndon Wall justsocaricatures.co.uk

A key driver behind the need to expand our own provision in Dorset is a shortage of the right provision in special school settings (in fact this is a common issue for many local authorities) and the trend shows a growing demand. This has led to a premium for places in independent provision, which if left unchecked would cause Dorset Council to not meet our legal obligations to educational need and serious financial risk. Councillors are in full support of the acquisition of this site and believe it will become a real centre of excellence, not just for the pupils who will attend, but for the training of staff and support workers to further their development. To add respite care in addition gives the parents and careres of those with high need a real lifeline. The initial purchase of the site had to be made by a private bidding process I believe through the agents. I am quite confident that cabinet members would have been consulted at the time and as soon as the purchase had been made and the sale agreed it was made public. We really do have an excellent officer team at Dorset Council and they have our full support. I do hope this answers your questions, but you are able to put a question directly to Cabinet to be answered in full and in public at their forthcoming meetings –you can find full details on the Dorset Council website. Carole Jones Councillor on Dorset Council for Sturminster Newton

n I am saddened to see the BMV propagate the anti-vaxxing myth that smallpox can be spread by bedbugs and a lack of vitamin C in a letter from Alison Watson (14 May). This quack theory, popular in the earlier 20th century, has long been discredited and lives on mainly in the pernicious online propaganda against covid vaccination. A quick look at the official Government CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) site will remind people that “Smallpox can be spread by humans only. Scientists have no evidence that smallpox can be spread by insects or animals.” The WHO concurs. Vitamin C’s role is negligible. Only vaccination eradicated smallpox. Henry Merritt Shaftesbury 14) referring to the article about Benjamin Jesty which appears to support an anti-vaccination agenda. The letter is littered with fundamental mis-information about smallpox and the role of vaccination in the total eradication of the disease. Smallpox was a viral disease primarily spread by inhalation of airborne droplets through faceto-face contact, much the same as covid is transmitted. It could also be spread via bodily fluids and materials contaminated by them. Smallpox was not known to be transmitted by insects and animals. Smallpox can now only be found preserved in liquid nitrogen in a few laboratories. Because of vaccination, the last known case was in October 1976 and in 1980 the WHO certified its eradication. This was a triumph for vaccination and is no doubt somewhat problematic for those who lobby against vaccination. The vaccine itself was not without some element of risk, but its benefits hugely outweighed the costs. There was a risk of one in a thousand suffering a non-life threatening reaction while between one and two people per million suffered a fatal reaction. However the disease itself killed over a third of those who contracted it and left many survivors blind and most severely scarred. There are many parallels with the vaccines now being used to control, and hopefully eradicate the virus at the heart of the present pandemic which is causing multiple millions of deaths globally. There is a resistance to vaccination among some groups and at a time when world health is dependent on the successful vaccination of millions it is deeply worrying to see the publication of misleading material which appears to be a deliberate attempt to undermine confidence in the process. Brian South Shaftesbury

rapid charging. As a layman I wonder if dealing with short range journeys in more highly populated areas would be more effective, especially for service vehicles and delivery vans. The discussion about rapid chargers in Shaftesbury makes me wonder who needs those chargers. It seems that an EV driver visiting Shaftesbury from within an arc from Exeter to Portsmouth passing through Bristol, Oxford and Reading would not need such provision. Even the lowest range vehicles could, if fully charged, complete a 125-mile round trip with over 20% to spare and not need any charging facility at all. So just who needs a rapid charger in Shaftesbury, and what would be the projected number of chargers required as the years pass? The notion that local authorities using my local taxes should be expected to fund this “infrastructure” is beyond me. I understand and accept central government providing financial persuasions to nudge the population into or out of specific behaviours but who provided the infrastructure for fuelling the internal combustion engine? I suspect it was the private sector. It would be interesting to hear about Planet Shaftesbury’s vision for the EV future and the charging infrastructure required if/when the majority of vehicles become electric. Andrew Gee Blandford Forum PS is it OK for EVs to park in charging bays and then “NOT” plug in or charge? And if a charging bay is out of service shouldn’t it be reclassified for everybody to use? I assume the answer to the first question is yes, and the second question no. PPS I’m not anti EV, there just isn’t one that meets my needs even close to my budget.

n I write in response to the very interesting letter from Mark Pennell (14 May) concerning the priorities allocated to government spending. He criticises the increased amount devoted to defence and suggests what he believes to be more worthwhile targets to which taxpayers’ money should be allocated; in particular to the NHS and to those areas that are suffering as a result of covid. It is widely accepted, if not perhaps universally, that a government`s first priority should be the safety and security of its people. If these are not at the top of the list then all other areas are put at risk. Since we have become a nation state we have been unable to guarantee our own security and defence and thus have been obliged to work within international alliances to do so. This requires us to pay our share, in the nature of an insurance premium. The general procedure on which calculations are based starts with the government declaring where the national interest lies. This has most recently been done by the Prime Minister in the preamble to the latest statement on Defence and Security. The Intelligence Services then give their assessment of the threat to that interest after which the MoD produces its recommendations for the way in which we counter that threat. If there is any shortfall in our ability to do so, we seek to make up the balance in concert with allies and for the remainder there is a risk assessment showing the effects of not meeting any additional threat. It is worth noting that in assessing likely opponents, we plan against their capability, rather than against their intentions; the latter can change overnight.

Keeping abreast of weather

These mammatus clouds, socalled because they look like udders, or breasts, were seen over Blandford. Greta Richardson

Glorious display in gardens

At a time when we have a little more time to enjoy our environment it is well worth walking through Pageant Gardens in Sherborne where there is the most glorious display of tulips. The gardens are beautifully maintained and a real delight for all to enjoy. many thanks. Elaine Edmonds, Sherborne This explains the particular point raised about our nuclear capability. While there are possible states who might wish us ill and who have nuclear weapons available, then we are duty bound to be able to do what we can to deter their use. If anyone were unwise enough to use the nuclear option against us they should understand that we have the ability to respond in a similar way. Timing too is important. It is unlikely that we will have the luxury of a `phoney war` period before hostilities in which to prepare as we did in the 1930s. Our Defence capability needs to be responsive, flexible and as credible as we can afford to make it; again in conjunction with allies. So there is unlikely to be time allowed for rearmament as we have had before. The old parable says `If you want peace, prepare for war.` Those who fail to keep their defences in good repair make a juicy target. John Parkes, Yetminster

I wish Mike Nathan, Chairman of Tarrant Hinton Parish Council and all at 20's Plenty for Dorset the very best in their endeavours. Some drivers have difficulty maintaining less than 30mph (it is a maximum, after all). How you expect them to hold 18mph on all minor roads beats me? My commute was via Child Okeford (20mph limit through part of the village) and I took great delight in holding 18mph uphill going and down coming back - often followed by a line of seething motorists. May I suggest that we all help the police to expand Community Speed Watch? dorsetroadsafe.org.uk/enforceme nt-operations/community-speedwatch/ Mike, you will have to find some volunteers to help. Maybe get together with the other Tarrants and pool resources? I think SIDs are a useful reminder to those who care. The highest speed recorded on ours so far is 72mph – clearly some don't care. Richard King, Todber