Trust me a little ...

After a challenging weekend with my nearest and dearest, I came into work yesterday to this.
Some of the interesting arguments in it relate to what local politicians should be doing rather than slagging each other off without however addressing the sticky wicket of resourcing.

Another interesting bit includes a quote from then former Chief Executive of Solihull, current Chief Executive of Northamptonshire County Council, Katherine Kerswell. Katherine highlights the importance of citizens feeling that they have at least been listened to in decision making even if they disagree with the decision made.

The publication also dwells a little on the semantics and space between justice and fairness ... can there be a distinction to people who are outside of local governmentspeak? The document talks about citizens having trust in the organisations like Councils when they don't deliver for them as long as they can see that things are done fairly. Can't see it myself.

The legislation for decision making now demands thorough investigation on how decisions changes will affect people and whether new decisions will unfairly or less favourably treat people and has done since 2000. It's interesting that in a document based on discussing trust, there is no mention of discrimination and less favourable treatment. Equally, there's not consistent application of the legistlation as yet in local authorities. Perhaps it's just a little unfashionable at the moment. When doing the right thing and making the right decisions based on treating people equally falls out favour it's a trend that I'm willing to to fight. I don't think I'm the only one either.

Reasons to be cheerful

With the Blockheads due to play in Northampton at 2pm on Sunday in the Market Square and Penny Red’s post it seems to be the right thing to start blogging again with.

Having had a couple of days to think about elections I think it’s time we regained a sense of humour. The picture indicates this house on Calder Green is unlikely to have voted for me but 577 others did.

One of those that told me that she did, attended one of my councillor surgeries a while back. She told me that she used to live in the Boroughs (Spring Boroughs) and when she went to a girls school in the town there were only two teachers there: one teacher for the English and one for housewifery. The girls took it in turns for two of them to go in early so that the floors were scrubbed clean and the fires light in the classroom.

Reasons to be cheerful, reasons to celebrate progress.

Change, Risk and Judgement

The Labour Party blogsphere is saturated with discussion of "smeargate" emails from number 10 and now the debacle that is the Erith & Thamesmead selection. Makes Northampton Labour Party politics positively tame.

The bloggers response to this been this , which poses a number of statements about the principles under which we operate.

The chaotic and unstructured environment that blogging can produce is something I find attractive partly because I believe most really good solutions to problems involve an element of risk. The risky nature of blogging in that you don't know who's reading and what kind of mindset they have when they do ready your work, I think does produce possibilities that would not usually be there. I guess it is all about judgement in the end, something Damian McBride and Derek Draper showed little of in this episode.

Of course, it's not really true that I don't have a clue who reads my blog apart from the usual suspects ... even with lurkers, word gets around.

Tent Village Spin

With the front page of the Chron focussing on the tent village (now cleared) the local spin seems significant. The site now has an infestation of local lib dem Councillors as they look to get their next quote in the paper.

I'm sure there were some homeless people on the site (at least one to my knowledge) but despite the headline most from the picture are kids I know who have problems with their parents and who like the lack of supervision that creates opportunities to drink large amounts of alcohol and hang out with the opposite sex. The picture features two lads from St James (Symington Street)and one from Kings Heath (Swale Drive). The site has been used off and on by these kids for the past few months.

It highlights the real problems that young people have. The need to feel valued and loved and when they need it proper housing advice that gives then options not to be in a tent. Sasha in the photo has been homeless for some weeks now, and it is testimony to the lack of accessibility of the Borough Councils Homelessness advice that she has ended up in a tent.

The kids are all good in their own way, have said please and thank you when they've eat in my house but need the real things in life to achieve anything more than self indulgence when they get the money.

Time to turn back the tide

The war on terror produced a fundemental shift towards conservatism in the country. It's the culture of fear that makes us want to suspect all foreign students regardless of the fact that 99% of them are law abiding with their heads down trying to get an education.

With not inconsiderable public concern about what did actually happen at the G20 demonstration that resulted in the death of a homeless newspaper seller perhaps the time is right for people to stand up not only for their own rights but also for the rights of others.

I came across this and thought it an opportunity to encourage all of us to think about the way we'd like to think about our neighbours. Hat tip to Nigel Ashton for showing it to me:-)

Will the last one to leave please switch off the lights

With news today that the carnival hangs in the balance it seems like it's going to be a long bleak summer with very little to look forward to. But maybe this is one thing that we really can't blame the Liberal Democrats for. After all it was athe Tory County council which gave the carnival the funding axe. Well think again, as fundemental to this situation is the fact that the Lib Dem Borough council which has given no black or minority ethnic groups any funding in this financial year or the previous one also give no money to the carnival making them realiant on a County Council grant which is no longer available as the Tory county council wishes to spend more pennies in areas other than Northampton where there might be a quite vote or two in it.

With the loss of the St Crispin's Fair and the Balloon festival it's going to be a long hot lonely summer.

Regeneration in the recession

That time of year again. You know when the kids are all sick and suddenly Liberal Democrats re-discover the areas that the represent. So with a new focus out in Kings Heath (featuring three photos of Councillors in Spencer and focus on Dallington Park and Spencer Brook ... do they really know so little of what exists North of Mill Road) what's interesting is the news that isn't there. Over the last few weeks the talk from West Northants Development Corporation has been about demlotion of some of the housing on Kings Heath. It's fairly horrifying how blasé the discussion is on the destruction of people's homes. What's more horrifying is that the demolition being proposed is not for the worst housing on the estate. Given this fact, it just does make you question to motivation of actions like this.