Well it went on for nearly 4 hours, as I predicted, and last night's Full Council made 3 appalling decisions that reflect the Alice in Wonderland world the Council's Tory group currently seem to live in:
On School closures the meeting decided by 26 votes to 17 not to abandon the current flawed consultation on the barmy options. There was a named vote, which I will not repeat here unless people can't find it, but basically the 17 were cross all parties and none, and the 26 were all Tories plus one Independent and one arms-length Tory. When I suggested that the Tory majority members with schools due to close in their ward had possibly received reassurances from the leadership that options might change I was howled down ! Nothing hurts like the truth when you are trying to hide it......
Best remark of this debate from one rebel Tory, "The leader is trying to make a name for himself and I fear that name is twit."
On Ferry Fares Fair our motion to support the MP's campaign for an OFT investigation was amended by the leadership to kick it into the long grass of a Policy Commission enquiry by 27 votes to 14 - those against were myself, Gardiner, Mosdell, Swan, Foster, Stephens, Bowker, Joyce, Bishop, Churchman, Mc Robert, Humby, Knowles and Adams. Again cross party and none.
On the Budget, the leadership's 3.9% Council tax increase proposal with a £10m raid on balances over 3 years to prop up day to day expenditure went though with all the Tory group members in favour, plus the arms length Tory and one Independent, and everyone else against - including Labour - or abstaining. Our Labour amendment - a 3.75% increase with NO use of balances - attracted 5 votes this year, which is a 250% increase on our amendment last year - and 5 abstentions (Liberals and NAGs)! Thanks to Ian Stephens, Charlie Hancock and Patrick Joyce for their support.
Mass school closures, opposition to their own MP on ferry fares, spending what you haven't got - here on the Isle of Wight the world has been turned upside down as the local Tories behave like some sort of militant tendency..........
8 comments:
Your comments about the current political leadership and Westminster puppetry hit home but shouldn’t go unqualified by the disturbing culture prevalent in the paid Officer leadership. This is no more clearly demonstrated than in the Chief Executive’s Joeblogs on the Council website.
Joeblogs surfaced recently after 4 months (of frenzied job application writing) with his head held in that roman emperor-like pose (shot from underneath to make him look visionary, or just taller ?). He is at pains, of course, to assert that his re-appearance is his choice - he hasn't been "pushed". However, it seems an unlikely coincidence that this blog should come out days after CP acid queen Percy Sutson declared him missing, presumed 'dead' .
Unfortunately, after starting his blog with a rather crass innuendo not befitting of his station, he comes across completely deluded. His organisation crashes and burns around him, but, apparently he remains absolutely convinced that the Council is 'improving well'. As well as being classified in the latest CPA as almost 'special needs' relative to the rest of the region, the latest staff survey shows morale to be at an all time low and bullying to be not only still rife but also worse and particularly by senior managers. Surely it is the Chief Executive who drives the culture of the organisation ?
Perhaps more worrying is that there is not even a sniff of the stink around the current debate on education or a word of comfort for his staff who must be under enormous pressure as the political mire threatens to engulf them. No doubt he is following the Westminster PR gurus advice of when in it up to your neck try to distract the opposition by talking about something entirely different (crisis what crisis ?). However, in their transient, skin-deep world today's news is usually tomorrow's chip-papers - however, in this world, the schools issue is very real, dealing with real lives, real communities and the headline won't be different in the morning.
Indeed, he has been conspicuous by his absence in the whole debate, preferring to let the foolishly courageous, but eminently more capable, fall guy, Steve Beynon take the slings and arrows. Emperor Joe has been seen skulking at the back of the hall at various consultation meetings but has never had the balls to front up the Council's position at anytime.
He seems more intent on pursuing the cow poo powered and ill thought out Eco island vision, no doubt dreamt up by the PR girls and solely hinged on the commissioning of Sir Terry Farrell (at what cost ?) to design a few new bogs. But even within days, it fell foul of the classic 'say one thing but do another' trip-wire as the education proposals drove a great big stinking traffic jam into the green idyll of localised community support. The Communications Unit even sent out a flyer to all the schools espousing the fantastic Green Travel Plans being promoted for parents and children to follow to reduce impact on the environment whilst at the same time moving the schools further away – it beggars belief.
Joeblogs seems content that painting people's feet green and having a picnic, far outweighs the cataclysmic effects this Council's approach is having on the island's reputation and it's future.
Perhaps the next blog picture will show Joe emperor-like with fiddle firmly wedged under that noble chin.
I hear the Westminster contract is indeed up for grabs.
The schools PR has been a disaster, up there with Ratner's prawn ear-rings and the Hoover flights fiasco. What great company to keep.
Geoff
I've been thinking about things a lot today as you can imagine - it was a weird evening. I'm upset about a lot of the things that went on, particularly the blatant disregard of the facts - and that there has been so much disinformation and misrepresentation of the truth. But what else did I expect?
However, something which Island residents won't know about unless they were there is the utter snobbery which was displayed at the meeting. The Tories were in the main utterly silent - draw from that what you will. But when they did chip in, it was in unpleasant terms.Some non-Tory Councillors were ridiculed, in drawling accents, for having had perfectly ordinary (some would say extraordinary) jobs and I found this attitude extremely offensive. It smacked of "you dreadful little peasant, how dare you have an opinion. Especially one I don't agree with".
Have you done a head count yet of those Tories whom, after 3 years, haven't actually made a contribution at Full Council yet? I have - I call it the Silence of the Sheep.
People keep saying this is a bout democracy. What nonsense! Pugh has a democratic majority. The few Tory rebels joined at the hip with the opposition rabble all choose to ignore the facts. No-one has suggested a credible alternate plan, the Joyce plan was daft, it would have made the IW system unique.
Let's sort the school problem here once and for all, take the pain of a few closures and get some better results for our kids.
to 'anonymous at 11.02 am'.
Perhaps you can answer my question, since no-one else in favour of the plans has been able to do so.
We have a problem with learning standards on the Island, and the teaching needs to be improved. So please explain to me how closing local schools and bussing children around the Island is going to improve standards?
You can't prove that this will raise standards but why should it lower standards? It's a fact of life that we need to move around for work and education. You can't have everything on your doorstep, those days have gone.
The point is that money will be saved, this surplus place cash can be spent on older children and those needing extra support. The antis seem to ignore this fact. I have yet to hear a sensible credible alternative proposal. Small schools may well be better for discipline but are they better for learning? I doubt it.
Ah! So it's all about the money, and the best you can promise is that it won't 'lower' standards. That's more like it.
What you forget is that it's the local primary schools being closed that have the best record, so the exercise will be one of levelling down rather than levelling up.
And as for saying that five year olds must join the daily commuting trek instead of taking part in a cohesive local community, words fail me. You aren't a car salesman by any chance?
To respond to the first 'Puzzled' question:
I believe that part of the rationale for improving standards is that (technically) closing every school will break up and displace poorly performing school leadership teams. Having fewer (than 69+) schools eases management and facilitates better dissemination and liaison.
Further, it is about money. For a fixed budget, additional SEN staff could be employed to assist some pupils who are not currently statemented (allegedly due to funding). In terms of capital, land release could bring forward more modern facilities which should reduce maintenance, and ‘bigger and better’ schools (in association with two-tier) would attract and retain good teachers.
As some of these concepts could be perceived as morally repugnant, they are not voiced loudly.
Will it work? I don't know.
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