GCSE SPIN

The Council has told the Island that overall GCSE results are on the 'right track' - upwards of course. But are they just spinning another poor overall performance ?

Last year the Island was 9% behind the national average for students getting 5 x A*-C GCSE grades. This year we are told that there has been a 2% increase in local performance - from 46% to 48%. We are not yet told what the national average is for 5 x A*-C grades, though we can probably assume at least a small rise of say 0.5% to 55.5%.

That would still leave the Island 7.5% behind the national picture. At this rate it will take another 5 years to get overall performance comparable to the mainland.

On the right track yes, but hardly at the right speed........

Not withstanding this unravelling of spin, of course my congratulations to all students for their GCSE results last week.

SCRUTINY DISREGARDED

The agenda for next weeks' Cabinet came out today. Only one item on the agenda - one that was not on the so-called Forward Plan, though SIX issues in the Forward Plan seem to have disappeared.........Of no surprise is the absence of an agenda item on progressing the next stage of the Strategic Transformational Partnership; as recommended by the Scrutiny Committee last week. All of this does not bode well for democracy - but then they are Tories !

OFF DUTY

Having a few days off before the summer is over. Back on 30 August.

SCRUTINY CALLS FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY

Tonight's special Scrutiny Committee unanimously resolved to call on the Cabinet to make their next costly decision over Strategic Transformational Partnerships (STP) at a public Cabinet meeting rather than through a delegated decision. They also agreed to ask that future reports on this subject - whether internal or from Consultants - be written in plain English rather than the business gobbledegook that seems to be in vogue.

The meeting was fairly low key though rigorous, with the Cabinet member responsible for the STP well-prepared; which demonstrated a level of respect for the committee's work. Hopefully he will take on board the recommendations of the committee, and that transparency in important decision-making by the Cabinet will become more evident.

If the proposed decision is moved to the Cabinet it allows for real political questioning on the STP issue, which is far more difficult to do at the Scrutiny Committee if recommendations are to be agreed by all the various parties.

SPECIAL SCRUTINY MEETING ON TUESDAY

6pm at County Hall.

NEWPORT TOWN COUNCIL ON ITS WAY

Last Friday the Newport Town Management Committee (NTMC), which I Chair, succeeded in getting the last few signatures it needed to petition for a Town Council. The petition will be formally handed to the Council Leader on 30 August, there will be a public meeting on 19 September, and the hope is that the Full IW Council will approve and support our petition at it's October meeting.

Well done to all my NTMC colleagues who helped with this petition, which of course is for the whole Newport area, including all of Carisbrooke and Gunville.

FUEL TO THE FLAMES.

Let us hope that our local MP never has a government job that requires careful judgement. I was always pleased he agreed with me about the war in Iraq, but his remarks suggesting British Muslims should be thrown out of the country were inflammatory in the extreme and will do nothing to foster harmonious race relations.

The Labour MEP for the South East, Peter Skinner, summed it up well today:

Peter Skinner MEP has told Solent TV from his Brussels office, that he was absolutely horrified when he had heard what Mr Turner had said, brandishing 200,000 Muslims as the “enemy within”. Mr Skinner said his comments “inflame quite unnecessarily an already tense situation” and Mr Turner “should be ashamed of himself and apologise to the Muslim population”.

LABOUR RESPONSE TO CPA AUDIT

All that triumphalism. All that bravado. All that self-satisfaction. And what do the IW Council get in their recent Comprehensive Performance Assessment audit ? Another 2-star, 'performing adequately' rating - as it has been getting since 2002.

The way the Conservative leadership have been boasting and bragging for the last year or so, the least anyone could have expected was some improvement in their assessment; if not a full-blown, newly-created audit category of '10 stars, performing magnificently'.

Of course some of us understood all along that it is going to take some while to turn round the audit assessment. Maybe, just maybe, the Council leadership will now exhibit some humility and less of the table-thumping seen at the Budget council meeting last February ?

FIRST 'CALL IN' OF THIS COUNCIL

On Thursday all the members of the Scrutiny Committee who were available - six of them - signed a 'call in' on a proposed Cabinet Member delegated decision - to invite PA Consultants to do more work on procuring a Strategic Transformational Partnership for the Council (see my blog of 26 April).

We did this because we have concerns about the delays in PA's original submission last April on a full scale strategic partnership, concerns about the timetable of events that have lead to this decision, and our strong belief that this sort of decision needs to be made in public.

An extraordinary meeting of the Scrutiny Committee will now be held on (most likely) 21/22 August.

THE GREAT AND THE GOOD, Part 2

From Solent TV website today:

EX-ARMY CHIEF TO RUN NEW HEALTH BODY

A former High Sheriff and ex-Army Officer is to take charge of the Island’s new joint health organisation.

****** has been appointed as the chair of the Isle of Wight NHS PCT, which comes into being on 1 October 2006. ******, who is a Deputy Lord Lieutenant, had previously been Managing Director of international software and systems house, ****** for 20 years. Prior to that, ****** commanded the largest regiment in the British Army. Currently he devotes his time to voluntary roles in the community. ****** will receive a £32,500 salary for his new role. The new health organisation will bring together the two current bodies – the IW Healthcare NHS Trust and the IW Primary Care Trust.

God help us ! Nothing ever changes here.......

HO HUM

Fairly quiet time of the year, which is why I haven't posted for a week. No doubt the calm before the storm, but it has given me time to finish off my next Pan newsletter, which will be delivered to every household from 1st September - mainly by me. That's the way I prefer it. This will be my SIXTH since I was elected in May 2005 - I doubt that will have been beaten.

Put a letter into the County Press for this week, which may make some waves......

Off to try to collect the last few signatures for a Newport Town Council tonight. Aim is to have it finished by the Bank Holiday and ready for Council approval on 20 September

THE GREAT AND THE GOOD, Part 1

Last Thursday evening I went along to something called the 'Chairman's Cowes Week Reception'. Never again !

If the overwhelming majority of those invited and present - mainly the 'great and the good' of the Island and numerous retired or defeated Liberal ex-councillors - was not exclusive and offensive enough, the 'dancing girls' cabaret certainly was. I thought it was a charitable event, it wasn't, and I am now seeking the cost of this event.

19 HAPPY CHAPPIES !

So the Council staff who were highly motivated and high in morale, and the reason for the lambasting I received at Full Council from the Council Leader(see post of 19.07.06), totalled 19. Yes, NINETEEN.....

Someone must tell the Council Leader how many staff they employ.

SPEAKING BAN LIFTED

I received a letter at the weekend implying that any ban of my asking questions at Cabinet (see 28.7.06) had been lifted ! This is amazing - bans imposed without any form of due process and then appeals upheld without being submitted.....