Are you voting in the Co-operatives of the year awards?

Co-operatives UK Have announced their shortlist for the Co-operatives of the year awards.
The categories include:
Leading Co-operative of the year
Inspiring Co-operative of the year
Co-operative Council of the year
Co-operator of the year.

Voting is open until Friday 21st June and is open to anyone.
You can find more about voting here

Are you in or have children in Abbeyfield, Northampton Academy, Northampton International Academy, Northampton School for Girls, Duston School and Thomas Becket Catholic School

At the Northamptonshire County Council Cabinet meeting on 9^th April 2019 a decision is being taken to spend nearly £2 million on additional school places.

An additional 30 places will be in each of Abbeyfield, Lings Academy, Duston School and Thomas of Becket. There will be an additional 20 places in Northampton School for Girls and an additional 60 places will be hosted in Northampton International Academy.

The Council accepts that creating more school places in this way is not good value for money and will not create the best environment for all the places. Northampton International School will go from being a ten form entry (ten classes 28-30 of new students coming into the school every year) to an eyewatering 12 form entry school.

Of course, the need for additional places in Northampton has been predicted for over five years. It is generally accepted that the town requires an additional two secondary schools. However, because the decisions were not taken at the right time in the last few years, the Council is having to take this expensive and poor solution. This is all the more critical since the council has only just got it’s finances under control after effectively declaring itself bankrupt twice last year.

So who’s fault is it? What Education portfolio holder failed to ensure the very basic issue of enough school places in Northampton was addressed an action which is a statutory requirement for the Council?

Would it be a surprise to find out the Councillor who failed to act to ensure that there were enough places for every child to be educated in the town is the Councillor who is now leading the Council.

As Councillors are no longer allowed to speak in Cabinet meeting unless appointed by their group, I submitted a question about the failure to consult over the Equality Impact Assessment that is meant to inform the decision. You can find the question and response (which doesn’t seem to address the question) here.

It seems incredible that such a serious decision affecting so many schools all of which are independent of the council can be taken without any consultation on the impact of equality. Over the last few years there has been the promotion of the myth that the paucity of school places is as a result of immigration. This is a clear illustration that the paucity of school places is as a result of poor management of public services and poor policy making.

Care at Night Night, Pay us Right

Austerity means difficult decisions and tough choices. With local authorities having faced massive cuts from government, many of these tough choices are being passed on to community and voluntary sector organisations who have had contracts with local councils. In general, these contracts provide essential services to some of the most vulnerable in our communities.

Care support workers employed by the Alternative Futures Group (AFG) in the north west of England face the same experience in different conditions. UNISON members have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action in a ballot over the employer’s decision to cut back on sleep-in top-up payments. However, whilst enforcing these wage cuts AFG has has made wage cut despite no cuts in the resourcing that they get from those that purchase their service.

With many workers set of lose thousands in their pay over their employers decisions to not pay the national minimum wage for sleep-ins, UNISON members have shown their strength of feeling by voting 87% in favour of striking, in a turnout that met the threshold for lawful industrial action to take place. 

You can read more about the dispute here. 

You can donate to the campaign here.

You can send a message of support by tweeting @AfgPay

UNISON Members need a leadership 

• That will put our members’ interest at the top of the UNISON agenda

• That will use the full force of UNISON resources to stand up for our members and

     services against cuts, privatisation and attacks on our NHS

• That will leave no branch to fight alone

If you are a UNISON member, find out more about voting for a union leadership that support you click here.

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Members of the Public Expressing Opinions - Protest or abuse

“... the Tory county council has been fanatical about cuts, privatisation & outsourcing for some years”

This is Tony Banks. As a member of the public he registered to speak at the Budget setting Council meeting on Thursday 21st February. He had to do this two days in advance and attend the Council meeting until he was called. You can see the meeting here.  Tony can been seen making his statement here. 

At 10.50 of the first film, the Council chairman specifically states that that he wants "people to be able to make their points freely without any disruption from anyone else". But in spite of the Chairman’s request, Tony was interrupted by the Tory Leader of the Council, Cllr Matt Golby, who objected to him using the words "Zealot" and "Fantasist".  

After the meeting, Tony said “I used the word zealots for the reason that the Tory county council has been fanatical about cuts, privatisation & outsourcing for some years. Zealots are fanatical & the Tories were fanatical .They would not listen, to opponents or unions. When Osborne/Cameron announced Austerity, not only did they jump but they asked -how high can we jump? They tore up national union agreements despite warnings that a staff retention crisis would occur as a result.”

Since I started a Twitter poll on the merits or otherwise of Cllr Golby's actions, a number of Conservative Councillors have cited Tony's actions as "disruptive" and "abuse".

Here are some of the responses from other members of the public:

"Like it or not.. whatever words he uses.. he’s right on the nail.. and that’s why they’re angry.."

                                                                                                                      @RikPerry5311

"lt beats me why the sudden sensitivity. The word zealot as verbal abuse when local Tories support policies, cuts and Universal Credit while people are literally starving, homeless and being driven to suicide? If that isn't the fanaticism of zealots I don't know what is. "

                                                                                                                    @Kazimierz66

As I understand the comments were not aimed at individuals. If he had said "this government" instead of "Tory" it would have meant exactly the same, but you absolutely could not be accusing him of abuse.  Check yourselves on the words you use against those that disagree with you.

                                                                                                                   @Impossible_elf

If I were to respond to your unpleasant and unfounded accusations, de facto attack lines for austerity apologists, I would no doubt be accused of abusive and bullying behaviour - a fall-back argument also used ad nauseam

                                                                                                                  @rustywheels

Other members of public have reminded me of the recent standards spat between now ex-councillor Heather Smith, Councillors Robin Brown and Jason Smithers. Cllr Smithers used such choice phrases as 

“This sucks Cllr Robin Brown you have been asleep at the controls. Your (sic) about as much use as a condom with a hole in it. #failedleadership” 

and 

“@LeaderNCC cllr Smith why don’t you just throw in the towel just go before you cause anymore damage to the reputation of the council. You and some members of your cabinet have failed. I hope that the SFO is brought in to investigate your conduct. #failedleadership”. 

The report that the Council considered on this can be viewed here.

Cllr Jason Smithers repeatedly "denied that the comments made were offensive" as can be seen in the standards report here.

As a result of the spat, all County Councillors have been required to attend refresher training on the "Code of Conduct" for councillors. At the training it was emphasised that the conduct of councillors "are expected to maintain higher level of conduct and responsibility than private citizens". 

However, it seems that the bar for members of the public is set at a much higher level than that some Tory Councillors set for themselves. 

You maybe asking yourself why do I think this is important? Well, there have been several measures that have been taken that have had the effect of discouraging the public from commenting on business. These have included the cessation (now reinstated) of the live streaming of Council meeting and the placing of members of the public outside of the Council chamber to view the live stream. 

The participation of the public in Council meetings adds a fresh perspective to decision making and statements like Tony's are the embodiment of practicing Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, 

"Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers."

I have written before on the poor record of Northamptonshire County Council in promoting involvement in the budget consultation, only setting one meeting open to the public on the budget as an afterthought when Labour Councillors drew this to the administration's attention.

If you are on twitter and would like to vote in my Twitter poll you can find it here

Kingsley Park and Links View Residents Association - A chance for lasting change

A really great part of being a local Councillor is working with other Councillors in the area to get real lasting change a benefit for the people we are meant to serve. Very soon after my election, Cllr Cathrine Russell pulled together an initial meeting of the Kingsley Park and Links View Residents Association. The groups has now been set up with a brand spanking new constitution. The group hopes to provide a forum for local residents and businesses to work together for the benefit of the area. As a local Councillor it’s a real help to have a group of local people who are passionate about where they live and have opinions about how changes that local councils can make, can improve life for local people.

The group are keen to get more local people involved and in particular want to involve people in the Links View Area. They are having their next meeting on 17^th January in the Pioneer Pub, Fulford Dr, Northampton NN2 7NU at 7.30pm. If you cannot make the meeting please visit their website, and like them on facebook.

Anything Changed Yet? - Who Cares About The Public Voice?

A year ago, Max Caller, an Inspector from the government, was in Northamptonshire County Council examining current and historical documents concerning the council and talking to officers, councillors and other stakeholders. The inspection report he eventually published had a headline stating Northamptonshire Council Council had failed and the most quoted comment was that local government was about “doing the boring well”.

Revisiting it, it’s interesting to examine whether we’re making progress. The Caller report also stated that “The council’s approach comes across as sloppy, lacking in rigour and without challenge“. There was particular concern about the secrecy of the administration and the lack of information given to councillors event when they asked for it. Genuinely, the pace of change has meant that it’s really hard to keep up for those in the organisation, let alone the public.

It’s being eight years since Northamptonshire County Council has held a meeting to genuinely ask the public what they think of the budget proposals affecting their local services and spending their council tax money. After only fourteen people attended a meeting in Kettering, the then Tory leadership axed consultation as a waste of money.

In the 2013/14 budget consultation there were public sessions in advance of budget scrutiny workshops for Councillors on the key thematic areas of the budget. These continued in subsequent years but not this year. For the first time, there is no opportunity for the public to make their voice heard about the council’s budget plans.

There are other ways local people can express their views of course, but the process of having budget consultation meetings is about inclusion, engagement and above all transparency. The failure of Northamptonshire County Council to have any consultation events with the public is evidence that the “carry on regardless” attitude is still present with council tax payers treated as non-stakeholders event though they are paying for the services. Also, as consumers of those services, they are in a key position to challenge in a way that provides insight into how services might be more effectively run. There are positive reasons why challenge provides better services, better decision making and more valued services.

However, above all, the public should have a right to comment about local services as it is morally the correct thing to do. This has been raised by the Labour group with senior officers. When commissioners came to discuss the budget with the Labour group I questioned whether there would be consultation meetings and was assured that, consultation meetings would take place. Labour’s Cllr Mick Scrimshaw as Chair of the new over-arching Overview and Scrutiny Committee has sought that there is at least one meeting that the public will be allowed to address on 23^rd January. This meeting will take place at the end of the scrutiny process, where the committees response will be finalised, and there will be a recap on the individual meetings councillors will have had. Although Labour are not in control of the Council they have recognised and acted on this glaring omission. It’s unsurprising that the Tory administration don’t see the need for people to have their say. Acting, as usual, for the few not the many.

Number 19 bus returns on 20th January 2019

After a massive campaign by the Chronicle and Echo, the number 19 bus will be re-instated with a half hourly service. The challenge now is to ensure that it is sustainable and the best way of doing this is to make sure it is used. A key group of people who can make this a success are older people with bus passes. Even though the trip doesn't cost the individual anything, the bus provider gets paid by the County Council for each journey undertaken.

You can see the new timetable here.