ONE DAY I WILL BE A CHAMPION

The great Muhammad Ali once said of champions thus: "Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”

Now I will never make the grade as a pugilist, although many would hesitate to pick a fight with me, but as the Borough Councils Heritage Champion over the last 2 years I have tried to use knowledge, skill, desire, dreams and stamina to try to protect and enhance and cherish and celebrate Northampton's rich heritage. However today at a meeting with the new Leader on the Council I was punished by the administration for leaving their fold by having this title withdrawn from me. The esteemed leader, Cllr Brian Hoare , informed me that in fact the 'Council' never did have a Heritage Champion.
You see this was merely a title given out by the lib Dem Group to me as token of affection and false honour. So all the time I thought I was representing Northampton Borough Council I was in fact only representing the current administration.

Well this changes things a lot. Who wants to be aHeritage Champion to a political group who allows their most precious assets like the Archway Cottages to be sold off simply to build up a war chest for 'operational costs'?(seehttp://tonyclarkeindependent.blogspot.com/2010/01/look-at-size-of-my-war-chest.html )

Not me thats for sure.
My disappointment was however short lived. In a conversation with my new
Councillor colleague Tony Clarke he told me: "Let them play their games, Jean,
they know that they have no other member who cares more passionately about this
town's heritage than you do and the only reason they have stripped you of your role is to
try to punish you for having the courage to stand up to them."

I was grateful and humbled by Tony's kind words Whilst not wanting to fall into a pit of self praise I did agree that it will be hard for them to find someone from their own ranks willing to put in the hours and step up to the mark in my stead But if they do I will welcome them aboard.

If the Lib Dems (who sell off our heritage) can have a Heritage Champion then we can go one further and have someone who in Muhammad Ali's world "Doesn't pull their punches." Tony's last comment to me over the phone was: "Jean now you are no longer limited to being the Lib Dems Heritage Champion on the Council, wouldyou be kind enough to consider being an:

INDEPENDENT HERITAGE CHAMPION

ON NORTHAMPTON BOROUGH COUNCIL."

Well, a rose by any other name.......

New Year 2010 and more of the same.........

So much happening that its hard to assess one thing before the next one appears......

The year began with the battle to save Weston Favell School from the change to Academy.

It seems to have succeeded except that we find that the County Council and Labour Government are STILL going on about finding another academy sponsor.

This looked like a straight win for us as local people. Parents and grandparents of current students all backing teachers and the very active School Governors with a clear message:

This school has been part of our local community, our family histories. Leave it with us and help
it to go on improving and getting back to where it was as an important part of our local scene.
Local people want a local school and to have the choice of NOT sending their children to an academy. [And thats because there is already one just down the road.]

So its round one to saving our local school.

But there's no let up in keeping eyes and ears open to find out what happens next.......

Then came the little Ice Age
We are slithering around and taking life in our hands to get out of our houses and along to the main roads that have been treated. Getting to shops, schools and everyday places became an ordeal. It didnt take long to lose the sense of Winter Wonderland and realise the reality of the situation for the frail among us. We are still shocked that it could take so long to get contact with Mr and Mrs Randall the Kingsthorpe couple who died alone in the cold. There will be two sides to the story -
but to read this as front page news in the national Daily Mail just makes so many of us ask what is going so badly wrong?

It seems a lot of people who could claim help dont know that there is a bit of extra with the heating bills. benefits have not been claimed
Cold Weather Payment has to be claimed.

from the website:

"If you're on a low income, a Cold Weather Payment may be available to help you for each week of very cold weather in your area.
Who is eligible?
You may be eligible for a Cold Weather Payment for each week of very cold weather in your area if you get Pension Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance with a support or work related activity component in the main phase.

You may also be eligible for a Cold Weather Payment for each qualifying week if you are getting Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance in the assessment phase and have one of the following:
a pensioner premium, higher pensioner premium or enhanced pensioner premium
a disability premium, enhanced disability premium or severe disability premium
a disabled child premium
Child Tax Credit that includes a disability or severe disability element
a child who is under five in the family

phone The Pension service 0800 99 1234

Its worth spreading the word.

MORE COLD COMFORT

We go into the new year with a threat to the Schools Music Service

This touches so many lives. Its the County Council run Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Service. It appeals to kids of all ages , across all the usual boundaries of background and experience. It brings things into everyday life that makes us all feel good, much needed when other things are hardgoing.
Like so many things that are not essential services, this budget is being cut almost completely, and at very short notice. The threat is to most of the subsidy - £238,000. Do people know that Northamptonshire Music Service is one of the top 3 in the country? at least thats the judgement from musicians outside this County. This is something worth saving.

So now we have another campaign on our hands.

ACADEMY IS NOT THE ANSWER

The news that Northamptonshire County Council proposes to go ahead with its unpopular plans to join our local secondary with ULT Academies is causing shock in the surrounding community. This is our neighbourhood school' after all is said and done.

Its unbelievable that after all the public protest throughout the consultation process, the County is not listening .

Governors, staff, parents and students have bitten the bullet and turned the local school round They are meeting all 'National Challenge' targets. This is now a fast improving school

There is no educational reason for changing the management structure. A reading of the NCC cabinet papers pinpoints the issue ---- its about MONEY.
The county will be willing to sell the governance of WFS for £2 million pounds. if 'sold' into the academy system, this school will no longer be accountable to its own governors.
Secondary schooling on this eastern side of the town will be run by religious organisations. Parents made it very clear at public meetings in the autumn that they want a choice.
So many people have mentioned their concerns to me as I make my way around on Ward business as their Councillor.

I'm backing the campaign to resist the change to academy status.

They say that a week is a long time in politics, and its about a month since Malcolm Mildren and I declared ourselves truly INDEPENDENT.

They say that a week is a long time in politics, and its about a month since Malcolm Mildren and I declared ourselves truly INDEPENDENT.

I had no idea that it was going to cause such political antics on the part of my former Lib Dem colleagues.

So that we can have access to basic support like a meeting room and can claim committee places on a proportional basis like all the other councillor groups, we signed up to being an Independent Group. I see this as an 'alliance'. We joined that well known local Independent: Tony Clarke in forming a group of three.
Its not a political group. We dont have Party Policies to follow. We do have the support of the national Local government Association [LGA] Across the country approx 7.5% of district councillors sit as Independents. many of them have been re-elected several times too.
Each of us is free to follow her/his judgement in doing what seems in the best interest of their Ward, and the Borough as a whole. We all believe firmly in representative democracy.

What is really interesting is that the three of us do have mainly similar views on so many things affecting us all at the moment. That is probably because party politics does get in the way of straight forward commonsense local government.

But to come back to the happenings of the past month - I cant do better than copy in Tony Clarke's blog - he does the humour.....

So read on - its all true!

Lucky Dip Liberals and Democracy from a Top Hat

Some of you will be aware that the Independent Group on the Council are currently in dispute with the administration at NBC over the Council’s allocation of committee places following the formation of the new group. We agreed with our overall allocation of 6 places on the Councils Committees, (this is worked out proportionately) but we disagreed with the Council then allocating these places themselves without any consultation with us, resulting in Independent Cllrs not having a place on important Scrutiny Committees with the other three main parties and with us being placed on other minor committees such as the Tree Panel and the Appointments Panel.

So we are in dispute, but our dispute has been orderly and measured, we refused to take up our places on the committees until there had been proper consultation and agreement, and we have been increasing our opposition in other areas to make up for our non participation on committees. This has included the group speaking on every item at the last two Cabinet meetings and submitting 104 questions to the Leader and Portfolio Holders (who get paid extra for dealing with their briefs) at next Monday's Full Council. meeting The questions (all approved by the Borough Solicitor) are wide ranging and cover all of the Councils operations, examples include questions on concerns over attacks on Council Staff to the removal of Asbestos within Council Homes.

The above is called opposition, the administration do not like it, but that’s tough ,it comes with the job and is an effective way of holding the Council to account and making your voice heard despite the moves made to silence you.

So have our protests been dealt with in a Liberal or Democratic fashion? Has the new Leader (Cllr Brian Hoare) learnt from the mistakes of his departed predecessor? No such luck. First of all he arbitrarily introduced new rules at Cabinet to limit the number of Councillors who could speak at Cabinet on certain items, not just affecting the Independent group but also cutting off other Councillors from other parties who had attended the Cabinet to represent the views of their electorate.

On the question of Committee places the Council has now decided that as we won’t agree with their allocation or give names for committees they have placed us on that they will now impose these places on us and draw our names out of a hat to determine which of us will sit on which committee.

And on the matter of those 104 questions? Well the leader doesn’t think it is fair that his portfolio holders should be made to work for their extra responsibility allowance and so he has declared, again it seems without any reference to anyone else that they won’t answer them? They will refuse to answer all of the 104 but (and here comes that hat again) they will draw three questions from each of the three Independent members out of a hat for answer unless we inform them of the 95 questions that we should withdraw!

This is not democracy, what do we say back to members of the public who gave us questions they wanted us to put to the council? “Sorry the Council refused to answer?” Or “unfortunately your concerns and problems were not drawn out of the hat”

An excuse given to me by the leader of the Council is that “officers are working too hard on the budget to provide answers” but as the council's Chief Executive told me himself “Questions to portfolio holders are for portfolio holders to answer, not the officers” I also understand that officers are working so hard on the budget that today, the Chief Executive, the Borough solicitor and the Director of Housing all took time out of their busy schedules to oversee and conduct the Leaders prize draw to determine our questions!

This has to be an all time low for a so called Liberal Democrat group to use underhand tactics such as this to deny the properly elected voices of the town the chance to question their record or scrutinise properly their actions.

We will turn up next Monday and expect all of our questions to be tabled and made available to the press and public, and we shall expect answers to all of them as well, and whilst accepting that the 30 minutes allocated to “Questions” on the Council agenda will not be sufficient to answer them all, we will expect that written answers are forthcoming to all 104 submitted.

We will not be bullied into sitting on Committees at the whim of the Council and have our membership selected by being drawn out of a hat, and we will not sit by passively as the Liberal Democrat group bring further shame onto our council and continue to bend and reconfigure the Councils constitution into whatever shape or form suits them.

Amongst their number of Portfolio Holders I am hoping that there is at least one who will have the decency and courage to act and speak for themselves and provide the answers to the questions we have raised with them. If so I will thank them for their courtesy and attention. If not, I and I am sure many others, will be asking just what do they do exactly to earn the extra thousands they receive from the Council coffers for the extra responsibility of their office?

And the next time the Council contact you to tell you that you are late with your Council Tax payment or rent, or that they want you to pay more for parking or Leisure fees, tell them “I will consider your request and pull a number of options out of a hat to decide on whether I follow your rules or not” after all what’s good for the Goose?

Posted by Tony Clarke at 10:27 2 comments