Cabinet back at County Hall last night, which I always try to attend as you get the opportunity to ask questions as an opposition councillor. As is more often than not the case I was the only opposition member there, plus 4 'members of the public' - Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) Mark Chiverton, the Liberal PPC loser, the Tory candidate for Newport Town Council in Fairlee ward who claims he is now 'Independent', and the gentleman who makes asking questions about schools at Council and Cabinet his mission in life. Items on the agenda were - District Auditor's Annual Report; next steps for school reorganisation; and new dog control orders. Though I also added on the Kitbridge Middle School situation at the end.
From the District Auditor I got an entirely unsatisfactory response to my query as to whether the Council delivering double the Government's efficiency targets (by £12m over 2 years) was a good use of resources, when they then had to raid the reserves to the tune of £10m over the next 3 years. Apparently he is still looking into that as part of this year's review.........My referral of the Undercliff enquiry costs etc. to him in December is still outstanding due to the lack of appropriate information from the Council. He agreed that was not good enough and the Cabinet undertook to ensure he got the information he requires.
The timetable for the next steps of school reorganisation was agreed. Basically area meetings for schools in May to seek to achieve some consensus, and then formal consultation on definite Council proposals - on a school by school basis - from 3 June for 6 weeks. Cabinet meeting on 3 June will launch this process. I asked a question about schools that had not made submissions (demonstrating their value) during the informal consultation in Jan/Feb as they were not 'under threat' now being disadvantaged, but did not get a satisfactory reply.
The dog control orders were approved - nothing is ever rejected or revised at public Cabinet - and the atmosphere was considerably lightened as members declared whether they liked dogs or not. I am a responsible dog owner, the lead Cabinet member on this is, but the Council leader admitted to being a little nervous around dogs. I would have thought a pack of rabid rotweilers would be preferable to some of the Tory Group meetings in recent times !
At the end I asked why the news about the proposed 'closure' of Kitbridge Middle School and subsequent merger with Downside Middle School had not been better managed - see my previous post. The Director for Children's Services apologised for that, said it was not what he had planned for before going on leave last week, and undertook to ensure the press were properly and accurately briefed, and that letters went out urgently to parents and staff at both schools. Horses and stable doors, but what else can he say ?
1 comment:
The Westminster City Council hired guns Communications Unit has been an unmitigated disaster on many fronts - how is the Council continuing to condone the renewal of its contract at such an astronomical cost both financial and political - please, get of these amateurs.
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