Houghton Regis News Desk

Driving uninsured is not an invisible crime Over 4,000 letters have been sent by the Road Policing Unit so far this year to motorists who have been detected driving without insurance in Bedfordshire.   The figure has been shared as part of a national Drive Insured campaign this month to highlight that driving without insurance is not an invisible crime. In total, 4,094 letters have been issued by the force as part of Operation Tutelage since the start of the year with 62% of recipients subsequently taking out insurance. Acting Detective Sergeant Justin Smyth, from the Road Policing Unit, said, “For some people, insuring their vehicle has slipped their mind and we thank everyone who has taken the right steps to insure their vehicle after receiving a letter. "Driving without insurance is not a matter of out of sight, out of mind. It is a crime we can easily detect and we will take action. “Contacting motorists in this way is a positive and proactive way to help improve the safet

Central Bedfordshire to receive £586,335 from the Adult Social Care Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund South West Bedfordshire MP, Andrew Selous is delighted that Central Bedfordshire will receive £586,335 from the new Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund for adult social care. This £162.5 million fund will bolster the capacity of the adult social care workforce over winter, helping to ensure care workers across the country can continue to deliver high quality care for the most vulnerable in our society. This funding comes on top of the additional £388 million infection control funding that we announced for adult social care in September 2021. Over the course of the pandemic, the Government will have made available over £6 billion in funding for local authorities to address pressures on their services, including for adult social care. The Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund will enable local authorities to work closely with providers to consider innovative measures to bo

  A selection of the dishes available at Café in the Park A local independent café with its own in-house bakery has become the first business to take premises at the soon-to-be-opened Farmstead at new urban village Linmere, next to Houghton Regis. Café in the Park , which will use ingredients from local farms and suppliers, will open its doors in the New Year , offering residents of Linmere, Houghton Regis and the surrounding towns and villages a ‘destination' meeting place. The family-friendly cafe will be the focal point at the Farmstead, the new village's community hub, which will also offer a hall available for a range of activities, an adventure playground, dog grooming parlour and other outdoor-related retail outlets. Café in the Park's philosophy of serving wholesome homemade food created from locally sourced ingredients has proven very popular at its owners' similar ventures in Hertfordshire and Greater London. They own and run successful outlets in Rickman

Central Bedfordshire Council proposes change to social housing tenancies to give tenants more stability. Central Bedfordshire Council has reviewed its Tenancy Strategy and has today launched a consultation on changing the length of the housing tenancies it offers. The key proposal is to end the use of five-year fixed-term tenancies and offer secure tenancies often referred to as ‘lifetime’ tenancies. This change will offer tenants greater security and stability rather than worrying that they may need to move every five years. This is particularly important for families with young children attending school and those who work locally. The proposal will also enable the council to reduce the administrative burden of reviewing all tenancies every five years freeing up officer time to better manage social housing stock and focus on other important issues such as anti-social behaviour and tenancy fraud. Executive Member for Housing & Assets, Cllr Eugene Ghent said, “Whilst previous thi

Following a meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Clarke MP, yesterday, South West Bedfordshire MP, Andrew Selous, said, “Leighton Buzzard, Linslade and Houghton Regis are all growing fast with thousands of new homes built or going up now and general practice capacity is not increasing alongside that growth. I have raised this repeatedly in Parliament recently and have had meetings about it with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and yesterday with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury who is in charge of government spending.”   “Yesterday’s meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury went well and he agreed that the Government needs to have a better system of allocating capital for new general practice premises where there is significant housing growth. This needs to be more certain and better planned. I will work with him to deliver that. New buildings need new primary care staff and last year 3,793 new GPs started work and there are now 4,000 G