THREE YEARS WITHOUT A WORD

A keen Council watcher sent me an email remarking on the number of loyal Tories who have yet to make an unscripted contribution to Full Council in 3 years - and how once a Tory shakes the whip you can hardly shut them up !

The wordless currently number 9 - or one quarter of the original group before the leadership starting its blood feuds.

I'm too polite to mention their names, but I am sure others aren't........

A LITTLE LIKE GERTRUDE ?

I made a suggestion recently at Full Council (and here) that assurances are possibly being made to Tory councillors over school closures. A suggestion, not an allegation or an accusation, based on rumours heard by myself and other opposition councillors in recent weeks. After I was howled down at Full Council by some of the Tory Group for making this suggestion, I also remarked here that the truth can hurt when it is being hidden.

The Council leadership is now getting very agitated about this. I wonder why ?

There is an old saying from Hamlet, '(they) doth protest too much, methinks'.

TORY MAD HATTERS

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..........

And when I got home at 10.15pm I had received TEN Council press releases in my email Inbox within the space of about one hour from the Westminster-lead communications arm of the Council telling me how everything is so wonderful. Entirely bizarre. A contract must be up for renewal....

COMBATING THE COUNCIL PIRATES

The Labour Group tonight published its Alternative Budget for Council Tax this year.

Its main points are:

1. A 3.75% increase - just below inflation;

2. NO plundering of Reserves to balance the books;

3. Starting the financial year aiming to deliver the Government's efficiencies targets, rather than putting it off

Of course we may never get to the Budget given what else is on the Full Council agenda this Wednesday - the schools consultation abandonment motion, followed by the Ferry Fares Fair motion from us. Will be a long evening.

LEADERSHIP ?

Anyone wondering how NOT to lead a political grouping need only look at the classic example evolving here on the IW Council. As an example of dysfunctional leadership you would struggle to find one worse.

Membership jumping the sinking ship in droves, insults and threats rather than reaching out to the rebels, a belief that you are right no matter what even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary................

And who suffers ?

SCHOOLS DECIMATION TO HAVE EARLY DEBATE

Thanks to 16 IW Councillors agreeing to the need, the following Motion will now be discussed at the Full Council meeting on 20 FEBRUARY:

"In view of the widespread public concern and as the Isle of Wight Council had not received guidance from the DCSF on any issues of concern to be addressed by the Primary Capital Programme by 31^st January, Council resolves to abandon the current informal consultation on education reorganisation. Council also instructs the Cabinet member for Children & Young People to secure from officers a plan and consultation proposals for managing surplus school places that does not result in mass school closures and damage to local communities."

The 16 are - Cllrs Joyce (proposer), Adams, Arnold, Bishop, Bowker, Chapman, Churchman, Foster, Gardiner, Humby, Knowles, Lumley, McRobert, Mosdell, Price and Swan.

Obviously if this were to be agreed it would be a tremendous outcome. If not, there is still a debate on 19 March when IW Councillors will have to register their positions on the 3 Options

EXCLUDING........

I see the good people of Shanklin are in for a tough choice! According to IW Radio's website:

"If you live in Shanklin, it's your chance this week to have a say on issues affecting the community. A series of meetings are being held at the town's Conservative Club in Palmerston Road. Police and Isle of Wight Council are holding the public forums, which take place at 7.00pm tonight (Monday), tomorrow night (Tuesday), and on Wednesday evening."

Clearly they don't want any self-respecting Labour people - of whom there are a good many in Shanklin - along, as they wouldn't feel comfortable at all in that hellish place !!!!

Doesn't seem right to me holding public meetings on political premises.

SCHOOLS PROTEST IN SHANKLIN

Today I managed to get out to a schools protest when I joined the 500 people who silently and peacefully marched through Shanklin to demonstrate outside the local Conservative Club (see left).

The protestors here and in Ryde this morning were joined by a dozen Isle of Wight councillors, including Deborah and I. Real cross-party representation in this campaign is very evident.

The coalition of people who are working against the mad Tory leadership proposals in the interests of the whole Island surely must mean something to Pugh and his sidekicks

WHEN EVEN YOUR FRIENDS TRUMPET BAD NEWS......

"ISLAND COUNCIL ONE OF THE WORST IN THE SOUTH EAST"(IW Radio headline today)...........you know you are in trouble.

For the 3rd year running this Conservative Council has been judged to be 2-star, despite the massive investment in highly-paid management.

Some of the rest of IW Radio's story speaks for itself,

"National research conducted by the Audit Commission has awarded Isle of Wight Council just two stars - the same mark for the third consecutive year. It compares with Portsmouth which scored 3 stars and Southampton which achieved a rating of 4. Every other Council in the south east region, apart from Slough, scored higher.

The chief executive of the Audit Commission, Steve Bundred has told Isle of Wight radio, "it's disappointing the council has remained on two stars when eight out of ten councils across the country are in the top two categories of 3 and 4 stars".

Roll on May 2009 !

UNGRATEFUL TORY B*ST*R*DS

A 5.9% increase in Government funding this year compared to an inflation rate for state pensions of 3.9% and what do you get from the ingrates on the Council's Tory Cabinet - pictured looking guilty/smug/barmy/deluded (you choose) above?

"The Revenue Support Grant Settlement set by the government for the next three years is a poor one and gives the council limited resources" waffled on one of the Sinister Seven at tonight's Cabinet.

Get real Barry, for goodness sake! 5.9% settlements were beyond the wildest dreams of local govenment under Thatcher and Major prior to 1997 - as was an inflation rate in single figures.

However, not content with whinging and whining they also propose to RAID Council Reserves this year to the tune of £5m (search previous posts on 'RESERVES') whilst avoiding their responsibility to start achieving real efficiencies of £15.3 m on their budget over the next 3 years. An abdication of responsibility.

Some of us would not shirk from that responsibility.

SCHOOLS: IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THE TORIES SAY......

TOO HALF-HEARTED

Yesterday I went along to the very short notice public exhibition and consultation about the Pan development.

Organised by the developers' community consultation agents I wasn't impressed. Neither were the people I have spoken too since. Given that well over 100 people went along that does not start it off well.

It all seemed very rushed and poorly-resourced, with low quality displays. I have passed my views on to the Council, Medina HA and PNP.

Hopefully the next one - in April I believe- is going to start taking consultation seriously.

"CHIEF ROUGH BOY" ?

I've had some wonderful descriptions over the last 3 years that I have been on the Council (see one above), but I now have the one I like best in the CP's View from the Gallery this week,

Chief Rough Boy

I can live with that!

NEWPORT TRAFFIC MEETING

Wednesday night I chaired a Newport Town Management Committee-organised public meeting on traffic. Yes, I rarely get an easy life !

Despite all the outrage about the proposed school changes, Newport residents still have enough anger in them about traffic issues to turn out in good numbers. We had about 100 people at the meeting.

Although Newport TMC had wanted to try and focus on longer term options for traffic management in Newport for at least part of the meeting, quite understandably residents wanted to continue discussing the Council's unpopular decision to reverse the traffic direction in Trafalgar Road to a westerly direction and the devastating effect that has had on a number of residential roads around Newport. Out of 100 people at the meeting ONE person expressed support for that change and even the councillor for Brighstone supported a reversal.

The Cabinet member for Transport came along to the meeting and maybe, just maybe, he will at last have got the message from the people, that I and other have been trying to get across to him for the last 3 months. If he doesn't, I can't help feeling that it is deliberate.

WHAT THE SCHOOLS MINISTER ACTUALLY SAID TODAY

Cut out the Sir Humphrey's - watch and LISTEN to the BBC South report "Close threat school gets £1m" at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/southtoday/

and hear what the Schools Minister, Jim Knight MP, actually says.

Not what the Tory truth-twisters at County Hall interpret him as saying.

Additionally his answer to a questions from the Island's MP:

"No Ministers or officials from the Department of Children, Schools and Families have had any discussions with the Isle of Wight council about intervention should existing primary schools not be closed under current reorganisation proposals."

That's one lie demolished that was doing the rounds last week.

A VERY PECULIAR IMBALANCE

Today we learnt that a Conservative MP who misused public money to support his son's further education will probably be suspended from Westminster for 2 weeks.

Here on the Isle of Wight a councillor (not Labour) who was found guilty by the Standards Board of not declaring a prejudicial interest against a candidate who he was considering for a public appointment was suspended for TWO MONTHS by the local Standards Committee.

Seems very unbalanced to me.

A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD

Well I spent yesterday listening to the SOS demo from my sick bed, having been up to St Mary's during the night before with severe nosebleeds. Nothing to do with a visit to Carisbrooke Village Management Committee I can assure you ! More a case of my seemingly beginning to fall apart !!!!

The demo certainly seems to have been very successful and almost as large as the GKN Westlands 600 job losses one back in Feb 2002. The trick now is to keep the momentum going right through to 19 March. Perhaps a march through Newport and demo in early March ?

On Friday a couple of us were wondering who on the IW Council will oppose the barmy proposals in their entirity. We probably still need at least 6 more Tories to show some backbone, provided the 3 LibDems councillors don't change their mind again. Remember - they voted for this ludicrous consultation in November along with Pugh's Tory leadership. Hopefully the views of their local Chairman will be reflected by these councillors.

PUSHED OVER THE EDGE

Full Council tonight. An inward looking agenda dramatised and enlivened by the early departure of 4 Tory councillors to the opposition seats over the schools debacle.

After the Council Leader won his vote of confidence before the Council meeting over his school proposals by 27 votes to 6, Cllrs Joyce, McRobert, Churchman and Bishop all declared they were leaving the Tory Group at the commencement of Full Council. We all had to budge up a bit in the opposition side of the Council Chamber.. The other two were, I guess, Ward and Peacey-Wilcox.

Only a matter of time before more of the Tories with vulnerable primary schools in their wards smell the coffee........

This Leader started with 35 Tories in his group. He is now down to 29 in just 4 months. By Easter he may not have a majority.

THE COUNCIL'S OWN PRIMARY PUPIL FORECAST

As I alluded to on the IW Radio phone-in last week, there is Council data around that indicates that the need for primary pupil school places will increase over the next decade.

The chart shows a 25-30% increase in primary places by 2017.






Also see - http://eduwight.iow.gov.uk/the_lea/amp/images/SCH_POP_FORC_2007.pdf
for all the data.

LEAVE SCHOOLS ALONE AND MAKE DO WITH A LITTLE LESS MONEY

The Save Our Schools campaign has gathered pace phenomonally over the last few days. Councillors from all parties and none are making it clear they will oppose the proposed changes at Full Council in March - with any luck all of this will be abandoned well before then........

I note on the SOS website that Conservative Cllr Ian Ward from Sandown is attempting to organise a leadership challenge to the boy wonder Pugh. Hopefully he will be successful, and will bring down his right-hand man, Wells, too.

As I was being bombarded with emails yesterday evening I have tried to direct campaigners to put pressure on those Tory councillors with a primary school in their ward that is set for closure under all the options and have yet to make their position clear. There's no point in targeting those of us who agree with the campaign !

The Council leadership claims that it will have £2m further to spend on education if it closes all these schools. In my view this is just about the most political choice you can make. Do you resolve that £2m is a price worth paying to retain schools in our communities, or do you determine that the cost of something is more important than the value it gives ? In my view the choice is very easy.

Finally the reduction in government capital grants from April does not force closures on the Council. There is no government agenda to do that. What the Council are CHOOSING to do is reduce the number of schools it has to maintain in future years.