NYCC Cllr.K.Barnes

2011-12-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

Whither Europe Now?

I am a confirmed European. The world is too small for the UK to be isolated. Our most important trading partners are in the European Union - a union that has been at peace for all the 66 years of my life. If you don't think that matters go to Berlin, especially East Berlin which is now vibrant, and visit the Russian military cemetery where thousands upon thousands of Russian soldiers were laid to rest - then remember the thousands upon thousands of other Europeans who perished in the second world war.

But the European Union surely needs reform - too much bureaucracy; too much petty legislation; too little connection to you and me, the ordinary citizen; too many politicians with inflated egos; too little understanding of each other's cultures, cultures that should be nurtured and preserved rather than standardised and subsumed in the greater Europe project. And, of course, not enough budget responsibility in some parts. For those of us who believe in compromise in government, our own coalition government seems to be working, albeit in a harsh economic climate. So why didn't the same spirit prevail at the Eurosummit where David Cameron exercised a veto? Was he a poor negotiator, or did the Merkozy axis refuse to compromise?

Huge Council underspend

2011-07-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Council meeting 20/7/11

I am intrigued and somewhat taken aback by the financial outturn figures for 2010-11.

I think the main directorates are to be congratulated:

* Adult & Community Services has come in to within 0.3% of budget, a huge budget of £132m

* Business & Environmental Services is within 0.6% of budget

* Childre & Young People's Services within 1.5% of budget

All within any sensible margin of error.

But then:

Chief Exec’s 8% underspend

Finance and Central Services 17% underspend

Corporate Miscellaneous 23% underspend and that with a curious contingency, obviously unspent of 1.3m

So we end up with an overall underspend of £16.5m. There has clearly been some squirreling away here, notwithstanding government cutbacks.

Oh, and then there is the Area Based Grant (ABG) with another £1.85m underspend, and of course a capital carry forward, i.e underspend against the original plan of £7.8m

If I was one of our dedicated voluntary organisations, which have been squeezed until the pips squeek, or indeed one of those irate library campaign members I would be, to say the least, gobsmacked.

As a result of these underspends the county reserves have increased to £106m from £84m last year. I accept the oft-repeated mantra that reserves can only be used once and therefore shouldn’t be used for revenue expenditure. However, there must be a host of opportunities for one-off expenditure that would alleviate the present economic climate.

And there is a limit to which one can argue that the reserves have to be so large because they cover lots of different areas of expenditure – they are not all going to fail together; insurance companies don’t carry enough cash for all their customers to claim at once. They take a more realistic view and so should the county council.

Vote For Keith Barnes and YES to AV on May 5th

2011-04-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

I live in Stray Ward and have represented the area at North Yorkshire County Council since 2005. I am now asking for your vote in the elections to Harrogate Borough Council on May 5th.

At County Hall I chair the Young People’s Scrutiny Committee. This committee reviews and challenges the County Executive on all aspects of Education and Children’s Social Services. I recently resigned as a Governor at Harrogate Grammar School , believing that the school’s decision to become an Academy was unnecessary and reduced funds available to other local schools.

Other activities include:
 Getting action on issues raised by constituents, whether it be bus stops, pot holes, untreated winter roads, excessive parking, ‘puddles’ outside shops, recycling, health visitor workloads, library use etc.
 Campaigning to improve the county council’s support for community transport, especially The Little Red Bus – a lifeline for many.
 Chairing a cross-party group tasked with reviewing the proposed waste treatment plant for the county. Having studied loads of evidence I voted in favour of the plant, believing it to be in the best interests of the people of North Yorkshire.
 Trustee of Essential Needs, the Furniture Re-Use Store behind Leeds Road shops.
 Honorary Treasurer of a Local Housing Association, actively promoting much-needed affordable housing.

We are lucky to live in such an attractive area and it has been a privilege to represent local people, all local people – but let’s not forget there are still local problems and major issues facing the town, the county and beyond. Nationally I am cautiously optimistic about the coalition government. 64% of the Lib Dem manifesto is in the coalition agreement, but please don’t forget that coalition means compromise, sometimes painful ones. Currently I have concerns about the proposed, unnecessary health service reforms and am supporting my parliamentary colleagues in their proposed modifications.

Locally I have registered an objection to the proposed new pharmacy on Leeds Road and am pleased the proposal for a new Sainsbury's nearby has been rejected.

Please give me your support on May 5th ……. And vote Yes for a fairer, more representative voting system, in the referendum on the same day.

2011-04-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

The Liberal Democrats are having a remarkable influence in government. 64% of our manifesto is in the coalition programme, and much of it is currently being implemented. If you would like a copy of the 23 page document detailing our influence please let me know. Coalition inevitably means compromise so there are some things we wanted to do but cannot (yet?) achieve. Likewise, of course, there are things the Conservatives would have done had they been on their own in government - things that we oppose, and will continue to oppose. And to make the coalition work, both partners are having to accept things that, on there own , they would reject. Being in government has involved a steep learning curve. The media has been quick to criticise the Libdem role and slow to recognise our achievements. Having said that, the powers that be within the party do recognise the need to improve communication with our supporters and the electorate at large. We have to accept that we are the junior partner and did not win the election - that makes the achievements so far all the more remarkable. And finally, rest assured that in Harrogate and Knaresborough there is no coalition - the Tories are still our political opponents and we are fighting hard to beat them in this May's election. I hope many readers of this blog will help us do so.

The Alternative Vote System is Fairer

2011-02-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

Contrary to the View from Westminster (Harrogate Advertiser 28/1/11), under the Alternative Vote (AV) system every vote counts and is much fairer than First Past The Post (FPTP).

It is wrong to suggest that under AV some voters have multiple votes counted, and that the principle of one-man-one-vote is broken. Under FPTP, millions of people across the country know their vote is wasted if they do not support the top two parties in their area – and in very safe seats the same applies if they don’t support the top party.

Under the much fairer and more democratic AV system, if someone’s first choice candidate comes last, that first choice vote is rejected and his or her second preference is used, and so on. This way everyone gets to contribute to the top two candidates’ votes, giving the winning candidate support, and therefore a mandate, from more than half the electorate, unlike the present FPTP system where candidates, and even governments, get elected with very much less than 50% support, leaving millions feeling disenfranchised.

In simply asking voters to rank candidates in order of preference AV is not complicated and it is used universally for all sorts of elections in many organisations. For example, political parties use the AV system to elect their own leaders!

Finally it is true that the Alternative Vote is not a fully proportional system, though a step in that direction. It is a strange argument to stress that AV is not proportional and then go on to express a preference for First Past The Post, which is completely non-proportional.

Waste plant is the best way forward

2010-12-21T14:27:00.000-08:00

At the recent Council meeting I voted in favour of the Amey Cespa proposal, a proposal that includes Mechanical Separation, Anaerobic Digestion and Incineration. I respect those who did not. Across our constituency I do not detect a large public view one way or the other.

As a councillor my role is to take an objective view for the good of the community. After 13 half-day meetings, chairing a small working party, I think I have a better grasp of the issues than most, certainly better than most of those who signed the petitions on very little evidence. The working party report is on the North Yorkshire County Council website along with an officers' report listed for last week's council meeting.

A few key points in brief:

I am very much in favour of more recycling, re-use and less wasteful use of resources in the first place. But there will always be some residual waste. Mechanical separation and anaerobic digestion while useful, and part of the AmeyCespa proposal, cannot deal with all residual waste.

AmeyCespa and the banks will finance the new plant. Virtually all commercial risks lie with AmeyCespa. The Councils will pay a competitive gate fee per tonne for residual waste.

The Councils will benefit from any commercial waste going through the plant - the income will be shared with the contractor. The availability of commercial waste provides a buffer for municipal waste and also, as consumers, we have some responsibility for commercial waste.

I am no apologist for the private sector, but the reality is that it provides a very large proportion of our public services. (probably more than I would wish in general, but there is no way I would want the County Council to operate a waste plant.) The task of officers and councillors is to get as good a deal as possible for the public, and I believe that is happening in this case.

The Health Protection Agency and other experts no longer have concerns over health issues.

My position is based on very careful consideration of the evidence and what I consider to be best for the people of North Yorkshire.

Of course others have every right to continue their campaign

In due course I will be very happy to defend my position at the ballot box.

Coalition means compromise

2010-11-14T09:20:00.000-08:00

I'm finally back after several months, busy chairing a waste PFI councillors' working group, then chairing the County Council Scrutiny Committee for Children and Young People, and then chairing the local Libdem party. Clearly too much chairing, so I aim to do less of that soon.

There is some consternation at the moment amongst our supporters about the coalition. We have to accept that we didn't win the election and coalition means compromise - we get some of our policies (and we have) but have to put up with some of the policies of the other coalition partner. On balance I think that stops too many extreme policies from any party.

Perhaps we should realise that we have actually been campaigning for years for compromise - proportional representation (PR) is much more likely to deliver a coalition than the present electoral system. Likewise the Alternative Vote (AV) which we all want ..... don't we?

Tories amaze me.

2010-04-14T02:10:00.000-07:00

I am amazed by a Tory tale that I have just heard. They are saying Libdem Claire Kelley lost a seat in 2005 and is dishonest in saying she stood from the county coucnil. Here's what actually happened.

In 2005 Claire did stand down as a county councillor in Harrogate and I was elected in her place, partly due to her excellent reputation. As she has said, Claire needed to spend more time with her children who were going through challenging exam times.

At the same time we needed a county council candidate in Bedale, where the leader of the Tory County Council was standing. Although we knew we could not win, we wanted to give Bedale residents the opportunity to vote Liberal Democrat. Claire offered to put her name forward, and in the event over 1,200 votes were cast for her, but of course the Tory candidate secured the seat as expected.

So come on Harrogate Conservatives do you have to be so negative in your campaigning?

And by the way I was re-elected in 2009.

Listen to Claire - be impressed

2010-03-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

"Phil Willis is standing down after 13 very successful years", says I on the doorstep. Often now the response, with a smile, is "Oh, Yes, and Claire Kelley is replacing him", even before I finish my introduction about what a great MP Claire will be.
When Claire and I are talking to a resident together, I am always impressed at her passion for Libdem policies and her determination to get the best for Harrogate, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge and the hinterland. She articulates well our four steps to a fairer Britain:
Fair taxes ............a fair start for all children at school .............a rebalanced, fair and green economy ..........and clean, open, fair politics.
And today I even had a Tory Councillor tell me how well Claire had come across on the Politics Show yesterday.
We are not complacent. Claire has a great act to follow - we have got used to having an outstanding MP in Phil Willis, and we are confident we will have another outstanding MP in Claire Kelley.

Dinner with Phil Willis 5th Feb

2010-01-18T02:51:00.000-08:00

Not to be missed this one. Come and celebrate the 20 years of service that Phil Willis MP has given to Harrogate and Knaresborough, as Councillor, Council Leader and Member of Parliament. Dinner at the Crown Hotel, Harrogate 5th February 2010, tickets £30 per head. All welcome. Phone 01423 542112.

Tremendous Libdem Victory

2010-01-08T13:42:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Councillor Greta Knight, our new, very excellent Libdem Borough Councillor for Woodfield Ward. A great team effort:

Greta - 688
Conservative - 246
Labour - 73
BNP - 92
Turnout 27% - pretty good given the voter-unfriendly weather. But who on earth called the election for January 7th?

This augurs well for the forthcoming general election when we fully expect Claire Kelley to take over Phil Willis's mantel as our local MP. If anyone out there wants to help make that happen, let me know at ksbarnes@ntlworld.com

Vote Libdem in Woodfield

2010-01-05T00:04:00.000-08:00

This Thursday, 7th January, is by-election day in the Woodfield Ward of Harrogate Borough Council. We have an excellent Libdem candidate in Greta Knight - ex primary school head, active local campaigner and a lovely person. Labour have no chance here and a victory for the Libdems will wrest overall control of the council from the Tories. Come out and vote for progressive, caring, cost-effective policies - vote Libdem - vote Greta Knight this Thursday.

A changed climate now?

2010-01-04T23:56:00.000-08:00

With an unprecedented period of snow and below zero temperatures, thoughts turn to climate change again. Before Christmas I joined the Climate Change march in London. 39,999 people and me, urging our political leaders to sign up to action before it is too late. People from many organisations, from all over the country and from all walks of life. We started in Grosvenor Square, then sashayed through Berkeley Square, noticing its Rolls Royce and Porsche showrooms. The poor nightingale was drowned out by all the noise my younger colleagues made – all very good-natured of course. It was good to see so many of the younger generation ready to campaign for the future of their children’s children. I resolved to look again at my carbon footprint. With local authorities now having to restrict their gritting operations, they should be doing the same.

Tory Chief criticises North Yorkshire Times

2009-11-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

Liberal Democrats in North Yorkshire have welcomed the support of a Tory Shadow Cabinet member over the row about the North Yorkshire County Council’s free news sheet, the North Yorkshire Times. Speaking this week to over 150 elected councillors from across the country, Caroline Spelman, Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said that Council publications “threaten local newspapers” and that “councils should reconsider providing them.”
Her comments come only four months after the Labour Minister for Culture Ben Bradshaw referred to local authority “newspapers” as “propaganda sheets masquerading as newspapers”.
Cllr Bill Hoult, Leader of the Liberal Democrats at North Yorkshire County Council, attended the conference. He comments:“It is good that national politicians are waking up to the reality that these so called newspapers that only peddle good news and are paid for by Council Tax payers are a direct threat to local newspapers in the area.”“The North Yorkshire Times costs £500,000 a year of taxpayers’ money to produce and, as the County Council has discovered, is not that widely read.”“We hope that the Tory chiefs at the County Council will now listen to us and the views of Tory Central Office and close this free sheet down.”

Blinkered Approach to Winter Gritting

2009-11-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

I have been asking for winter gritting outside doctors’ surgeries, especially where a short detour from a main road would achieve this. With the County Council reclaiming responsibility for winter maintenance (from the Borough Council) there has been the opportunity to take a fresh look at what the community needs. However, not only has the County refused to consider my request they have decided to reduce overall the number of roads gritted in the Harrogate District. There seems to be a blinkered rather than a common sense approach to this critical safety issue.

Fresh Start For Britain

2009-09-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

Just back from a very excellent Libdem annual conference in Bournemouth. Whether it is raising the tax threshold to £10,000, stopping prisons from becoming crime academies, proposing a fairer deal for farmers, ensuring green, affordable and secure energy supplies or devolving more power away from Whitehall, (plus many other progressive policies), the party has an exciting agenda to put before the country in the forthcoming election. As the only party that has serious debates at its conferences, it is a pity the media misinterpret debate as disunity. Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and their very able, united team offer a Fresh Start For Britain. Read Nick's closing conference speech at http://www.libdems.org.uk/

Profligate Use of Refuse Sacks

2009-09-25T04:40:00.000-07:00

I'm fed up with the bin men leaving me too many black sacks. O.K. it's a small thing, but at a time when Harrogate Borough Council is way below average on recycling, why don't they conserve resources better? My wife and I hardly ever put out more than one black sack, but we frequently get left two in exchange. I've protested to the council but they seem unable to prevent this happening. Apart from the waste it send out the wrong message when we should be minimising waste. The other day we didn't put out any rubbish at all - but we still got left two new black sacks. We are swimming in them!

Tremendous by-election result in Starbeck

2009-08-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday saw the election of Liberal Democrat Cllr Janet Law to the Starbeck ward of Harrogate Borough Council (HBC), following the sad death of Cllr Granville Ward. (Someone, not us, called the by-election with indecent haste).

Inspite of the challenge of an August election the Libdems had a tremendous result:
Libdems 886 (63%), Tories 252 (18%), Independents 178 (13%), Labour 82 (6%).

We fought a positive campaign, but were faced with some scurrillous stuff from some of the opposition.

Well done, Janet, and best wishes for your new role, alongside our colleagues Cllr Philip Broadbank (HBC) and County Cllr Margaret-Ann de Courcey-Bayley in Starbeck.

Thank You

2009-06-24T06:53:00.001-07:00

Thank you to the residents of Harrogate Oatlands for re-electing me to North Yorkshire Council [Oatlands division is the whole of Stray Ward and half of Hookstone Ward]

I will use my best endeavours to represent everyone in the division and welcome contact on any matter, however small. Call me on 01423 528330 or email on cllr.keith.barnes@northyorks.gov.uk

The total cost of services provided by the County Council will amount to £899m in 2009/10, covering education, social services, highways, waste disposal, libraries, public transport, countryside services, trading standards and others. £237m of this will be raised through Council Tax. As County councillors we have a key role to play keeping in touch with our electorate, and in ensuring that services are delivered effectively and efficiently.

Please vote Libdem on June 4th.

2009-06-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all the support I have received on the doorstep in recent weeks and for many interesting conversations. They all make me a better, listening councillor.
Please vote Libdem on June 4th for both county council and European elections.
Across North Yorkshire the Liberal Democrats have campaigned and will continue to campaign on:

Axing the council tax in favour of a fairer system: lower council tax in the interim
Adopting more environmentally friendly policies to reduce carbon emissions, and fighting for more Household Waste Recycling Centres
Developing fairer school admissions policies
Getting better cooperation between County and District Councils
Maintaining Adult Education Services
Improving Youth Services
Better project management of capital expenditure to improve costing of projects and reduce overspanding
Increasing support to local businesses to help ease the economic downturn
Saving post offices across the county
Caring sensitively and effectively for the most vulnerable in our society

Europe: Stronger together, poorer apart

2009-05-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Some Euro Myths:

1. "We get no benefit from being in Europe". The truth is that the UK gets enormous benefit such as safer food, consumer protection, workers' rights, cheaper flights, a single trading market, environmental protections, student exchange, protection of intellectual property, cheaper phone calls and of course, peace. We would be an isolated country outside Europe.
2. "Most of Britain's red tape comes from bureaucrats in Brussels". Actually, over a recent four year period, Whitehall produced 2634 more regulations than the combined totals of EU directives, decisions and regulations.
3. "The Common Fisheries Policy is bad for Britain's fish" Untrue. Without international cooperation Britain would be unable to stop foreign fishing fleets over-fishing our stocks as they migrate through international waters.

The Liberal Democrats aim to put Europe's house in order and create a greener, more prosperous continent. Goto www.libdems.org.uk or www.eldr.eu

Euroelections - Libdems uniquely placed

2009-05-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

June 4th sees county council elections (yes, I'm standing again) and European Parliament elections on the same day. Mr Cameron is going to withdraw his Euro MPs from the main 'conservative' block so they will be isolated, much to the consternation of some of his Euro colleagues.

The Libdems on the other hand will continue to be part of the main 'Liberal' group in the European parliament and thereby continue to wield considerable influence, as they have been doing recently. Diana Wallis, our Yorkshire and Humber Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is currently a Vice President - a reflection of her tremendous work over the last five years. Go to www.dianawallismep.org.uk

So apart from re-electing me, and other Libdem county council candidates, on June 4th, please also give your support to the Libdems on the Euro ballot paper. This election is by proportional representation so every vote counts, literally.

Libdems believe strongly in Europe, but want major reform to make it more efficent, effective and green.

Wellies but no Wheelies

2009-03-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

Some glorious weather this week - time to dig out the garden tools and start knocking the garden into shape, or maybe just tidying up the pots on the balcony. I'm lucky enough to have a brown wheelie bin to take the garden refuse that won't go on our compost heap, but it seems many streets don't have this facility. I don't understand why - most people I meet on the doorstep are in favour of much more recycling in Harrogate. And while I'm at it, how come other councils can collect cardboard and plastic but Harrogate cannot?

Conservatives Raise Council Tax Above Inflation

2009-02-23T05:21:00.000-08:00

Unprecendented economic circumstances call for bold measures. At last week's County Council meeting we proposed a 2% rise in next year's council tax. But we were voted down and the Conservative administration got their 3.94% approved.

We calculated that with a small use of reserves and an extra 0.5% (yes, just one half per cent) saving in revenue costs North Yorkshire County Council could easily cope with our suggestion. Expected underspends and an £18m windfall coming from government soon would make it even easier. Other counties such as Hampshire (1.9%), Essex (1.9%), Kent (2.44%) and Leicestershire (2.9%) have taken bold decisions, but not, it seems North Yorkshire.

Funding Councillors' Activities

2009-02-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

Tim Aker (Yorkshire Post, 17th February 2009) is wrong to say ‘political parties smell a profit from expenses’.

Councillors’ “allowances” are remuneration for being a Councillor. They are paid from public funds but once paid they are not public funds, any more than the salary or pension paid to a local government employee or an MP. They are analogous to an MP’s salary, not to office costs allowances paid for specified purposes. A member can do what he or she likes to do with his or her allowances, and therefore there is no reason why he or she cannot agree in advance how (s)he will use them.

All candidates for public office have to pay for their election and campaigning expenses either from their own resources or through Party funds. This is a fact of life and cannot be avoided.

Of even greater importance – Lib Dems believe that the public should receive regular newsletters from their councillors and the only way that this can happen is for councillors to use part of their allowance to pay for this – hence the need for a regular contribution from individual councillors.

The current legislation requires the Party’s consent to use the Party’s name. A candidate recognises their use of the Party name is a form of qualification or endorsement that helps to get them elected. The Party, through its endorsement, puts a Councillor in a position where he or she can earn allowances and it is not unethical to seek some recompense for that endorsement.

All campaigns require a very large amount of volunteer help and support, as well as cash. When the community of volunteers and councillors sees one of their number benefiting, but not contributing, the effect is at best unfortunate, at worst corrosive. In Harrogate & Knaresborough, our constituency executive committee, comprising democratically elected branch members, resolved this year to create a level playing field amongst our potential candidates, and all but one agreed to pay a specified contribution.

Finally local volunteer activists, including existing and potential councillors are committed, not to profit for goodness sake, but to improving their local community. Without them and their campaigns, Mr Aker, democracy would be dead.

New Libdem Education Policy Paper

2009-02-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

The Liberal Democrats have just launched a new education policy paper to be debated at the party's spring conference in Harrogate from 6th to 8th March, 2009. You can read the paper by clicking on http://www.libdems.org.uk/policies/equity-and-excellence-policies-for-5-19-education-in-englands-schools-and-colleges-150220190

The thrust of the policy is:

Raising standards in maintained schools to the private school level.
Closing the gap between children from rich and poor families.
Ending the era of educational centralisation and standardisation

Party Leader Nick Clegg said:

“While fighting the recession is currently the top priority, Britain cannot afford to get stuck in thinking only of our present - we must plan for the future. This means the best education for the youngest children to deliver a truly free society.
"The enormous gap that still exists in Britain today between the performance of our most disadvantaged children and those from richer families is an outrage. The Liberal Democrats believe that every child should be entitled to the best possible education no matter what their background is.
"Our Pupil Premium will help to get extra money to the schools with the children who really need extra support. This will fund longer school days, smaller class sizes, reading and maths recovery, and attracting the best teachers - all policies which we know can make a real difference.
"I am determined to close the gap between the private and state schools. Parents should not have to pay in order to get their children into schools and colleges with small class sizes, a rich and broad curriculum, good discipline, strong teaching and real opportunities in sports and the arts.
"Education is fundamental to a free society, to social mobility and to delivering opportunities for every child and it will be one of our biggest priorities in the next General Election."

Council Tax up or not?

2009-01-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

At last week's County Area Committee meeting the Leader, Chief Executive and Finance Director all came to tell us about next year's budget. Difficult times, government pressures, European Directives and so on. Their plan last year was to have an increase this year of 4.75%. Now they seem to be having second thoughts. Any mention of using reserves was conspicuous by its absence, until I asked, when they simply confirmed that their presentation hadn't mentioned reserves......Hmmm. I was assured by the Leader that the fact this is county council election year will have no bearing on their decision on the level of council tax. Bet it's less than a 4.75% increase!

DIY Social Care

2008-12-10T13:57:00.001-08:00

The government and the County Council want to give their social care clients more control over the care they receive. ‘Direct Payments’ or ‘Individual Budgets’ allow individual clients to decide how the money allocated to their care should be spent. This is fine in some cases, but in others the last thing a client wants is the added worry and responsibility of managing their own care and even becoming an employer. I sit on the Care & Independence Scrutiny Committee and have been pressing the council to keep things practical and sensitive to client circumstances.

County Executive refuses consultation on school admissions

2008-12-10T05:06:00.000-08:00

At yesterday's specially called Young People's Scrutiny Committee the county council Executive refused proper consultation on admissions to secondary schools in Harrogate - and the Tory-dominated committee approved of that decision.

The schools adjudicator had ruled that the present system is unfair and that the county should consult on alternatives. At present rural children have a guaranteed place at the school of their choice, whereas many urban children have little or no choice - patently unfair.

We Liberal Democrats on the council recognise that there is no easy solution, but surely it is better to consult widely on the alternatives, listen to worried parents and seek out a system that is less unfair.

The Council has a strategic policy is to consult, unless, apparently, it doesn't suit them. Teacher knows best.

Dementia - a growing problem of our times

2008-11-05T03:01:00.000-08:00

With people living longer, dementia is a growing challenge to our society. The county council and the health service are working together to tackle it. Did you know:

700,000 people with dementia are estimated to currently live in the U.K.
Two thirds of people with dementia are women - probably something to do with lifespans
For every 5 year age gap, over 65, the proportion of people with dementia will double
The financial cost of dementia to the U.K. is £17million every year
Two thirds of the people with dementia live in the community
There are 15,000 people with dementia, under 65 living in the U.K.

The country owes a big debt to the army of carers who look after of their loved ones who suffer from dementia.

The Alzheimer's Society is at the forefront of improving the way society handles all kinds of dementia, not just Alzheimer's. Get in touch if you need help.

Crime and Punishment

2008-11-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

I have neglected you, dear reader, in recent months, probably due to my work as Harrogate & Knaresborough party chairperson. We have been busy selecting candidates for next June's county council elections. There will be European elections on the same day - June 4th.

Anyway, we've just had an interesting debate on Crime and Punishment within the local party. Our autumn conference agreed a new policy which includes such topics as:

direct elections to police authorities, and more powers to the authorities
community justice panels
restorative justice projects in every community
more police, less paperwork
prison focus on preventing crime, not encouraging more
increase the number of prisoners working; give them more training

There's lots more in the policy paper Cutting Crime by Catching Criminals on the Libdem party website

Full County Council meeting on 23rd July 2008

2008-07-29T04:52:00.000-07:00

The quarterly meeting of the full council provides an opportunity for those of us in opposition to publicly hold the ruling conservative administration to account. The meeting is now recorded and can be accessed via the county website http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/

My own contributions during the proceedings included comments and questions about:
1. A reduction in resources available for footpath maintenance. Staff numbers down from 28 in 2005/06 to 22 now, maintenance spend down from £505K to £280K. The performance indicator down from 75% last year to 65% this year (number of footpaths in good condition). We subsequently issued a press release and this morning I did an interview on Stray FM.
2. Why is so much of the Community Transport fleet spent on contract work for, in particular, the school run. Residents complain to me that the proportion of contract to on-demand work (the real community transport service) is 60:40. People struggle to get transport for such things as hospital visits at certain times of day.
3. How come the Sure Start early years programme had to return about £97K cash to central government last year? Not enough resources in one area, yet returning money in another.
4. The government's insistence on 'equal preference' for secondary school applications this year has meant significantly fewer 1st choice successes. This is tied up with the preference given to rural children in the Harrogate Area. Time for a review of the system.
5. Good news about an inspection of the county's Registration Services, but no information forthcoming about the areas for improvement noted by the inspectors.
6. The capital plan 33% underspent in 07/08. The plan was reviewed within a month of the year end but still the outturn was £5.7m underspent.

Most, if not all, the answers to my questions involved a claimed lack of resources, in spite of a revenue underspend of £8.3m, an unnecessarily high Council Tax increase and a Pending Issues Reserve of millions.

A bit frustrating in opposition!

A famous victory in Knaresborough

2008-07-29T04:45:00.000-07:00

Slightly old news this, but never mind. On July 10th there was a by-election with three seats up for grabs on Knaresborough Town Council - and three seats retained by the Libdems, inspite of national polls favouring the Tories. Well done to all those who helped elect three good new councillors: Joanne Walton, Bert Holbrook and Simon St-John Jones. So the Libdems still hold all the Knaresborough seats on the County, District and Town Councils.

Libdems for Harrogate Borough Council .....

2008-04-11T02:13:00.000-07:00

Rural elections coming up on May 1st, for Harrogate Borough Council. We have some excellent candidates. Harrogate deserves better than the present Tory administration supported often by the Independents. At present we have just one seat less than the Tories, so we are in with a good chance of changing things. There's lots to do, so if you'd like to help, ring me on 01423 528330. Oh, and if there are elections in your neck of the woods, please vote Libdem, and ask your friends to do the same.

Public services working together?

2008-04-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a bunch of jargon for you. Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, Local Involvement Networks, Local Area Agreements, Comprehensive Area Assessment, and even Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships. All mentioned in what is actually a good booklet that describes the governement's aim to get local authorities, the health service and other public services working more closely to gether.

The booklet is called "Delivering health and well-being in partnership: the crucial role of the new local performance framework" See www.communities.gov.uk or phone 08701 226236

Onwards and upwards at Libdem conference

2008-03-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

Attended the Libdem Spring Conference in Liverpool last weekend. I always find parts of these conferences a little 'unreal' but maybe that's because I'm not a proper politician. Anyway, there was lots of encouragement and an excellent closing speech from our new leader Nick Clegg - he wants to break the mould of current politics, get closer to the people and decentralise services. Hence a new policy on health that would involve locally elected health boards, patient advocates, a care guarantee and much more - see www.libdems.org.uk He is surviving the inevitable media scrutiny pretty well and is not afraid to take risks. Good.

Tory Council's callous disregard for the Council Tax Payer

2008-02-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

Annual budget setting meeting for the county council this last week. A 4.75% increase was approved; our Libdem proposal for just 3.75% was voted down. Yet the council has had an improved settlement from central government -about £3m more than expected. [Remember 1% council tax is about £2.1m]

This year we have seen the introduction of a new element of the budget - the Pending Issues Provision. This is a clever little accumulator buried in the budget papers - a device to allow the Management Board (senior officer team) some "beneficial", but as yet undefined spending. In 2008/09 this will be £3.3m; in 2009/10 it'll be £8.5m; in 2010/11 it'll be £14.4m; and in 2011/12 it'll be £9.7m.

So that's a total of £35m to be spent over the next four years at officers' discretion!! The excuse for this four year, un-defined spending spree is uncertain waste disposal costs in four or five years' time - yes, the logic escapes me too!

Meantime ordinary people on ordinary incomes in North Yorkshire, are receiving pay rises of around 2%, and slowly coming to terms with huge rises in fuel bills. Does the county council care?

Communicating with school students

2008-02-04T04:27:00.000-08:00

Just back from talking to some Year 10 students about local government and being a councillor. I tried to bridge the generation gap, and urged them to voice their views in as many ways as possible. It is easy for us councillors to slip into 'not realistic' or 'no money to do that', but if enough youngsters voice their opinions loud enough then who knows what might be possible.

Nick Clegg's New Year Message

2007-12-31T05:15:00.000-08:00

The Libdems' have a vibrant new leader in Nick Clegg.
To see and hear his New Year Message to the nation, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRFJ7K2SiSo

County Council Meeting 19th December 2007

2007-12-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

Not a huge agenda this time. County Hall Choir expertly sang carols after lunch.

I challenged the Executive to honour its statutory duty of Best Value, and carry out a proper review of the two highway agencies (Harrogate and Scarborough), the revocation of which they steam-rollered through the scrutiny process, making a mockery of that process. But it was water off a duck's back - they were not interested in being challenged - I wonder why......

As a group we protested at the proposed payments to two Member Champions - taxpayers money to a couple of Tory members whose role is ill-defined, notwithstanding the fact that the two incumbents do a diligent job. We have portfolio holders, so why do we need Champions? We lost that, too.

Other areas of concern raised were:

continuing problems with IT in some schools
no serious attempt to find another site for the West Harrogate Recycling Centre
uncertainty with face-to-face client contact in Adult Social Care (now that we have a centralised telephone Contact Centre)
school catchment areas in Scarborough
Post Office closures, and a watered down council motion earlier in the year
failure of the Council to become a Fairtrade council
time limits on the availability of funding for new Children's Centres
reduction in the Arts Council grants to local theatres

Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you all.

Cynical Abuse of Scrutiny Process - Highways

2007-11-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I attended a Scrutiny Committee to consider the County Council’s proposal to revoke the highway agency agreements with Harrogate and Scarborough District Councils. [The County Council has responsibility for highways but for many years it has delegated that function in urban areas to the two District Councils]

We listened to good, detailed presentations from the Districts supporting the status quo in terms of both cost and local customer service. The county, however, simply asserted that bigger is better and they know best, without giving us any detailed evidence, or comparison of the various options. A proper review was started a couple of years ago but the county stalled it.

Having listened to the evidence from the Districts and lack of it from the County, the Conservative and Labour councillors, without any debate, voted to revoke the agencies. The Libdems asked for a proper review, for the committee to do its job properly, but we were ignored.

In 2006 The Power Inquiry concluded that “The introduction of greater scrutiny … will help citizens to see that power in Britain operates in accordance with the citizen’s wishes” Not in North Yorkshire County Council apparently.
The Tory administration is content to railroad proposals through scrutiny committees with the minimum of debate and evidence. What are they afraid of? Could it be that, in this case, they do not have any evidence to refute the Districts’ position …..?

Post Office Closures - Does the Government Care?

2007-11-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

I thought the government wanted to promote local communities. So what do they do when the Post Office wants to close another 2,500 branches across the country – and in particular local branches in Cold Bath Road, 11 Leeds Road, Devonshire Place, Chain Lane (Knaresborough) and Killinghall? The government does nothing.

The Department for Communities and Local Government proclaims, on its website:

“We are working to help people and local organisations create strong, attractive and economically thriving communities and neighbourhoods. Our aim is to ensure they are given all the support they need to make the best use of their communities.”

Yet what could be a more fundamental part of any local community than the local Post Office? And it is often the more vulnerable people in communities that rely heavily on this service.

Shameful, Mr Brown.

Claire Kelley - the next Harrogate & Knaresborough Member of Parliament

2007-11-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

Claire gave a brilliant speech at the hustings for the Libdem Parliamentary Candidate at the next general election. She has all the right credentials - lives locally, has been both district and county councillor, has worked closely with Phil Willis for 10 years, chairs St Aidan's School governing body, has a brought up a family and, above all, cares - cares about Harrogate, cares about Yorkshire, cares about national Liberal Democrat policies, cares about the world.

We all look forward to campaigning and winning with Claire - continuing the Phil Willis traditions. (Not forgetting that we probably have a couple more years of Phil's excellent representation of Harrogate & Knaresborough at Westminster.)

This week's committees (just a flavour)

2007-11-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Monday - Corporate Affairs Overview and Scrutiny Committee: the leader and chief exec came to discuss enhanced two tier working; but their main message seemed to be that unitary local government would be back again sooner or later; meantime four main areas of cooperation: waste, integrated transport, housing and access to services. All 8 leaders (county + districts) had met and CEX was arranging separate meetings with district counterparts. We were told that government has lost interest in pathfinders for enhanced two tier working, and the impression was that the county council was less than enthusiastic.

Wednesday - Environment & Heritage Scrutiny Committee, I was subbing for Richard Hall. Update on major investment project for waste disposal: mechanical biological treatment (MBT), energy from waste incineration (EfW) or both. MBT is a `new' technology used extensively in Europe to separate any remaining recyclables before composting the remaining. Also a presentation from The Environment Agency on Flood Management Planning for North Yorkshire.

Thursday - Area Committee for Harrogate. 88 pages to read and all the recommendations were 'To Note'. Shouldn't this local committee be making more decisions? I questioned whether the new call centre was, or ever would be, suitable for the most vulnerable people who needed face-to-face contact when they have social services problems - the highly-rated Customer Relations Unit in Harrogate has been closed. Also discussed potential new transport service for access to local youth clubs; road casualty figures; and the Local Strategic Partnership.

Friday am - Joint Advisory Committee of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), held at Birstwith. Discussed tighter budgets; flood alleviation (6 inches of rain in 3 days in June); and school projects. I disputed the need for all Councillor representatives to come from within the AONB: town needs country and country needs town.

Friday pm - Meeting at County Hall to share experiences of Local Strategic Partnerships and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. Probably too much talking and not enough action. The government wants us to set up new ways of engaging the public, but we didn't think formal new ways would be effective. But we can be catalysts, encouraging community groups that show signs of flourishing.

Stalled again - our new Household Waste Recycling Centre

2007-09-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

I don't believe it.

For over two years we have been promised a new Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC), otherwise known as a 'tip', in the north or west of Harrogate. As recently as last month the County Council was telling us that a site was virtually signed and sealed. But now, suddenly, it is back to the drawing board. We are told that the police have decided that, according to some government policy, the proposed site is too near to Ministry of Defence premises. When I take my sack full of plastic bottles (for which we ought to have a kerbside collection anyway) to the new HWRC I would obviously be a danger to national security.

Didn't anyone think of this earlier?

Anyway, the Council policy says that 95% of the population must be within 20 minutes of an HWRC. So come on North Yorkshire County Council, this is not rocket science, and you paid consultants ARUP to identify 11 possible sites several years ago. Where is it to be?

Council Meeting 18th July 2007

2007-08-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well actually you can hear it all by going into the North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) website and clicking on Council and Democracy, then looking for the reference to the July meeting of Council.

I asked the Leader about the Inspection of Yorkshire Forward (YF) (the regional development agency), where he sits on the Board - a good inspection result, but room for better partnership working and communications. He couldn't really say whether we got our fair share of resources from Yorkshire Forward. [Now it seems YF will get more power with the abolition of the regional assemblies]

Then on to the accounts - how come we are told there was a £9.5m underspend in 2006/07, but a deficit of £5.6m on the Income and Expenditure Account? Smoke and Mirrors was the answer - all central government's fault for insisting on an Income and Expenditure Account.

The Executive dropped their suggestion for splitting the Harrogate Area Committee in two. Good, but it may be resurrected later.

A Libdem motion on flooding was passed - the Environment Agency has designed flood protection schemes in Ripon and eslewhere, but then shelved them. They need to be resurrected.

The Executive wants to increase the price of primary school meals by 11% to £1.80 per day. We called it in and the subsequent Scrutiny Committee was split 6-6 on whether to refer it back (our choice). But the Chair's casting vote went against us.

A Libdem motion on promoting sustainable energy was passed, but with a reference to nuclear removed - on balance I think wisely.

In answer to a question I was told there will be consultation on re-structuring the North Yorkshire Strategic Partnership (NYSP).

And finally we learnt that Scarborough Hospital was to lose 600 jobs without, apparently any consultation.

Health and Social Services must work more closely together.

2007-07-03T02:02:00.000-07:00

A couple of recent experiences suggest that for all the lip service paid to partnerships, on the ground health and local government could be working together more effectively.

1. A patient was due for release from hospital: medical staff said she needed long term nursing home care; social services said no, she would be better in intermediate care where her needs could be carefully assessed and then a longer term solution identified. The patient's family were torn, not wishing to give the patient too much upheaval. Wouldn't it have been better for health and social services to have got together and agreed the best way forward, probably in consultation with the familiy and patient.

2. A severely disabled young person needed an individually designed care plan. The health service drew one up, social services had to implement it, but the young person's family were unhappy with the plan. After various correspondence a complaints panel was convened, at some expense, but only to consider the social services side of things. In the absence of anyone from health, the panel could only address half the problem, but urged the two sides to work more closely together. Why weren't they doing that anyway?

How comments work -no need to duplicate

2007-05-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

This entry is particularly aimed at 'Anonymous' who posted the following comment to my entry about Tory misrepresentation:
"If anyone reads this blog do they have any examples of Liberal Democrat leaflets misrepresenting things? "

The way this blog works is that any comment made comes through to me by email and I then have the option of accepting the comment or not. In this case I was happy (well, not happy, but willing) to accept it and did so. Readers can see it by clicking on 'comments' at the end of the entry to which it applies.

The same comment has come through again, but I will not be accepting it twice - I'm not a masochist! Perhaps the author does not realise that there will be a time lag between him or her entering the comment and it appearing on my blog - the time taken for the comment to be approved via my email.

Pity about the anonymity.

Tories misrepresent my blog

2007-05-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

Some of today's Tory election leaflets shamefully misrepresent my earlier entry here (see below) on Unitary Local Government. I am against a whole of North Yorkshire unitary authority and voted against it in Council, along with all my Libdem colleagues from Harrogate & Knaresborough. North Yorkshire is far too big to deliver good local services.

I would be in favour of a unitary council if it was based on Skipton (Craven) and Harrogate Districts only.

By selectively quoting my earlier blog the Tory leaflet implies I am in favour of a North Yorkshire unitary. I'm surprised and disappointed at such silly tactics.

And by the way it is a Tory North Yorkshire Council that is bidding for unitary status, and a Tory Borough Council opposing them. Can't you sort them out Dave?

Local elections - Zummerzet in Yorkshire

2007-04-30T01:48:00.000-07:00

Local elections imminent - about one third of Harrogate Borough Council being re-elected. [No county council elections, so I'm just helping across the District] Can't really tell you much though, 'cos you might be the opposition. The result is difficult to call with national issues clouding local ones, labour being non-existent locally, and BNP fielding a large tranche of candidates. Hopefully our 'global village' policies will prevail over narrow-minded nationalist tendencies. [My immediate family has Canadian, Nigerian, German, Spanish and Scottish connections.] Having lived in Nigeria for three years I am acutely aware of the grinding poverty in much of the world. Yet there are more than enough resources to cure that if we could only get our act together.

And I'm pleased to say my Somerset background doesn't get me in to too much trouble in Yorkshire!!

So on with the leafleting and canvassing - I'm sure the Libdems could do better than the Tories in Harrogate - safer, greener, more imaginative, more reliable......

Local Strategic Partnership Pow-wow

2007-03-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

2.5 hours this evening at the Harrogate Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). This brings together all public services and others to try to promote the overall well-being of Harrogate District. It doesn't have much money to spend so it is largely a talking shop - sometimes useful, sometimes interesting, often boring and long-winded. Did you know that the Little Red Bus (community transport) operates 33 buses on scheduled and on-demand services? A great little organisation to support. On the other hand we are threatened with having to refresh the Community Plan - too many strategies and plans if you ask me.

The LSP also promotes the Harrogate Public Involvement Group, but I don't understand how it differs from the LSP. With the acronym HARPIG it sounds like a disinfectant. Too many talking shops, not enough real action plans. Now if we were in Bradford, say, or Liverpool, the LSP would probably have regeneration funds to spend - something to get its teeth into. Ours seems to meander on - a good idea searching for a cause or two. Maybe if we finally get a unitary council the LSPs in North Yorkshire can get a new lease of life. And maybe not.

Cynical sidelining of Committee Views

2007-02-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

I'm pi***d off. Yesterday, in Council, the administration rode roughshod over one of our overview and scrutiny committees. The Care & Independence Committee had unanimously agreed a council motion to oppose any further post office closures. The Executive of the Council had agreed to support the motion, subject to a minor adjustment.
Then, in full Council yesterday, the Chair of the said committee proposed an amendment that would oppose closures, but added 'without alternative appropriate provision being made'. This had been unanimously rejected by the committee - it simply lets the government off the hook: they can close post offices and claim almost anything is 'alternative appropriate provision'.
So the unanimous proposal of the committee was cynically overturned and the Executive all voted for the amendment - a U-turn from their initial position.
Why do I bother?

We tried to reduce Tories' Council Tax increase

2007-02-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

At yesterday's North Yorkshire County Council meeting the ruling Tories proposed a 4.9% increase in Council Tax. Our Libdem Leader Bill Hoult tabled an amendment to reduce the increase to 3.9%. He pointed out that the council had sufficient reserves and balances to both meet their proposed budget spending AND live with a 3.9% increase. Some of the reserves come from a business growth incentive scheme - so if businesses have grown in North Yorkshire, why not let them see the benefits through reduced Council Tax. We lost the vote - so 4.9% it is, curiously close to the government's 5% limit. Maybe without that limit the Tories would have continued to salt away even more cash!

Special Council Meeting on Unitary Local Government in North Yorkshire

2007-01-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

Today we had a special meeting of North Yorkshire County Council to approve the submission of a bid to central government to become a Unitary Council covering the whole of the county i.e. implying the abolition of the seven district councils in North Yorkshire. What follows is my contribution to the debate.

In my previous life as a Best Value Inspector for the Audit Commission, I worked in over 30 authorities in the north of England, and became increasingly convinced that unitary local government is better than two-tier local government.

If the lack of clarity for the man or woman in the street was not persuasive enough, then the obvious inefficiencies and patent lack of Best Value with two tiers, should convince us of the value of the unitary alternative.

So I can agree with most of the arguments in the bid document in terms of the principle of unitary government.

But the key challenge is to get the size right. We could extend the logic in this document and say genuine economies of scale dictate that we should have a unitary authority for the whole of the region, with only parishes below that. It would be cheaper. Yet we are probably all agreed that that would definitely be too big, too remote and too cumbersome.

So saving money, must not be the only criterion. Best Value is not always the cheapest. We need responsive services that are easily accessible to most people, delivered by teams of staff who understand the local economy and environment and, a key point here, who are led by an administration that has control and financial authority. We are encouraged in this document to believe that Parishes, Neighbourhood Management Teams, Community Forums, Area Committees, Area Scrutiny Committees etc. will be an effective solution. But given that, as we were all told recently, it takes longer to cross North Yorkshire than Belgium, I cannot share that belief. More specifically, notwithstanding all these local structures, the big decisions, mostly about money and resources, will be taken here in Northallerton. So no amount of consultation, discussion, compromise and agreement in, say, Harrogate, will make any difference if County Hall decides some other way to spend the money.

We need unitary government, but we need a size such that citizens feel they belong, are valued and have local power, not just local influence. North Yorkshire is too big for that. [Ends]

So I voted against, but the recommendation to bid was carried by 42 for, 16 against and 1 abstention. But will the government accept the bid .....

Council Meeting 20th December 2006

2006-12-21T03:18:00.000-08:00

Some congratulations on the county council good inspection results, but the Audit Commission press release on this was more balanced than the NYCC one - overall good but improvement needed on vulnerable children, structure of the main county partnership, services to minorities, complaints procedures and some internal systems. As usual, the county press release played up the positives and barely mentioned the the rest.

The final proposals on Special Educational Needs were approved - some sensible modifications after consultation, but I must pursue the fate of REOTAS (education other than at school), in Harrogate. There was a charade of declarations of interest, individually, by all councillors who are school governors - it makes the council a laughing stock. I refused and said what a huge waste of time.

The new county newspaper, NY Times, is supposedly monthly, but the first three issues have had massive distribution problems. We think it is a waste of resources; also it carries minimal third party advertising, even though such advertising was supposed to pay some of the costs.

We learnt that there is to be £2m more for highways capital, but £4m less for maintenance - so another NYCC press release mentioning the former but not the latter! Something else for us ferrets to be grumpy about.

Credit to the Executive Member for Education, Cllr John Watson, who actually talked about areas for improvement as well as the good bits.

And we enjoyed the carol singing at lunch time.

Public consultation - Aaargh!

2006-11-15T04:22:00.000-08:00

What a rotten turnout! We had a public consultation meeting, in Harrogate, designed to explain the county council's budget - what goes into it; government influence; cost inflation; effects on council tax, etc. A good presentation from the most senior officers and executive councillors, but how many members of the public? Three, I think, from Nidderdale and Ripon - none from Harrogate or Knaresborough. Was it poor publicity or total disinterest?

Some relevant pointers in "Power to the People - an independent inquiry into Britain's democracy", funded by Joseph Rowntree Trusts: www.powerinquiry.org It talks about the Myth of Apathy - as a nation we do join things, but politics is a turnoff. Friends of the Earth has increased its membership from 1000 in 1971 to 119,000 in 2002; the National Trust from 278,000 to 3million. So what is the cause of the public's disengagement from things political? I quote from the Power Inquiry:

"The deeper cause ...is the shift from an industrial society to a post-industrial society. ... A large section of British society is now better educated, more affluent, expects greater control and choice over many aspects of life, feels no deference towards those in positions of authority ... [Secondly we have] permanently marginalised groups ... which live in persistent poverty, with low educational attainment ... and a multiplicity of other deprivations. ... However, the British political system is structured as though the lifestyle, expectations and values of the industrial era are still in place."

The Inquiry is telling us that citizens have changed but our political systems and government institutions have not. They are stuck in a previous era. The 300-page report does have some recommendations for change, which, in essence are:

rebalancing of power away from the Executive and quangos, towards parliament and local government
greater responsiveness and choice in the electoral and party systems
allowing citizens a more direct and focussed say over political decisions and policies.

Those are very sensible aspirations, but they don't immediately help on the budget consultation front. Somehow, in the here and now, we have to break into the vicious circle: if people feel alienated, they won't take part in consultation; if they don't take part in consultation, policies and programmes don't reflect local views, so people become alienated .....

Does anyone out there have any ideas? Maybe we have to stand outside every supermarket handing out an exciting leaflet about the consultation meeting. Or maybe just cast around other authorities that have more success - Wiltshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council may have something to offer if the Local Government Chronicle can be believed.

Full Council Meeting

2006-10-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

Full Council meets five times a year, the latest last Wednesday, 11th October. It's a public opportunity for us opposition councillors to take the ruling Tories to task. So what was my contribution? Some comments and questions:

Two inspection reports were on the agenda - Corporate (overall) Performance and Supporting People (housing support mainly). On both of these the administration (rightly) highlighted the positives but (wrongly) ignored the improvement areas in the inspection reports. So I pointed out that it was not all sweetness and light, despite broadly good reports.
The Early Years Development and Child Care Partnership (councils, childminders, nurseries, central government, voluntary sector etc) has had two of its recent meetings cancelled and the routine financial reports have not been forthcoming. What's going on I asked. They'll get back to me, but I'm still waiting.
Craven District Council area produces 30% more waste per head of population than Harrogate, and only two other counties produce more waste per head than North Yorkshire. Does anyone know why, please? Research is on its way, apparently.
We were presented with a policy and action plan for people aged 50 and over. Obviously a lot of good work in the action plan but it is not properly costed and does not have priorities or timescales.
The County is a key transport authority but does not have a seat on the new Regional Transport Board. Quite strange, but I was assured this could well be corrected soon.

Other colleagues made some important points about post office closures, 'green' issues in new buildings, adult education and the new, monthly council newspaper being distributed to every household - except that the distribution company failed to complete the delivery. And incidentally Libdems are not allowed any input to the decisions on content of this newspaper.

Young people and democracy

2006-10-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

Democracy week is coming up, and I've just been listening to a group of young people suggesting better ways of communicating with them: video diaries; chat rooms; young people champions; internet voting on specific issues; more face-to-face meetings; advertising on radio stations; and more.

On the whole county councillors are too old, too male and too white, with some notable exceptions. We do need to do something to inspire young people to take part in democracy. Most councillors are very willing to communicate but maybe we are not on the same wavelength as young people. Help me find that wavelength.

So here I am nervously using a modern medium, hoping some people out there will respond - just add a comment, anonymously if you want. It may take a day or too to appear on this blog, but as long as it is not obscene or wanting to sell me something, it will get added and maybe that will generate more responses.

Or you can always email me at cllr.k.barnes@northyorks.gov.uk

Improving Leadership in North Yorkshire

2006-09-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Attended a launch yesterday of a leadership improvement programme for public sector partners in North Yorkshire. There seems to be some new government money to have a bit of a push on this.

Listened to an impassioned talk on leadership from a Leeds-based academic. I started quite sceptical but in the end was impressed - a good refresher on the critical factors.

For example:
Competencies are essential but not sufficient.
The best leaders see themselves as their staff see them - for the rest the two perspectives are different.
Staff should be listened to, feel valued and be engaged in how the organisation is run.
Charisma and 'heroic' leadership are not the best recipe for success.
The best leaders have two big traits: a fierce resolve to succeed; and personal humility.

But we still have to work with the baggage and personalities of here and now, and let's face it, it is everyone's else's stubborn attitude that is the problem, not mine!

Fabulous smoke-free Scotland

2006-09-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

Loads of sunshine, fabulous views, no midges, smoke-free pubs and restaurants - can't be bad, can it, for Scotland in September? Roll on smoke-free England, then lots of us who had given up visiting pubs will no doubt return and enjoy them, with all the family, and maybe drinking tea and coffee instead, or even as well as other drinks.

Dunkeld, Aberfeldy, Edinburgh and Kippford (south of Dumfries, lovely little fishing village) gave us lots of enjoyment on our week's visit. Grand-daughter Megan, 18months, helped loads too.

Public Services

2006-08-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

Good trip to see daughter in London, but York to London train cancelled. At Doncaster discovered the nonsense that if you have a GNER ticket you cannot travel on a Hull Trains service and vice-versa. Luckily Harrogate tickets seem to cover both.

In London now the key to trouble-free travel seems to be an Oyster: www.tfl.gov.uk The only city with some sort of integrated transport policy. Newcastle had to throw theirs away in Thatcher's era.

I used the journeys to read Vince Cable's "Public Services - Reform with a Purpose" A couple of quotes:
'Targets are often a handicap rather than a help. Much greater emphasis should be placed on a range of simple public satisfaction indicators.' He quotes examples of where targets actually led to a degradation of the service. On the other hand a few performance indicators do keep people on their toes.
'Decentralisation will help meet local aspirations as well as encourage diversity and experiment but must be accompanied by enhanced local accountability' Yes, too many bright, but inexperienced civil servants dictating new initiatives from London. Of course decentralisation will challenge a few of our current councillors.

2006-08-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

Bank holiday weekend. Excellent walk around Malham Cove and Gordale Scar yesterday. United Nations Association garden party today - relatively old membership, does it mean anything to the younger generation?

Have been reading a good scrutiny report on the need for younger recruits to work for the county council - 70 apprentices now on the cards. It seems youngsters get a good education in North Yorkshire and then leave the county - perhaps for the big cities. What can the county, and indeed the Libdem party in the county, do to attract more younger people.

2006-08-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

O.K. So I seem to have set this thing up, but not without some frustration and several false starts.

August - apparently a quiet month for North Yorkshire County Councillors. First meeting today - the Corporate Asset Group, a mix of officers and Members to consider mainly property matters. A new system is being put in place to improve project management of new projects, not least because last year there was considerable slippage in the capital plan - about £30m in fact.

As this is my first 'post' [why not 'posting'] I'd better see if it works and stop here.