News belatedly reaches us of toys being thrown out of prams within the opposition Labour group of Swansea Council. It is murmured that two members stormed out of a meeting following an announcement that allegedly gave further influence to what is described by dissenters as the 'inner-shadow cabinet'.
Their threats of crossing the floor apparently came to naught following intercession by colleagues but at least one is reported to have been courted by Lib Dem and Independents who have obviously heard the same story.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
They don’t give up, do they?
The quest by the Western Mail to make the nation Bourne Free continues. Having seen a possible blood-fest spoilt by the inconvenient fact that ‘almost ‘leadership contender Jonathan Morgan accompanied Nick and others on a fact-finding trip to Brussels the paper feels that separate scrutiny is necessary. This tells us, among other stuff, that Bourne’s iPod joins the infamous duck house in being an “icon for indignation” - and we thought we specialised in dodgy alliteration.
Moving on however, it takes Betsan Powys to makes the point that the transparency which AMs are currently parading in front of their Westminster counterparts is quite a recent phenomenon.
Moving on however, it takes Betsan Powys to makes the point that the transparency which AMs are currently parading in front of their Westminster counterparts is quite a recent phenomenon.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Short distance, sizeable haul
The Assembly’s expenses get published today, and it’s only natural for attention to be focused on the Additional Cost Allowance. This is the inoffensive name for payments made towards the cost of hotel accomodation or for renting a second home plus all the associated electricity, council tax, broadband and subsistence for the poor weary AMs who cannot possible make the journey home from Cardiff to the Swansea area and back again during weekdays – when they’re not in family-friendly recess mode, that is.According to the wizzo expenses system now available on line, the results for constituency and regional representatives in this locality are:
Andrew Davies - £0; Edwina Hart - £0; Val Lloyd - £10,010; Peter Black - £11,618; Alun Cairns - £10,275; Bethan Jenkins - £12,943; Dai Lloyd - £0
No comment from us on the disparities or reasons behind them. That is probably best left to those named to provide. Details are available here.
Taking a Liberty?
News seems to have finally broken (more or less) about the legal squabbling at Liberty between the stadium management company and the Council. Details are not available but the consensus among speculators is that the dispute is over the size of final liabilities for the company operating the 20,000 seat venue.
Comments on the Beans on Toast website are varied although a few contributors, who are presumably in the know, intriguingly mention a possible insurance scam in the making. Whatever the truth of this, the deafening silence from both sides indicates that an out-of-court deal is a likely outcome.
Our information is that the Lib Dem survival squad at Calamity Hall are already spinning the suggestion that officers “no longer in the employ of the authority” are at fault for the present situation. They need to be careful with that one – especially as a certain formal chief legal officer still lives & works in the area and will no doubt have kept a few notes on the matter.
Comments on the Beans on Toast website are varied although a few contributors, who are presumably in the know, intriguingly mention a possible insurance scam in the making. Whatever the truth of this, the deafening silence from both sides indicates that an out-of-court deal is a likely outcome.
Our information is that the Lib Dem survival squad at Calamity Hall are already spinning the suggestion that officers “no longer in the employ of the authority” are at fault for the present situation. They need to be careful with that one – especially as a certain formal chief legal officer still lives & works in the area and will no doubt have kept a few notes on the matter.
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Nerves
Dav-El (any relation to Kal-El?) says that Assembly members are nervous about expense details which are due to go on line tomorrow.What on earth have they got to be nervous about? Ah yes – it’s all coming back now.
Hitched
Best wishes to Roberto and Beth for the future.
Strange that there's no mention on the Beans on Toast website - so far.
Strange that there's no mention on the Beans on Toast website - so far.
Blame
Michael Jackson's doctor 'in no way a suspect' says the headline- clearly they're not talking about his plastic surgeon!!
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Being REALLY Welsh
Despite previous efforts to portray himself as a right-on sort of guy who knows his sport, Mr Black fails the cred test with this inane post when everyone else is unleashing venom at how soddin’ Ronan O’Gara managed to sabotage his own side’s chances in the dying moments of the Lions’ second test against South Africa.
Things will probably subside as the evening continues by the prevailing view on the message boards at the moment is “Bring back Cromwell”.
Things will probably subside as the evening continues by the prevailing view on the message boards at the moment is “Bring back Cromwell”.
Standards
Councillor Bill Pritchard, who is paying the penalty for his uncompromising views - and a patent lack of contrition for stating them - will probably compare his treatment at the hands of an adjudication panel with the lack of sanctions applied to property-flipping, tax-avoiding, nepotistic MPs who have a creative approach in respect of expense claims.
There is arguably little place for either attitude towards the electorate at any tier of public service but before any parliamentarians pose the question if councillors would care to exchange their code of conduct with the prospect of public trial by Daily Telegraph then they should first remember that they are responsible for bringing about both outcomes– one way or another.
There is arguably little place for either attitude towards the electorate at any tier of public service but before any parliamentarians pose the question if councillors would care to exchange their code of conduct with the prospect of public trial by Daily Telegraph then they should first remember that they are responsible for bringing about both outcomes– one way or another.
Friday, 26 June 2009
Pride in the Park
The planned Gay Pride event in Swansea has certainly generated comment on the EP website - with most of the views being predictable, one way or another. Yet, those who recognise the power of the pink pound seem to feel that beggers (or something like that) can't afford to be choosers.
Event organisers say they expect a crowd of up to 5,000 at the city's Singleton Park with some people travelling hundreds of miles to make the all-day festival.
In view of the potential boost to local hotels & hostelries, we think that Swansea Council should at least give the event some official recognition and we would like to volunteer deputy mayor Richard Lewis to don the robes and provide a civic welcome. He looks just darling in red.
Event organisers say they expect a crowd of up to 5,000 at the city's Singleton Park with some people travelling hundreds of miles to make the all-day festival.
In view of the potential boost to local hotels & hostelries, we think that Swansea Council should at least give the event some official recognition and we would like to volunteer deputy mayor Richard Lewis to don the robes and provide a civic welcome. He looks just darling in red.
Preaching & practicing
Interesting exercise in engagement from finance minister Andrew Davies who will today warn local authorities not to “slash and burn” their services in the face of looming public sector spending cuts.
The Assembly Government is facing a £216m reduction in its 2010-11 budget and is likely to pass on a similar sized cuts to local councils but, according to the Western Mail, Mr Davies wants an ‘imaginative response’ from civic leaders on how they can sustain and hopefully even improve services.
You can bet that a good proportion of his audience at Swansea’s Liberty stadium will be unimpressed. It is also entirely possible that one or two might even press him to first come up with examples of how his own regime has adopted the ‘lean’ working methods he espouses to "eliminate waste and unnecessary bureaucracy".
Note: You may have problems with the link as the Wales Online website is still going through temporal distortions of the Groundhog Day variety.
The Assembly Government is facing a £216m reduction in its 2010-11 budget and is likely to pass on a similar sized cuts to local councils but, according to the Western Mail, Mr Davies wants an ‘imaginative response’ from civic leaders on how they can sustain and hopefully even improve services.
You can bet that a good proportion of his audience at Swansea’s Liberty stadium will be unimpressed. It is also entirely possible that one or two might even press him to first come up with examples of how his own regime has adopted the ‘lean’ working methods he espouses to "eliminate waste and unnecessary bureaucracy".
Note: You may have problems with the link as the Wales Online website is still going through temporal distortions of the Groundhog Day variety.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Don't give up the day job
The media-fest over expenses takes another viral-like jump whereby scornful scrutiny on the substance of claims and the employment of family members now extends to who performs certain work - as Plaid's Adam Price is finding out.
The ‘big question’ is supposedly about the propriety of whether national party chairman John Dixon should have been paid more than £10,000 in public funds as an IT consultant following expenses claims made by the Carmarthen MP. Yet to most people, the question would be whether he did a decent job and that the price reasonable for the task involved. In the absence of any suggestion otherwise then we have the answer.
Next!
The ‘big question’ is supposedly about the propriety of whether national party chairman John Dixon should have been paid more than £10,000 in public funds as an IT consultant following expenses claims made by the Carmarthen MP. Yet to most people, the question would be whether he did a decent job and that the price reasonable for the task involved. In the absence of any suggestion otherwise then we have the answer.
Next!
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Reclaiming the streets - but at a price
Swansea club-goers of the more traditional kind will be delighted that plans to close Wind Street to traffic seven nights a week are to be ditched following widespread protests.
Despite ‘concerns’ from police and pub proprietors for the safety of their younger clientele, Swansea Council appears to be looking to reverse an earlier decision and listen to the needs of older & infirm patrons whose establishments pre-date the newcomers by nearly a century and will probably have longer futures given the way that other premises regularly change owners, identities and facades.
Those less fortunate to fare at the hands of highways officials however are motorists who have enjoyed free ‘suburban’ parking throughout the city and specifically the communities of Morriston and Gorseinon. A separate cabinet report states:
The Cost Of Maintaining The Car Parks In Both Morriston And Gorseinon Is A Burden On The Car Park Budget. The Car Park Budget Gains No Income From These Car Parks. This Budget Is Currently Showing A Substantial Deficit And In Order To Maintain These Car Parks To An Acceptable Standard, Users Should Be Charged.
Clearly a ‘capital’ offence in the view of the author who recommends introducing pay and display charges.
Other free car-parks in Clydach, Landore, Gowerton, Brynhyfryd, Pontardulais, Llangyfelach, and the Marina are unaffected – for now.
Despite ‘concerns’ from police and pub proprietors for the safety of their younger clientele, Swansea Council appears to be looking to reverse an earlier decision and listen to the needs of older & infirm patrons whose establishments pre-date the newcomers by nearly a century and will probably have longer futures given the way that other premises regularly change owners, identities and facades.
Those less fortunate to fare at the hands of highways officials however are motorists who have enjoyed free ‘suburban’ parking throughout the city and specifically the communities of Morriston and Gorseinon. A separate cabinet report states:The Cost Of Maintaining The Car Parks In Both Morriston And Gorseinon Is A Burden On The Car Park Budget. The Car Park Budget Gains No Income From These Car Parks. This Budget Is Currently Showing A Substantial Deficit And In Order To Maintain These Car Parks To An Acceptable Standard, Users Should Be Charged.
Clearly a ‘capital’ offence in the view of the author who recommends introducing pay and display charges.
Other free car-parks in Clydach, Landore, Gowerton, Brynhyfryd, Pontardulais, Llangyfelach, and the Marina are unaffected – for now.
Performance needed, not platitudes
Swansea Council spin-corps will no doubt be talking up the performance statistics reported in this week’s cabinet agenda but even they will be hard pressed to make a positive story out of the dismal picture provided of child and family services. The failure to meet key standards – where they were actually set – is depressing enough but it is understandable why direct intervention became necessary when you realise that the targets came out of a previous ‘improvement agreement’ between the local authority and Welsh Assembly Government.
The assurances from politicians is that a new social services cabinet member, a cross-party scrutiny group and a more ‘corporate’ management approach will bring about the necessary improvements. But there should be no sense of achievement within Swansea Council at these moves - especially when it is reported that as recently as April that 30% of children in need still do not have a designated social worker.
The assurances from politicians is that a new social services cabinet member, a cross-party scrutiny group and a more ‘corporate’ management approach will bring about the necessary improvements. But there should be no sense of achievement within Swansea Council at these moves - especially when it is reported that as recently as April that 30% of children in need still do not have a designated social worker.
Monday, 22 June 2009
Replacing the Speaker
No strong feelings about any of the candidates on our part - although tory back-bencher Sir George Young could be fun. The member for North West Hampshire achieved some notoriety as a junior housing minister in the Thatcher government when he once described London's street homeless as "the people you have to step over when leaving the opera".He also publishes a half-way decent blog. Some of the posts, if he actually got the job, would be fascinating with entries like "Tuesday - Told Gordon to shut up, sit down and get on with his work".
Update: Ah well, George didn't get the job. But it was significant that new Speaker John Bercow paid tribute to Swansea West MP Alan Williams who, in his capacity as Father of the House, conducted the election. We hope the Evening Post was listening.
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Known associates
The Taxpayers Alliance is seldom without a ready rent-a-quote suitable for every public, political & parliamentary misdemeanour. But the organisation didn't become a mixture of media darlings and voice of the people by operating out of a bungalow in Hove. Not that many people are sure where it based at all.
Anyway, although it has been dismissed by several pundits as just a re-incarnated Conservative shell organisation of the type that prefaced the Thatcher era, e.g. PULSE and Aims for Industry, the TPA has managed to re-define right-wing economic lobbying thanks to the efforts of a small battalion of bright young raptors like campaigns director Mark Wallace, who held a similar position with the Freedom Association.
The Alliance also has a number of advisers such as Prof. Patrick Minford of Cardiff Business School who provide the organisation with the intellectual collateral and undeniable gravitas needed by an economic pressure group on a mission.
The Taxpayers Alliance regularly issues releases on the suitability of public spending in Wales and hasa bit of a thing about local goverment PR costs in particular. Their campaign manager Susie Squire, who is originally from Newport is becoming a familiar voice on BBC Wales radio.
Described on its website as an ‘independent grassroots campaign’, the Alliance does not give any details on how it is funded and the membership list refers to signatories of two letters sent to national newspaper 4 years ago. The organisation is not obliged to publish the source of any donations it may receive or reveal the identity of donors.
Some journalists have speculated on a connection between John Wick, the man who exposed the expenses scams at Westminster and a few senior people at the TPA but nothing has been confirmed.
Anyway, although it has been dismissed by several pundits as just a re-incarnated Conservative shell organisation of the type that prefaced the Thatcher era, e.g. PULSE and Aims for Industry, the TPA has managed to re-define right-wing economic lobbying thanks to the efforts of a small battalion of bright young raptors like campaigns director Mark Wallace, who held a similar position with the Freedom Association.The Alliance also has a number of advisers such as Prof. Patrick Minford of Cardiff Business School who provide the organisation with the intellectual collateral and undeniable gravitas needed by an economic pressure group on a mission.
The Taxpayers Alliance regularly issues releases on the suitability of public spending in Wales and hasa bit of a thing about local goverment PR costs in particular. Their campaign manager Susie Squire, who is originally from Newport is becoming a familiar voice on BBC Wales radio.
Described on its website as an ‘independent grassroots campaign’, the Alliance does not give any details on how it is funded and the membership list refers to signatories of two letters sent to national newspaper 4 years ago. The organisation is not obliged to publish the source of any donations it may receive or reveal the identity of donors.
Some journalists have speculated on a connection between John Wick, the man who exposed the expenses scams at Westminster and a few senior people at the TPA but nothing has been confirmed.
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Cheap shot
It would be understandable for anyone picking up today’s local paper to think that Swansea West MP Alan Williams had been outed in the parliamentary Ex-files. But although the website version of the same story carries the claim ‘MP used taxpayers' cash to buy dog bowl’ – the story turns out to be more of an over-heated dog’s breakfast.
Williams, who is a respected parliamentarian and Father of the House, has been identified by the Daily Telegraph as one of the so-called ‘saints’ whose expense claims were minimal compared to the excesses of some MPs, but that didn’t seem to deter the Beans on Toast who cannot resist a cheap shot and a front page headline.
The website articles claims that “questions have been asked” about his purchases – which don’t actually include a dog bowl - but fails to come up with a name as to who’s doing the asking. The many inconsistencies in and between the website & printed versions strongly suggest that the query comes from someone in another profession that has a ‘creative’ approach to job & travel expenses along with a nice line in free gifts, samples and freebie holidays to supplement their salaries.
Some might say that the local paper is just doing its job, but the majority - who know that Alan Williams has done a damn sight more for the people of Swansea West than the Evening Post could begin to claim when it comes to serving the community (and has been a lot more modest about it) – will see it very differently. And it might well transpire that this second view is shared by Mr Williams’ lawyers as well.
Williams, who is a respected parliamentarian and Father of the House, has been identified by the Daily Telegraph as one of the so-called ‘saints’ whose expense claims were minimal compared to the excesses of some MPs, but that didn’t seem to deter the Beans on Toast who cannot resist a cheap shot and a front page headline.
The website articles claims that “questions have been asked” about his purchases – which don’t actually include a dog bowl - but fails to come up with a name as to who’s doing the asking. The many inconsistencies in and between the website & printed versions strongly suggest that the query comes from someone in another profession that has a ‘creative’ approach to job & travel expenses along with a nice line in free gifts, samples and freebie holidays to supplement their salaries.
Some might say that the local paper is just doing its job, but the majority - who know that Alan Williams has done a damn sight more for the people of Swansea West than the Evening Post could begin to claim when it comes to serving the community (and has been a lot more modest about it) – will see it very differently. And it might well transpire that this second view is shared by Mr Williams’ lawyers as well.
Friday, 19 June 2009
Over-egged
It’s difficult to understand why an Assembly minister would invoke FoI procedures to check out the millions of pounds in assets that Swansea Council has sold off when much of the info is in a council report published just this week. But the other puzzling aspect is why Lib Dem Peter Black it so desperately keen to come up with detailed responses both on the EP website and his own blog – and doesn't mention £13 million spent on the 'new' civic centre (almost twice the original estimate) on either.
Whatever the circumstances, the headlines have had their effect on the punters and the wordy explanations followed by subsequent claims of facial omelette all seem a bit overdone as a result.
Whatever the circumstances, the headlines have had their effect on the punters and the wordy explanations followed by subsequent claims of facial omelette all seem a bit overdone as a result.
That’s politics
Would-be parliamentarian Esther Rantzen has had a foretaste of how the press and public are a lot less forgiving when politicians have foot-in-mouth moments.
The saintly status of the former BBC presenter took a knock when she appeared on Question Time and speculated on what lay behind a spate of attacks on Romanians in Belfast in recent weeks by suggesting that “It's as if it gives them [local people] a sense of identity because they only know who they are if they know who they hate."
Needless to say there is divided opinion on Rantzen’s contribution with voices backing her unequivocal attack on racial intolerance whilst others criticise her for fostering the type of insensitive stereotype that the province is trying to leave behind. Of course, there is also a third and slightly more cynical viewpoint that an independent candidate seeking to broaden the scope of a single issue campaign needs to start somewhere.
The saintly status of the former BBC presenter took a knock when she appeared on Question Time and speculated on what lay behind a spate of attacks on Romanians in Belfast in recent weeks by suggesting that “It's as if it gives them [local people] a sense of identity because they only know who they are if they know who they hate."
Needless to say there is divided opinion on Rantzen’s contribution with voices backing her unequivocal attack on racial intolerance whilst others criticise her for fostering the type of insensitive stereotype that the province is trying to leave behind. Of course, there is also a third and slightly more cynical viewpoint that an independent candidate seeking to broaden the scope of a single issue campaign needs to start somewhere.
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Not really rockin' right now
Despite some early promise, the blogsite recently launched by tory troublemaker Rene Kinzett seems to have gone off the boil a little.
The party-political stuff is to be expected from someone who really thinks that he can snatch the Swansea West parliamentary seat but it is his stick-poking at ‘past-it’ councillors, Lib Dem baiting and the claims about the prowess of his cat which people most enjoy.
So, will the PR meister step things up on his site or can we anticipate a slow descent into yet another what-I-had-for-breakfast blog interspersed with party verbage that is the standard achieved by most Welsh politicians?
The party-political stuff is to be expected from someone who really thinks that he can snatch the Swansea West parliamentary seat but it is his stick-poking at ‘past-it’ councillors, Lib Dem baiting and the claims about the prowess of his cat which people most enjoy.
So, will the PR meister step things up on his site or can we anticipate a slow descent into yet another what-I-had-for-breakfast blog interspersed with party verbage that is the standard achieved by most Welsh politicians?
Ambition
As you would expect, there is a lot more local belief that plans by Swansea University for a second campus at the SA1 Waterfront will come to fruition than the regeneration fantasies of politicians.This is because the university has a proven record of delivering projects like the Institute of Life Science and its next phase, and know how to grab the imagination of public and commercial investors – a skill which has persistently eluded the Lib Dem run regime of recent times and who couldn’t find their way to the crapper without a comprehensive and fully consulted upon strategy.
Success will hopefully breed success, but as the WM alludes, “The plans will need the approval of the planning authorities, although it’s surely inconceivable that any council would want to block a move like this.”
Don’t bet on it.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Writing between the lines
An inquiry report published this week by an Assembly committee manages to generate varied coverage within the media. Not too surprising, since the findings are from the Communities and Culture’s Broadcasting Sub-committee who have been looking into future prospects of the Welsh Newspaper Industry.
The generally supportive recommendations to relax cross-ownership restrictions and give a clearer steer on public sector input are reported straightforwardly by BBC Wales and the Beans on Toast. However, the Western Mail opts instead for a provocative headline of Councils criticised for using taxpayers’ cash to produce newspapers and kicks off by stating that “a cross-party group of AMs has attacked councils which use taxpayers’ money to produce their own newspapers".
The odd thing is that none of the committee’s four main recommendations in the official report touch on council newspapers. In fact, only three paragraphs at the end of the 34 page document even mention local authority publications. Yet this reference is apparently enough to prompt a tirade about "the travesty of local councils using taxpayers’ money to masquerade as, and compete directly with, local newspapers” from Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey – and for her staff to dutifully reproduce her comments.
The claim that advertising revenue is being lost to council papers has become a regular refrain from the Society of Editors – although research evidence to support this claim has not even been commissioned let alone published. But even if the trend is real, such a blatant example of skewing a story to suit commercial purposes does little to support the implied argument from proprietors that only newspapers can be trusted with the news.
The generally supportive recommendations to relax cross-ownership restrictions and give a clearer steer on public sector input are reported straightforwardly by BBC Wales and the Beans on Toast. However, the Western Mail opts instead for a provocative headline of Councils criticised for using taxpayers’ cash to produce newspapers and kicks off by stating that “a cross-party group of AMs has attacked councils which use taxpayers’ money to produce their own newspapers".
The odd thing is that none of the committee’s four main recommendations in the official report touch on council newspapers. In fact, only three paragraphs at the end of the 34 page document even mention local authority publications. Yet this reference is apparently enough to prompt a tirade about "the travesty of local councils using taxpayers’ money to masquerade as, and compete directly with, local newspapers” from Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey – and for her staff to dutifully reproduce her comments.
The claim that advertising revenue is being lost to council papers has become a regular refrain from the Society of Editors – although research evidence to support this claim has not even been commissioned let alone published. But even if the trend is real, such a blatant example of skewing a story to suit commercial purposes does little to support the implied argument from proprietors that only newspapers can be trusted with the news.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Up, up and .... down
Swansea council leader Chris Holley does another Captain Bullshit impersonation in today’s Western Mail in insisting that his £1 billion regeneration plans are untouched by recession.It’s not just that his personal fantasy runs in the face of property press reports of how would-be partners Hammerson are divesting like crazy to boost their share price but that he thinks that the company would actually involve itself in another risky project even in the longer term. Holley’s own officers state in a council report that “many city centre regeneration schemes have been abandoned or postponed”.
Last week, Newport council concluded that the ‘preferred’ developer behind a £200 million project was less interested in investment than in stopping any of its competitors getting a future foothold in the project. That scheme was cancelled by mutual consent but the rumour is that Swansea would face heavy financial penalties if they try to dump their development partners within the next three years.
Even so, the final and unacceptable dollop of brown stuff offered up by Holley’s is his ludicrous statement that a WAG decision to give the city centre Strategic Regeneration Area status “is a demonstration of its commitment to the project”.
.
The sad fact is that this ‘prize’ is a simply another government hand-out that gets awarded to areas of high deprivation who are unable to generate investment interest from anywhere else. Previous ‘winners’ have been Rhyl and Colwyn Bay.
.
Instead of treating Swansea's electors like they come from another planet, there is a good argument for the press to start asking why the council leader appears to be the sole inhabitant on his.
Monday, 15 June 2009
Questions
While the local press ponder if today will see Roberto finally leave Liberty Stadium, others are asking questions about potentially bigger troubles at Morfa.Swansea's tory councillors have tabled a question for this week's slag-fest asking for a statement about "ongoing disputes between the different parties making up the Swansea Stadium Management Company".
In a short written response, Lib Dem council leader confirmed that there are "a number of issues relating to alleged construction, design and other defects and these are being dealt with through the established contractual processes."
He adds that "SSMC have issued preliminary legal proceedings against the Council and this is currently under negotiation. Any implications arising from these issues will be reported to Cabinet and/or Council when appropriate."
Other equally pointed questions about rewarding political failure, over-claimed expenses, highways budgets cuts and horse-fairs can be found on the council agenda. Simply fascinating.
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Verbals
Lib Dem Peter Black highlights the undermining effect that fruit and veg can have upon serious commentary. A few years ago, a similar slip befell one of Black’s senior council colleagues who when addressing a regional seminar announced to the audience that what Europe desperately needed was “an effective parsnip”.
Selling off more family silver
Council finance officers have managed to blow the lid off the corporate spin about Swansea forging ahead in the face of recession. According to the Corporate Asset Management Plan to be debated by councillors next Thursday, development in the city has virtually stalled and there is a warning of less money from the sale of public assets.
The detailed report states: “many city centre regeneration schemes have been abandoned or postponed as developers have found it impossible to secure tenants and raise funding for schemes.”
The proposed answer by Lib Dem finance cabinet member Stuart Rice is to beef up the disposal programme with a “universal review” of assets which can be sold off. The review will look at where services are provided and suggest merging depots & offices to enable properties to be declared surplus.
An appendix to the report lists ‘operational properties’ worth £609 million but the report warns that “timing of disposals will need to reflect market conditions.”
The detailed report states: “many city centre regeneration schemes have been abandoned or postponed as developers have found it impossible to secure tenants and raise funding for schemes.”
The proposed answer by Lib Dem finance cabinet member Stuart Rice is to beef up the disposal programme with a “universal review” of assets which can be sold off. The review will look at where services are provided and suggest merging depots & offices to enable properties to be declared surplus.
An appendix to the report lists ‘operational properties’ worth £609 million but the report warns that “timing of disposals will need to reflect market conditions.”
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Too much, too late
Next week, Swansea councillors get to discuss a Gypsy Traveller policy – three months after officials spectacularly screwed up in a court action aimed at moving caravans off local authority land.
The ‘response’ to this farce, tabled in the name of the cabinet member who is alleged to have sabotaged the earlier eviction plans, is forty-something pages of waffle that will probably be as effective as a chocolate teapot in tackling a problem which business leaders claim is plaguing firms in the locality.
The ‘response’ to this farce, tabled in the name of the cabinet member who is alleged to have sabotaged the earlier eviction plans, is forty-something pages of waffle that will probably be as effective as a chocolate teapot in tackling a problem which business leaders claim is plaguing firms in the locality.
All or nothing
The decision by Swansea Council’s newly installed presiding officer against a review of school closure proposals by all members is as predictable as rain on a Bank holiday weekend. Wendy Fitzgerald, who will probably later claim that she only maintains a ‘strategic overview’ relies on officers for day-to-day decisions, says that no further discussion is merited under the rules – because that’s what she’s been told by officers who don’t want the matter re-visited.
Hiding behind procedural devices and making the occasional appearance on Sunday morning phone-in shows to give a one-sided version of events is hardly the kind of openness and accountability that Lib Dems vaunt elsewhere. Holley & Co have a working majority in the council chamber and also claim to have tacit support from other political groups. So what are they afraid of?
After all, as someone once wrote:
[The] Cabinet/Scrutiny system has concentrated power in the hands of fewer councillors, often from just the one party. Abandoning the real committee system means that most councillors are left just to ‘scrutinise’ decisions, and not to take part in them. This has been an expensive failure.
It has been bad for local decision-making, bad for local democracy and bad for local communities.The Welsh Liberal Democrats encourage all councils to abandon the cabinet system and return to a more open system. This would allow all councillors to be part of the decision-making process, so that all sections of the community would have an input.
(From Lib-Dem AM Peter Black's website - 27 May 2004)
Hiding behind procedural devices and making the occasional appearance on Sunday morning phone-in shows to give a one-sided version of events is hardly the kind of openness and accountability that Lib Dems vaunt elsewhere. Holley & Co have a working majority in the council chamber and also claim to have tacit support from other political groups. So what are they afraid of?
After all, as someone once wrote:
[The] Cabinet/Scrutiny system has concentrated power in the hands of fewer councillors, often from just the one party. Abandoning the real committee system means that most councillors are left just to ‘scrutinise’ decisions, and not to take part in them. This has been an expensive failure.
It has been bad for local decision-making, bad for local democracy and bad for local communities.The Welsh Liberal Democrats encourage all councils to abandon the cabinet system and return to a more open system. This would allow all councillors to be part of the decision-making process, so that all sections of the community would have an input.
(From Lib-Dem AM Peter Black's website - 27 May 2004)
Friday, 12 June 2009
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Be careful what you wish for
A near media blackout greeted failed efforts by Plaid & SNP bandwagoners to force through the dissolution of parliament last night. As it happens the vote went 340 to 268 against the fatuous motion which raised as many yawns as hopes in the process.
There must be a few Plaid strategists who are probably quite relieved by this particular failure given that parliamentary projections based on euro-election results don’t give the Party of Wales anything like the advantage that would normally be expected as the Labour vote goes into free-fall.
The only question that remains is whether the Plaid MPs sought legal advice in advance of their actions and if the cost went on their expenses bill.
There must be a few Plaid strategists who are probably quite relieved by this particular failure given that parliamentary projections based on euro-election results don’t give the Party of Wales anything like the advantage that would normally be expected as the Labour vote goes into free-fall.
The only question that remains is whether the Plaid MPs sought legal advice in advance of their actions and if the cost went on their expenses bill.
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
PM’s PR is BS
As has been ably commented upon elsewhere, Gordon Brown’s reported stab at electoral reform smacks a bit too much of hastily applied porcine lipstick.
What has pissed off electors – and mostly Labour supporters – is the comfy closed-shop arrangements that MPs appear to enjoy at public expense once elected and not the means by which they get their meal tickets.
The challenge therefore is to introduce new rules of probity and transparency at Westminster that can satisfy the public’s requirements but which can also maintain the system of privilege (in the proper sense) that prevents external intervention in the workings of parliament by any government or their creatures.
What has pissed off electors – and mostly Labour supporters – is the comfy closed-shop arrangements that MPs appear to enjoy at public expense once elected and not the means by which they get their meal tickets.
The challenge therefore is to introduce new rules of probity and transparency at Westminster that can satisfy the public’s requirements but which can also maintain the system of privilege (in the proper sense) that prevents external intervention in the workings of parliament by any government or their creatures.
Going public
It's intriguing to read names getting named so freely in some of the readers’ comments that accompany this story on the local paper’s website of a long-running unfair dismissal at Swansea Council involving the legal section.
Update: It’s even more intriguing that the comments now appear to have been removed (presumably after a phone call).
Update: It’s even more intriguing that the comments now appear to have been removed (presumably after a phone call).
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Street cleaning in Westminster
There is already some media agonising over the actions of protestors in disrupting the press conference held by BNP boss Nick Griffin outside Westminster Hall and whether chanting, wielding banners and throwing eggs is acceptable within a representative democracy.
Our entirely balanced view is that they should have shot the bastard and saved the eggs for the journalists.
Our entirely balanced view is that they should have shot the bastard and saved the eggs for the journalists.
Blue surge
Extrapolating euro-election results into parliamentary outcomes can become a pointless business – if only because of the UKIP factor – but Ashok Ahir of BBC Wales nonetheless does his best to offer up an intelligent analysis.
His reckoning is that Labour stands to lose 15 of the 29 seats it presently holds in Wales and that the effects in Jackland would be Gower falling to the tories with Swansea West becoming a tight three way contest between Labour, Tory and Lib Dems. Notwithstanding that any partially-sighted pundit would have come up with pretty much the same projection12 months ago, the polls still represent depressing confirmation – and not just for Labour.
As Ahir observes, “Plaid Cymru improved its overall national vote by what it will regard as a disappointing 1.1% on the day that Labour slumped to an historic low. Unlike in Scotland and in Northern Ireland, where the Scottish National Party and Sinn Fein were well ahead in terms of the overall vote (for example, the SNP up 9.4%) Plaid failed to capitalise on Labour's demise. Seeing the Welsh Conservatives win the popular vote instead has to be particularly galling for Plaid strategists, who were briefing all the way up until the final
result that it would come out on top in Wales.”
He continues with the comments that “The European election results were particularly bad for the Liberal Democrats, who were completely incapable of capitalising from Labour's failures, only mustering a minuscule 0.2% increase in their vote share on a day when the overall turnout was the lowest on record.”
The unsurprising conclusion within the article is that the undeniable tory triumph heralds what could well be a blue surge across Wales – a trend that has already emerged locally, according to the astute individuals at the Beans on Toast, who report that Swansea students have smashed the Smurfs world record.
His reckoning is that Labour stands to lose 15 of the 29 seats it presently holds in Wales and that the effects in Jackland would be Gower falling to the tories with Swansea West becoming a tight three way contest between Labour, Tory and Lib Dems. Notwithstanding that any partially-sighted pundit would have come up with pretty much the same projection12 months ago, the polls still represent depressing confirmation – and not just for Labour.
As Ahir observes, “Plaid Cymru improved its overall national vote by what it will regard as a disappointing 1.1% on the day that Labour slumped to an historic low. Unlike in Scotland and in Northern Ireland, where the Scottish National Party and Sinn Fein were well ahead in terms of the overall vote (for example, the SNP up 9.4%) Plaid failed to capitalise on Labour's demise. Seeing the Welsh Conservatives win the popular vote instead has to be particularly galling for Plaid strategists, who were briefing all the way up until the final
result that it would come out on top in Wales.”He continues with the comments that “The European election results were particularly bad for the Liberal Democrats, who were completely incapable of capitalising from Labour's failures, only mustering a minuscule 0.2% increase in their vote share on a day when the overall turnout was the lowest on record.”
The unsurprising conclusion within the article is that the undeniable tory triumph heralds what could well be a blue surge across Wales – a trend that has already emerged locally, according to the astute individuals at the Beans on Toast, who report that Swansea students have smashed the Smurfs world record.
Monday, 8 June 2009
When doing nothing becomes an option
Leaving the analysis, commentary and rationalisations to others, the outcome of the Euro elections is not so much a wake-up call for Labour as one of being bodily lifted out of bed and thrown into the street.
Strange inconsistencies whereby the Tories come first in Wales on numbers that were below their 1999 result and the BNP take two seats with less votes than at the last election bolster the overall impression that hundreds of thousands of Labour voters just stayed home.
Which goes to prove that, sometimes, doing nothing can be the most effective protest of all.
Strange inconsistencies whereby the Tories come first in Wales on numbers that were below their 1999 result and the BNP take two seats with less votes than at the last election bolster the overall impression that hundreds of thousands of Labour voters just stayed home.
Which goes to prove that, sometimes, doing nothing can be the most effective protest of all.
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Mandy versus Marr
A delightful bit of Sunday morning television in which the Beeb’s Andrew Marr is confronted by a defiant Peter Mandelson who can clearly speak with authority on the subject of planned and unplanned exits from the cabinet. Next question?
‘Twas ever thus
The calls by protesting Swansea parents and opposition councillors for a recent cabinet decision on local schools closures to be debated again in a wider forum may sound reasonable but they stand about as much chance of success as getting a recount.
Whilst it’s tough for punters & politicians alike to get their heads around the unalterable fact that local government and local democracy are two different and often mutually exclusive activities, it is not as though this situation evolved overnight.
Executive government at local level is a fairly simple concept which involves all 72 councillors deciding the basic policies while the 10 member strong cabinet then executes the day-to-day stuff within the limits set for them by a written constitution. In this instance all the bothersome background stuff is detailed in the report summary.
Under this enlightened system, which has patently suited the purposes of successive political administrations, the Leader and his/her cabinet are held accountable for their actions and any failings. And it could be argued that this is what (eventually) happened in the case of former social services boss Wendy Fitzgerald although it took direct intervention by the Welsh Assembly to finally bring things to a head; more or less.
Chief executives and senior council officers adore the cabinet system. It allows their policies to be implemented by a small, manageable group of members instead of unpredictable and free-thinking committees. Collective responsibility, within reason, which also ensures that decisions don't get revisited too often is regarded as far more efficient. Even the tiresome business of having to pander to individuals eager to enjoy the trappings of high office - but who couldn’t get a decent job in the real world - is a comparatively small price to be paid.
And so what if low turnouts among members at cabinet meetings is now the norm; with even the local press only registering percentage attendance figures somewhere in the middle teens? As Rockin’ Rene regularly points out, the composition of local government can hardly be described as representative so why should the way in which decisions are made be any different? Let’s be blunt, do any of us actually give a toss until this democratic imbalance manages to affect us personally?
The latest opinion piece in the Beans on Toast ponders if the time is right for a re-think on the efficacy of cabinet government; as if disagreement with the method used to make one decision among thousands is sufficient justification. Interestingly, they don’t suggest an alternative model as in the past. Perhaps they have sussed that directly-elected mayors can be just as unrepresentative when making decisions that affect the different interests that make up a community.
So if there is to be reform, and if it can happen in Westminster then it can happen anywhere, perhaps the place to start is by limiting the powers of local executives, be they cabinets, mayors or what-not, through legislation and placing key decisions back in the hands of all councillors who were elected to represent their communities and who should have the ability to exercise their votes accordingly. All in favour? Great!
Now let’s see which major party makes the effort to put that into their manifesto for the next general election.
Whilst it’s tough for punters & politicians alike to get their heads around the unalterable fact that local government and local democracy are two different and often mutually exclusive activities, it is not as though this situation evolved overnight.
Executive government at local level is a fairly simple concept which involves all 72 councillors deciding the basic policies while the 10 member strong cabinet then executes the day-to-day stuff within the limits set for them by a written constitution. In this instance all the bothersome background stuff is detailed in the report summary.
Under this enlightened system, which has patently suited the purposes of successive political administrations, the Leader and his/her cabinet are held accountable for their actions and any failings. And it could be argued that this is what (eventually) happened in the case of former social services boss Wendy Fitzgerald although it took direct intervention by the Welsh Assembly to finally bring things to a head; more or less.
Chief executives and senior council officers adore the cabinet system. It allows their policies to be implemented by a small, manageable group of members instead of unpredictable and free-thinking committees. Collective responsibility, within reason, which also ensures that decisions don't get revisited too often is regarded as far more efficient. Even the tiresome business of having to pander to individuals eager to enjoy the trappings of high office - but who couldn’t get a decent job in the real world - is a comparatively small price to be paid.
And so what if low turnouts among members at cabinet meetings is now the norm; with even the local press only registering percentage attendance figures somewhere in the middle teens? As Rockin’ Rene regularly points out, the composition of local government can hardly be described as representative so why should the way in which decisions are made be any different? Let’s be blunt, do any of us actually give a toss until this democratic imbalance manages to affect us personally?
The latest opinion piece in the Beans on Toast ponders if the time is right for a re-think on the efficacy of cabinet government; as if disagreement with the method used to make one decision among thousands is sufficient justification. Interestingly, they don’t suggest an alternative model as in the past. Perhaps they have sussed that directly-elected mayors can be just as unrepresentative when making decisions that affect the different interests that make up a community.
So if there is to be reform, and if it can happen in Westminster then it can happen anywhere, perhaps the place to start is by limiting the powers of local executives, be they cabinets, mayors or what-not, through legislation and placing key decisions back in the hands of all councillors who were elected to represent their communities and who should have the ability to exercise their votes accordingly. All in favour? Great!
Now let’s see which major party makes the effort to put that into their manifesto for the next general election.
Hardly working
Voters lucky enough to find a website attributed to Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful Peter May are invited to view a photo of him "working hard in Swansea West and Uplands ward".
Must have been taken when it was snowing.
Must have been taken when it was snowing.
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Verdict
Conrad Watkins, director of Cyrenians Cymru, a Swansea-based charity has never been one to pull his punches when fighting on behalf of the socially disadvantaged. His comments made in the lead up to a court hearing into the death of a homeless woman in Swansea’s High Street from a heroin overdose administered by a friend were as uncompromising as ever.
As he stated at the time, the situation for street homelessness is claimed to be “one emergency bed in a laundry room for a city of 220,000 people. I cannot think of another city with such low resources for people at the sharp end of poverty.”
Not too long ago, a similar damning verdict would have been readily delivered by the Lib Dem’s housing spokesman in the Welsh Assembly - also a member of Swansea Council. But not any more it seems.
As he stated at the time, the situation for street homelessness is claimed to be “one emergency bed in a laundry room for a city of 220,000 people. I cannot think of another city with such low resources for people at the sharp end of poverty.”
Not too long ago, a similar damning verdict would have been readily delivered by the Lib Dem’s housing spokesman in the Welsh Assembly - also a member of Swansea Council. But not any more it seems.
Feeling the squeeze
Labour government in meltdown, cabinet members running for the exits, polls in freefall and English local government electors eager to express wrathful discontent via the ballot box ..... and the Lib Dems notch up a net loss of 8 seats.
Friday, 5 June 2009
One more time?
Peter Hain’s touted return as Welsh Secretary was confirmed today and greeted appropriately as one of the worst kept secrets in Westminster of the past week - albeit one overshadowed by a series of dramatic and deliberately timed exits.
The news attracted the predictable sound-bites from opponents, including shadow secretary Cheryl Gillan who described Hain’s reinstatement after 18 months in the relative wilderness as "another sign of Labour looking to the past when what we need is a fresh start."
Some might feel however that Ms Gillan should choose her words more carefully having shown herself to be no stranger to the déjà vu department of political thinking.
The news attracted the predictable sound-bites from opponents, including shadow secretary Cheryl Gillan who described Hain’s reinstatement after 18 months in the relative wilderness as "another sign of Labour looking to the past when what we need is a fresh start."
Some might feel however that Ms Gillan should choose her words more carefully having shown herself to be no stranger to the déjà vu department of political thinking.
Flocking politicians
Whilst there is no actual supporting evidence one way or another (so far), the perception is that this week’s European elections have probably generated slightly less popular interest in the region than the identity of candidates for BB10 and most feel that the outcome of both contests will probably have equal impact on their day-to-day lives.This was most apparent at the local verification count where various animated parliamentary and Assembly hopefuls were observed pecking the ground to order to pick up the odd crumb from each other. It was a depressing spectacle which prompted one of the officials to remark that the lack of distinction among the likely candidates for Swansea West could earn the next election the sub-title of Clone Wars.
.
Given some of the antecedents involved, he is probably closer to the mark than he knows.
Closed schools, closed minds
The decision yesterday by Swansea Council’s cabinet to press ahead with closing three primary schools and merge another came as no real surprise as the report tabled at the meeting gave no alternatives and none of the “listening” members present appeared capable of providing one.
The decision now goes to a two-month period of statutory notice and then needs the Assembly to rubber stamp the process. One cynic has already voiced the opinion that the cabinet expects to be overturned or at least see one of its proposals thrown out. However, the word in Cardiff Bay is that ministers are unlikely to intervene and will simply factor the 'savings' from the closures into future budgets which are already feeling the pinch.
And they wonder why so few people bother to vote.
The decision now goes to a two-month period of statutory notice and then needs the Assembly to rubber stamp the process. One cynic has already voiced the opinion that the cabinet expects to be overturned or at least see one of its proposals thrown out. However, the word in Cardiff Bay is that ministers are unlikely to intervene and will simply factor the 'savings' from the closures into future budgets which are already feeling the pinch.
And they wonder why so few people bother to vote.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
No lessons learned
The reluctance of Auntie to disclose how much she pays her radio presenters may not seem to be on the same sort of scale as the parliamentary expenses scam monetarily speaking - although the reported £92K annual salary for at least one BBC News 24 presenter might be a useful if slightly subjective indicator.Yet was it not the series of attempts at Westminster to keep the level of publicly funded remuneration under wraps that started all the present fuss in the first place?
Clearly the Corporation is not a learning organisation.
Adios, Roberto
Feel good factors come in different kinds and there is no denying that Swans manager Roberto Martinez managed to generate the vida emocionante for fans and followers alike. Besides an undeniable ability to motivate players, Roberto made sure that he played his part in other respects and gave a touch of class to the city's otherwise drab civic and social scene.
Perhaps this is one of the few occasions that Swansea will dump its stereotypical attitudes towards success and wish him & his family well in his new career and take pride & pleasure in future successes.
Perhaps this is one of the few occasions that Swansea will dump its stereotypical attitudes towards success and wish him & his family well in his new career and take pride & pleasure in future successes.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Size matters – but not much
The recessionary forces which have affected the size of the Mars Bars also seem to be at work at the Beans and Toast who have quietly launched their more compact version of the newspaper. News content doesn’t seem to be affected – which is more than can be said of their absolutely appalling website.
Monday, 1 June 2009
The sky is falling
You have to wonder if Swansea’s Civic Society occupies a different planet to the rest of us. According to the self-appointed guardians of the urban realm who mainly comprise of the under-achieving and the unemployable in their respective fields, the incomplete Meridian Tower in the marina is an indictment(?)The press, who are apt to mistakenly regard groups with a passing interest in something as people who are also capable of making a cogent contribution, report that the CivSoc see the 29 storey building as a "giant billboard advertising a stagnant economy" in the city.
The general gist of their criticism seems to be one of “We told you so” but whether this relates to the scale of the building or the economic recession that has temporarily halted construction is not readily apparent. From the rambling statement released by the unrepresentative and opinionated bunch of worthies, it doesn't look as if they are too sure either.
When consensus becomes complicity
Today’s revelation that 40 members of staff at Swansea’s beleaguered social services department have been subject to disciplinary action in the last two years - including 14 dismissals - is hardly encouraging news for anyone expecting rapid improvements in performance or even a degree of transparency if the mealy-mouthed response from an official spokesman is any indication.
Despite the manangement-babble contained in the council's official response, the quoted figure is significantly above that of neighbouring local authorities which in itself should be grounds for concern. But an added dimension that strongly suggests better scrutiny is needed comes in claims made over the weekend by a whistle-blowing former councillor that some senior department staff have either been paid or pensioned off in a restructuring action aimed at avoiding ‘complications’.
What is patently missing from the published story is an assurance or even a concerned comment from anyone in the council’s political ‘fraternity’ who – we are told – are now supposed to be taking a keener interest than ever in how social care is delivered in the city. Then again, were they asked? Let us hope that they were not as it would be a serious misjudgement for any politician to think that the public will accept a situation whereby exercising a representative role takes second place to corporate responsibilities and which voters would perceive as little more than complicity.
Despite the manangement-babble contained in the council's official response, the quoted figure is significantly above that of neighbouring local authorities which in itself should be grounds for concern. But an added dimension that strongly suggests better scrutiny is needed comes in claims made over the weekend by a whistle-blowing former councillor that some senior department staff have either been paid or pensioned off in a restructuring action aimed at avoiding ‘complications’.
What is patently missing from the published story is an assurance or even a concerned comment from anyone in the council’s political ‘fraternity’ who – we are told – are now supposed to be taking a keener interest than ever in how social care is delivered in the city. Then again, were they asked? Let us hope that they were not as it would be a serious misjudgement for any politician to think that the public will accept a situation whereby exercising a representative role takes second place to corporate responsibilities and which voters would perceive as little more than complicity.
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