Monday – 3 February, 3pm – Deliver an Electric Organ to Dundee House
6pm Labour campaigning
Wednesday – 5 February, 10am – Ipswich Borough Council Planning meeting
Thursday – 6 February, 5pm – Area Committee Chairs meeting, Grafton House
Friday – 7 February, 5pm – North East Area Committee, agenda setting meeting
Saturday 8 February, 10am – Labour campaigning – South West Ipswich
This week we had our latest Ipswich Borough Full Council meeting, the Tories accused us of hypocrisy as we put up council house rent. These attacks have been continued by our Tory MP Ben Gummer and he has joined other local Tories is also attacking us over housing developments in Ipswich. They are accusing us of putting in too many obstructions to developers and demanding far too much money from the same developers through 106 requests.
They call us hypocrites as we have campaigned about the rise in the cost of living and that of course will not be helped by us having to put council house rents up. We are only following government guidelines on the rent increase, of course we could have ignored them but we already struggling to make ends meet with the severe cuts being made by Pickles –and it is hard to plan our budget as we still have not had the details from Pickles on what rise we could put on council tax without needing a referendum. It is very difficult to make these important decisions when you are not given the full facts.
So on Wednesday we had the Ipswich Tories and Lib Dems voting against their own government, so will they support us at the next council meeting if we have to raise council tax to secure front line service?
So they call us hypocrites – but when their government introduced the ‘Bedroom Tax’ did we hear them attacking their government – of course the answer is no.
No one in Ipswich is going to be fooled into thinking that if the Tories were still in power in Ipswich they would not have followed the governments guidelines and raised rents, you just have to remember how much they raised them in their last year running the administration.
Tory MP, Ben Gummer mentions that some Labour run administrations like Doncaster did not raise the rent as much as Ipswich but he forgets to mention that two neighbouring Tory run districts in Suffolk are raising them.
But even at the meeting the Tories were showing their own form of hypocrisy, Mr Gummer was concerned that us building council house may become a vanity project but at the meeting Mr Carnall was keen on us buying the St Clements site and turning it into a park – when houses are needed in Ipswich. So we have some Tories blaming us for stopping the St Clements development because we asked for the developer to pay a large amount of 106 money but at the same time we have one speaking against the development at the planning meeting and another senior Tory wanting to turn into a park!
On the Northern Fringe, the Tories and Lib Dems seem to be getting cold feet about building on there. We should not build till all the infrastructure is in place – well who is going to pay for it? Their own government or Tory run Suffolk County Council? I do not think so – 105 moneys is the only way.
Again this week our neighbouring Tory Mid Suffolk just turned down a development after the developer would not pay the full 106 request or build a set number of affordable homes. So OK for Tory run Mid Suffolk but not Labour run Ipswich.
There are hypocrites on Ipswich Borough Council – but they are in the blue corner.
Showing posts with label John Carnall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Carnall. Show all posts
Sunday, 2 February 2014
Friday, 1 November 2013
No Credit due!
Back from Budapest and straight into a Full Council meeting, the agenda was short but there were two motions being put to council.
As is usual at Full Council before the meeting a briefing is held for all councillors on a topical subject, this week it was a talk on the Ipswich Credit Union. With the rise of the pay day money lenders, it is important that councillors area ware of the Credit Union and the services they provide as we see a rise in the number of our constituents who need come to us seeking financial advice.
Disappointingly, though 18 Labour councillors attended, there were no Tory or Lib Dem councillors present. When I tweeted this, I was accused of a taking a low shot as a Tory activist informed me that all the Tory councillors were at work!! He was wrong, as their absence was due to them attending a group meeting – you would have thought (as they had plenty of pre-warning about the Credit Union talk) that they would have arranged it a different time.
Once the meeting started we had very few questions from the opposition, with for once the Lib Dems taking the tile for ‘pointless question of the week’ when Cllr Lockington asked about who was responsible for the fences in Ipswich Cemetery – why she had to ask that at Full Council was beyond most of us in attendance, as was tweeted later were the fences damaged by the Lib Dems always sitting on them!
The two motions were on the Government plan to toll the new A14 and about the closure of HMRC Valuation Office in Ipswich. For once there was all party support for a motion, with all sides critical of the plan to toll the A14. With the majority of the Tory MP’s in Suffolk also now against tolling the road, you do wonder why the Government are to continue with the plan. Maybe to help with this show of solidarity, no mention was made about the Tory County Council voting to still contribute a million pounds of our money towards the cost of the new road – strange also that when it went to the County Council the Lib Dems supported the Tories but this week Inga voted with Labour. I wonder if she has raised her concerns with Nick Clegg
This show of unity soon vanished when we went onto the second motion about the closure of the valuation office, Cllr John Cook gave a powerful speech when proposing the motion but instead of a reply from the Tory leader, Chris Stewart we had the usual anti Gordon Brown rant from John Carnall, he blamed everything on Gordon, no mention that it was an international financial meltdown. The only thing he did not blame our man from Kirkcaldy for was the storm last week, but I am sure he wanted to! We then had a number of comments from both sides with the Tory Nadia Cenci feeling she had to say something even if it did not seem to add to the debate. But after allowing former leader John Carnall to reply to the motion, Chris Stewart did feel he should speak and said that if something is not being used or not needed it should close, strange after his deputy Cllr Vickery had earlier asked a question about the partial closure of sports centres – does he now think if they are not being used they should be closed?
Both motions were passed and the meeting closed, though the Tory Group did seem more united, having a group meeting just before Full Council did not seem to have helped make them any more effective than previously – well at least this time we did not have three of them walking out! Then again as one left early and three did not attend the meeting, if any had walked out the Lib Dems with two councillors may have become the official party of opposition!
As is usual at Full Council before the meeting a briefing is held for all councillors on a topical subject, this week it was a talk on the Ipswich Credit Union. With the rise of the pay day money lenders, it is important that councillors area ware of the Credit Union and the services they provide as we see a rise in the number of our constituents who need come to us seeking financial advice.
Disappointingly, though 18 Labour councillors attended, there were no Tory or Lib Dem councillors present. When I tweeted this, I was accused of a taking a low shot as a Tory activist informed me that all the Tory councillors were at work!! He was wrong, as their absence was due to them attending a group meeting – you would have thought (as they had plenty of pre-warning about the Credit Union talk) that they would have arranged it a different time.
Once the meeting started we had very few questions from the opposition, with for once the Lib Dems taking the tile for ‘pointless question of the week’ when Cllr Lockington asked about who was responsible for the fences in Ipswich Cemetery – why she had to ask that at Full Council was beyond most of us in attendance, as was tweeted later were the fences damaged by the Lib Dems always sitting on them!
The two motions were on the Government plan to toll the new A14 and about the closure of HMRC Valuation Office in Ipswich. For once there was all party support for a motion, with all sides critical of the plan to toll the A14. With the majority of the Tory MP’s in Suffolk also now against tolling the road, you do wonder why the Government are to continue with the plan. Maybe to help with this show of solidarity, no mention was made about the Tory County Council voting to still contribute a million pounds of our money towards the cost of the new road – strange also that when it went to the County Council the Lib Dems supported the Tories but this week Inga voted with Labour. I wonder if she has raised her concerns with Nick Clegg
This show of unity soon vanished when we went onto the second motion about the closure of the valuation office, Cllr John Cook gave a powerful speech when proposing the motion but instead of a reply from the Tory leader, Chris Stewart we had the usual anti Gordon Brown rant from John Carnall, he blamed everything on Gordon, no mention that it was an international financial meltdown. The only thing he did not blame our man from Kirkcaldy for was the storm last week, but I am sure he wanted to! We then had a number of comments from both sides with the Tory Nadia Cenci feeling she had to say something even if it did not seem to add to the debate. But after allowing former leader John Carnall to reply to the motion, Chris Stewart did feel he should speak and said that if something is not being used or not needed it should close, strange after his deputy Cllr Vickery had earlier asked a question about the partial closure of sports centres – does he now think if they are not being used they should be closed?
Both motions were passed and the meeting closed, though the Tory Group did seem more united, having a group meeting just before Full Council did not seem to have helped make them any more effective than previously – well at least this time we did not have three of them walking out! Then again as one left early and three did not attend the meeting, if any had walked out the Lib Dems with two councillors may have become the official party of opposition!
Friday, 27 July 2012
Report on North East Ipswich area Committee, 26 July 2012
Last night we had a good attendance from local residents at our latest North East Area Committee. The meeting started with a presentation from Hopkins Homes about the Colchester Rd/Fire Station development.
The main meeting started at 7.30pm and it became quite obvious that the Tory councillors were more interested in scoring cheap points than contributing anything positive to the meeting. Cllr Carnall asked for an amendment to the minutes to show that it was their idea to back the Cherry Tree Park request for funding. We accepted this but this then led to Cllr Pope wanting a number of amendments made to the minutes, including an attack on myself. Cllr Stroet then joined in the attacks on me, and informing me that I should attend a course on how to Chair a meeting.
Why their concerns with the minutes were not raised before the meeting you will have to ask them but it became obvious afterwards that the public had not been impressed with attempts to play party politics at the meeting.
We then had a number of questions from residents, many on parking issues in the streets near the hospital. The state of the pavement next to the Cemetery was also debated and will be an issue that I will be raising with Officers and Portfolio holders over the next few months.
Officers reported that work continues on a play scheme for Cherry Tree Park and also on the plan to solve traffic problems in Pearce/Orwell Road.
Cllr Alan Murray the Conservative County Cllr for Bixley then spoke about the bus service to Broke Hall, he thanked Ipswich Bus Company for stepping in with the new Number 4 round. Wonder what Cllr Carnall thought of this as if he had won the election two years ago we would have seen the Ipswich Bus Company sold off by now.
I finished the meeting by giving a verbal brief on our action plan for the North East, the plan had been worked on and agreed by Officers and two Labour and two Tory Cllrs but this did not stop Cllr Pope from setting that he had refused to attend the meeting as he did not believe in Cllrs setting the action plan. Cllr Carnall and Stroet just sat on their hands and said nothing.
Even with the antics of the Tory Cllrs the meeting seemed to go down well with residents. Our next meeting will be in the same location, St Johns Church Hall, Caudwell Hall Road on the 20th September at 7pm.
The main meeting started at 7.30pm and it became quite obvious that the Tory councillors were more interested in scoring cheap points than contributing anything positive to the meeting. Cllr Carnall asked for an amendment to the minutes to show that it was their idea to back the Cherry Tree Park request for funding. We accepted this but this then led to Cllr Pope wanting a number of amendments made to the minutes, including an attack on myself. Cllr Stroet then joined in the attacks on me, and informing me that I should attend a course on how to Chair a meeting.
Why their concerns with the minutes were not raised before the meeting you will have to ask them but it became obvious afterwards that the public had not been impressed with attempts to play party politics at the meeting.
We then had a number of questions from residents, many on parking issues in the streets near the hospital. The state of the pavement next to the Cemetery was also debated and will be an issue that I will be raising with Officers and Portfolio holders over the next few months.
Officers reported that work continues on a play scheme for Cherry Tree Park and also on the plan to solve traffic problems in Pearce/Orwell Road.
Cllr Alan Murray the Conservative County Cllr for Bixley then spoke about the bus service to Broke Hall, he thanked Ipswich Bus Company for stepping in with the new Number 4 round. Wonder what Cllr Carnall thought of this as if he had won the election two years ago we would have seen the Ipswich Bus Company sold off by now.
I finished the meeting by giving a verbal brief on our action plan for the North East, the plan had been worked on and agreed by Officers and two Labour and two Tory Cllrs but this did not stop Cllr Pope from setting that he had refused to attend the meeting as he did not believe in Cllrs setting the action plan. Cllr Carnall and Stroet just sat on their hands and said nothing.
Even with the antics of the Tory Cllrs the meeting seemed to go down well with residents. Our next meeting will be in the same location, St Johns Church Hall, Caudwell Hall Road on the 20th September at 7pm.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Opposition with no strategy
The Tories and Lib Dems in Ipswich seem to put little thought in how to be an effective opposition. This was highlighted again by their performance at the Full Ipswich Borough Council meeting that was held on Wednesday (25 Jan )
It started with their questions to the Labour executive, Cllr Stroet seems to be struggling to ask anything useful and has not yet learnt the art of not asking a supplementary if the answer to the first question has made it obvious there will no value in pursuing the matter. Even former leading Ipswich Tory Gavin Maclure seems to have the same view on Cllr Stroets’ performance so far.
I have asked a number of questions at Full Council but the Tories seem very loathe to allow their backbenchers ask any questions.
Then we had yet again an attack on Area Committees by the Tories – not only in the Council Chamber but also in the local media. Cllr Carnall and Cllr Maclure both had questions on Area Committees and both would seem to imply that the Tories have a negative view on their aims and chances of success. This may not seem strange to residents but it is to myself and other Labour councillors as we hear Tory Councillors in meetings saying that Area Forums did need replacing and also how keen some Tories are not only to make them work but also it is obvious that certain Tory backbenchers are very happy about the new set up as it will give them far more opportunity to discuss issues they are concerned with than when they were actually running the council.
Cllr Terry used the Ipswich Flyer’ to attack Area Committees (and to print a thinly veiled attack on myself) but in our first Area Committee she seemed keen to make them work and had a number of ideas on how they should go forward.
So where do the Tories stand on Area Committees?
The question that most highlighted the lack of any Tory policy on the matter was when Cllr Tanya Maclure asked Labour about the allowance that chairs of the committees would be paid, it became quite apparent very quickly that the Tories did not only know that their deputy leader had agreed to take the allowance but also was the first to get back to the officers to agree to the payment!
We then had the debate about the recommended 5.6% rent rise for Ipswich tenants, the chair of the Ipswich Lib Dems has been critical of the rise on Ipswich Spy but then went and voted for the rise! The Tories then attempted to portray themselves as ‘Friends of Ipswich tenants’ forgetting to mention the rent rise is not only below what the Tory/Lib Dem Government recommended but also below the rise that the Tory/Lib Dem administration in Ipswich imposed on tenants last year (again voted for by Lib Dem Ken Bates)
I can see it is hard for the Tories and Lib Dems in Ipswich to be an effective opposition at the same time their Government is cutting anything it can and must be even harder for the Tories when their colleagues at the Suffolk County Council still seem to see Ipswich as the poor relation in the County.
The lack of any thought to the questions put forward by Tory front bench was even more noticeable when Cllr Cenci criticised the increase in grant to Ipswich Council for Racial Equality (ISCRE) without mentioning that we have decided to help ISCRE with an increase after they had their grant by the Tory Government reduced. ISCRE was even complimented on their good work by Ben Gummer MP but that still did not stop one Tory describing ISCRE as : stacked full of Labour cronies.
Do Ipswich Tories even talk to their own MP?
It seems rather than being an effective opposition, they are just interested in quick sound bites, decide to be negative on anything that we propose and at the same time be first in the queue for any extra allowance.
It started with their questions to the Labour executive, Cllr Stroet seems to be struggling to ask anything useful and has not yet learnt the art of not asking a supplementary if the answer to the first question has made it obvious there will no value in pursuing the matter. Even former leading Ipswich Tory Gavin Maclure seems to have the same view on Cllr Stroets’ performance so far.
I have asked a number of questions at Full Council but the Tories seem very loathe to allow their backbenchers ask any questions.
Then we had yet again an attack on Area Committees by the Tories – not only in the Council Chamber but also in the local media. Cllr Carnall and Cllr Maclure both had questions on Area Committees and both would seem to imply that the Tories have a negative view on their aims and chances of success. This may not seem strange to residents but it is to myself and other Labour councillors as we hear Tory Councillors in meetings saying that Area Forums did need replacing and also how keen some Tories are not only to make them work but also it is obvious that certain Tory backbenchers are very happy about the new set up as it will give them far more opportunity to discuss issues they are concerned with than when they were actually running the council.
Cllr Terry used the Ipswich Flyer’ to attack Area Committees (and to print a thinly veiled attack on myself) but in our first Area Committee she seemed keen to make them work and had a number of ideas on how they should go forward.
So where do the Tories stand on Area Committees?
The question that most highlighted the lack of any Tory policy on the matter was when Cllr Tanya Maclure asked Labour about the allowance that chairs of the committees would be paid, it became quite apparent very quickly that the Tories did not only know that their deputy leader had agreed to take the allowance but also was the first to get back to the officers to agree to the payment!
We then had the debate about the recommended 5.6% rent rise for Ipswich tenants, the chair of the Ipswich Lib Dems has been critical of the rise on Ipswich Spy but then went and voted for the rise! The Tories then attempted to portray themselves as ‘Friends of Ipswich tenants’ forgetting to mention the rent rise is not only below what the Tory/Lib Dem Government recommended but also below the rise that the Tory/Lib Dem administration in Ipswich imposed on tenants last year (again voted for by Lib Dem Ken Bates)
I can see it is hard for the Tories and Lib Dems in Ipswich to be an effective opposition at the same time their Government is cutting anything it can and must be even harder for the Tories when their colleagues at the Suffolk County Council still seem to see Ipswich as the poor relation in the County.
The lack of any thought to the questions put forward by Tory front bench was even more noticeable when Cllr Cenci criticised the increase in grant to Ipswich Council for Racial Equality (ISCRE) without mentioning that we have decided to help ISCRE with an increase after they had their grant by the Tory Government reduced. ISCRE was even complimented on their good work by Ben Gummer MP but that still did not stop one Tory describing ISCRE as : stacked full of Labour cronies.
Do Ipswich Tories even talk to their own MP?
It seems rather than being an effective opposition, they are just interested in quick sound bites, decide to be negative on anything that we propose and at the same time be first in the queue for any extra allowance.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
My week ahead 5 - 11 December
Monday 5 December - 4pm Culture and Leisure portfolio meeting
6pm Labour Group meeting
Wednesday 7 December - 7.30pm Labour Purple Book Tour, Ipswich Library
Thursday 8 December - 6pm Ipswich Borough Council Scrutiny meeting, Grafton House
Friday 9 December - 9am Sidegate Primary School Panto
7.30pm Ipswich Labour Christmas Party
Saturday 10 December - 10.30am Labour Campaigning, North Ipswich
A visit to Sidegate Primary School this week,it was good to hear how the school continues to advance , also I was able to pass on my concerns about the payment for the School Crossing patrol. The Head Teacher and the Chair were able to inform us that the sponsor had made his initial payment to the County Council. It seems the sponsorship deal was not as simple as the Tories initially made it out it to be.
On Wednesday I joined those on strike at the rally at the Cornhill, David Ellesmere and the union leaders all spoke with David empasising that this is not a Public sector v Private sector dispute, all workers should be able to benefit from good pensions.
On Thursday I attended a training session at the Borough Council, the session was centred around the proposed changes to the benefit system. Never have I left a meeting at Grafton so angry and also depressed.
The Tories (with the help of the Lib Dems) are planning the biggest attack that I have ever seen on the poor and vulnerable in this country.
We all know that changes are needed to the benefit system and that the public would also like to see those who are making illegal claims are caught and punished but of all the changes planned I could only see one that would help the public. the remainder are just attacks on the poor, disabled and to be blunt - those who are not seen as Tory voters.
The good bits? Councils will be able to levy a full council tax on second homes - but up to Councils, so do not expect to see this happen on the Suffolk Coast, more tax can also be placed on empty homes. This may be of use in Ipswich as currently we have about 800 plus empty homes in the Borough with over 70 being empty for a number of years.
The remainder of the changes were horrific, a conservative estimate is that in the first full year of the changes, Ipswich residents will lose over £3 Million in benefits.
For instance the bereavement benefit will no longer be assessed locally but you will have to phone a call centre in Scotland! The Government has been clever, most of the brunt of the anger of those who will find themselves homeless will be aimed at local councils and once the changes are complete the benefit staff will be made redundant and the payments will be made by Central Government.
The Labour Councillors in Ipswich asked the officer a number of questions whilst the Tories and Lib Dem's sat quietly, were they ashamed of what their Government is planning?
The two Lib Dems in the evening session just sat quietly, making no contribution to the exchanges. At least from the afternoon session, the Lib Dem Ken Bates seemed worried enough about the changes to say that he will write to Mr Clegg, will be interesting to hear what Nick Clegg has to say on the matter.
The two Tories at the evening session also sat in silence but if I was an Ipswich resident I would be more concerned that they were the only two Tories out of 14 who even turned up for the training - Carnall, Harsant, Cenci and Terry all failing to attend a session that highlighted changes to a system that will cause havoc for many Ipswich residents ( but maybe not many in Bixley)
Will the changes happen? Many Labour members present hope that the Tory and Lib Dem MP's will listen to the Church, CAB, Councillors and stop a number of their plans, their is also the belief that they will not even have an IT system ready in time to implement a number of them, but I fear the worse. so all I can do is campaign harder to make sure we get rid of this Government as quick as possible.
6pm Labour Group meeting
Wednesday 7 December - 7.30pm Labour Purple Book Tour, Ipswich Library
Thursday 8 December - 6pm Ipswich Borough Council Scrutiny meeting, Grafton House
Friday 9 December - 9am Sidegate Primary School Panto
7.30pm Ipswich Labour Christmas Party
Saturday 10 December - 10.30am Labour Campaigning, North Ipswich
A visit to Sidegate Primary School this week,it was good to hear how the school continues to advance , also I was able to pass on my concerns about the payment for the School Crossing patrol. The Head Teacher and the Chair were able to inform us that the sponsor had made his initial payment to the County Council. It seems the sponsorship deal was not as simple as the Tories initially made it out it to be.
On Wednesday I joined those on strike at the rally at the Cornhill, David Ellesmere and the union leaders all spoke with David empasising that this is not a Public sector v Private sector dispute, all workers should be able to benefit from good pensions.
On Thursday I attended a training session at the Borough Council, the session was centred around the proposed changes to the benefit system. Never have I left a meeting at Grafton so angry and also depressed.
The Tories (with the help of the Lib Dems) are planning the biggest attack that I have ever seen on the poor and vulnerable in this country.
We all know that changes are needed to the benefit system and that the public would also like to see those who are making illegal claims are caught and punished but of all the changes planned I could only see one that would help the public. the remainder are just attacks on the poor, disabled and to be blunt - those who are not seen as Tory voters.
The good bits? Councils will be able to levy a full council tax on second homes - but up to Councils, so do not expect to see this happen on the Suffolk Coast, more tax can also be placed on empty homes. This may be of use in Ipswich as currently we have about 800 plus empty homes in the Borough with over 70 being empty for a number of years.
The remainder of the changes were horrific, a conservative estimate is that in the first full year of the changes, Ipswich residents will lose over £3 Million in benefits.
For instance the bereavement benefit will no longer be assessed locally but you will have to phone a call centre in Scotland! The Government has been clever, most of the brunt of the anger of those who will find themselves homeless will be aimed at local councils and once the changes are complete the benefit staff will be made redundant and the payments will be made by Central Government.
The Labour Councillors in Ipswich asked the officer a number of questions whilst the Tories and Lib Dem's sat quietly, were they ashamed of what their Government is planning?
The two Lib Dems in the evening session just sat quietly, making no contribution to the exchanges. At least from the afternoon session, the Lib Dem Ken Bates seemed worried enough about the changes to say that he will write to Mr Clegg, will be interesting to hear what Nick Clegg has to say on the matter.
The two Tories at the evening session also sat in silence but if I was an Ipswich resident I would be more concerned that they were the only two Tories out of 14 who even turned up for the training - Carnall, Harsant, Cenci and Terry all failing to attend a session that highlighted changes to a system that will cause havoc for many Ipswich residents ( but maybe not many in Bixley)
Will the changes happen? Many Labour members present hope that the Tory and Lib Dem MP's will listen to the Church, CAB, Councillors and stop a number of their plans, their is also the belief that they will not even have an IT system ready in time to implement a number of them, but I fear the worse. so all I can do is campaign harder to make sure we get rid of this Government as quick as possible.
Monday, 24 October 2011
Taking Decision Making Closer to the People
The Tory/Lib Dem coalition talk about their 'localism' agenda, but in reality all we have seen is Eric Pickles telling councils when they must empty their bins, or on the other hand we are told 'localism' will mean more say for communities but in reality again it means we will allow developers able to build what they want, where they want.
In Ipswich we have for a number of years tried to enable the local community to have more say in local decisions, we currently have area forums, these have had success in getting information over to local residents but they have not had any real power. Councillors have attended but not been put in a position where they can answer to the public for the deeds they have carried out. There has been money available to each forum area but both local councillors or residents have had no real say in how that is spent. Ipswich Labour had seen the influence of the forums wane under the last Tory administration where it seemed the power just sat in the hands of one person- not even the leader but John Carnall.
We have now started changing that, we have already seen the all party working groups have their first meetings, the one I attended worked well. It gave backbench councillors an opportunity to have a say in policy, and that was backbench councillors from all 3 party's. It was then slightly disappointing that the Tories did not attend two of the working groups.
Labour are keen to hear what local residents think about these new proposals, including area forums being replaced by area committees -Here is the statement from IBC.
Ipswich Borough Council is looking at ways of moving power closer to the people through an ambitious programme to give communities a real say.
"We are looking at options for devolving decision-making to the local level," says the Leader of the Council, Councillor David Ellesmere.
"This would involve ward councillors working with community groups, businesses and residents on a wide range of services, based geographically on the five existing forum areas.
"In order to deliver this, we have published for consultation a paper entitled 'Taking decision-making closer to the people'."
Among its key proposals are:
Developing local Area Committees to devolve specific powers to ward councillors.
Giving councillors more opportunities to be informed by residents and users on how services can be improved through Panels.
Giving backbench councillors a role in developing policies and advising the Executive on its forward plans through active Working Groups.
Making better use of new technology including websites, social networking and Twitter; to reach and engage new people and improve services.
Reducing the number of other meetings that take place, as we seek to focus decision and policy making in these new and cost effective bodies.
Councillor Ellesmere added: "I believe these changes could make a real difference to how Ipswich is run. They would enable councillors of all political parties to take a more active part in the running of the council and better able to represent their constituents."
More information is available in the report Taking Decision Making Closer to the People. Comments must be received by 11th November 2011 and should be submitted by email to areacommittees@ipswich.gov.uk or by post to:
Councillor David Ellesmere
Ipswich Borough Council
Grafton House
15-17 Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2DE
In Ipswich we have for a number of years tried to enable the local community to have more say in local decisions, we currently have area forums, these have had success in getting information over to local residents but they have not had any real power. Councillors have attended but not been put in a position where they can answer to the public for the deeds they have carried out. There has been money available to each forum area but both local councillors or residents have had no real say in how that is spent. Ipswich Labour had seen the influence of the forums wane under the last Tory administration where it seemed the power just sat in the hands of one person- not even the leader but John Carnall.
We have now started changing that, we have already seen the all party working groups have their first meetings, the one I attended worked well. It gave backbench councillors an opportunity to have a say in policy, and that was backbench councillors from all 3 party's. It was then slightly disappointing that the Tories did not attend two of the working groups.
Labour are keen to hear what local residents think about these new proposals, including area forums being replaced by area committees -Here is the statement from IBC.
Ipswich Borough Council is looking at ways of moving power closer to the people through an ambitious programme to give communities a real say.
"We are looking at options for devolving decision-making to the local level," says the Leader of the Council, Councillor David Ellesmere.
"This would involve ward councillors working with community groups, businesses and residents on a wide range of services, based geographically on the five existing forum areas.
"In order to deliver this, we have published for consultation a paper entitled 'Taking decision-making closer to the people'."
Among its key proposals are:
Developing local Area Committees to devolve specific powers to ward councillors.
Giving councillors more opportunities to be informed by residents and users on how services can be improved through Panels.
Giving backbench councillors a role in developing policies and advising the Executive on its forward plans through active Working Groups.
Making better use of new technology including websites, social networking and Twitter; to reach and engage new people and improve services.
Reducing the number of other meetings that take place, as we seek to focus decision and policy making in these new and cost effective bodies.
Councillor Ellesmere added: "I believe these changes could make a real difference to how Ipswich is run. They would enable councillors of all political parties to take a more active part in the running of the council and better able to represent their constituents."
More information is available in the report Taking Decision Making Closer to the People. Comments must be received by 11th November 2011 and should be submitted by email to areacommittees@ipswich.gov.uk or by post to:
Councillor David Ellesmere
Ipswich Borough Council
Grafton House
15-17 Russell Road
Ipswich
IP1 2DE
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Ipswich Tory in blast at Ipswich Tories!
It seemed quite obvious to us fighting to win seats at the local elections in Ipswich last year, that the Tories were either not expecting to win St Margaret’s Ward or were not attempting to win it so that they could still guarantee the support of the 5 or 6 Lib Dems left on Ipswich Borough Council.
But once the votes started being counted it became obvious that the Tories had got their campaign all wrong, losing Rushmere, Stoke Park and Whitton but with little if any work ending up winning St Margaret’s.
Since May the true nature of the Tory/Lib Dem coalition has come to light in the town, they may have run the town together but there was little love lost between the parties. This has now seen attacks on each other in Full Council and the Tory supporting blogs have been keen to inform us that they never had any time for their former colleagues in power anyway.
But what may have surprised many is that some Ipswich Tories are stating that they always expected to win St Margaret’s. The Tory blog ‘A Riverside View’ has even accused Ipswich Labour of getting the facts wrong about St Margaret’s. Kevin commented here that we were wrong to say this – “Former Cllr Stokes didn’t look too chuffed at winning St Margaret’s ward in May. Tories didn’t work it and it fell into their lap”
He also commented on the Ipswich Spy website after they stated that they thought the Tories were surprised to win this – “Tories were surprised to win the seat in May? We were surprised that it was by such a small margin of votes but we were expecting to take it. Next May the Lib Dems four will be reduced to two.”
Now he may be right, there may be only two Lib Dems left come next May but he certainly got it wrong (lied?) by stating they expected to win.
Now Labour thought that, the local press and Ipswich Spy thought that, but ‘A Riverside View’ egged on by the Ipswich Tory twitter account have rewritten history. How do we know?
We know because the Tory who won the seat in May has told us. In an Evening Star article on Saturday the 10th September she doesn’t hold back in her attacks on her former colleagues.
Sarah Stokes resigned last week after just 4 months as a councillor and it has only taken a few days for the real reasons why she has given up to come to light.
She states she was not an active member of the Tory Party and only stood at the last minute after the original candidate had dropped out (or moved to the Rushmere Ward to lose?) She was not made aware of the level of commitment required to be a councillor.
But her most damming comments prove that many of us were right and that ‘A Riverside View’ is being very economical with the truth.
She states that “I had a load of leaflets dropped at my house to be delivered. I asked who could help me, I was given three names – one had just had a hip replacement, one was suffering from bunions and the third was on holiday!”
So much for expecting to win, or did they think it would be so easy they did not have to bother to campaign?
She then informs us that only two Tory councillors were willing to help her, and those two names certainly do not include the name of the Tory leader, John Carnall.
Senior Ipswich Tory Paul West then chips in to inform us they find it difficult to recruit volunteers (not a problem we seem to have at the moment).
But though all above does not make great reading for the Ipswich Tory Party, I expect they may have a chance of retaining the seat whenever the by-election is held – even though up to Sarah resigning, it had only been Ipswich Labour who had delivered any sort of leaflet in the St Margaret’s Ward since May.
But what may surprise many residents but will come as no surprise to us who have witnessed the local Tories both in power and in opposition is that Sarah found she was not being given the opportunity she would have wanted to help voters with their problems.
So we seem to have the had a glimpse of the true Ipswich Conservative Party, one not interested in helping residents or even letting their councillors do so.
Of course a by-election will cost thousands of pounds to be held, and we all know that John Carnall hates to see money wasted; maybe we would not be in this position if they had taken more care when it came to the selection of candidates. Maybe we should send the bill for the election to the local Conservative Association? Local Tories are often critical of Officers when things go wrong and believe they should be held to account. Well this time we know who is to blame for wasting Ipswich tax payers money- are you going to stump up the cash John Carnall?
Sunday, 24 July 2011
My week ahead 25 - 31 July 2011
This week, I will be In Mid Wales, supporting some young Ipswich residents as they tray to gain their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.
Saturday 30 July 10.30am Campaigning in North Ipswich
This week started with 3 meetings on Monday, the first was spent looking how we can get more local residents involved in the North East Ipswich forum, the second was a meeting with Council Officers as we looked at the plan for the Olympic torch arriving in Ipswich. The day finished off with the Labour Group meeting.
On Wednesday, I joined fellow Labour councillors, Bryony Rudkin and Peter Gardiner at Crown Pools in Ipswich as we met users of the pool to discuss the next stage of the pool refurbishment. the users seemed impressed (and surprised) that we were keen to hear their views.
The council meeting that night saw unanimous support for the motion that will see Ipswich form closer links with Nettuno in Italy, what should have just been a formality was slightly soured by Tory leader John Carnall trying to make a fuss about why the meeting was being held. But from the speakers on the night, it seems he was a lone voice and the comments by Lib Dem Richard Atkins and even some of Carnall's own group also indicated that the opposition had wished to form a link with Nettuno during their time in power but for some reason (Carnall?) it never happened.
On Thursday I was at the Colchester Road Fire Station to see the handover of the Needham Market Fire engine and then I finished the week by spending Saturday campaigning for Tracey Welsh in Great Cornard.
Saturday 30 July 10.30am Campaigning in North Ipswich
This week started with 3 meetings on Monday, the first was spent looking how we can get more local residents involved in the North East Ipswich forum, the second was a meeting with Council Officers as we looked at the plan for the Olympic torch arriving in Ipswich. The day finished off with the Labour Group meeting.
On Wednesday, I joined fellow Labour councillors, Bryony Rudkin and Peter Gardiner at Crown Pools in Ipswich as we met users of the pool to discuss the next stage of the pool refurbishment. the users seemed impressed (and surprised) that we were keen to hear their views.
The council meeting that night saw unanimous support for the motion that will see Ipswich form closer links with Nettuno in Italy, what should have just been a formality was slightly soured by Tory leader John Carnall trying to make a fuss about why the meeting was being held. But from the speakers on the night, it seems he was a lone voice and the comments by Lib Dem Richard Atkins and even some of Carnall's own group also indicated that the opposition had wished to form a link with Nettuno during their time in power but for some reason (Carnall?) it never happened.
On Thursday I was at the Colchester Road Fire Station to see the handover of the Needham Market Fire engine and then I finished the week by spending Saturday campaigning for Tracey Welsh in Great Cornard.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
John Carnall - Tory embarrassment
Last night I attended the Annual Council Meeting in Ipswich, the main purpose of the evening is to elect a new Mayor, and though most of the evening is about pageantry and tradition part of the occasion does involve politics as a new Leader and an executive are also elected..
Gavin McClure, a former Ipswich Tory Councillor attended the night as a guest and has a different take of the night to me. In his latest blog post, Gavin sings the praises of Tory Leader John Carnall.According to Gavin, "Cllr John Carnall started his tenure as Conservative leader in terrific form. When he challenged a constitutional point regarding the election of the Deputy Leader"
Now I thought Carnall was just trying to score cheap points and ended up making a fool of himself, after the meeting was over I found myself speaking to one of the invited guests. The guest informed me that hew saw himself as a Conservative supporter but that after the antics of John Carnall at the meeting, if he lived in Ipswich he would vote Labour!
He said it was obvious to most of the audience, that John Carnall had marked his copy of the agenda at item 5, and that he had prepared his comments and point of order but as the guest said, if he had noted that item 5 was not correct, why had he not informed the Chief Executive and the Council Officers earlier in the week? Cllr Carnall was correct, in that agenda item 5 was wrong but all he did by pointing it out at the meeting rather than before hand was embarrass the officers and at the same time attempt to embarrass the Borough of Ipswich.
From speaking to the guest, it was obvious all he had done was embarrass himself and make himself and his Tory group look like poor losers.
I can understand why he decided not to take his place on the executive - even if I do not agree with him but (as Gavin should understand) he was letting down the Ipswich electorate in not taking the Chair of Scrutiny, it is recommended 'best practice' for Scrutiny to be chaired by the opposition. Gavin actually improved the running of scrutiny during his tenure as chairman of that committee so I find it hard to understand why he supports Cllr Carnall on his refusal to take the Chair.
Where I do agree with Gavin, his on his opinion of the Lib Dems, on the first vote on item 6, they voted with Labour, when the Mayor had to put it to a vote the second time, they abstained ( I say thay abstained, Cllr Inga Lockington seemed to vote for, against and abstain - all at the same time!)As Gavin states, 'they look both ways again'.
The guest was certainly not impressed with John Carnall, wonder what he would have thought if he had known that he had also refused to allow David Goldsmith the former Deputy Mayor to carry on it that role? David had said he was happy to carry on (Jane Chambers, the outgoing Lib Dem Mayor should have become Deputy, but had lost her seat) but Carnall said the decision was up to the Tory Group not David and he/they had decided they were not even going to take up this ceremonial post let alone a seat on executive or Chair of Scrutiny.
Liz Harsant the outgoing Council Leader had some words of advice for the new Labour Leader of the Council, she would have been far better off trying to give her former deputy leader some advice on civic responsibility. John Carnall not only embarrassed himself, the Tory Group but also the Borough of Ipswich - his antics last night do not give me much hope that he will be the critical friend, that an effective opposition should be.
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Tories say "put it in the bank"
Last night saw Ipswich Borough Council debate the budget plan, I say debate but what I mean it was just an opportunity for the tories to blame the whole worldwide recession on Labour and Gordon Brown in particular.
We had put forward 10 amendment's to the budget, which would have led to an £8 million boost to the Ipswich economy and still keeping the Council Tax at the same level as the Tories/Lib Dems have set. All the amendment's were thrown out by what became the Carnall and Cenci show! Just like a music hall act but one with little laughter. Actually that is wrong John Carnall spent most of the time laughing- obviously he has not met many constituents in Bixley who have been hit by the current economic meltdown.
The Tory answer to the problems we face is to leave the money in the bank- till a rainy day, well its seems to be pouring at the moment. What Carnall means, is they want to save money so they can set a low Council Tax rate in election year!
A number of our amendment's would not have cost much money- an example was the £7,000 proposed to employ a member of Council staff to help with Ipswich to keep their Fairtrade status, this was thrown out and what was quite amazing was the attack on those who want Fairtrade, by certain Lib Dem members. I wonder how those who vote Lib Dem would have felt?
I was so annoyed by the Carnall/Cenci show that I even left before the end of the meeting - I thought that I would rather spend time with my family in my last week here before I depart for my final training before I deploy to Afghanistan. I even felt like giving up politics.
But fortunately this morning a visit to the Dundee House sheltered Housing scheme, has made me more even determined to not only return a Labour Council to Ipswich but even more importantly help Labour win a fourth term in government.
For those who feel the Tories have changed- and that Cameron is now moving to the centre- forget it- Carnall and Cenci showed that in Town Halls all over the county, the same Thatcher Tories are still running the show.
We had put forward 10 amendment's to the budget, which would have led to an £8 million boost to the Ipswich economy and still keeping the Council Tax at the same level as the Tories/Lib Dems have set. All the amendment's were thrown out by what became the Carnall and Cenci show! Just like a music hall act but one with little laughter. Actually that is wrong John Carnall spent most of the time laughing- obviously he has not met many constituents in Bixley who have been hit by the current economic meltdown.
The Tory answer to the problems we face is to leave the money in the bank- till a rainy day, well its seems to be pouring at the moment. What Carnall means, is they want to save money so they can set a low Council Tax rate in election year!
A number of our amendment's would not have cost much money- an example was the £7,000 proposed to employ a member of Council staff to help with Ipswich to keep their Fairtrade status, this was thrown out and what was quite amazing was the attack on those who want Fairtrade, by certain Lib Dem members. I wonder how those who vote Lib Dem would have felt?
I was so annoyed by the Carnall/Cenci show that I even left before the end of the meeting - I thought that I would rather spend time with my family in my last week here before I depart for my final training before I deploy to Afghanistan. I even felt like giving up politics.
But fortunately this morning a visit to the Dundee House sheltered Housing scheme, has made me more even determined to not only return a Labour Council to Ipswich but even more importantly help Labour win a fourth term in government.
For those who feel the Tories have changed- and that Cameron is now moving to the centre- forget it- Carnall and Cenci showed that in Town Halls all over the county, the same Thatcher Tories are still running the show.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)