A packed Scrutiny Committee agenda, successfully completed, ended in very bad feeling last night.
With only two hours to complete the agenda, thanks to the administration's own Council Constitution, my refusal to allow the Leader of the Council - not a committee member of course - to question the Southern Water representative towards the end of the meeting, met with a 'toys out of pram' response of disreputable proportions.
Consequently I have been informed by the Leader that questions from me TO THE CABINET will NOT be allowed for five months. Why 5 months, I have no idea, but when did logic come into it ?
There is no provision in the Constitution for questions from non-Committee members to evidence-givers during a Scrutiny Committee; just as there is no provision at Cabinet for non-Cabinet councillors to ask questions as the agenda progresses. The Leader does allow ad hoc questions from people like me at his meeting when it suits him, but not if the direction of the questioning is embarrassing - see late May Cabinet meeting regarding meetings with Schools Minister.
I did not allow the Leader to ask questions tonight because I am the Chair of the Committee and had an agenda to complete in a short time period. If he can't understand that, and now wants to punish me on a tit for tat basis, so be it. At least I have some idea of how to conduct myself at Council meetings.
Apart from that the meeting was reasonably productive. A number of Planning issues were progressed, thanks to the good sense of Cllr Mosdell - yes, I will name him ! Three Cabinet members made valuable contributions to our enquiries - including broad acceptance of our Wightcare report - and another helped kick off our big Budget enquiry. The Southern Water session was informative and useful, before the pram incident.
One thought. If this Committee is supposed to receive support from the Council's Communications operation, as I am told it is, why does that support go to Cabinet members after the meeting and not to the members of the Scrutiny Committee ????????
I sometimes wish I was really naive........
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4 comments:
It's so nice to see Isle of Wight politics being conducted in a responsible and adult manner!
I assume that Cllr Sutton is not concerned about his seat at the next election? He presumably will have bigger fish to fry then, and therefore is not considering how his behaviour looks to the great unwashed of the Isle of Wight?
So, what were the planning issues that the Toilet Czar lifted the lid on?
I somehow don't think that the likes of Andy Sutton fits in with the A list, rebranded "call me Dave" NuCon Party. Bit too, well, old and not smooth enough; never appeared in a soap, not keen on wind turbines, not in with the Notting Hill set, rude and arrogant rather than smiley and appealing. So the IOW residents, washed or unwashed,will be stuck with him in some shape or form until 2009. Pray for the health of Andrew Turner, as succeeding him would be the only chance Sutton had of advancement.Whatever Turner's faults, at least he isn't an embarrassment....well, too often.
apple: speed of procedures - basically lack of staff; and quality of reports.
anon 2: Good health to our Tory MP !!!!!! Never thought I would say that.....
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