RE-CONNECT

48 hours after the Glasgow East by-election debacle for Labour, and I remain of the same views:

1. Replacing Gordon Brown will serve no purpose whatsoever. We are a parliamentary democracy, not a presidential one;

2. Instead national Labour desperately needs to re-connect with its core vote, as I never stopped doing in my own small patch of the Isle of Wight. Unless we do we will be hammered at the next general election;

3. We are in the middle of a GLOBAL economic downturn, caused initially by the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in the USA last year. How this is managed from a UK point of view is better off in the hands of people who have real economic understanding, instead of the policy-free Tories;

4. The by-election was no triumph for the south of England Tories.

QUICK THOUGHTS FROM CATCH UP TIME

Now back properly, to discover that last week's Full Council voted by just 21 votes to 2 to endorse the new Chief Executive appointment, with 2 abstentions. That means just 44% of the 48-member IW Council put their vote to this appointment. Hmmmmmmm.......

Also that the village of Carisbrooke is involved in some sort of land-grabbing after its failed bid to be a separate parish council to Newport. Road-users will now learn that the whole of Gunville is now part of Carisbrooke, after the erection of numerous 'Carisbrooke' signs......

My first night back on Tuesday saw me at the Planning Committee for the first time in 8 months for two Pan applications. I managed to help persuade the committee to reject the officers' recommendations for refusal of one application in rural Pan, but entirely failed to persuade them that the new community Multi Use Games Area for the rear of Downside School should be open to 9.30pm seven days per week. Instead it will have to close at 6pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. They obviously know better than the people who work with the community............

VIEW FROM A DISTANCE

Back to the Island for a few days before heading off again for another week. Part of me wished I'd stayed away !

Its not just the backlog of 300 emails and the 30 phone messages, not to mention the 3 foot pile of post high enough to help short people see over fences, but what this mad Council has been up to whilst I was away. Two weeks away makes you realise - as you hurriedly catch up - how surreal everything here is. In particular the continuing schools reorganisation saga.........

Makes me wonder if Alice Through the Looking Glass is some sort of template for some politicians.

Back properly next Tuesday......

NO COUNCIL APOLOGY FOR THEIR 'CAVALIER ATTITUDE'

I see that the IW Coroner has described the IW Council as having a 'cavalier attitude to road safety' at the inquest into the death of a Pan resident in Newport last January. Predictably they deny this description, but the evidence is building against them. The fact that the relevant pedestrian crossing was out of action for nearly 5 months is quite disgraceful. Tie that in with their failure to spend available capital monies on road surface safety treatment last year (see my many previous posts here) and you begin to get a worrying picture. A decent Council would have apologised to the family as well as send condolences. It's not a lot to ask, is it ?

On that note I am signing off now for a couple of weeks whilst I have a much needed break. Back in mid-July.

VIEW FROM THE BACK

Last Thursday was the latest session of the Scrutiny Ctte, which I observed from the back of the room for the first time since March 2006. Sadly the committee seems to have gone full circle in the intervening period - with the return of the serried ranks of big suits AT the table for the duration blocking a visitors view, officers mainly answering the questions rather than Cabinet members, just one member of the public in attendance, and my own question regarding the failure of the committee to Call In the recent schools decision treated by the current Chair much like my questions to Cabinet. It made me feel that my 14 months in the chair up to May 2007 had been entirely wasted.

The following evening I went out to Freshwater for the AGM of the Association of IW Town & Parish Councils. I really know how to live ! However, as the Chair of a new parish council I thought I should give it a try. What was interesting here was the sense of impotence felt by local councils with regard to planning applications in their 'back yards'. I also noted the number of LibDem parish councillors present who hadn't been elected on a political ticket, unlike the recent ones in Newport and Ryde.

STANDARDS, ECONOMICS, AND NOT MUCH ELSE

Full Council last night. A very slight agenda saw two discussions - the Standards Committee's annual report, and a new Economic Strategy. I questioned the need for the latter - it isn't a statutory requirement and it ends up joining the many documents produced by this Council that end up gathering dust somewhere. However, we were all very grateful to receive yet another correctional diatribe from the ex-leader........apparently it secures the Council some money. Pity that wasn't mentioned in the report !

Ten of us wanted the Standards report deferred until the 'Craven Court Seven' (the planning one) investigation is eventually concluded and its lessons incorporated, but that was defeated.

Not much else to say really !

JUST GOOD FRIENDS ?

Last night was Cabinet with a room full of Tories and senior officers, one member of the public, and me from the 'opposition' on this Council. I'm afraid that I dragged the meeting out for them to nearly 80 minutes, but I know at least one Tory Cabinet member who appreciates me being there to liven things up a bit........

They made lots of decisions on:- the IW Act; funding for the new Cowes secondary school (they are already raiding the capital pot for £2.5m); creating an 'Education Forum'; assisting the Salvation Army to build a homeless hostel in Ryde (a good thing in my view); getting help to establish a 'Community Management & Ownership of Public Assets' policy (which could have implications for Pan); last year's Budget outturn ; and the communications contract with Westminster City Council (which has been reined in a bit after a rare scrutiny 'call-in'.

Many Cabinet members seemed far more interested in defending the Scrutiny Committee from my early criticisms about its 'tame' nature. The Leader going so far as to describe them as 'our good friends on the scrutiny committee'. I pointed out that this was something the committee had NEVER been called when I was Chair, and I was very pleased that it wasn't. He rather proved my point by expressing surprise that the recent School Reorganisation decision had not been called-in by the committee...........I was more than surprised. More a case of disgusted !

We then had the Deputy Leader moaning about how many items there were in the 'Forward Plan' of future decisions, who then took great offence at my pointing out that half the decision's seemed to be his for 'flogging off' Council assets.

The meeting concluded with my getting an assurance that the reasoning behind some of the decisions in the School Reorganisation decision would be put in writing to me before the decision is fully implemented at the end of this week. Something useful to have for the future.....

"PATHETIC" SCRUTINY

I tried to get the 8 non-Tories on the Scrutiny Committee to call-in the recent Cabinet decision on Schools Re-organisation - the one that puts out to consultation the closure of 19 schools. I thought it was quite important........

Sadly only THREE of the four required agreed - Cllrs Gardiner (Labour), Cllr Mosdell (Non-aligned) and Churchman (Tory rebel). The Liberal member said his 'executive' had decided against - though his non-voting colleague representing the town & parish councils said he agreed; the other 4 didn't even trouble themselves with a response.

I referred to 'poodles' last autumn. Then there was one - now there are more!

FEELING VERY LUCKY........

Quote of the week from this week's County Press regarding the Tory-run Isle of Wight Council,

"With any luck, there could be another change of ownership taking place at County Hall if this self-serving, incompetent council gets its come-uppance at the next elections." (Charlotte Hofton)

I have a feeling we will all be very lucky next year !

STILL A SCRUTINEER OF SOME WORTH ?

"Continue to read your blog which is very informative. You seem to be the only councillor who actively and openly scrutinises what the council does!" (West Wight resident)

Well one of them ! I'm just more public about what I try to do, even if elements of the media try to ignore and belittle my work. I would add Deborah Gardiner, Brian Mosdell, and Vanessa Churchman from the existing Scrutiny Committee.

Of course they are one short when it comes to the 'call in' power, with the so-called 'opposition' Scrutiny Chair rarely keen on a call-in, the Liberals focussed purely on raising issues at Full Council that have been raised in Scrutiny or by me earlier, and the co-optees not doing much these days.

BLAME HIS TORY PAYMASTERS

So the seventh Chief Executive of the unitary IW Council - only in existence since 1995 - left last week. I was trying to recall the other six - Hetherington, Kay, Jagger, Quoroll, Fisher and one other that I can't recall, and it seems to me that only two of the seven will be remembered much past their brief tenure.

Bernard Quoroll was the man who managed to organise the vote counting in the 2001 general election that was almost as late as the traditionally late Northern Ireland results - and they don't start counting until the Friday morning. I was there as Labour agent and I recall the sheer folly of the count arrangements.

And now Joe Duckworth. The man who apparently cost Islanders £1.2 million in two years for little tangible benefit that many can see. However, I'm not one of those who blames local government officers for the mistakes, failures and omissions of their political masters and I am not about to start that now. If there are few tangible benefits the blame lies at the feet of his Tory masters. And the blame for the cost also lies at their feet.

The sad thing is that they will probably repeat the same profligacy this summer........

19 SCHOOLS TO CLOSE

This evening the IW Council Cabinet agreed the formal consultation paper on schools closures. It was the paper as published on 23 May, without amendment. The responsible Cabinet member declared a prejudicial interest and left the meeting at the start - the Council Leader leading the presentation of the paper.

There were quite a number of questions tabled by members of the public, but few of them turned up. The audience was a mere 7 members of the public (some more less public than others), 6 other Tory councillors, 1 Tory rebel, 2 Independents who didn't vote against the move to 2-tiers, the Labour PPC, and me. No Liberals.......

I asked a number of questions and I will paraphrase the answers as I interpreted them:

1. Capital receipts from the sale of those of the 19 surplus schools that cannot be utilised alternatively will be ring-fenced by a Tory Council for educational purposes for up to 15 years. I pledged the same for a future Labour Council, though we would want to see all those schools have alternative, community-based futures. The Tories only want some used, preferring to get some capital receipts. No one knows what the Liberals think !

2. If potential future providers of the five new community secondary schools fail to meet the specifications of the tender document, they will revert to IWC management.

3. They will not apply for a waiver of having to offer the new community secondary schools for tender as they believe they have a 'slim chance of success', despite the creditable performances of Sandown and Medina High Schools in recent years.

4. The Council Leader gave me the same commitment that I received from the Schools Director last week - there will be a continuing school provision on the Downside Middle site until such time as the builders are ready to start work on a new Pan Primary School. (I was also told last week this will be built into the tender specification for the new Medina Secondary School).

5. The Council leadership do not anticipate any compulsory teaching job losses, believing that they can shed any excess staffing by voluntary measures. Nothing at all was said about support and ancillary staff. I expressed concern that current middle school staff are being discriminated against under something called the 'significant enlargement' mechanism for primary schools. No one disagreed. One for the unions I think.

6. They are still claiming only 3 school closures and the media seem to be buying that spin. I read them a list of schools that will be surplus to requirements - it numbers 19 (see my post of 29 May). They said they want to use some of them for community uses - but not all.

I hope this is helpful.

ME?

I think I must have upset the CP columnist whose descriptions of me adorn this blog !

Her latest quote about me in her skit of last month's Full Council,

"a man who would argue with his own shadow if he felt there were any danger of peace breaking out"

may be true on occasions like Full Council, but isn't really me when there is work to be done for those I represent - in Pan or amongst Labour supporters at large.

Still its another quote for the t-shirt collection !

REAL LABOUR, NOT 'new LABOUR'

Being a Labour Party member these days can be very challenging. Knowing that in some areas the national party has lost the plot where its traditional voters are concerned is totally dispiriting.

However, I never was and never will be new Labour and I have never pretended to be. Consequently I have recently signed up to a new policy programme for Labour to bring about a radical change in political direction for the Labour Government that specifically addresses peoples' concerns as raised on the doorstep and elsewhere.

I believe that Labour can win back the support of our people by adopting a new manifesto, which should include:

• Nailing the 10p tax mistake by the introduction of a fair tax system, removing the low paid from taxation and ensuring the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share;
• An increase in the basic state pension, immediately restoring the link with earnings, lifting people off means tested benefits and providing free care for the elderly;
• An immediate start on a large scale council house building programme and assistance for those facing repossession;
• Immediate end to programme of local Post Office closures and liberalisation of postal services;
• An end to the privatisation of our public services;
• A new pay deal for public sector workers to protect their living standards and tackle low pay;
• Abolishing tuition fees and restoring maintenance grants for all students;
• Scrapping ID cards and abandoning 42 days detention;
• Introduction of a trade union freedom bill and measures to protect temporary and agency workers;
• Rejecting the proposals to renew Trident.

SCHOOLS FOR THE AUCTION HOUSE ?

Given that there is almost a blackout on criticism of the revised schools proposals I hope that the following is useful information -a list of schools that will no longer be needed if these proposals are implemented:-

Newport area - Hunnyhill, Node Hill;

Cowes area - Gurnard, Love Lane;

East Cowes area - East Cowes, Whippingham;

Ryde - Greenmount, Oakfield;

East Wight - Forelands, St Helens;

Sandown - Broadlea, St John's;

Shanklin - none;

Ventnor - St Boniface, St Margaret's, St Wilfred's;

South Wight - Chale;

Central Wight - Chillerton & Rookley;

Totland - Weston;

Yarmouth - Yarmouth.

19 in total.

With less than certain futures: Newport - Downside; Freshwater - West Wight.

That's lot of real estate for the auctioneer's hammer...........

Eco Island ? They're joking!

So this is what Eco Island is about !

A highly contentious 'highway improvement' scheme is being introduced near where I live in Fairlee ward. I oppose it. The scheme that is now being introduced is not only contentious - but ENTIRELY different to what local residents were told it would be during the consultation. The revised scheme appears to have allowed the cutting down of two entirely healthy trees to create traffic turning areas. Cars before the environment.......the usual stuff.

When I saw this happening this morning I contacted the Council's tree preservation people. They told me they only protect trees that don't belong to the Council as the assumption is that the Council would not cut down trees unnecessarily. Staggered by this chutzpah I then tried to contact Highways, but 8.30am was a bit early for an answer. So the trees bit the dust to the amazement of all who witnessed it.

I have emailed MY councillor about it, but no reply so far. I will post actual pictures later....

NO RE-ASSURANCE FOR DOWNSIDE - STILL A GAP

Unlike some people I am not easily re-assured, especially when information is conflicting, or just plain illogical.

Yes, the published plans for the Downside School site include a new Pan primary school to service the new development, AS REQUIRED. However, the Pan development will be built from 2009 until 2020/2021 and will produce (I am told) a maximum of 60 school age children per year group once it is completed. Therefore, the need for a new 2-form entry school isn't going to arise for some years. In the meantime there are always places at Barton and Summerfields Primary's - both in the local area. I would estimate the earliest the new school would be built to be 2014/2015.

In the meantime the Downside site is going to be used as temporary overflow school for Medina Secondary - from autumn 2011 until the summer of 2012. An overflow site with 'a single leadership and a single governance'. Though the Council's published plans do not mention the word 'temporary' and imply that Downside is going to have two schools on site, a new primary and a Medina lower school - clearly utter rubbish !

Consequently there will be a gap of at least two or three years where there will be no school whatsoever operating on the Downside site. In effect a closure, as I claimed one week ago - though the media seems to prefer the Council spin on this rather than the truth.

Looking at the overall plans there is massive spin associated with their publication. There are currently 67 schools on the IW, not including the two special schools. That is a figure easily researched. 46 are primary and there will be 38 after reorganisation. That's 8 less. Plus 16 middle schools closing, makes 24 closures. A couple of new schools in the long distant future - at Pan and West Wight - makes a net figure of 22 school closures. Its still carnage in my view.

Finally the monitor on my home PC died this morning. Its still under warranty, but I may be online a little less this week, as I have to borrow Mary's PC. Just in case you are trying to contact me, please bear with me.

SKIVER !

Last night was Full Council and I have to admit that I left after an hour and a quarter to watch the football at home. Yes, I am human - especially when the guts have been ripped out of Council meetings by this deceitful and unrepresentative Council leadership.

There was little of note to report on the 75 minutes I was there. Dave Burbage was appointed as Interim Chief Exec, the Standards Committee was increased in size so that for every four IW Councillors there is now one Standards member - its getting like Soviet Russia; a Crime Reduction Plan was agreed - Labour voted against due to various omissions; and the latest Local Area Agreement with our public sector partners on the Island was agreed - Labour against due to the 'poverty of ambition' (Cllr Gardiner) in the performance targets. Oh, and I made no speaking contribution for the first time in 3 years - other than a little bit of barracking !

NO TORY DEFENCE FOR THE INDEFENSIBLE

I got in from an urgent governors meeting at Downside School this evening to find an email from the Tory Cabinet Member for Closing & Scaring Schools, seeking to 'clarify' my understanding of the new plans to close Downside.

My response stands alone and is as follows:

"Your interpretation of the presentation made to school governors at the Newport Area meeting last Thursday would reveal you as being out of step with what your education officers are saying. They were certainly NOT saying last Thursday that the building 'as required' of a new 'Pan Primary School' on the Downside site will 'coincide with the build of the new development'. Unless, that is, you mean it will coincide with the last few years of the development - a development that will take at least 10 years plus to complete. In which case, your 'clarification' is worthless as the community - and the school governors - do not want an empty site for the early years of the development. We require continuity. Can you guarantee that ? Any distress to the Pan community has been caused by you and the Council leadership telling us that Downside was safe in all three original options, but then stabbing us in the heart with these latest plans. I have been, as ever, open with the people I represent."

A STAB TO THE HEART OF PAN

My latest Press Release - re. Downside Middle School:-

The IW Councillor for Pan, Geoff Lumley, has learnt that the IW Council intends to close Downside Middle School in 3 years time as part of its 'education reorganisation'. This is the first inkling throughout the last 4 months that there would be no school on the Downside site, and Cllr Lumley is both shocked and angry.

Consequently he is now calling for a halt to the proposed Pan development - due for a planning application submission in July - until the Pan community has a satisfactory and acceptable explanation as to why there has been such a sudden and surprising change in Council policy.

Cllr Lumley said,

• "Even up to a Councillors' confidential briefing on education reorganisation on 28 April - a confidentiality I respected - there was never any suggestion that there would not be a school on the Downside site;
• During all the discussions with the Downside School governors - of which I am the longest-serving one - about the proposed merger with Kitbridge Middle School there was never any suggestion that Downside would be closing and lots of supportive words about its future. This change of policy now puts that possible merger under further scrutiny as far as I am concerned;
• There have been constant assurances about the place of Downside at the heart of the Pan community when the Pan development starts. Talk about a new school, perhaps combining health and community facilities, and building on its current status as the ONLY Full Service Extended Community School on the IW. This talk now seems to have been used purely to cheat some of the community into reluctantly supporting the development;
• Young people on Pan have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the long-promised Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) adjacent to Downside School. It is currently promised for October, but how long will it last after July 2011 if there is no school there to manage it ? Or indeed will it still be built ? ;
  
• When these latest confidential plans - they will be officially released next Friday - were conveyed to Newport school governors, heads and staff last Thursday 15 May, Steve Beynon (Director of Children's Services) explained that there was no longer a need for a school on the Downside site until the developers at Pan were selling the new homes, which was now less certain due to the downturn in the housing market. However, at a Pan Development Steering Group on 29 April with the Leader and Deputy Leader of the IW Council, I was assured that the developers had no such fears. Who is being honest here, and if the new houses cannot be sold, why do we need so many new private houses as part of the development ? If they can be sold, then there is no doubt we will need a school there.
  

I intend to fight this proposed closure as hard as I can, and as far as I am concerned the Pan development should now be put on hold until the community gets some guarantees about the school at its very heart."