SALE OF THE CENTURY

I have little doubt that 2012 will see a big move forward in the building of the long awaited extension to the Grovesnor Centre, and as a result local politicians will crow their success in rescuing the town centre, others will be quick to welcome a positive sign for future prosperity for our town. But what will actually be built? And who will have really paid the bill? And what will be the long term costs to local tax payers?

I was a member of Northampton Borough Council when it signed its "historic" deal with Legal and General and as leader of the Independent group I was shown the details within the contract, Because of a commercial confidentiality clause I was prohibited from revealing the details, however I can still express an opinion without having to divulge the figures.

I have already intimated in public that I believe that the price paid by Legal and General for the Bus station and surrounding land packages was far too cheap, yes this deal was done in the height of the recession, but the over eagerness of the politicians to do a deal at any cost in my mind gifted the land and property to L&G at a price they could not refuse.

Moreover the deal as we now have had revealed, left the cost of moving the Bus Station and the cost of it's replacement together with the cost of paying off the existing tenants at the bus station (Stagecoach) solely with the council, and ultimately you and me, local taxpayers. Why Stagecoach were ever given such a long and rewarding lease in the first place is a complete mystery to me, after all I remember when they sold there own bus station on the Bedford road for housing development and then turned up overnight to park their buses at the councils bus stations as squatters with no rights at all. But now we must pay them £5.5m to move out!

In addition we must also pay an estimated £8m to build an inferior bus interchange on the Fish Market site. The deal between the Council and L&G will also see a change to car parking operations in the area and New Cllrs would be well served in revisiting just what deals have now been struck and how much extra this will also cost the taxpayer in lost revenue in years to come.

If any new Labour Cllrs at the Town Hall want to make a name for themselves I suggest they submit the following questions to the Council:

What is our current surface and multi-storey Car Parking land holding in Northampton Town Centre?

How much of that is included in the sale of Land to Legal and General?

What is the current annual income from those car parks proposed to be transferred to L&G?

What annual income will the Council recieve from these car parks thereafter? and:

Who will make up any difference in revenue?

So overall in my view L&G seem to have done very well out of the council, a knock down price paid for the land, the taxpayer picking up all the costs of moving the bus station, a potential new income from car parking, not to mention the new rents from any new stores attracted into the new build (hopefully not from the existing high street) But I still fear a further twist, what's the betting that what is finally delivered is but shadow of what was originally proposed? A scaled down version of all of those iconic plans so far revealed?

It is my view that the both the last Liberal Democrat and the current Conservative administrations at the Town Hall have both been so blinded by the desire to deliver something, that they will in fact accept anything. It is also my belief that we the taxpayer will in the end pay the most for their weak negotiating skills.

I suggest to both groups that if they want to prove me wrong then we can always examine the deal line by line in an open scrutiny committee so the public can judge for themselves whether we are getting value for money from this whole fiasco.

I have long held the view that in any multi million pound negotiations that if both parties say that they are so much in agreement then in reality only one party is actually doing the thinking and as a consequence only one party will come out on top.

On that score I guess I should congratulate Legal and General on their adeptness and savour-faire and commiserate with the public for having to pick up the bill.

AN HOUR IS A LONG TIME IN LOCAL POLITICS

Whilst we are on the subject of Tory Manifesto pledges, do you remember the one about

"AN HOURS FREE PARKING FOR SHOPPERS IN ALL THE TOWNS CAR PARKS"

Difficult to administer said some of us, "its a pledge and it will happen said the Tories".

So on Thursday I parked in the Ridings car park and here is the sign (left) clearly stating £2.40 for 3 hours parking.

So in goes my hard earned cash and what comes out?

This!!!

That right not 3 hours for my £2.40  but just 2!

From 15.24pm (bottom right)  till 17.24 (top left)  not 18.24 as expected and paid for.

So much for a free hour, it was at my expense! is this a forerunner to adding it back in to tell us we have got back for free what we had already? Malcolm Mildren reports to me a similar swindle in the Albion Place car park.

How many other citizens of Northampton have been short changed? or even worse issued with a parking ticket for overstaying when they thought they had paid their dues?

Answers please NBC

TORIES IN TURMOIL AS MANIFESTO HITS ROCKY WATERS

We still have a fortnight to go before the Conservative Group(s) on the Borough Council can give us their own verdict of the the first "100 days" in office, but what a fortnight it may turn out to be.

There Nemesis is seems may well be the West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit, set up 3 years ago by the previous Lib Dem administration and supported by both the Tories and Labour groups ever since. There was one group showing dissent in the chamber when it's formation and funding was agreed at the time, I am sure you can guess who?

Anyhow the WNJPU has been busy over recent months receiving public consultations on its revamped rewritten and rehashed "Joint Core Strategy" the leading strategic planning document which set the planning framework for the whole of West Northamptonshire for the next 20 years. On Monday at the Guildhall this totally unnecessary Local Government Quango will approve the plan to then be put onto deposit. Cllrs  David Palethorpe, Tim Hadland, John Yates and Penny Flavell will be there to represent the Borough Council, but as I explained to them at the time they supported its setup NBC Cllrs will be outnumbered by their counterparts in Daventry and South Northant's who may just feel that they have got a decent deal on the table, after all it seems as if they continue to get all the benefit from any expansion in grant funding whilst Northampton still takes the development brunt of the increases in new homes.

So, remember the pledge in the Tory's Borough Council Manifesto to seek an urgent review of new house building numbers for Northampton? If not let me remind you exactly what they said

"Northampton Conservatives will demand an urgent review of the Pre-Submission Strategy produced by the West Northants Joint Planning Unit and will call for a full and open justification of the housing and job numbers. We have strong reservations about the current plan including the number of houses, jobs and infrastructure that it considers appropriate."

Well here is what they will be signing up to next Monday

To meet housing need " a housing provision total of 50,153 dwellings for West Northamptonshire has been identified" and policy S4 states that "provision will be made for 33,680 net additional dwellings within the Northampton related development area (Northampton and its boundaries) in the period 2001 to 2026"

It is estimated that only about 30% have been planned for but not yet built or completed since 2001 in massive developments at sites including Upton and St Crispins' leaving over 20,000 new homes still to be crammed in somewhere else.

So much for the promised housing  review and the localism bill for all that

And remember all that talk in the manifesto of scrapping the Town Centre First Policy and allowing out of town retail to support the ambitions of the towns sporting clubs. Well despite the urgent meetings within the first week of the administration, one of which I attended, it seems that the only important meeting will be next Mondays. Again as a reminder heres what they said in the manifesto

"a Conservative administration would abandon the „Town Centre First‟ policy in favour of a „Borough Wide‟ investment and regeneration pol-icy. A „Borough Wide‟ policy would mean we can continue to champion the Town Centre without having to abandon other parts of the town, to which Northampton Borough Council has equal responsi-bility, and would be more flexible and responsive to the unique needs of Northampton."

Lets see what the Joint Core Strategy if agreed on Monday says about all of the above shall we.

"Northampton town centre has suffered greatly from a decentralisation of retail, leisure and employment uses and there is a need to redress this imbalance as a critical strategic issue for the JCS to ensure the vision for Northampton is not jeopardized. Policy S2 seeks to focus new town centre development firmly back to Northampton town centre and the central area and Policy S9 seeks to focus retail development on the town centre."

"The importance of the Grosvenor Centre redevelopment and the focus on retailing within the town centre as a priority within Northampton Central Area requires that comparison retail outside the town centre must be heavily restricted to ensure that town centre proposals are not jeopardised"

NO FURTHER COMPARISON GOODS FLOORSPACE IS REQUIRED OUTSIDE NORTHAMPTON CENTRAL AREA OTHER THAN AT AN APPROPRIATE SCALE TO SUPPORT THE VITALITY AND VIABILITY OF LOCAL CENTRES.

So whats it to be guys? the Joint Core Strategy or your manifesto pledges? Do you keep the promises you made to the voters and to the Saints and the Cobblers or go with Tory flow in Daventry and South Northants, and what if you want to say no to its adoption but are out voted? what will happen then? and who was it who supported the setting up of this unelected quango in the first place?

Monday nights meeting it seems could be a key turning point for the new administration, lets just  hope they have the courage to remind the faceless planners and the Cllrs from other districts just who is and isn't elected within the Borough of Northampton.

FROM BIG SOCIETY TO THE B&Q SOCIETY

Curiosity got the better of me last night as I joined Malcolm Mildren in attending the first Borough Council meeting of the new term to check up on how the new administration and new members were fairing.

Overall it was rather a turgid affair, Cllrs were shown a propaganda piece telling them all how wonderful the Housing Department are (true in some areas, but woefully untrue in others such as sheltered housing) and the skateboarders, no doubt urged on by ex Cllr Paul Varnsverry turned up en masse to call for action from the new Council to match the promises made to them before the election.

I expect (as we always said) slight differences of opinion on this one. It is true that £250,000 has been set aside in the capital programme towards such a facility, but the last Lib Dem and the current Conservatives expect this to pay for consultants and design costs and kick start some further match funding towards the overall project, whilst it seems the skateboarders think that the land will be given free and that the £250,000 will cover all of the initial build cost? I told them before the last election when they last wheeled into the chamber that they should take a leaf from the council oppositions ABC mantra of   ACCEPT NOTHING, BELIEVE NO ONE AND  CHECK EVERYTHING

There were a number of lack lustre oral contributions mainly from the old guard (worrying as they should be showing the new Cllrs the way!) The Tory new boys and girls mostly sat on their hands, the Lib Dem's haven't got any new blood, (not a lot of old blood either) but special mention must go to Labour's Gareth Eales and Elizabeth Gowen, who both put in confident and challenging contributions in what was their first meeting, if the Labour Party has a future then I believe it will be well served by letting young Cllrs like Gareth and Elizabeth off the leash as often as possible.

However the high and low point of the evenings political muse must go to Cllr John Yates, the only person in the chamber to have served in the last and the new administration, Questioned by Labours Winston Strachan on a pet subject of mine from the past, RATS, Winston informed Yatesy that an increase in the rat population had become apparent in the town centre and asked him if the Council, who sacked its rat catcher in 2009 and closed the Pest Control department soon after, would reinstate both.

"Let me tell the Councillor that I know all about rats" Said Yatesy "I keep chickens and they are attracted to them" and then he made the most extraordinary comment which should have been the headline in today's Chronicle and Echo when he suggested "People should do as I do and go down B&Q and buy some strong rat poison"

So there we have it, caring conservatism, the Big Society, in the absence of a town rat catcher and a rise in the rat population as a result, Northampton's hard working council tax payers should become more involved in civic matters by spending our dwindling disposable income down at our local B&Q on rat poison to chuck around the Market Square to help NBC to banish the vermin!!

A shocking response to be given to both a disturbing and very important question by the opposition, unfortunately for us all, nobody came back at him and having easily drawn out the worst side of the new administration the combined opposition let him off the ropes.

We can be wait to see if this incredulous suggestion from Northampton Conservative Group does reach the pages of the Chron in days to come.

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

SHONA DEANS (MESSINGER) Born 29/10/1963 Died 19/06/2011

Another funeral today I am afraid, they say that the older you get the less weddings and the more funerals you attend, but what shook me today I guess is that we were saying goodbye to an old school friend Shona Deans.

So is this a new chapter in my life where those of the same age start to depart stage left?

Well hopefully not too quickly, Shona was only 47 and died of cancer and as such left this life far far too early, but I guess in any group of friends some will go too early and other will seem to be around forever and always manage to look younger than you do?

Shona was a real star, full of life and energy, always thinking of others whilst also enjoying her own life to the full. At school she was drooled over by the boys for her looks and respected by all because of her strong will and character.

Shona got me in to real trouble at School after I had bought the current Mrs Clarke three red roses for Valentines day, Shona wanted to know where hers were. I suggested to Carole that as I had given her three that she might want to share at least one of them with Shona. As I remember neither Carole nor Shona were too hot on that suggestion and it was not one of my more better diplomatic inputs!

Carole finally relented, and a couple of weeks back took three red roses up to Shona in Cynthia Spencer, unfortunately, Shona was too ill for visitors on that day and passed away on the 19th.

Today at the funeral Shona's son Ross was a real credit to her as he calmly yet obviously emotionally told us all what a great job his mum had made of bringing him and his sister up as a single parent and how the lessons she had taught them would go on to help them both throughout their lives.

I believe Ross is only 19, but he has had to grow up very quickly since his mum was diagnosed, he was a rock today, and his mother would have been very proud of him and of her daughter who also helped to lead the mourners with an obvious love and pride for a good mother taken away from them way before it was her time to go.

Sleep well Shona XX

FIGHTING FOR PEACE

Luckily today's Trade Union action has passed with only minor scuffles breaking out in London as Anarchists, helpfully having dressed themselves up in all black so they could easily be identified, failed to get past police lines and cordons.

Unlike some peope I am happy to give my full unequivical support and soidatory for those taking industrial action. Why shouldn't they do so. There pay has been frozen for two years and now a sorry mixture of Tory, Lib and Labour muppets in parliament tell them that they need to pay a lot more each month for their pension which will be smaller than they were promised and that they cant retire until they are 66! Breach of contract Full Stop. And if Local Government cant afford it then they shouldn't have been so keen to take so many pension holidays in the 1990's or used their non paid contributions to offset council tax rises

The troubles however in Greece continue to escalate. But if I am allowed a slight giggle at what is a very worrying time, it is because of a classic live interview given yesterday lunchtime on Radio 4 by a Greek protester.

The unknown women was asked what she had witnessed following what seemed like a massive brawl on the streets outside of the Greek Parliament and she told the beebs reporter without any sense of irony:

"It was nothing much really, we are all peaceful protesters and we had found amongst us a man dressed all in black who was clearly there just to cause trouble, so we all decided to beat him up"

Fair enough I guess? who needs total pacifism whilst there are still just causes to be fought for? Trouble is from the shots I have seen the rioters are in black, the police are in black and many of the local muslim community wear black, so its not an easy call!

Still anarchists in Britain should beware!!


IT GETS DIRTIER AND DIRTIER

Some of you may remember this post:

http://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.com/search?q=dirty+little+secret

In it I outlined how thousands of tonnes of contaminated waste had allegedly been dumped onto Delapre Abbey in 2005 within the two giant earth bunds by a local contractor (Thomas Haulage) right under the noses of the Borough Council and the officers who were supposed to be monitoring the works.

Despite Northampton Borough Council having been given signed affidavits from both one of the Lorry Drivers involved who tipped the contaminated waste and also another from one of those who had loaded it on the wagons, they had still failed in their statutory duty to take proper legal action to bring the polluter to justice and to make them pay for the clear up of the site. Because unless they do it will be and you who picks up the bill in the long run through our council tax

I also raised this matter in the council chamber on several occasions only to repeatedly hear from the then Liberal Democrat Administration that there was no contamination!

So I was interested to read in Saturdays Chronicle and Echo that the same company has just been fined £27,500 for dumping more illegal waste (10,000 Tonnes) into a lake at Billing Aquadrome last year! This action was taken by the Environment Agency, well done to them. But what about Delapre Abbey?

In addition I recently got sent anonymously some photos of the said waste in situ, and I have asked for more!

The continued failure by the Council to take any action, despite the overwhelming and growing evidence pointing to an even bigger crime having been committed at Delapre Abbey suggests that they are either Spineless, Gutless cowards unwilling to tackle the polluters and to make them pay, or even worse it suggests they may have something themselves to cover up regarding this whole sorry affair?

Either way I think a new Conservative Administration should take the opportunity afforded to them in being newly elected to make a statement declaring their intentions.

As I have said before this one will not got away!! No matter how deep some people want to bury it.

TOPICAL SHORTS 2

Just an update on a few "what's been happenings" in  downtown Nampton over the last few days and weeks:

ANN FRANK AWARDS

I was humbled on Saturday in receiving an Ann Frank Award from Northampton Youth Forum, the awards recognise young people who have achieved great things and also educators and community activists who have supported young people in their lives. I was delighted to receive the award for my work both as Cllr and MP for supporting young people through my actions and also in my role at NTFC in supporting disabled youngsters and others through sport. I told the young people present at the award presentation at Northampton Carnival that they shouldn't make a habit of giving awards out to politicians as usually it us that cause most of their problems not resolve them. My congratulations also go out to the other recipients including Dostiyo for their work with Asian girls and also my partner in political crime Ann Timson for showing an example to young people through her brave intervention in that infamous smash and grab robbery last year!

IT'S HIM ALRIGHT

An anonymous poster to this site was very upset at the picture of "Dave" (below) looking all glum and suggested that it was certainly not the Prime Minister at all? Well yes it was I am afraid. It was taken after his election defeat in North East Leicestershire in 1997. It also seems that there are a large number of less than flattering shots of the PM doing the rounds, most provided to the press by his ex chums at Bullingdon and beyond. The shot included in this post is just one of many many more that we will need to get used to seeing even if we don't want to believe it is the PM. I think this pic is very "Beckhamesque" as  "Dave" sports a very fashionable male sarong, but somehow footballers seem better able to carry off  this look than politicians can. But at least it shows that the great man is just as capable of making a dick of himself as the rest of us.

SPECIAL AGENT

News reaches me of alleged unfortunate election irregularities by at least 4 successful Cllrs in this May's Borough Council Elections being investigated either internally by their party and/or by Inspector Knacker of Campbell Square. Some of these investigations may be as a result of harmless or  genuine errors, one reported to me by the BNP was not even of the candidates making as NBC show they are just as capable of making gaffs as the parties are. Another it seems involves alleged fraudulent signatures being placed on candidate  nomination forms and if true is far more serious, and of course if found to be proved could inevitably lead to a by election. The most serious accusations though that have come to my ears involves the age old time practice of  "Postal Vote Farming" where candidates sign up willing voters on the doorstep or in their homes and process their postal votes for them when they arrive!! One potential victim told me he told the candidate where to go and said he would cast his own vote at the Polling Station, but the candidate in question it seems still took away his mums, his sisters and his dads votes, his dad's Postal Vote return had only just been filled in and freshly signed that very minute, even though his father wasn't even home at the time! And to think me and John Dickie were reported and questioned by plod for simply leaving an imprint of of a letter in the 2007 election! It would be improper to name the candidates or their parties but I can't help but think that a lot of the above wouldn't have happened if the Party Agent was on the ball, or even present during the election!

STARSHIP ENTERPRISE

There is a certain irony about the fact that only Malcolm Mildren and myself (both now ex NBC  Cllrs) at the time challenged NBC's deal with Enterprise to take over street scene and refuse collection services from the in house team at the Council in what could be a 14 year contract. The Lib Dem's were very proud to be pictured signing the deal and boasting about it to all and sundrie in their election material, The incoming Tory Party also then" resigned" the deal in front of the Chron's cameras to suggest it was in fact all their doing. And yet despite us warning them both on many occasion of problems galore just up the road in Peterborough where the same company were running into difficulties with their Council, no one was willing to listen. The leader of the Labour Party even said at the time that she was happy with the contract as long as the colour of the wheelie bins didn't change and that the garden collections continued. Well now that hiccups are turning into coughs and rubbish still lies waiting for collection and recyclables sorted by householders at source lie mixed together in heaps at the Council yard, we are both waiting to see if the incoming Tory's will eventually  blame the Lib Dem's for signing the deal before the election or if the outgoing Lib Dem's will blame the Tory's for  signing it after?

ELECTION PLEDGES IT SEEMS HAVE A BEST BEFORE DATE

The Liberal Democrats both locally and nationally before the last election warned us of the proposed Tory VAT Tax bombshell. Nick Clegg during the Leaders debates clearly declared on the 8th of April 2010 that:

"We will not have to raise VAT to deliver our promises...Let me repeat that: Our plans do not require a rise in VAT"

Local Lib Dem's including parliamentary candidates Cllr Andrew Simpson, Cllr Paul Varnsverry, Cllr Scott Collins and Cllr Portio Wilson all campaigned throughout the election against the rise and accused the Tories of introducing a regressive tax which would hit the poorest the hardest.

So you would have thought it would have been easy for the same Local Lib Dem's at the town hall to back a Labour Group motion tabled at last nights Council meeting which read as follows:

“This Council expresses its concern at the increase in VAT announced in the budget on June 22^nd 2010, which will have a disproportionate impact on the poorest families in Northampton.

The Council recognises the Government’s need to bring down the borrowing deficit and the need to make decisions over tax and spending. The Council notes however that this should be done in as fair a manner as possible, should not have a disproportionate impact on the poor and should not risk economic recovery.

The Council further notes the report produced by the Institute of Fiscal Studies which says that the increase in VAT will impact those on low incomes the hardest and this includes pensioners living on savings.

This Council instructs the Leader of the Borough Council to write to the Deputy Prime Minister asking him to reconsider the VAT increase to 20%.”

But no they voted en-block against it !!

"The economy is in a worse state than we thought" they cried"

Not true as a) All the opposition parties are shown the red book way before the election and b) The deficit was expected on polling day to be £178bn but bettered to be only around £155bn post election a £23bn boost for the coalition government before a single cut has been made!!

"Its needed to balance the books" they bleated

Not true as the Institute of Financial Studies director Robert Chote pointed out to Mr Clegg when he told him that "the Coalition would not have had to raise VAT if Mr Osborne had not also cut other taxes, such as those on the profits of corporations".

"It won't be all that bad as inflation will fall" they squirmed


Not true as Sally Copley, head of policy at Save the Children UK recently outlined when she informed Parliament that "A 20% VAT rate means the poorest parents will see their VAT bill rise to at least £1,600 a year — affecting already overstretched budgets — and driving some into the arms of loan sharks," Copley said. "We mustn't forget that 3.9 million children are still living in poverty in this country — and that's just not good enough. The very poorest didn't create the financial crisis — so the most vulnerable in society should not be asked to pay the price for clearing it up."

I therefore last night pleaded with them to vote with their consciences and to stay true to their individual principles. I asked them to think about how shallow they will look if having campaigned against the rise in VAT before the election that they now are seen to be backing it.

All though to no avail, as en masse the Lib Dem with heads held low succumbed to the whip and the yellow sheep were safely shepherded in to back their Tory colleagues in voting the motion down

But one comment from Cllr John Yates summed up the whole sorry affair for me and reminded me why I struggle to trust any of the parties these days. His response to the debate speaks not only for itself but sums up the state we are now in. He said

"I don't see what all the fuss is about, all the political parties promise to do one thing before the election and then afterwards they have to think again and then change their minds and have to do something else, it's natural"

Indeed John indeed.

MEETINGS: THE PRACTICAL ALTERNATIVE TO DOING ANYTHING USEFUL

I am not quite sure just who is going to be best served by the planned public meeting 25th March on the future of the town centre and outer town planning? Certainly the Liberal Democrats and the Local Tory Party will be most happy as they seem to be controlling both the agenda and the crowd!

10 minutes for Slugger Church 10 minutes for Binners and just three minutes from any of those in the audience lucky to get noticed?

This isn’t going to be a public debate, it will be a manipulated political theatre production planned and acted out by a very select few, indifferent to the views of the many and then acted out in front of a selected audience carefully picked out and invited mainly by the two parties themselves. It reminds me of the Alan Van De Hiede quote "Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent activity that corporations and other organizations habitually engage in only because they cannot actually masturbate"

And so it was that on Friday night I received emails from the Lib Dems and the Tories informing me that of the 300 tickets available one is to be reserved for each councillor (47) which leaves at most 253 available to the public to be booked only via email at 2 tickets per applicant. Therefore if each party (and they had a head start on everyone else) simply gets 63 of their supporters to order their allowed 2 tickets each pronto then we will have a full house of friendly picked listeners.

Needless to say the email trees were out in full bloom Friday evening and I would be interested to find out exactly how many tickets were left for Joe Public by the time the event was advertised in the Chronicle and Echo the next day.

I spoke to Brian Binley on Saturday and he agreed with me on the unsuitability of the process, and we agreed that if the Council want a real debate, then let’s have all sides of the Council at the top table and let’s have an open door and an open mind policy.

From a personal point if view having discussed this very topic for the 6 years with 5 different Council Leaders 4 different Chief Executives and 3 different politically coloured administrations I too have more than a bit to say!

Let’s have a balanced panel asked and be forced to answer some real difficult questions on the future of our town rather than just giving the Tories and Lib Dems another pre election platform for their own previously failed ideas.

I said recently in the Council chamber that the Planning Process should never be used for political purpose, and I also warned of the dangers of any politician becoming too entrenched in a particular view to the exclusion of any compromise and to the detriment of the town.

And just imagine what we could achieve if instead of a having a Town Centre First policy or a Sports Club First Policy, we had instead a NORTHAMPTON first policy where all potential development was carefully considered on balance and taking into account all of the issues involved, including the future of the town centre, impact on employment, the need for improved leisure provision and a planning policy that was owned and delivered by the Council rather than a blueprint handed down from Whitehall.

Why Local Democracy has lost its way

With Strawberry Hall (Northamptonshire County Council to those who don't buy into the Chief Executives psychobabble ) planning cuts in expenditure of £100m over the next four years. And other local Councils at Borough/District level planning "service reductions" to match, local councillors including yours truly will be in for a busy time defending or opposing budget plans and finding alternative ways of delivering ever deteriorating public services.

So concerned is County Council leader Squire Jim Harker at the task ahead of him that he recently launched his own psychobabble based report to rival even his own chief executives tomes (she probably wrote it for him) In the report he declares that instead of slashing services to children the disabled and the elderly and removing funding from other departments and outside bodies like CAN, as well as scrapping county music service and meals on wheels, and taking away school to home transport he is simply "Helping you to help yourself" The report told us that we needed to "tackle the wicked decisions" and use "tough love" to help people understand that by delivering no services to them at all we are really doing them all a big favour by boosting their self reliance!

It reminds me of the excuses given to me years ago by over sadistic school teachers when they told me "This will hurt me a lot more than it does you Clarke" whilst trying to convince me that by whacking a bamboo cane across the palm of my hand repeatedly, that they were not abusing me, but simply "building my character"
Well it was B*llocks then and its B*llocks now, if people are going to do something that is clearly wrong, but to which they have convinced themselves because of their warped sense of social responsibility that there is a good reason for them doing it, then they should at least have the courage to admit to it rather than pretending its all for our own good.

Meanwhile over the road the Tory opposition on the Borough Council in Northampton will be fighting the cuts imposed on us in the Boroughs budget by the ruling Liberal Democrat Council, before many of the same Councillorsfrom all party's cross that same road over to George Row to change seats so that the Liberal Democrat opposition on the County Council can attack the Tory Administration for doing everything they had just said so unpalatable in the other place. Labour Councillors will of course stay silent in the knowledge that it is there governments national spending cuts that the other two party's are implementing under a veil of supposed local democratic rule

Its the politics of the madhouse, but at the end of the day will it make much difference what anyone says, whilst we have a Labour Government content on slashing public funding and an ever hopeful Tory Government in waiting, trying desperately to out cut them?

Local voters expect their local Councillors to be in control of local spending. not for it to be left to some Mandarin in Whitehall, and yet if they all really knew the whole truth on who really takes the decisions then I believe many would give up on local democracy all together.

A recent study by the "Total Place Programme" (more government money wasted on consultants) tells us that so much of our local decision making is now controlled and financed by Quango's and faceless unaccountable regional boards and local partnerships, and that of every £7,000 per person spent on local services such as health, education and care for the elderly, only £350 of that is controlled by local politicians!

Before you rush for your calculators that means that those you vote for at Borough and County Council elections control between them only 5% of the money spent on all services in the locality.

In addition all Councils of all colours have plans to further "delegate"the responsibility for ever increasing amounts of council decisions to their officers or at the very least to "Cabinet Members" upon their advice.

It is therefore no wonder that even the Local Government Association has now woken up to real concerns over the lack of control local people have over how money is spent in their area.

In a speech to a Total Place summit, David Parsons, chairman of the LGA Improvement Board, said: “It is absurd that people do not have a bigger say over how their taxes are spent in the area they live.

“During these tough times democratically elected councils have a vital role to play if people are to get the local services they demand and deserve.”

Preliminary findings revealed that in one area as many as 49 different organisations spend taxpayers’ money. These include the health service, the police, the probation service and benefits agencies.

A LGA poll carried out in September found that nearly two thirds of people (65%) think local councillors should make decisions about cuts to spending in their area. Just one in ten thinks MPs should make those decisions and fewer than three per cent would prefer officials in quangos to decide.

Our local governance has never been more toothless, I sometimes wonder myself why I bother to stand for election, the reason I do of course though is that whilst the quangos and boards and corporations are more than happy to spend your money, and spend increasing amounts of it on senior management posts and consultants, they have little appetite for representing the public or helping to resolve the problems they often cause to the populous they should serve.

So as individual councillors some of us at least continue to try and fight the good fight, and defend the rights of local voters and service users, but at least personally I no longer have to do so whilst being held back by a party political system which not only protects the above power grabbing agenda but in many cases actually supports it and proposes it.

Increasingly it will be Community Groups and Residents Councils and Service Users and Parents (as they did last week) who will take on the powers that be (and the powers that want to be) at the Town and County Halls but hopefully there will be increasing numbers of Independent Councillors around to lend them some support.

So bring on the budget season and let battle commence.

Brave? Stupid? or Simply Arrogant?

Yesterdays County Council cabinet meeting may go down in history as the day on which Joe Public finally gave up on Northamptonshire County Council ever being able to describe itself as an accountable and listening Local Council.

The decision by seven cabinet members, none of whom represent wards in Northampton to close Weston Favell Secondary and gift it and the surrounding land to the United Learning Trust to be run as an academy had done irreparable damage to the Councils reputation and it is difficult to see just what their motive was.

Rallying against the plans were the pupils, the teachers, the schools governors, the parents, the town's two MP's, the prospective parliamentary candidates from all other party's and none, the entire Borough Council and Conservative County Councillors from within their own group who knew that what they were doing was not only wrong, but that it was also an act of political suicide on behalf of the Conservative Party given the 97% opposition to their plans.

At the meeting 24 members of the public, spoke passionately against the plans, and opposition councillors including myself pleaded with the Squirocracy to have a change of heart and not undermine the community's interests.

References were made to the fact that if the meeting were a boxing match then the referee would have stopped the contest way before its conclusion, but it would seem not one of the punches thrown from the opponents of the plan landed on the 7 Tory members who took the decision. I also pointed out to those in the chamber that boxing matches are about brute force, but Council chambers should more about reasoned argument than simply the Council imposing its will on the community just because they can.

The public however won the day on reasoned argument as well, as speaker after speaker pointed out that the school had met all the targets it had been set and was well on the road to recovery and beyond without having to risk that turnaround with further change and upheaval. But still the recalcitrant seven dug their heels even further into the County Hall carpet.

The outcome was a victory for the anarchists who tell us that no governance is worth defending and it was terminal defeat for local democracy and the future of Education in our town.

I felt powerless in trying to explain to young people who had campaigned to protect the stability of their schooling that the first time they had tasted democracy it had poisoned them. What hope have we ever got of convincing young people that politics really matters when they see such blatant abuse of power being exercised by the Tory elite on the County Council.

And what message does it send to our young people when we try to tell them that Bully's never prosper? These seven "Stalinist's" (as their one of their own Conservative MP's referred to them in today's press) used their block vote to impose their political will on all present and on the general populous as callously as a any bully taking dinner money away from the weak.

It was a lesson in how not to govern, a reminder that hidden under the friendly conservative mask of electoral niceties lies an ugly, rancid and fettered creature of unlistening and uncaring conservatism still waiting and willing to do the bidding of the privileged few at the expense of the needy majority.

After the meeting, opposition Councillors rightfully called in writing, as is allowed for in the constitution for the decision to be decided by motion at Full Council by way of having no confidence in the Cabinets actions and asking for the Secretary of State to refuse to yield to their plans.

So, seconds out, round two in January where no doubt even more people will want to speak and play their part in informing our local democratic processes, but will they listen this time? and if not is it because they are brave Tory's of the "not for turning" fraternity, or Stupid enough not to see a political own goal right before their eyes, or maybe its that they are simply so arrogant they care nothing for the views of the public and care nothing for the future of the children who will inevitably suffer as a result of their continued interference and political dogma?

Finally, a huge well done to all those who took the trouble to speak at the meeting, you were concise by necessity (unlike the 20 questions afforded to the director at the whim of Cabinet) you were competent in putting facts before the cabinet, (unlike the very one sided report placed in front of members) and you won the argument hand and mind over fist.

Its just a pity and an outrage that the seven members of cabinet didn't listen to a word you said.

The most common of all antagonisms arises from a man's taking a seat beside you on the train, a seat to which he is completely entitled.

And so it seems the same antagonism resides in the hearts and minds of Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative Leaders on Northampton Borough Council, but not with seats on trains, but seats on Council Committees.

With Cllrs Jean Hawkins, Malcolm Mildren and myself having formed a new Independent Group of three, the make up of the Council changed dramatically and the Lib Dem majority on the Council was reduced from 5 to just 1, and as a consequence the membership of all the Councils Committees needed to be rearranged to accommodate the new groups members.

A simple enough task you would think, but no such luck, I have witnessed in the past the Labour Group fighting over where I should sit in the Council Chamber as an Independent Councillor and also refusing to sit alongside me (and now I understand the Regional Party are asking NBC's Labour Cllrs to sign documents agreeing not to cooperate with me on the Council!)

So I should have known that getting agreement from all concerned as to our rights to sit on committees would always be fraught with difficulty, and so it seems it is.

We have been allocated 6 Committee places as is our right, but what committees we serve on is normally a matter of consultation between all party's. Not so on Britain's Most Undemocratic Council. Here the three leaders of the Lib Dem, Tory and Labour Party discussed and decided between themselves that they should keep hold of as much as they can and then allocated spare seats to the new group as they saw fit!

So no surprise then that instead of the Independents being represented on the 3 main Scrutiny Committees the three main parties tried to dictate that we sit on Committees such as "The Tree Panel" and "The Licencing Committee" Nothing wrong with the business of either of course, but in order to hold the Council fully to account Independents should be represented on all the main scrutiny committees the same as other party's on a proportional basis.

So what are they so scared of in denying us a voice? And what leads them to take a view that consultation through the "Usual Channels" is to be denied to those not in a Party? Ignorance? Indifference? Fear?

As a consequence my group has decided not to take up any committee places until their has been proper consultation. Instead we will attend all committees as we see fit and speak from the Public Gallery. We did so last Wednesday and opted to speak on every item on the Cabinet Agenda. No doubt we will do so again at the next and also find other ways of ensuring our voices are heard.

The three main party's must understand that by trying to play King Canute and holding back a swelling Independent tide that they are simply at risk of drowning a lot quicker.

Myself and my two fellow Independents on the Borough Council will not under any circumstances be party to dictatorial decision making, and old boy network tactics on Council.

Its high time though that the other party's grew up and accepted that we are here to stay.

Unity and Unitary are the only saviours for local government

The combined energies of our local Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Conservative Councillors at both the Guildhall and at County Hall are being consumed almost entirely by trying to convince an ever shrinking public interest that the other two Party's are both unfit to govern and that only they alone can save us all from the very deep trouble we find ourselves in.

Meanwhile both the Tory County and Lib Dem Borough administrations continue to blame the Labour Party for the mess both Councils are now in despite the red flags coming down at the Town Hall in 2003 and at County Hall in 2005. All normal knock about stuff in the body politic I hear people say? But Northampton at present can't afford such luxury

Of course the outdated and remote two tier local government system that we continue to suffer under, allows this to happen often in a complete mirror reversed image. In other words at the Town Hall the local Tories berate the hapless Lib Dem's for their failures in local office often within hours of them having crossed the road and changed roles from where a Lib Dem opposition at County Hall has distributed the blame onto the ruling Conservative Party for sometimes the very same issues.

As an example, a couple of weeks ago I challenged Richard Church (Lib Dem) at the Town Hall over the state of the newly laid York Stone paving slabs in Gold Street which are now covered in grease and chewing gum because no one bothered to seal the freshly laid slabs. Richard (having waxed lyrical in his portfolio holders report as to the schemes success) told me it was nothing to do with the Borough Council and it was the County Council who had let the contract. Surprise Surprise when I tackled Jim Harker (Tory) last Thursday at a County Council meeting he defelected the blame and reminded me that the work was a partnership between NCC, NBC and WNDC. Since I have been informed privately that the County Council tried to tell the Borough Council officers that York Stone was the wrong choice but they just wouldn't listen.

All trivial stuff really but the same pandemic of BSE (Blame Someone Else) decease is evident on much more important issues, such as the drawing up a Joint Core Strategy (strategic plan) between themselves collectively before consulting on it with themselves and all then saying what an appalling hash they have all made of it! Talk about politicians having a penchanc'e for self flagellation!

So we now unbelievably have a strategic plan proposed by the West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit (NBC, NCC, SNC and DDC) which has been rejected fully by both SNC and NCC with NBC and DDC both choosing to be self critical without having the full courage of their conviction to reject it outright.

So who in all of this has got it right about who is wrong? Well all of them really, you see all have failed to govern and all have seemingly contributed in their own special ways to the state our Town and County are now in. Of course John Prescott must also shoulder some of the blame as the Local Government Act 2000 which brought in "Cabinet" style local government has probably damaged our democracy even more than the local politicians who have administered it.

I must also share part of the responsibility having voted for thesame act in Parliament as an MP but little did we know then that the egotistic and the power hungry would turn an opportunity to decentralise the decision making process into an excuse to concentrate all power and decision making at the centre and within the executive without proper scrutiny.

Ruling administrations of all colours across the whole country have simply grabbed power for themselves whilst paying lip service to any proper scrutiny and the need to keep the whole council engaged. Chief Executives are equally guilty of hoarding decision making powers and ever delegating more and more decisions to their chief officer colleagues, leaving many Councillors both in opposition and within the ruling party (but outside the cabinet) wondering why they bothered to stand for council in the first place.

But for Northampton and indeed the County to recover and strengthen its democratic accountability we need all of the parties to find common ground over the urgent need to reorder our local governance. We need Northampton to be in control of it's destiny again through the establishment of a Unitary (one tier) council based on its own agreed boundary. Other Unitary authorities for either the remaining County or perhaps more plausible North Northamptonshire and South Northamptionshire also need establishing.

But we also need to act quickly, collectively and locally and fight for our right to govern now before an even worse fate is imposed down on us from on high. Having suffered for 5 years from the quangocratic ramblings of West Northamptonshire Development Corporation do we really want to risk any new government whatever its colour imposing on us a West Northamptonshire Unitary Council?

Some will say we need to prove our competence to govern first before we can demand any new structure, I say that it is our very structure which prevents us from delivering that competence in the first place. Where else in the UK can we find a population of 200,000 plus people unable to vote for one council to govern and deliver all of its services? Where else in the UK will we find bi annual elections electing different Councillors and political administrations to different councils who then spend most of their time opposing each other and most of their tenure wasting their energy on party politics instead of providing public service.

Perhaps what we really need is less party politics altogether? and an electorate willing to elect more Independents who will put the needs of the town before the needs of their party. Perhaps we also need a few brave souls from within the party's to have the courage and foresight to say the Party is over and become Independent's themselves?

We need somehow to find common ground and purpose, to achieve unity in Local Government to achieve Unitary Local Government and if the party system can't deliver that or prefers to continue with its backbiting and blame agendas then they should stand aside.