More waste by Lib Dems? This time at Full Council

Full Council is an important part of democracy at the council. It is taken very seriously by most members. A lot of officer time is used to service and support the meeting so one would have thought that all members, from all political groups would use the time wisely.

Not so it seems. I’m not sure why the Lib Dems raised four motions all of which were covered elsewhere. Either they were lazy in their research or have nothing else to say – either way it was not a great day for the council. The motions were:

• A motion on Press and PR expenditure which asks for a premature decision on a review that is currently taking place as part of the budget process. They knew the review was underway – what a waste.

• A motion challenging the minutes of the last Full Council meeting when the first thing they did at the start of the meeting was to agree the previous minutes. Worse there was then some attempt to build in more process, involving more officer time, to make up for the fact that they don’t want to check the minutes themselves for accuracy. What a waste.

• A motion asking for online publication of Declarations of Interest – which they could have got just by dropping someone a quick email (which we supported but added the inclusion of CRB checking information). What a waste.

• Yet another motion about Academies which, in short, accused heads of misleading Governors and parents by omitting information.  It was yet another attempt by Cllr Downes to get Cambridgeshire to oppose all things academy, basically covering ground that was covered at the last Council Meeting. The motion also showed a remarkable distrust in Nick Clegg’s comments with regard to fairness recently.  (We amended this to tone the language down, to recognise the hard work heads and Officers were doing on Academies and to recognise the commitment to fairness in education that Nick Clegg has made).

With all the considerable challenges facing the council how amazing the Lib Dems seem to be putting their efforts into wasteful activities that don’t benefit the electorate one jot.

New chair of school governors group forming

As the county councillor for Fulbourn division I have a number of primary schools to look after including Fulbourn, Great Wilbraham, Teversham and Fen Ditton ( where I am  a governor).

There is considerable change proposed for schools within the south of the city which are likely to have an impact on all of these village schools. The distinction between schools in the city and those just outside is important as it affects targets, funding and capacity.

Head teachers join together to discuss these matters but up to now there has not been  a forum for the chair of governors. Given they have increasing powers and responsibilities it seemed sensible to get them together to share best practice and to encourage and support each other.

It will also be an efficient forum to lobby me to help affect positive change.

Our first meeting is soon.

Lib Dems waste officers time at County Council

Google alerts are interesting. They pick up activity from individuals that would otherwise go unnoticed. I was alerted to a Freedom Of Information request made by Andy Pellow, a resident of Cambridge. He was asking some questions on the library service review. So what you might say.

Well, Andy Pellow is also known as County Councillor Pellow, a member of our Lib Dem opposition.

Clearly Councillor Pellow has every right to issue such a request but it seemed very odd to use the FOI route as he could very easily ask officers directly for such information. On top  of that on the 23^rd Sept the Safer and Stronger scrutiny committee looked at the library service review in some depth. Cllr Pellew’s party was well represented and gave robust scrutiny and were clearly engaging with the subject.

So I asked myself “what possible reason could there be for councilor Pellew to make an expensive FOI request and take up the valuable time of the Information Governance Office for no reason.“

Given Councillor Pellew would not, I am sure, deliberately want to waste money nor use the FOI publicity for political gain during these difficult times I was left thinking he must not know how to ask officers for information and that could only be because the induction training might not have covered this issue effectively.

I was able, at full council on the 19th Oct ask that the member training be reviewed to ensure that others don’t fall into such a wasteful trap again. I include the FOI request below for completeness:

Andy Pellew

 5 October 2010

Dear Cambridgeshire County Council,

 Following on from the Library Service Review update at the Cabinet
meeting on the 28th September (details available;
http://goo.gl/0L88 ).

Can you please provide the figures mentioned in Appendix A: LIBRARY
 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY: EXPLANATION, CRITERIA AND BANDINGS of the
 document attached to the Cabinet agenda (100928-6) for libraries 
across Cambridgeshire. 

I’m particularly interested in libraries in Cambridge City and the 
immediately surrounding area.

 Yours faithfully, 

Andy Pellew

 

Every child deserves a family – can you help

This news article is on the Cambs County Council website which is worth a read and support.

A campaign continues next week to encourage more people in Cambridgeshire to find a place in their homes for a child needing secure and loving parents.

Adoption Week runs from November 1 – 7 and Cambridgeshire has a number of children who for variety of different reasons are not able to be brought up by their birth families.

For these children the County Council’s Adoption team needs adoptive parents who can help them develop their personality, encourage their talents and provide them with the opportunity to excel in life.

Anyone can apply to become an adoptive parent regardless of sexuality or relationship status, but applicants need to be over 21 years old, honest, healthy and robust enough to take on the parenting of a child.

Adoption is a lifelong commitment and the child would become a part of the family. The parent would become the legal parent of the child after an Adoption Order has been granted.

The County Council also knows that children do better when brought up in families that have a similar cultural background and heritage. They therefore encourage adopters from a diverse variety of backgrounds and cultures.

In Cambridgeshire there are a number of children who have been waiting for adoptive parents longer than others. This includes children who are older, have a disability or some degree of physical or emotional needs.

The local authority also has a number of children that have a strong bond with their brothers and sisters and may need to be placed with them or at least be able to maintain contact with them throughout their lives. Some of the children also have additional needs and uncertainties due to past experiences and poor starts in life.

The Adoption team is therefore looking for families that are willing to offer the best for the Cambridgeshire children – anyone who is patient, flexible and energetic.

Anyone wishing to find out more about adoption should contact the Cambridgeshire County Council Adoption Team on freephone 0800 052 0078 or visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

 

Local Government Shared Services – board appointment

At the full council meeting on the 19th October 2010 I was confirmed as a board member of the shared services project with Northamptonshire.

This is an exciting piece of work bringing together the back office functions of both the county councils. Sharing these services will produce significant savings and with a fair wind actually improve services.

Working with both county councils will be a challenge but one that has the potential to reap rewards. Getting effective working between two different organisations will require a mix of diplomacy, strategic thinking and above all a healthy dose of common sense. I hope I have enough of all three.

Audit and Accounts Committee – Appointment

At full council on the 19th October 2010, I was appointed to the audit and accounts committee. This committee ensures that the finances of the council are in good order. Given the significant amount of money under the control of the county this is important.

Cabinet Assistant

It was with great pleasure that I recently accepted the new role of cabinet assistant to the two cabinet members responsible for Corporate Services. This is an exciting, if unpaid, opportunity to significantly increase my experience. The other side of the coin is that Jill Tuck, the leader of the council, wants to use my business experience to help guide the council through these difficult times.

I am expecting this to be lots of hard work but rewarding. Of course, the responsibilities for each portfollio remains strictly with the cabinet member, I am just their to help.

Fen Ditton October parish report

Financial situation facing the County: This month the Coalition Government will be announcing details of its Comprehensive Spending Review for Local authorities. The Chancellor will be making a speech to Parliament on the 20^th October 2010. We expect that by mid November information will become available setting out in more detail how much funding Cambridgeshire will have for providing services in the next three years.

Public services are facing an unprecedented period of retraction as Government funding is cut back as a result of general economic conditions, the need to resolve the deficit and political decisions on the role and scale of the state. Based on Treasury estimates, the County Council is currently planning for a potential reduction in its funding from Government of up to 40 per cent in real terms over the coming five years.  Our ability to raise council tax rates and charges will also be severely limited.

This means that, in order to place the council on a sustainable footing for the future, the way services are currently delivered will have to be completely and radically transformed. In the future, the County Council will become both a commissioner as well as provider of services, working increasingly in collaboration with other public services, the community, and the private and voluntary sectors. Some services will end, and others become more targeted to those in the greatest need.

Clearly this means that it is unlikely that any decisions, on any requests for additional spending, will be made before we know what we have to spend. Whilst this may be frustrating it is the right approach.

Libraries: I chair the Safer and Stronger Communities scrutiny committee which recently looked into the library review process. I was particularly pleased that the county is looking at a range of options to meet the savings targets and that library closures would be seen as a last resort. These include getting more volunteer involvement, working more closely with other counties, management structure changes and possibly as a last resort the conversion of some libraries into library access points as we have in Fulbourn. No single measure will give the savings of over £2 million in the next three years so a joined up radical rethink of the service is required.

Schools: There are a number of things going on that might affect our primary schools, including a new school in the city, additional reception classes at city primary schools and of course managing the impact of the economic downturn. There currently exists a “Heads” forum and I am promoting the creation of a chair of governors equivalent. This might enable co-ordinated responses on matters that affect all the schools as well as a way of sharing best practice. Antony Sharpe (Chair of Governors Teversham primary school) has agreed to make contact with the other chairs of governors to see if this is feasible.

Cabinet Assistants: Four new posts of cabinet assistants have been created to help cabinet members. I have been asked to assist the cabinet members for corporate services. This does not cost the council anything and has no allowance attached. It will make me very busy.