Wrong priorities for a councillor ?

There are a few occasions as a councillor when you are torn between doing your council work or doing your job. There are times too when family issues take precedence. However, there are other drains on our time which really ought to come second, on each and every occasion, to doing your council business.

So I was bemused to hear about a councillor in Norwich who put party politics before council business recently.

When Norwich City Council were meeting to discuss the mess left after Connaught collapsed, leaving 320 employees in Norwich out of work and a big question mark over local services in the City, one senior Labour councillor was apparently at the party conference, not in the council chamber defending Labour's actions over awarding the contract to Connaught.

I guess if you are desperately trying to get selected as a parliamentary candidate, attending party conference means you tick the right boxes with your political masters. But it should raise a few eyebrows amongst the electorate who don't hold politicians in high regard at the best of times.

Let Norwich serve as a warning to Nick Clegg

The deferred elections in Norwich yesterday were clearly a great success for the Labour Party, and an unmitigated disaster for the Lib Dems.


It would be easy to put this down to poor campaigns, poor leaflets or a lack of organisation, but none of these things are true. I know that Norwich has a young, energetic, enthusiastic and well organised campaign team who know how to win (after all, they gained the parliamentary seat in May of this year), and these deferred elections saw in some wards our best campaigns for many years. Yet despite this, our share of the vote was down across the city. We missed out on winning in Lakenham, a ward we had won in for the last two years, and failed to hold on to second place in the ward we last to the Greens. But most worrying was the party slipping to 4th place in wards where the party had previously been the main challenger.
   
Just take a look at the results in Norwich compared to last year.


Norwich North Constituency


   Catton Grove 

  2009 CC result - Con 724 Lab 606 UKIP 449 Gre 416 LD 257
  2010 City result - Labour 835  Conservative 650 Green Party 208 Liberal Democrats 135  UKIP 123


Analysis - Lib Dem vote almost halved. This was a Tory target (they hold all the other seats in the ward) and the candidate is also the county councillor for the ward (and also a district councillor in another borough).

  Crome 
  
  2009 CC result - Lab 811 Con 712 Gre 518 LD 381
  2010 City result - Labour 1,085  Conservative 543 Green Party 199 Liberal Democrats 137 UKIP 100


 Mile Cross 

  2009 CC result - Gre 620 Lab 614 Con 547 LD 318
  2010 City result - Labour 797  Liberal Democrats 455  Conservative 266   Green Party 238  UKIP 90


Analysis - Lib Dem vote up on the back of a through campaign which in any other year would have seen this become a Lib Dem gain. Lots of Lib Dem posters up,  lots of leaflets, canvassing, letters, etc. Disappointing for the Lib Dems given the campaign.


The funniest thing about this campaign is that the Greens slipped from 1st last year to 4th this year.

  Sewell 
  
  2009 CC result - Gre 826 Lab 676 Con 553 LD 477

  2010 City result - Labour 792  Green Party 604  Conservative 333  Liberal Democrat 168   UKIP 103

Analysis - A better Lib Dem campaign here this year than last, but the Lib Dem vote more than halved. A disappointment though for the Greens who failed to win this seat by some margin.

So the analysis of the Norwich North results shows Lib Dems down and actually polling less votes despite better campaigns.




Norwich South Constituency

  Bowthorpe

  2009 CC result - Con 926 Lab 670 LD 626 Gre 379
  2010 City result - Labour 862  Conservative 816 Green 225 Liberal Democrats 184  

Analysis - An absolute crash in the Lib Dem vote. There was a by-election here just before the 2009 elections which saw the Lib Dems almost take second place, which accounts for the good Lib Dem showing here, but this result speaks volumes.

  Eaton 
 
  2009 CC result - LD 1688 Con 1501 Gre 527 Lab 351
  2010 City result - Liberal Democrats 1,356  Conservative 937  Labour 549 Green Party 431


Analysis - The only ward in Norwich where the Lib Dems run a proper local Focus on a regular basis. Regular leaflets, full canvass and local candidates do make a difference.

  Lakenham 
 
  2009 CC result - LD 877 Lab 743 UKIP 437 Con 361 Gre 353
  2010 City result - Labour 899  Liberal Democrats 652  Green Party 608  Conservative 243  UKIP 113


Analysis - Lib Dems have gained this seat for the last two elections but fell some way short.

  Mancroft 
 
  2009 CC result Gre 1123 LD 525 Lab 510 Con 315
  2010 City result Green Party 813  Labour 673   Liberal Democrats 371  Conservative 305


Analysis - This used to be a Lib Dem ward until 4 years ago. Lib Dem vote down significantly again. 
  Nelson 
 
  2009 CC result - Gre 2103 Lab 421 LD 420 Con 355
  2010 City result - Green Party 1,297    Labour 535   Liberal Democrats 198    Conservatives 186


Analysis - Lib Dem vote down, even on a lower turnout. This was a Lib Dem ward last held in 2002.  
  Town Close 
  
  2009 CC result - Gre 1528 LD 859 Con 716 Lab 476
  2010 City result - Green Party 983 Labour 560 Liberal Democrats 550  Conservatives 479


Analysis - Taking in to account the turnout was down by one third, the Lib Dem vote still fell. This ward had a really good Lib Dem campaign and a great candidate. But we slipped to third !


  Thorpe Hamlet 
 
  2009 CC result - Gre 1371 LD 620 Con 573 Lab 406
  2010 City result - Green Party 859  Labour 412  Liberal Democrat 409  Conservative 401


Analysis -Taking in to account that turnout was down by one third, Lib Dem support was broadland unchanged, but this seat was a Green gain from the Lib Dems.
  University 
  
  2009 CC result - Lab 1047 Gre 914 Con 342 LD 271 
  2010 City result - Labour 1,164  Green Party 409  Liberal Democrats 123  Conservative 140


Analysis - This seat was a Lab/LD marginal from 1990 to 2005. The Lib Dems won this seat in 2002 with more than 1500 votes ! 
  Wensum 
 
  2009 CC result - Gre 1260 Lab 561 Con 442 LD 285
  2010 City result - Green Party 887  Labour 743  Conservative 233 Liberal Democrats 172


Analysis - Lib Dem vote slightly down.


We can no longer blame the Greens for our decline in Norwich. They have "topped out" in Norwich, failing to win seats they won last year, and seeing formerly safe seats like Wensum now look very vulnerable.


The Lib Dem vote was down in almost every ward, despite some really good campaigns and an effective local MP who is already building a reputation as a good constituency representative.


Anyone who visited the Norwich campaign HQ during the campaign would have known that the Lib Dems did not fight a losing campaign, but what is clear is that local campaigns will count for little in the face of people seeing us a betraying our election promises in order to get a taste of power as the Tories sidekicks.


Yes, I know that this is not a sign that Labour will automatically win Norwich South next time as they did well yesterday on a low turnout. But it is a sign to Lib Dems, particularly in areas where Labour are the main opposition, that people are deeply unhappy with the Lib Dems and we can expect to see our council representation decimated next May in the local elections.

Norwich traffic chaos gets worse

Yesterday afternoon I had to go in to Norwich. A five mile journey took 55 minutes at 1.30 in the afternoon (not exactly a rush hour). When I got there, virtually every car park was full, and to be honest, the hassle meant I would go elsewhere to shop if I possible could.

Now I explained why Norwich's roads are in such a mess at the moment a few weeks ago with both Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council seemingly conspiring to make every journey in to Norwich impossible from the North of the City.  Since the, however, things have got worse. One of the main routes in to Norwich from the North, the Fakenham Road, is closed both ways. This means that buses from Fakenham, Drayton and Taverham (my area) have to be diverted, adding a lot of extra time to the journey and in doing so putting lots of people off using the bus (me included). On top of this though, they authorities have made things even worse by closing Castle Meadow in the centre of Norwich. This road is almost exlusively used by buses, with there being dozens of bus stops along this road. This means bus routes have been altered, again causing people to given up on buses and go by car instead. This explains why there is vitually nowhere to park in the city at the moment.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that doing four major road closures, all at the same time in Norwich is ridiculous, but seemingly Norwich City  (run by Labour) and the the Coutny Council (Tory run) can't work it out !

Deluded Norwich labour - Any depths, any lie will do !

In Norwich we are in the unique position of having local elections this September because the labour Government decided, unlawfully as it turned out, to cancel the elections this May after they decided (unlawfully as it turned out) to impose a Unitary Council on Norwich which was contrary to all the criteria laid down under which a Unitary Authority should be created.

I don't want to go in to all the details, but Norwich's Unitary bid cost the Labour run council millions, no cost benefit was clearly identified that would justify the unitary council and the option the Labour Government went for was in contradiction to the rules the Labour government had made clear at the start of the process. So when the Labour government decided, pretty much on a whim to cancel the local elections this year in Norwich (without a hint of complaint from either the labour Party locally or the Green Party), Norwich's fate seemed set.

The thing is, what the Labour government did was actually unlawful, and their actions were struck down in court after an appeal by Norfolk County Council against he decision made by the government.

Now you would expect some humility from a person if they had acted unlawfully, perhaps some contrition ? but no, not from the Labour Party. Instead in their leaflets they try to whitewash the fact that the Labour government broke the rules, rode roughshod over democracy and the law of the land, and instead they seek to claim the moral high ground and blame everyone else for the fact that the Labour Government acted without following the rules.

Read the statement on their leaflets going out in Norwich.

Notice the phrases "Norwich people have been lumbered with the costly and unnecessary by-elections in all 13 wards".

These elections would have been considerably less costly if they could have been held on the same day as the general election, which is what would have happened if the Labour government had not cancelled the elections in May of this year. Do Norwich Labour mention that ?

They also claim the elections are "unnecessary". Why is this ? Do Labour think some councillors should be allowed to stay on the council for five years ? This statement is utterly ridiculous, but highlight why labour have gone from having two MPs in Norwich to zero in less than a year.

Nationally we see the Labour leadership hopefuls blaming everyone else for the mess the country is in financially. and locally in Norwich the Labour Party seek to blame everyone else for the mess the government made of local government in the City.

Come on Labour, show us you  have changed. Put your hands up, admit you made errors and mistakes and stop blaming everyone else. 

Council tax income spent in Norfolk in order to fight something the Tories could have killed off in Parliament

Local councils across Norfolk are still up in arms, quite justifiably so, over the government's decision to grant unitary status to Norwich. During the whole process a small fortune has been spent on legal fees and propaganda by councils in Norfolk on both sides of the debate. However, it is the actions of the Tories this week that has come in for much criticism, particularly form the local press in Norfolk in the form of the Eastern Daily Press (EDP) who in a complete about turn for them seem suddenly to hav woken up to the fact that Cameron's Tories are strong on rhetoric, but totally lacking in the courage of their convictions when it comes to making real decisions.

As the EDP headline makes clear, the Tories could have taken action in the House of Lords to deal with the ridiculous decision to grant Norwich Unitary Status, but instead they sat on their hands and put forward a motion with no teeth, no power, and essentially, broke their pledges to "fight the Norwich Unitary bid".

Meanwhile, back in Norfolk, Norfolk County Council are still taking legal action (and no doubt spending a lot of council tax in come as a result) against the Norwich Unitary decision. Now I don't blame Norfolk County Council for doing this, but doesn't it tell us a lot about the Tories nationally that they could have acted in parlaiment to kill this off, but instead they did nothing and let people in Norfolk shell out on legal action thus putting greater pressure on the council tax payer ?

The scandal at Norwich City Council that highlights why they are not fit to extend their boundaries

Norwich City Council is the body that should ultimately take the blame for the ongoing review of Council Boundaries in Norfolk which has caused much anger, the spending by councils of hundreds of thousands of pounds in propaganda, court cases and surveys, and still we are waiting for an answer from the government, and all because Norwich City Council made a brazen attempt to extend their boundaries to take over and destroy other neighbouring authorities. Yet, as the Eastern Daily Press highlights today, Norwich City Council are not even fit to run their own services yet alone those of neighbouring boroughs.

The very fact that the politicians in charge of Norwich City Council seemed to know nothing of the fact that a senior housing officer closed down a sheltered housing scheme, only for her to then move in to the premises herself at a knock down rent shows us just how inept Norwich City Council is.

The actual incident itself, which has led to the subsequent suspension of the senior officer, is scandalous in itself. The fact that Norwich City Council attacked such a vulnerable group in the first place, removing them from their homes, was terrible. But for staff to take advantage of this is just appalling.

What a bunch of prize pillocks at Norwich City Hall - The Unitary Authority option they least wanted is what they look likely to get

A few years ago now, a review of local government arrangements in Norfolk proposed no changes should be made. In general, everyone across the county was in agreement that this was the best thing. But not Norwich City Council.

The Labour led authority decided with its influence with the government they could ask for the decision to be revisited, with the aim of Norwich City Council becoming a larger Unitary Authority, swallowing up chunks of neighbouring authorities and gaining, so they thought, control for the Labour Party over more of the County. However, it was not just the Labour Party in Norwich who showed immense levels of self interest and self delusion over this. The Lib Dems and Greens at City Hall, like Labour, felt that Norwich was not getting its fair share of the cake. They felt that Norwich was squeezed out by the rest of the County and that only by creating a new "Greater Norwich" unitary authority could this be put right. Yes, Norwich City Council had control over its own refuse services, planning, environmental health and housing, but only a Unitary Authority could be Norwich's salvation.

So when the Boundary Committee announced today that their preferred option was a Single Unitary Authority for Norfolk, with Norfolk also taking in the District of Waveney (currently in Suffolk), it highlighted what monumental fools Norwich City Council have been.

Norwich City Council claimed under the current system that Norwich is ignored, that Norwich misses out on things and that Norwich needed independence in order to achieve its full potential. Instead, Norwich City Council will lose control of the things it runs at present and these will be handed to a much more remote Norfolk County Unitary Authority, with Norwich's authority further diminished by the inclusion of parts of Waveney and Lowestoft in the new authority.

Let's not mention then tens of thousands of pounds Norwich City Council have spent on this whole process. Let's not mention the way Norwich City Council have angered the fringe parishes around the city by their attempts to take over. Let's not mention that fact that through their shenanigans they seem to have achieved the very opposite of what they wanted to achieve !

It's little wonder that no win no fee solicitors are so popular

I was at a parents evening yesterday which was, on the whole, a really pleasant and rewarding activity. I speaking to a mum of a former pupil in one of the gaps between appointments she told me that her son, who used to be in my class, had broken his arm. When I asked her how this injury had occurred she told me he had fallen in a hole left by the council when they removed a tree. She had told the council on about four separate occasions that this hole was dangerous, but they said she would have to wait to get it filled in. With the evenings getting darker, he returned from a friend's house nearby and slipped in to the hole, which although not deep, caused him to fall and he landed on his wrist, breaking it in the process.

Having got nowhere in this matter for some months before the accident, she had subsequently contacted one of the Labour councillors who all of a sudden became very interested and was very keen to help, particularly when the words "no win, no fee" were mentioned and, you've guessed it, the hole has now been filled in .

The mother does not want to sue as she does not like these "no win no fee" companies and the whole compensation culture. But when she has done everything possible to warn the council and they have not cared one jot about it, shouldn't she, and her son, be entitles to some compensation for the council's lack of care ?

Unitary Status For Norwich - Takeover bid for fringe parishes is on

It has been announced that Norwich has not been granted unitary status, but in a disgraceful twist, minister Hazel Blears confirmed that the government might allow Norwich to take over a number or rural fringe parishes, some of which are some considerable distance from Norwich, in order to make the Norwich bid viable.

The parishes concerned do not want to become part of Norwich and the proposal has received no support from people outside of the boundaries of Norwich, indeed, it has received little enough support from people in Norwich itself (37% by the city's own statistics).

If a takeover has been granted to Norwich, it will mean a dismemberment of Broadland District Council and a rising of costs in North Norfolk as this council will have to take over the burden of running services in rural parts of Broadland where it costs more to provide services, and no, of course the government will not provide any support to North Norfolk to do this. Don't be silly !

Norwich's "Home Rule" bid comes in for further criticism

Norwich's bid to become a Unitary Authority has been mismanaged and badly handled, from a publicity point of view, since day one of the process. And today it has come in for more bad press.

In the first instance Norwich decided to put in a non compliant bid. This bid attempted a takeover of large chunks of neighbouring Broadland and South Norfolk. They failed to consult before the bid went in, only attempting some piecemeal consultation with local parishes after they had already made their decisions (and of course after they had already alienated the parishes). Whilst their takeover attempt has also annoyed Broadland and South Norfolk Councils.

Okay, Labour run Norwich (with their Green allies) might argue that this bid has not been accepted and their current bid is based only on the council's existing boundaries. However, this has not stopped Norwich City Council claiming that they will, if they get Unitary Status, attempt to get the Norwich boundaries redrawn to make another takeover attempt.

Now, after a series of reports that Norwich's financial claims about the bid do not add up, the Eastern Daily Press reports that their bid may have a detrimental affect other district adjoining Norwich, particularly if Norwich continue and are successful in their takeover.

For North Norfolk or South Norfolk Council to take over running services to the most rural parts of Broadland and South Norfolk whilst the urban parts, with lower costs, are siphoned off in to Norwich, is to pass on massive increases in tax to residents of other councils. I argued this back in January 2007 at full council in North Norfolk. I am pleased the EDP now realises that this could happen.

Norwich Labour take credit for Tory County Council's Schools

I saw an interesting Labour leaflet today that is going out in Norwich (Mile Cross Ward).

It took credit for various things (as you would expect) some which Labour can genuinely take credit for, and one which stood out as being nothing to do with the Labour Party in Norwich.

The most brazen was Labour taking credit for the building of new school buildings in Norfolk. They actually tried to claim that it was thanks to the government because the government had allowed the PFI to go ahead.

Perhaps someone should point out to Labour that Norfolk County Council has responsibility for schools and it is Tory run. Secondly, the PFI may have been "allowed" by the government, but it is an arrangement between Norfolk County Council and the PFI provider. Perhaps most importantly, whilst they are taking the credit for this, they are not revealing that the PFI is in fact a big loan and a way of the government getting out of its responsibility to properly fund education improvements.

If anyone can take credit for the PFI, it has to be Tory run Norfolk County Council who, despite catastrophic cuts in central government grants, are at least making some effort to move education forward in Norfolk, without any help from the Labour government.

Schools will lose 12% of their budgets for the next 25 years in order to pay for this PFI. The government will not be paying schools an extra 12% to cover this. To then try and claim credit for this is really is taking the mickey.

The folly of Norwich and its unitary status bid

The government have shortlisted Norwich City Council and 17 other council for consideration of becoming unitary authorities, but in Norwich I have to ask at what cost ?

Norwich submitted two bids. The first was to become a unitary authority on its present boundaries. I doubt many people in Norfolk, other than those with a vested interest in the County Council could have come up with many reasons to oppose this simple plan. Indeed, I could see how working with neighbouring local authorities, this plan could be made to work for Norfolk and for Norwich.

So what is the problem ?

The problem was Norwich's second bid, a land grab, an attempted takeover of large chunks of neighbouring authorities, the proposed dismemberment and destruction of at least one neighbouring authority and the phony and false consultation with parishes. Let's get one thing clear straight away, this second bid was, from the start, a non compliant bid. The government's own rules said that councils could only apply for unitary status on their present boundaries. however, this didn't stop the government saying they would consider the second bid.

So what is the problem now the government have rejected the takeover bid in option two and gone for option one ? Simple, in going through with the option two bid, Norwich City Council have wrecked relations with Broadland and South Norfolk District Councils, they have upset parishes all around the city and they have caused large amounts of time, energy and money to be wasted by neighboring authorities and Norwich City Council itself to be wasted in making the case for and against option two.

So what now ? Well it appears that Norwich will be able to go it alone, but they have damaged the chances of neighbouring authorities ever wanting to work closely with Norwich again and left a feeling of animosity and anger amongst those outside Norwich. Many will so let Norwich go it alone, and good riddance !

Unitary status for Norwich is wrong by every measure

The plans submitted by Norwich City Council are wrong and actually reckless in their disregard for local communities, local democracy and financial probity.

Firstly, Norwich's bid is non compliant. Why ? Because they intend swallowing up parts of neighbouring Broadland and South Norfolk Council's. This is expressly precluded form any bid for Unitary Status, but already the government have said they will consider the bid. Why ? Is it because Norwich is currently Labour run or simply because this government has a flagrant disregard for its own rules.

Secondly, not a single "fringe parish" has accepted the need to be move in to Norwich. Indeed, all those parishes seem to be almost violently against the proposal. let me give you an example why.

In the case of Horsford, the village in which I was brought up, there is nobody yearning to be part of Norwich. They like their twin bin collection system (introduced in 1991, but something Norwich still does not have), and they like having their local schools which attract children from other villages too. However, if the plans go ahead, children living in Felthorpe, the next village, who go to school in Horsford, will no longer be able to because Felthorpe will be in a different education authority. Presumably some children will be totally uprooted and removed form the school if this goes ahead. What a disgrace.

Finally, unitary statues is, according to the government's own rules, supposed to pay for itself in five years. What the government do not mention is the cost to other councils. If Norwich take the fringe parishes from Broadland, Broadland will be attached to North Norfolk. North Norfolk will gain a large number of rural villages where it costs more to provide services. So North Norfolk's cost will go up exponentially. Do the government take notice of this ?

The thing that disappoints me most about this whole process has been the way that the Norwich City Council Liberal Democrat have got sucked in to supporting this crazy proposal. I know they want to be seen as supporting Norwich, but I'm not even sure that Norwich people support the proposal. I'd like to see the Liberal Democrats consulting more with people, using the local elections to see if Norwich people want the expense that will go with a separate Unitary Authority. Working in Norwich, I can tell you that people I know who live in the City really couldn't give a damn about unitary status. However, in Broadland, people are worried. The Liberal Democrats in Norwich appear from here in Broadland, to have fought Norwich's case, but perhaps at the expense of the rest of Norfolk by supporting the undemocratic and unfair unitary proposal.

Couldn't Norwich City Council find something more important to spend £27,000 on ?

Norwich City Council, it has been reported, has spent £27,000 on working out that just 41% want Norwich to have unitary status.

However, the leader of Norwich City Council, Cllr Stephen Morphew is pleased with this response and has said he was encouraged by the findings. Quite why he is pleased is unknown, as surely 41% is hardly a ringing endorsement.

Norfolk County Council is apparently now set to follow this with a further £30,000 to be spent on encouraging people not to support unitary status.

I work in the city, there is no outcry from people I know who live in the city demanding that they have unitary status, so why cant all the council just get together and use this cash to reduce council tax or improve services ?

I could be political and say what do you expect from Labour and Tory Councils, though I guess there may be similar problems elsewhere with Lib Dems councils, indeed the Lib Dems in Norwich have in the past pushed for unitary status and may well have spent money on this project too. I hope they have finally seen the light and realised there are better things to spend money on.

Thankfully this is not a problem for Lib Dem run North Norfolk who have wasted no money on arguing for unitary status.