Mr Chapman follows on from the former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling’s argument that top civil servants should no longer be knighted seemingly as a matter of course.

It is, indeed, a very solid argument:

“Historically, top civil servants were paid modestly but had the prospect of a good pension and the chance of official recognition. They are now well paid. They still get an excellent pension. The gongs they receive receive should only be awarded to those whose careers are judge to have been marked by exceptional service.”

I am instantly reminded of the Yes, Minister episode in which Bernard Jim Hacker proposes a similar solution – that, in a time of budget cuts, no civil servant should be afforded an honour unless they cut their budget by 5%.

“But that’s unheard of!” Sir Humphrey Appleby retorts in disgust. “It’s the beginning of the end! The thin end of the wedge! A Bennite solution! What’s next? Abolition of the Monarchy?!

“Minister, if you block honours pending economies you might create a dangerous precedent.”

“What?” Mr Hacker replies. “You mean if we do the right thing now, we’ll have to do the right thing next time?”

I am pleased that GOLD are re-running Yes, Minister as, although I have the box set, it is a genuinely timeless documentary comedy, with many of the issues which concerned Sir Humphrey and Mr Hacker facing the government and civil service today.

It is often said that Yes, Minister and it’s successor Yes, Prime Minister were thoroughly enjoyed by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher – and so they should.

Written by one of the Iron Lady’s speechwriters, Sir Anthony Jay, it is alleged to have been used, in part, as a propaganda tool in the fight against the belief that only the bureaucratic elite knew the best way to govern a nation, whilst Ministers elected by a fickle electorate and appointed by Prime Ministerial whim were too susceptible to public and press pressure.

The civil service still, to an extent, retains a “we know best” culture – and the something-for-nothing generation has, perhaps, modelled itself on a civil service which believes that pride, salary and pension should not be the only rewards for reaching the top of their careers.

Once upon a time, the leaders of the UK’s major financial institutions were, almost as a right, afforded honours for, essentially, doing what they’re paid to do. Indeed, it took the recent financial situation to bring to the fore of the public’s minds just what these bankers did to earn so much money, and the culture now seems to have shifted.

One wonders what crisis must hit the civil service before a similar realisation hits home that honours are not a right, but, as their name suggests, a distinguished honour conferred those who have done something exceptional to deserve it!

• For those who have not seen it, the “Earn your Honours” sketch referenced in the above article is below:

Why am I unashamed? Because I was doing nothing wrong … unless of course you count not speeding… Confused?

Let me picture the scheme for you…

I had just finished tidying up and counting the takings at the RAFA Club, locked up and was driving along Dock Road towards Gillingham. Whilst passing Gun Wharf, I noticed a pair of headlights fast approaching me from behind.

I knew instantly that these headlights belonged to Kent’s finest, as they were bright and reflecting various shades of blue and purple.

Instinctively, half-blinded by the lights in the mirror, I eased the speed from about 40mph to about 35mph – after all, if you are going to crash because you cannot see, it is best not to do it in front of a copper!

As I crossed the roundabout from Dock Road to Brompton Road, I felt in my gut I was going to be pulled for something and, sure enough, just after the traffic lights by the Royal Engineers Museum, the blue lights came on.

This time next week, it will have been for years since my driving test – and this is the first time I have been pulled over.

Dutifully, I wound my window down, turned my radio off and waited. ” Nothing to worry about, sir,” he said, “actually I thought you were going a bit slowly”.

Slowly?! I thought. 26mph in a 30mph zone is a bit slow?

“Where are you going?” Without hesitation, I responded with the name of the road just one minute’s drive away.

Unafraid to be blunt, the next question that came was “and how much have you had to drink?” I could see where this was going, even I could smell the alcohol on me – an occupational hazard when one works behind a bar. “Nothing,” I replied honestly.

I had, after all, assumed he was not referring to the three pints of Pepsi that had chosen that exact moment to desire a swift departure from my body.

“Where have you come from?” “The RAFA Club.” “I see.” He looked at me blankly. “Where?” “The RAFA Club. Royal Air Forces Association.” Where I’m a member, where I work, where I’m Treasurer, where I happily seem to spend half my life.

“Okay, as I said, nothing to worry about, I just thought you were driving a bit slowly.” He stopped so I took what I assumed was my cue to voluntarily offer an explanation. “Well, your headlights were a bit bright…”

“Okay then, crack on!”

And with that, I was on my way again. Of course he’d already have known that the car was taxed, MOT’d and insured, but he left without asking to see my driving licence, breathalysing me (despite my admission that I had come from a club, and that I obviously smelled of alcohol) or even knowing my name.

I had done nothing illegal, but I do accept that, often, people driving too slowly may be a sign that criminality is at foot, and it is the duty of the police to investigate when they suspect something may be amiss for the good of public safety. However, one wonders one thing…

If 4mph under the speed limit is “too slowly”, how fast must one be driving to be going “too quickly”…?

Personally, I am not too bothered by the election results, or what they indicate. Naturally, they are disappointing, but only to be expected in the current climate.

Instead, I would just like to share with you the following screen grab from the BBC.

Taken at about twenty past two, it may just raise a smile with some disheartened Conservative candidates:

Labour and the sign of the Devil, together at last…

The Group elected Cllr Maple unanimously as the new Group Leader at their Annual General Meeting earlier tonight.

Cllr Maple, who at 34 is the youngest Labour Group Leader in the South East, said “It is a great honour to have been elected by my colleagues to the post of Group Leader. It will be a difficult act to follow Paul’s leadership for the last 13 years.

“I will continue to hold the administration to account and stand up for all residents of Medway. Politics has got a bad reputation in recent years, so I want to rebuild people’s trust over time. I want to make sure people feel their voice is being heard, because I know not listening is a complaint I hear repeatedly about the current Tory administration.

“The Labour team want to work with people across Medway to make it an even better place to work, learn and live.”

Prior to focusing on local government service, Cllr Maple was a trade union officer for the GMB union, previously working as a civil servant in the Department of Work & Pensions and the Home Office. He has served as Labour spokesperson on the Council’s Children’s Services and Finance committees and has been Deputy Leader of the Group for the last year.

Cllr Maple was former Labour MP Jonathan Shaw’s election agent in the 2005 and 2010 general elections.

Cllr Maple has spearheaded the ‘End Legal Loan Sharks’ campaign in Medway, which has received wide support from residents across Medway as well as cross-party support in the council chamber.

He has lived in Chatham for most of life, moving here as a child when his Dad was in the Royal Navy. He attended Luton Infant and Junior Schools and the Howard School. He currently lives with his partner Mary in Chatham Central ward, which he has represented since 2007.

Cllr Godwin, who remains as a Chatham Central ward councillor, offered his “sincere congratulations to Cllr Vince Maple on being elected as the new Labour Group leader,” adding “from my experience of working with Vince I know that he will do a great job in taking us forward in the future and he has my full support.”

Labour’s new Deputy Leader is Cllr Teresa Murray who was also elected unanimously to the post.

The Labour leadership team in full is:

Leader & Finance: Vince Maple
Deputy Leader & Health: Teresa Murray
Children’s: Adam Price
Communities: Glyn Griffiths
Planning: Nick Bowler
Group Whip: Julie Shaw

Backed by charitable, voluntary and business groups in Medway, the council will draw up the covenant, which aims to reward and recognise the work of the forces.

This follows the government’s publication of a Tri-Service Armed Forces Covenant, which sets out a new relationship between the Government, voluntary and charitable bodies, civil society, local government, and those serving in the armed forces and their families.

The Covenant covers a wide range of services and issues, including issues such as healthcare, education and housing.

The Government has also produced, through the Ministry of Defence, a new Community Covenant Scheme that will help public service providers, the private sector and the voluntary and community sectors to provide targeted support for their local Armed Forces community.

Around £30m will be awarded to community projects across the country over the next four years.

The scheme will consider applications from local groups for practical projects that deliver rapid results in support of the Armed Forces Community, including activities for young people and veterans.

Medway Council’s Director of Regeneration, Community and Culture Robin Cooper has been liaising with The Royal Engineers to establish a steering group, which will be entitled to apply for funding from the Community Covenant Grant scheme.

The group will work with the armed forces community in Medway along with the charitable and voluntary sectors to identify and support projects that meet the aims of the covenant.

The Leader of Medway Council Cllr Rodney Chambers said: “We in Medway value and hold in extremely high esteem our armed forces.

“Medway has an important and historic connection with the military, we had a Royal Navy Dockyard in Chatham for over 400 years, the Royal Engineers – who have the Freedom of the borough – have been here for two centuries, and until very recently there was, of course, HMS Chatham.

“We are committed to doing all we can to show we value the important contribution of the armed forces past and present and all they do and have done to keep us safe. We think it is important to support them and their families when they return home to the community.”

The Chatham Central councillor has led the group on Medway Council for 13 years, but has decided to stand down to focus on other interests.

Cllr Godwin, who turns 60 this year, oversaw the decline of the Labour group membership in the early years, before they gained five new members at last May’s local elections.

He said “It has been a great privilege to lead the Medway Labour Group over the last thirteen years, during which time I have worked with a loyal and dedicated set of Councillors in my Group.

“I have decided to stand down so that I can have more free time to pursue other things but I will continue to be an active Councillor as well as continuing my work on the Kent Police Authority until November and as Deputy Chair of the Kent and Medway NHS Social Care and Partnership Trust.”

It is not yet known who will take over from Cllr Godwin, but one likely runner is Deputy Leader Cllr Vince Maple, who has served as his fellow ward councillor since 2007.

He said “It has been a great pleasure to serve under Paul’s leadership, both as a ward colleague and as his deputy for the last 12 months.

“We saw a 50% increase in the Labour team last May, in no short part thanks to Paul’s leadership and vision.

“He is well respected by both those in the Labour group and across the community we serve.”

That is the question I see written across the faces of clients as they ponder that very same question – and it is a very difficult question to answer (even for a Wills & Probate Paralegal).

The problem is (and I have touched on this before) the Will writing industry in this country is unregulated:

The financial sector is regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Will writers are regulated by … no-one.

If you instruct a firm of solicitors to write your Will – or even a Member of the Institute of Legal Executives or Institute of Paralegals not working for a firm of solicitors, but whose membership is conditional on enacting certain safeguards – you know that they are regulated – or in the latter case at the very least fully insured against any unfortunate eventualities owing to their own oversight or failure – and that your money is safe.

Of course mistakes can happen in solicitors’ firms as well as with independent, unregulated Will writers, but with regulation and other necessary safeguards, you have a form of redress. Many independent Will writers are not insured and it is often difficult for testators or their executors to recover losses if something has not been done correctly.

And that’s before you factor in the hidden costs (sometimes astronomical) for additional services, such as acting as executor. Take, for example, this from The Times:

A consumer was charged £12,000 up front for executor services and the firm then went out of business, with the family unable to recoup the money.

It is, therefore, clear that something needs to be done to protect clients (or, as the new Legal Services Board would rather they were called now, consumers) and the LSB has been looking into exactly that issue.

According to Monday’s press release:

The LSB is today announcing proposals to deliver greater protection to consumers of the legal services of will-writing and estate administration. These would see the services brought within the scope of legal services regulation, regardless of who provides them.

This is a positive step, and the LSB has opened a consultation on their proposals which will run for 12 weeks to 16 July 2012.

Principally, the LSB are looking to make Will writing a “reserved activity”, although different types of provides will be allowed to continue providing Will writing services once regulated.

Crucially, “everyone who provides services in these areas will be regulated”, “a variety of different types of providers will continue to be allowed to operate” and “the regulation of those already providing regulated advice will be improved.”

David Edmonds, the Chairman of the Legal Services Board, said “Making a will is something everyone should do. It is one of the most important actions that individuals take. We all should have a high degree of confidence in those entrusted with the task of writing our wills, advising us on the most appropriate actions, and ensuring that our wishes are carried out.

“For many people, the service they receive from their lawyer or will-writer meets their needs. But our research shows that there are significant numbers of people receiving poor service and poor outcomes.

“We found too many examples of providers – lawyers and will-writers alike – not listening to their clients or being sloppy in their work – meaning those taking the important step of writing a will were also, unfortunately, leaving problems to their beneficiaries. The prevalence of poor sales practices, and indeed the incidence of fraud, was also disappointing.

“On the other hand, large parts of the will-writing and estate administration market areworking well with a variety of different types of suppliers and services that are valued and appreciated.

“In proposing ways to make sure all consumers receive a service that they can have confidence in, we want to keep this variety of provision. The development of alternative business structures will encourage further competition and innovation in this market.

“Ultimately, people must be able to write a will with confidence, not fear. For that to be possible, everyone offering such services must deliver a baseline of consumer protection.

“This is not about extending regulation for the sake of it; it is about maintaining public confidence in an important legal process; enhancing the environment for reputable providers; and protecting consumers at particularly vulnerable times in their lives.”

All tweets with the hashtag will appear below, and no endorsement by either Alan W Collins or The View from Medway of any views expressed is implied by their appearance here.

The role has been created by the coalition government after a Conservative manifesto committment to make police more accountable to the local communities they serve.

Cllr O’Brien, currently the Portfolio holder for Community Safety and Customer Contact on Medway Council and Chair of the Medway Community Safety Partnership, is not the first to officially announce his candidacy.

Colonel Tim Collins, the Iraq War veteran, announced that he was throwing his hat into the ring at last year’s Conservative Party Conference.

However, Col Collins also sparked some criticism by claiming that the job was not for a “sunset councillor” – a charge Cllr O’Brien refuted when he first suggested he may stand back in February.

Cllr O’Brien believes he will be a formiddable opponent. He has lived in Kent all his life and took on the council community safety portfolio after Cllr Rehman Chishti was elected to parliament in May 2010.

Speaking in February, he said “I feel my experience stands me in good stead.”

Elections are due to be held on 15 November, but it is not yet clear when parties will announce their candidates.

And important it is for both teams!

The Gills need to win the last three matches to stand any hope of winning that all-important fourth play-off place.

Meanwhile, if Swindon win and Shrewsbury either lose or draw against Accrington Stanley, the victory celebrations will continue all the way back to Wiltshire as the Robins are crowned League Two champions.

The two teams have history for controversial important matches, and passion will be running high amongst all players and fans.

The Gills will be particularly incensed if Swindon both win the league and kill the Gills’ play-off hopes once and for all.

I (and for the first time @ViewFromMedway) will be live-tweeting from behind the managers to try to capture their reaction as well as the action on the pitch.

You can follow the updates from @AlanWCollins or the reaction from all fans by following #GillsLive on Twitter as Hessenthaler’s men try to #SpoilTheParty!

Are @TheGillsFC going to let di Canio's men win the league at Priestfield. Tweet/follow #GillsLive as we #SpoilTheParty!

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@AlanWCollins

Alan W Collins