27th NOVEMBER 2009

ISSUE 1360VOL 73

GROSS incompetence has been alleged against one of Selly Oak's leading letting agencies.

Britannia Property Services face a range of complaints from the former tenants of a house on Pershore Road during their 2007/08 occupancy of a Britannia property. The most serious involves a persistent failure to pay utility bills for the property – despite having taken money from the tenants for that purpose – which led to the threat of legal action against the occu-pants who all study at the uni-versity. One of the students, who did

not wish to be named, said: 'The list of problems we had is almost endless.'

'It caused a lot of stress and took a lot of time to sort out.'

He and his fellow residents paid a weekly sum for Britannia to take responsibility for all household bills. Yet four months into the tenancy they began to receive demands for payment from utility providers.

Despite delivering them to Britannia with the request that they be urgently dealt with, the letters continued to arrive and culminated in a threat of bailiff action.

'We were getting red letters through the door and phone calls threatening £1000 fines.

We just didn't know what to do,' he said.

Upon contacting the utility firms directly, he was instructed to supply a copy of the rental contract to prove that they were not liable. When they requested a copy from Britannia – which had not been given to them at the start of the year – they were told that it would cost £100, although they later received a copy for free. As the problems reached their peak, the student was advised by a member of staff at the firm's offices to write to the manager, Gordon Tank. When his letters elicited no response, he again visited the offices to be told that no-one of that name

worked for the company. Only after a protracted

struggle did the students con-vince the utilities firms of their innocence. 'Eventually we man-aged to get the bills companies to believe us that we weren’t liable and to chase Britannia again,' the tenant added. 'As you can imagine, it worried me a lot with regard to credit ratings and things like that.'

In response Britannia stated 'I can confirm that in the past Britannia have relied on the services of various ‘all-in-one’ utility companies for our ‘bills included’ tenancies; however a number of these companies have now gone into liquida-tion,... Continued on page 2.

Letting agent let-down

James Green

News 3Interview with Europe Minister Chris Bryant

Arts 17 Need a laugh? Ed Byrne at the town hall

TV 23Is 3D the future? Turn to page 23 to find out

Allegations have been made against Britannia Property Services Photo: Tom Flathers

Sport 27 Birmingham vs Durham; Rugby Union report

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REDBRICK 1360 / 27th NOVEMBER 200914 Editorial

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A little perspective in life is never a bad thing; when it comes at the perfect time it is a great thing. On Sunday I attended the Acorns 21st anniversary celebra-tions in the Great Hall on campus – it was a fantastic afternoon, a demonstra-tion and acknowledgement of the (and I do not use this word lightly) inspira-tional stories of the families and volun-teers that have come together through Acorns. I was afraid it would be an after-noon of tears as family members recalled stories about how Acorns have helped them cope with the challenges that come their way. I had utterly forgotten what Acorns was about. The laughter and the memo-ries present in the Great Hall reverber-ated around the room all afternoon, as I hope they will in the minds of those attending for years to come. Acorns is about what you can do, not what can't be done. As my Grandpa says, 'there is no such word as 'can't'. Acorns embodies this to a greater degree than any other organisation I know. One mother spoke of the self esteem and life confidence that Acorns had given her little boy. The sense of gratitude and relief in the room was palpable and heart-warming. Spending just a few hours in the company of the families so deeply affected by children with life-limiting conditions shows the power and reach of human resilience. Such resilience comes from a 'no obstacle that cannot be overcome' approach to the daily chal-lenges that those without such experi-ences comprehend only on the edge of their consciousness. The afternoon also gently reminded me of our ability to care for others, to empathise and to act truly altruistically. If we saw this level of

compassion in all areas of society there is no question that we would be better off. When Matthew Caines first wrote about Acorns earlier this year after our tour of the Selly Oak Hospice, those of us who had visited were struck by the positivity that surrounds the entire organisation. Matt wrote that 'the sym-bol of the hospice – the acorn – is a per-fect representation of what this estab-lishment is all about: positive growth'. This was shown on the weekend when the stories were all of fond memories and individual moments of hope. It could be argued that at reaching 21, Acorns has matured well beyond its original aims, providing a level of care for children that is unsurpassed, includ-ing respite support for families in their moments of need.

When you witness individuals taking on life's ups and downs in such a man-ner it shows humanity in the simplest of terms, the downs may be greater, but the ups mean more. Young families must face life's truths long before they were ever expecting to, a cold, harsh, reality that is banished by Acorns; there is no need for fear. As the message seems to be from my editorials this year, we are stronger together. It is said that 'great oaks from little acorns grow'. Very few projects have ever grown in a manner so successful, spreading such compassion and driven so clearly as the Acorns project to look after life-limited children. If we approached life with the clarity of pur-pose that Acorns approaches care and support we would all excel wherever we choose.

Nick Petrie

GrowthReading Redbrick issue 1358 my eye was caught by an article concerning the decriminalization of drugs in the UK. As controversial as this subject may be it seems wrong to simply allow a number of important issues surrounding drug use in the Netherlands, where I have lived for almost half my lifetime, go unnoticed. Firstly, cannabis has not been entirely decriminalized, the word closer to describing policy is 'tolerated', as small amounts are legal. According to drugpolicy.com, an NGO attempting to combat some of the legislative errors mad in the past,

'Possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use has been decriminalized in the Netherlands. The sale of cannabis is technically an offence under the Opium Act, but prosecutorial guidelines provide that proceedings will only be instituted in certain situations. An operator or owner of a coffee shop (which is not permitted to sell alcohol) will avoid prosecution if he/she meets the following criteria:no more than 5 grams per person may be sold in any one transaction;no hard drugs may be sold;drugs may not be advertised;the coffee shop must not cause any nuisance;no drugs can be sold to minors (under age 18), nor may minors enter the premises; andthe municipality has not ordered the establishment closed.'

Although this purposely created loophole exists, possession of over 5 grams of can-nabis on an adult will result in a fine, if not prosecution. Since implementing this policy, hard drugs usage in the Netherlands has not increased to the extent it has in other parts of Western Europe. The argument made as to why this has happened is that the availability of soft drugs means there is little to no need to experiment with harder and more dangerous alternatives.

The policy currently enacted in the UK concerning cannabis is unworkable and due to strains on the judicial system and the prisons, only 0.2 per cent of people found guilty of possession in the UK are sent to prison, according to research by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, cited in a recent issue of The Economist. The maximum sentence that can be attached to this crime is a five year prison sentence yet those who are convicted serve an average sentence of three months.

As the Netherlands currently has one of the lowest percentages of hard drug addicts in Europe, and observes similar patterns of soft drug use to the rest of the conti-nent, it is quite clear that the UK drastically needs to revise it's drug policy. One of the arguments used by the article against was that cannabis acts as a "gateway drug" leading to harder substances. The evidence seems to point out instead that it is taken first due to easier availability. However, drug users in the Netherlands don't seem to be transferring their addiction towards harder drugs at all. This just seems like scaremongering in order to argue against the legalization of a drug that is 'not associated with major health problems to the individual or society'. That last quote was taken from a 2002 report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Illicit drugs.

The UK should maybe take a leaf out the Netherlands' book when it comes to decid-ing its drugs policy.

Sam GilmourInternational Relations

http://www.drugpolicy.org/global/drugpolicyby/westerneurop/thenetherlan/http://www.drugpolicy.org/global/drugpolicyby/westerneurop/england/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2538065.stm

Letters

Apologies & Clarifications

Apologies to Maia Stone, 1st year Sociology, whose name was spelt incorrectly. One of the courses affected by the sociology review is BA Media, Culture and Society, which was incorrectly named.

Redbrick OnlinePodcasts: Sport will be publishing their 4th Podcast in the coming week, with other sections following, you can listen to offerings from many of the sections online.

Selly Oak Crime Map: The map is under development, with month by month maps to come and data for the past 6 months currently displayed. We will also be intro-ducing a clearer key and more information, including crime prevention advice.

TWO goals from Nick Rees and one from Tim Craven sealed a hard-fought vic-tory for the University of Birmingham Men's Hock-ey 1st XV against their opponents from Leeds University. 3-0 was prob-ably a fair result at the Bournbrook pitch, as the home side did dominate possession, but the game was a lot closer than the score-line would suggest as the home side needed two late goals to make the game safe.

Following on from their previous victory against Sheffield Hallam, Birmingham seemed in high spirits ahead of the game despite the antarc-tic temperatures. The away side had no coach-ing staff in the dug-out but captain Josh Gunnell was confident commen-tating, 'we don't need a coach, we're big enough'.

The first five minutes were quite tense and it seemed like Leeds would take the initiative, Simon Connelly winning the ball and smashing a shot wide. However, Birmingham's Richard Gere-Evans won

a free hit and soon the Brum players were on the attack, winning an early penalty corner which was defended well by the visi-tors. Leeds' number 17, Ant Jones, impressed on the right wing with skilful ball control but for the vast majority of the first half Birmingham were the superior side. After a cou-ple of good attacks from the away team involving

Jones, Olly Howick and David Bond came to noth-ing, Birmingham coach Malcolm Wood made his first substitutions bring-ing on Rhys Linell, Rich-ard Marshall and Scott Evans.

Number 3 Matt Cox tested Leeds keeper Josh Pewter and just when it looked like Birmingham would score, the ball re-fusing to leave the Leeds

shooting circle, the ref-eree saw a foul and gave Leeds a free hit which briefly relieved the pres-sure. Linell then proceed-ed to miss two golden op-portunities to punish the visitors, firstly misplacing a pass from just outside the shooting circle and secondly seeing a shot go just wide of the goal from inside the circle. The home side were relent-less yet looked strangely toothless up front, Pewter clearing only to Craven and Marshall who contin-ued the attack but with no end product.

Pete Jackson did some good work attacking down the left and Leeds were well and truly under the cosh for long periods. Bir-mingham needed to capi-talise on their dominance, with all of Leeds' posses-sion being in their own defensive third. Attacks from Gere-Evans, Patrick Longsden and Cox down the left wing amounted to nothing, but the home team were patient. More chances were wasted, as Leeds seemingly couldn't retain the ball for more than two passes. The visitors did look more threatening just before the half-time interval but Birmingham defended and cleared a penalty cor-

ner well, and Leeds were surely the happier with the goalless score-line at the break.

Birmingham quickly regained possession after Leeds got the second half underway and, with just five minutes gone, the frustration reached para-mount when Charlie Hay-ward missed the home side's easiest opportu-nity from the centre of the shooting circle. The Brum boys couldn't seem to buy a goal, Rees shoot-ing agonisingly wide and Jackson failing to score from a penalty corner.

Finally after 45 min-utes, Rees broke the dead-lock, firing into the back of the net to the relief and jubilation of the Birming-ham players and support-ers. Birmingham began to look comfortable, Evans capitalising on some bad defending to open up a good chance only to be thwarted by Bond and Pewter also stopped sev-eral more Birmingham chances.

Going into the last ten minutes and Birmingham goalkeeper Patrick Smith kept on top of his person-al battle with Jones, sav-ing brilliantly from the skilful attacker. With just a couple of minutes left on the clock, Birmingham

finally put the match to bed, Rees finishing well for his second of the day and Craven wrapping it up right at the death.

Birmingham coach Wood was happy with his team: 'We controlled the game the whole time. They set off with a con-gested defence, but we were patient and man-aged to break them down. We maintained posses-sion and in the end they fell apart.' Goalkeeper Smith was singled out for praise. 'All they had were a couple of breakaway chances which Smith saved very well.'

Leeds captain Gun-nell wasn't too downbeat about his team's perfor-mance saying, 'maybe 3-0 was a bit flattering as we were chasing the game in the end, but it was a good match.' Gunnell also ap-peared to enjoy the com-pany of the home team. 'We enjoy coming here and playing against a good, sociable team, un-like at Loughborough.'

Birmingham can now look forward to hosting Loughborough team in their next home fixture. The home side will not want to be too hospitable as they look to secure a vital win against their bit-ter rivals.

REDBRICK 1360 / 27th NOVEMBER 2009Sport28

SPORT27 Rugby UnionBirmingham secure a brilliant win against Durham

26 HockeyThe women's side secure victory over Leeds Met

Dominant Birmingham seal easy win

Nick Rees makes the game set with Birmingham's second goal Photos: Tom Flathers

Men's Hockey

1st:

Birmingham

v

Leeds

3 – 0

James Phillips

The home side's attack was relentless as they searched for victory