Councillor John Bloxham

08/06/2026

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06/06/2026

The courage they showed and the sacrifices they made seem unimaginable today. It's hard to believe that so many of those people were still with us not so long ago. Never forget. 🇬🇧

04/06/2026

🚕 Taxi Safety Update: What the Latest Checks Show 🚕

A few weeks ago, Blaby District Council carried out an inspection day with Leicestershire Police, checking taxis licensed by Blaby District Council. This follows a similar operation in December looking at Wolverhampton‑licensed taxis. The sample sizes are small, but the contrast between the two days is hard to ignore:

🔵 Wolverhampton‑licensed vehicles: Out of 15 cars tested, 8 had major problems. 2 cars had to be taken off the road immediately and 6 had their taxi plates removed. Another 4 had minor defects.

🟢 Blaby‑licensed vehicles: Out of 9 cars tested, 3 had minor defects and the rest passed.

⚠️ Wolverhampton‑registered taxis clearly have a problem.

Blaby‑licensed firms face higher standards, regular checks at the Council’s own garage, and closer monitoring by Licensing Officers. Wolverhampton vehicles operating here simply don’t face the same level of scrutiny. The government has now published draft legislation on taxi licensing, and I’m hopeful it will eventually close this loophole. But there are steps we can take right now.

1️⃣ More joint action days: We need more operations where Blaby officers work with Wolverhampton Council, the DVLA and the police to pull over and check Wolverhampton‑licensed taxis. With over 2,700 Wolverhampton taxis operating in Leicestershire, checking 15 cars once or twice a year is nowhere near enough. I’ve asked Blaby District Council to request more action days with partner agencies.

2️⃣ A local oversight agreement: Telford Council already has an agreement allowing it to oversee Wolverhampton‑licensed taxis within Telford. I asked last year whether Blaby could enter a similar arrangement. This would allow our local officers to carry out more frequent checks. I’m continuing to chase this, but progress is slow.

💡 A positive step: Information Sharing Agreement - We now have an Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) with Wolverhampton Council. This lets authorities share driver information more easily, without lengthy data‑protection processes. Given how many Wolverhampton taxis operate in Blaby, this will help our Licensing Team carry out further investigations when needed.

📋 Final Point: Right now, a small number of locally licensed taxis face rigorous checks to keep the public safe: but most taxis operating in Blaby face very little chance of ever being inspected. The system simply isn’t working.

03/06/2026

Good question from Cllr Graham Cooke

Today I paid £80 to dispose of a load of waste because it was classed as commercial waste. Some plaster wasn’t accepted, so I had to reload it into my car and take it back through the household side of the very same site.

Whilst there, I watched a plain white van unload what appeared to be a full load of plaster with no questions asked.

I completely understand there has to be a difference between household and commercial waste, but it does seem that those trying to do the right thing and dispose of waste legally are often the ones paying the price.

If we are serious about tackling fly-tipping, shouldn’t we make legal waste disposal simpler, fairer and more affordable?

What do others think? 🤔

01/06/2026

📣 Travellers on Bouskell Park Now 📣

The police are there and the council are aware. And the barriers near the bridge are back up.

01/06/2026

⚠️📄 Bad News from the Sycamore Street Appeal

I’ve just had confirmation that the travellers on Sycamore Street have been granted a 3‑year “temporary” permission to remain on the site.

I’ve not yet worked through the full decision document, but it looks like the Inspector placed significant weight on “human rights” considerations in reaching this outcome.

To say this is frustrating doesn’t even come close. The applicants have shown complete disregard for the planning process, for local residents, and for the conservation area; and yet this is the result.

Yes, they are supposed to leave in three years’ time… but after everything that’s happened, how can anyone have confidence in the planning system as it stands?

Appeal decision link in the comments ⬇️

30/05/2026

🚧 Activity on Little Glen Road 👀
Residents have been in touch about the works happening on the piece of land on Little Glen Road in Glen Parva, next to the canal bridge. The area is being cleared with a mini‑digger, there’s a tent on site, and two shipping containers have been placed there.

I popped down earlier for a look and a chat, but nobody was around at the time. It might all be fine, but Blaby District Council’s planning officers have been made aware, just in case there’s anything that needs attention.

I’ll share an update as soon as I know more 👍

28/05/2026

🚨 Britain Is Failing a Generation of Young People 🚨
Starmer calls the youth unemployment situation ‘sobering’, and on that at least I agree with him. It’s deeply concerning to see rising numbers of young people falling into the 'NEET' category: Not in Employment, Education or Training. Even more alarming is that many have never had the opportunity to start a career at all.

But the ambition is mostly still there: the overwhelming majority of young people (84%) want work, skills, and a pathway into employment. The real issue is that those opportunities are disappearing.

❗ Over the past two decades, entry-level and lower-skilled jobs have declined dramatically, with sectors like hospitality - traditionally a vital first step for young workers - seeing vacancies collapse in recent years. At the same time, growing health and mental health challenges among young people are making it even harder for many to enter the workplace. 💔

Government policy from both Labour and Conservative administrations has contributed to this disaster. Rising costs on employers, like Labour’s employer National Insurance hike, have made businesses less likely to hire inexperienced workers. Automation, through things like QR codes in restaurants and self-service checkouts in shops, is a symptom. 🤖 📱 Increases to the minimum wage sound great on paper, but the sort of small business that provide ‘Saturday jobs’ can’t always face endlessly increasing costs. ☕ 🍔 🛍️

And we can’t ignore the impact of uncontrolled immigration. When millions of extra workers enter the workforce, competition for lower-skilled and entry-level jobs inevitably increases - and it's young people with the least experience who lose out first.

We can all guess how Labour will try to solve the problem: MORE government interference. 🤦

💬 But if we’re serious about tackling youth unemployment, we need policies that encourage businesses to grow, create jobs, and invest in young talent - not more bureaucracy, higher costs, and headline-grabbing gestures that fail to deliver meaningful change.

Our young people deserve opportunity, optimism, and a future worth striving for. 🇬🇧

28/05/2026

More SEND provision planned in South Leicestershire

👉 More than 250 SEND places
👉 Located in the south of county to help meet demand
👉 Engagement event for local residents on their views

We want to create more than 250 SEND school places on land in Husbands Bosworth.

To help fill an ever-growing need for specialist school places, we've identified land we own Kilworth Road to cater for a specialist school.

A public event for the local community is planned on Wednesday 3rd June at the Millennium Pavilion from 3pm – 7pm for residents to find out more and ask questions on the plans.

Our SEND and Inclusion Strategy identifies a significant shortfall in SEND provision across the county, and no provision in south Leicestershire, with Husbands Bosworth a well located and sustainable option given its location.

Find out more using the link in the comments.

27/05/2026

🏛️ First Cabinet Motion Proposed & Passed 🏛️
I’m pleased to say that the first cabinet motion I've proposed was unanimously approved yesterday. We’ve now formally set out the County Council’s response to Oadby & Wigston’s Regulation 19 Local Plan.

It's all pretty technical, but the issues in a nutshell:
• 📉 Oadby & Wigston have said they can only plan for 240 homes a year, far below the Government’s calculated need of 389. This would have a knock-on effect for other areas.
• 🚧 The Borough argues this shortfall is due to highway capacity constraints, but the County’s view is that the evidence currently isn’t precise enough to justify such a large unmet need.
• 🛣️ The Plan would benefit from a clearer transport strategy and funding mechanism.
• 🏫 Education and other infrastructure planning may well need revisiting.
• 🤝 We’ll continue working with partners across Leicestershire to resolve these issues: and we support a strategic, long term approach through an emerging County-wide Spatial Development Strategy.

Planning is never simple: especially in a small country where high immigration drives population growth... which drives up housing targets. At the same time, Leicestershire continues to receive some of the lowest government funding in England. This mismatch makes it incredibly difficult to deliver the roads, schools and services our communities need.

But today was a good step. And I’ll keep pushing for the infrastructure investment our county deserves. 🏡🛣️