Friday, June 26, 2009
A LIBERAL DOSE OF INEPTITUDE
A number of proposed Cabinet-member delegated decisions hit my Inbox this week - before we even have a Cabinet formally in place............
Like all decisions the Cabinet appointments decision by the Council Leader is subject to representations by other councillors - duly made by me - and then a Scrutiny Committee 'Call In' period that does not expire until 6th July. 'Call Ins' are about the only weapon non-Cabinet members have on Council's these days
However, even if I wanted to seek a 'Call In' by the new Scrutiny Committee I'd have a job on my hands. You need 4 signatories to a 'Call In' from members of that committee. There are now only 12 members of that committee, so you need one-third to support you. It used to be 4 out of 15. As 7 of the new committee are loyal payroll Tories that generally reduces the pool I would fish in to 5. Do-able, but hard work........
And not made any easier by the fact that the Liberals have so far failed to put their 2 people forward for the committee.
I am taking a 2 week holiday from tomorrow and by the time I get back quite possibly the Liberals will have at last realised that they have responsibilities as an opposition party at County Hall.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
DANCING ATTENDANCE - AGAIN.....
I went along to the first public committee meeting of this Council last night - the Audit Committee. A couple of years ago (30.5.07) I wrote about how a previous Audit Chair had officers 'dancing attendance' and it was bit like that last night with Finance officers (as many present as councillors on the committee) given quite a grilling by the new Chair. Of course it shows how 'scrutiny' in any form should be done, though I suspect it isn't the approved modus operandi for Tory Chair's.......
Of course going along to committees and particularly the cabinet as an observer is the only way in which I can operate on this Council. Being a lone member, the only places I will get on committees/panels are the ones no one else wants. And I won't want them either. I prefer to get along to cabinet to ask my questions and to Full Council to ask some more. That is my way of holding to account, challenging and scrutinising.
An interesting move is the way the ruling Tory Group have taken an extra place on the 'non-political' Planning Committee - giving them 8 places out of 12. If its so non-political, why are they so anxious to pack it with their people ? Particularly when 5 of their 8 are Newport councillors. Hardly representative is it ?
Friday, June 19, 2009
A TALE OF TWO CAMERONS
Before she lost her place on the IW Council Deborah Gardiner had been tenaciously tackling Childrens Services regarding local provision for the safeguarding of children after Ofsted referred to 'fundamental failings in child protection' after a serious case review. At every turn Deborah seemed to be blocked until eventually she got a private session of the Scrutiny Committee in May to hold the then Cabinet member to account. Of course he has now gone too.
What was interesting was that the Childrens Champion on the last Council, Cllr George Cameron, did not attend ANY of the Scrutiny Committee meetings in March, April and May which discussed safeguarding children. And this Cameron has just been appointed as Chair of the Scrutiny Panel for.......you guessed it, Childrens Services.
So we now have an interim Assistant Childrens Services Director (Safeguarding), also named Cameron, who the County Press reported 'was for ten years the boss of a social services department heavily criticised in a report issued just months after she left' and which 'went into special measures the following month, for two years.' And a councillor responsible for scrutinising the safeguarding of children who has shown no public interest in such matters when there were real concerns.
I don't know about you, but I have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach........
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
TORIES EXERT TOTAL CONTROL
Just back from the first Full meeting of the new IW Council, leaving the rest to have a drink with the 'new' Chairman. A Chairman who is the same as before, Arthur Taylor (Con) - who only I voted against as no one satisfactorily explained to me why the one-year only rule was being ignored. Nothing personal !
So time for a quick report............
Other people elected on the night were Ian Stephens (Ind) as Vice Chair of the Council (with my support); David Pugh as Leader FOR 4 YEARS (!) - with only me against; Overview & Scrutiny Chair - Vanessa Churchman(Ind), with a Tory-controlled committee; Planning Chair - Ivan Bulwer (Con); Audit Chair - Roger Mazillius (Con); 4 x Scrutiny Panel Chairs (all Tory-controlled) - George Cameron (Con), Childrens Services; David Whittaker (Con) - Adult Care, Housing & Health; Ian Ward (Con) - Economy, Environment & Transport; and Margaret Webster (Con) - Fire & Community Safety. The Tories offered the Adult Care one to the opposition, but no one from the independent or Liberal group was interested. I wouldn't touch these with a bargepole......I've learnt my lesson about this leadership
The Leader announced his new Cabinet. Basically the 5 re-elected ones from the last one, with some portfolio changes, and 2 new ones - Peter Bingham (Resources) and Edward Giles (Environment & Transport). And the Leader is going to lead on Schools Reorganisation...........
My motion on this Council adopting a Members's Allowance scheme that will be recommended by an Independent Remuneration Panel was accepted by the leadership in its entirity, eventually - thanks to Cllr George Brown (Con, Deputy Leader) !!!!!!!! The 5 LibDems were the only ones against, as they prefer to keep allowances as a Member's decision.
My motion on ending Prayers predictably went down with 33 against and 5 in favour. I won't name the other 4 as is my usual practice on votes as this is a personal matter, but thanks to them all.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
NEW PLANS FOR PAN
I see the County Press has learnt that Miller Homes are no longer the agreed developer for the loooooooooooong proposed Pan development.
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/pan-blow-as-builder-pulls-out-26749.aspx
I must admit I assumed that they already knew, though given it took 11 weeks for me to find out by accident and then have it confirmed by the IW Council (back in late April) I guess the Council were keen to keep it quiet.
Still they are now pulling out all the stops to try and get everything back on track by seeking planning consent that then MAY lever in the necessary government funding for £11m initial infrastructure costs, that I understand Miller Homes were reluctant to commit to after the economic downturn. They can then advertise for a new developer.
An April start next year has been talked about. The third different April start date since I was first elected as the local councillor in 2005..........
Saturday, June 13, 2009
GETTING BACK TO NORMAL
The last three days have been time for me to follow up on ward work and ward commitments post-re-election. My bread and butter.
I attended the PNP board meeting last Thursday where we are all feeling very proud for winning another major national award for an 'Empowering Communities' project. The biggest award yet. Well done to all concerned.
Yesterday I conducted a number of meetings around the town in unlikely settings, often sitting on walls. One drawback of being a lone councillor is that you don't get any room facility at County Hall. Still the weather is good for now.....
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
AND OUT OF THE BLOCKS.........
As an atheist and a secularist committed to diversity, I have formally proposed to the first meeting of this new IW Council next week that it ends the practice of offering Christian prayers at the start of its meetings.
My actions have immediately drawn mutterings that it would discriminate against Christians. Why do religious people who happily discriminate against religious minorities counter-claim discrimination when the cause of all discrimination can so easily be removed ? Helpful answers please.........
I have also formally proposed that Councillors Allowances for this Council should be ones recommended by the Independent Remuneration Panel. In 2006 that Panel made recommendations that were then largely ignored by the Council, including me - though I do not profit by allowances as they balance my loss of earnings. In the light of what is going on elsewhere I think it is important to set an early example here.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
BACK AGAIN !
Yes, I am back ! I bet a few didn't expect that? After a massive buck to the national trend I was returned for the revised ward of Newport East yesterday with a thumping majority, for which I am deeply honoured. Thankfully the contest was fought on my record and our priorities for the next 4 years and I am grateful to the other two candidates for that. My next campaign begins on Monday, as I am going to treat myself to two days rest. An IW Labour councillor can never rest on their laurels.
Very sadly I am now the only Labour councillor at County Hall as Deborah Gardiner fell victim to the national political scene in her marginal Lake North ward and all other Labour candidates paid the price of the Westminster farce. Still one Labour councillor on the Island is generally as effective as a dozen from any other party..........
Overall the IW Council election results were a half-hearted endorsement of the local Conservatives who offered little policy-wise and rode on the coat tails of their national leader. By my reckoning they effectively lost half a dozen wards they (notionally) held and now have a much reduced majority of 8 rather than the 22 they got in 2005. Much healthier. Also good to see them lose 2 'Cabinet' members and two policy commission chairmen, giving the leadership a bloody nose - including the leader's right-hand man.
The dear old Liberals were unable to take any advantage, losing two of their previous councillors, but gaining three (including two of the many re-treads they offered up to the electorate). With just 5 they remain a party who needs to learn how to do opposition.
The real gainers were the various independents who now number 10 - most notably Chris Welsford, the education campaigner. If they form a grouping they are now effectively the 'official' opposition and I look forward to their alternative budget strategy next February and their regular presence at Cabinet meetings.
I intend to keep blogging for the next 4 years, so I hope readers will continue to treat this is an alternative view of what happens at County Hall
Saturday, April 25, 2009
GOODBYE TO ALL THAT - FOR NOW!
As the IW Council elections will be officially called on Tuesday I am going to all but cease posting here until after the election results are declared on June 5th.
Instead I will be spending much of the next 6 weeks talking even more with the 2100 adults of Pan who I have been representing over the last 4 years, and meeting the 300 people in Shide who are now all part of the new Newport East ward. So if you want to support me, or oppose me, or just ask a question or make a point, please email me directly at geofflumley@gmail.com
I understand I am being challenged by a sitting Conservative IW councillor who has decided not to defend the
However, I also intend my own campaign to be focussed on the many things I have delivered for Pan over the last 4 years and what I now hope to deliver for all parts of Newport East in the coming 4 years. I will avoid mud-slinging and tit-for-tat as I know that just turns people off at election time ….. even when used light-heartedly somewhere like this blog.
Over the next four years I will offer the residents of Newport East a councillor who will:
- Continue to oppose school closures and ensure the continuing use of Downside Middle School site for educational and community use, as promised to me in writing by the IW Council;
- Ensure the local and wider
- Fight to ensure that the IW Council continues to treat the local community fairly and that there is no return to ‘undeserving’ attitudes;
- Continue working to ensure that the interests and needs of Shide and Buckbury are as acknowledged as the rest of the Newport East ward.
My hopes for the next Council are for a balance of councillors where Labour councillors will have more influence. I truly hope that the discredited Tory majority at County Hall will be removed and that an administration is formed after June 4th of councillors who remember their own election promises for the next 4 years (no matter how much I may disagree with them) and who do not slavishly follow the party line or pursue personal advantage. I believe this is a realistic hope for an election outcome.
One thing is certain no matter what happens – many schools will remain open on polling day for the first time in many years - thanks to the protests I made to Full Council last November that children’s education should not be disrupted just to provide easily set up polling stations.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
SIMMERING RESENTMENT
The Pan ward, which I have had the honour to represent since 2005, was known for many years for being the most deprived part of the Island as successive IW (County) Councils and 18 years of Tory government up to 1997 neglected this community.
Consequently when the current Labour government was looking to undertake community renewal pathfinders back in 2002/03, Pan was fortunate enough to be awarded a £2 million government grant over seven years from 2005. This money established PNP, helped establish two new community groups - first PanCan and now the successful Pan Together - and helped to improve Pan over the last four years in so many ways. So much so that 88% of residents said they were happy living in Pan in the most recent official survey, and 41% thought the area had improved over the previous 3 years.
As the local IW and parish councillor it has been an absolute pleasure to represent the area over the last 4 years as there is so much good being undertaken by PNP and the community, and Pan is regularly remarked upon by other Islanders as a much improved neighbourhood.
Therefore, I was quite sad at a recent Newport Parish Council meeting when the response of one parish councillor (who is also a Tory IW Councillor elswhere in Newport) to a request for a parish donation to a local community event was to remark that "Pan's had enough money over recent years" and then voted against it. The proposal was for just £200 and the vast majority supported it.
This highlighted the danger for Pan in the future if we still have this Tory Council at County Hall. This simmering resentment at the good fortune Pan has had over the last 4 years will come to a boil and when the government grant runs out in March 2012 we could be back to being neglected again. Hopefully it won't come to that and the new Newport East ward, of which Pan will be a part from June, will continue to have an IW councillor who believes there is still some way to go after the years of neglect prior to 1997.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
CLEANING OUT THE RUBBISH ?
After a week's break off IW readying myself for the impending election turmoil, it was back for the last Full meeting of this Council last night. The last one because the Tories have decided that they don't want to be accountable to the May Full Council despite there being a Cabinet meeting next week with an agenda so thick it needs a forklift to pick it up. Elected dictatorship indeed. And so many Tory councillors/sheep yet to speak........
Anyway we then had a report from the Standards Committee Chair, where he tried to defend the indefensible - judging people without telling them; an appointed committee membership as unrepresentative of the Island population as it possibly could be (peacock keepers, anyone ?) - safe in the knowledge that the Tory majority would endorse him.
A number of those reports that subsequently gather dust on shelves were then endorsed. I asked how the Children & Young Persons Plan could achieve an improvement in Key Stage 2 results given the growing demoralisation in Island middle schools over school reorganisation, but got the usual twaddle in response. The intention of the latest Adult Learning Plan was praised by Deborah and I, though we sought its withdrawal as much of its language was non-plain English and full of unexplained acronyms. The Tories though were happy with this incomprehensible use of English.
The reports by Cabinet members were interesting in that the Council Leader hadn't bothered to produce a written report as he had been 'very busy'. Its like Gordon Brown saying he won't do Prime Minister's Questions because he has been cleaning out his garage. No respect !
Finally Deborah pursued the outcomes of a critical unpublished Ofsted review of how the IW Council handled a child protection concern from 2007. She has been seeking a Scrutiny review of child protection on the IW since the end of last year, but had been fobbed off and (frankly) deceived ever since. The matter will be considered by the Scrutiny Committee tonight, though in camera to protect identities.
Oh and just to finish off - a Cabinet member was nice to Deborah near the end, probably the first time this has happened on this Council ! If the election doesn't do the job for us I suspect that this Cabinet member will face the chop post June 4th..................
Anyway we then had a report from the Standards Committee Chair, where he tried to defend the indefensible - judging people without telling them; an appointed committee membership as unrepresentative of the Island population as it possibly could be (peacock keepers, anyone ?) - safe in the knowledge that the Tory majority would endorse him.
A number of those reports that subsequently gather dust on shelves were then endorsed. I asked how the Children & Young Persons Plan could achieve an improvement in Key Stage 2 results given the growing demoralisation in Island middle schools over school reorganisation, but got the usual twaddle in response. The intention of the latest Adult Learning Plan was praised by Deborah and I, though we sought its withdrawal as much of its language was non-plain English and full of unexplained acronyms. The Tories though were happy with this incomprehensible use of English.
The reports by Cabinet members were interesting in that the Council Leader hadn't bothered to produce a written report as he had been 'very busy'. Its like Gordon Brown saying he won't do Prime Minister's Questions because he has been cleaning out his garage. No respect !
Finally Deborah pursued the outcomes of a critical unpublished Ofsted review of how the IW Council handled a child protection concern from 2007. She has been seeking a Scrutiny review of child protection on the IW since the end of last year, but had been fobbed off and (frankly) deceived ever since. The matter will be considered by the Scrutiny Committee tonight, though in camera to protect identities.
Oh and just to finish off - a Cabinet member was nice to Deborah near the end, probably the first time this has happened on this Council ! If the election doesn't do the job for us I suspect that this Cabinet member will face the chop post June 4th..................
Friday, April 03, 2009
TRAFALGAR TURN AROUND IMPENDING ?
Word has it that the Tory IW Council is about to make a U-turn over the one-way direction of Trafalgar Road in Newport. The direction of traffic in this road was reversed to a westerly direction some two and a half years ago leading to much local and business concern, knock on congestion in other parts of the town like Whitepit Lane, a public meeting packed to the rafters in January last year, and repeated attempts to get the Council to change their mind by most Newport-based councillors. These were always met with a stony refusal from those who think they know better.......
And now, with 2 months to local election day, Tory candidates are telling local residents in election newsletters that a decision on the future direction of the road are impending. Good news if the right decision is made. But disgraceful that it takes an election for them to do what local people want
Friday, March 27, 2009
WHAT'S THE SURPRISE ?
The Council has been repeatedly bleating this week about an inaccurate article in the Daily Torygraph claiming that there are no male teachers in our local primary schools, where the 'newspaper' didn't check the facts.......
I can't get my head around this. Isn't that what all Tory-supporting newspapers omit to do ? Including not checking who runs the local Council.
Though of course our local mob are pretty irrelevant in the wishful schemes of Cam-borne.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
"I WANT TO WIN JUST ONCE !"
With those words I tonight got my motion on the public service we can expect from the ferry companies through the Full Council - by 35 votes to 1............
I said the words when accepting an amendment to my motion fom the Conservative ruling group that included Southern Vectis within its remit, since local bus services are also to be the subject of a study by the OFT. The amendment also said a few other things I was less happy with, but it retained the three things I wanted the Council to try to get from the ferry companies and now Southern Vectis (see my last post). I think I got a result.
The rest of the Full Council was uneventful apart from right at the end when Barry Abrahams (Con.) expressed a desire that all mainstream political parties on the Isle of Wight work to ensure that we do not have have to share the Council Chamber with the BNP after June. I heartily endorsed what he said, as did the Liberals. The BNP are lurking in some dark corners of the Island and democrats need to be very alert and prepared to stand up to them.
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