Council chiefs (including ours) make LOTS of extra money out of elections

We have never known how much EDDC’s CEO Mark Williams has received, or how he has spent his budgets. It seems that there is no barrier to telling us.

Over to you Mr Ingham…. transparency … remember?

A council chief has received nearly £150,000 in four years for being a returning officer on top of his salary, prompting calls for a review of how public officials are paid to oversee elections.

Tom Riordan, Leeds city council’s chief executive, has been paid £147,921.66 in fees since 2015 on top of his £182,085 salary, even though much of the election work was carried out during his normal office hours.

For this month’s general election he is entitled to a further £28,424, making the total fees almost a year’s salary since the 2015 general election.

The council defended the payments and said Riordan could have received even more had he not passed on to his deputies £12,754.33 for this year’s European election.

Council bosses across the country have benefited from a glut of polls in recent years, including three general elections, the EU referendum and the European election. Riordan does not receive a fee for local elections, though many chief executives do.

At Sunderland city council, which traditionally wins the race to declare the first general election result, chiefs have received a total of £140,746 since 2015. The payments, received by four holders of the post, include fees for two police and crime commissioner (PCC) elections and local elections as well as the national and European polls.

The current Sunderland chief executive, Patrick Melia, who has a salary of £180,000, received an extra £50,168 this year for local elections, a PCC vote and the European poll. He stands to get a further £10,008 for next week’s election.

Glasgow city council said Annemarie O’Donnell, its chief executive, had received £122,444.42 since 2015. She is entitled to £21,267 for next week. Her annual salary is £176,855.

O’Donnell’s total, which included a Scottish parliamentary election in 2016, was less than she was entitled to. She declined a fee for the last round of local council elections and an unspecified share of her fees was passed on to staff, charities and community groups.

According to parliamentary fee orders governing payments for returning officers, Manchester city council’s chief executive has been entitled to £94,578 for European and national polls since 2015, with £18,691 due for next week.

The council was unable to confirm whether the two officers who have held the chief executive position had received their full entitlement. Joanne Roney, who has held the role since 2017, has a salary of £205,671.

Newcastle city council confirmed that its chief executive, Pat Ritchie, had received £68,216 in fees on top of her salary, currently £183,891, since 2015. She does not receive payments for local elections but will receive £8,820 for the general election.

The payments were described as “totally unsustainable” by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. Cat Smith, who was Labour’s shadow Cabinet Office minister before parliament was dissolved, has called for a government review into the fee system.

Riordan is thought to be the best-paid returning officer in the country. Leeds is the second-largest local authority area. The largest, Birmingham, operates a pay policy that precludes chiefs from receiving returning officer fees. The entitlement is distributed to less senior staff carrying out election work.

The maximum payments available to returning officers — who are nearly always council chief executives — for national, European and crime commissioner polls are set in parliamentary statutory orders, with the sums calculated according to electorate size.

Most payments are the responsibility of the Cabinet Office, but local authorities take care of council election fees.

In January last year the Cabinet Office said the fees would be part of a wider review into election funding, which has yet to be concluded.

Leeds city council said: “Elections require those involved to work most evenings, weekends and bank holidays for a prolonged period.”

Source: Sunday Times (paywall)

EDDC had record income from parking at time Leader wanted to increase charges

Motorists all over East Devon are paying for refuse collection, council tax payers throughout East Devon will pay extra if there is no hotel in Exmouth … where will it end?

“The 2018/19 figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government show a record return for the council since comparable records began in 2008/9.

A consultation has been carried out, by the council, on plans to raise hourly parking charges from £1 to £1.20. The leader of the council, Ben Ingham, has said any increases will not come into force until 2021.

A spokesman for East Devon District Council said: “East Devon District Council owns 57 car parks that currently contribute around £2.4million which is used to provide a range of essential council services including, for example, our recycling and refuse collection contract. …”

https://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/record-high-parking-profits-for-district-council-1-6395226

Has Ingham broken purdah rules on Exmouth Queens Drive?

“Plans for a new Premier Inn for Kingsbridge and an Aldi for Ivybridge have been put on hold.

South Hams District Council were set to hold consultations with the public over the two schemes at the end of 2019, but they have now been delayed until the new year.

The delay has been blamed on the General Election being called and the pre-election Purdah period that means councils have to be careful not to do anything in public that could sway a member of the public to vote for one person or political party. …”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/general-election-puts-premier-inn-3554630

Ingham digs a deeper hole for himself on Queen’s Drive Exmouth

“Speaking at an exhibition event outlining consultation feedback on a vision for phase three of the seafront regeneration, Councillor Ben Ingham initially claimed residents in Exmouth had a choice between the two.

The suggestion of a four-storey hotel was among those pitched for the final phase during the two-day exhibition at Ocean.

He later corrected himself, adding that if a hotel or a council tax increase were not acceptable, another alternative would have to be found to plug a £3 million gap.

The district council needs to find the money in order to pay for the realignment of the Queen’s Drive road and car park which formed the first phase of development.

Speaking after the event, Cllr Ingham said: “At the moment, the best and most credible option is the hotel but not to build it and sell it, but to build it and lease it.”

https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/exmouth-seafront-hotel-is-best-option-1-6382010

“New hotel or extra council tax must pay for Exmouth seafront revamp”

It appears someone may have been recording the meeting, so detailed are the comments. Does this rule Ingham and Blakey out of being involved in any planning application due to predetermination?

Apparently, Mr Hemmingway said Exmouth has to move from Facebook to TikTok and Ebay to Depop …

“‘Blackmail’ anger as district leader tells Exmouth to back new seafront hotel or pay more council tax for regeneration costs.

Failure to back a new seafront hotel to fund Exmouth’s regeneration could end in higher council tax, the district leader has warned.

Ben Ingham, East Devon District Council (EDDC) leader, sparked anger and accusations of ‘blackmail’ when he told Thursday’s seafront regeneration public meeting it was ‘dangerous’ to dismiss a concept to build boutique accommodation on the final phase site.

Cllr Ingham was accused of ‘foisting’ a new hotel on Exmouth and blackmailing the town to accept – using threats of higher council tax if residents failed to support a new build.

The EDDC leader’s comments were made during a presentation led by seafront designer Wayne Hemingway.

Cllr Ingham said: “We have done phase one and two, which has cost quite a lot of money. We have to cover our backs, having done that, and there are two ways.

“We can build a hotel and sell it and pay off all those debts. That would be a quick way of doing it. Personally, I am dead against that because then you no longer own that.

“If you have to do something like that perhaps you want to do it as a lease over a number of years, then you get that back. Then you have made money and all of us can take advantage of that in future projects.

“Or the money that’s already spent, we can all chip into. We have only got so many options. It’s up to you to help us to decide and as to whether we would ignore you, if you say you really don’t want a hotel that would be really dangerous.

“If that’s what you want, and you want higher council tax, we can do that.”

He added: “I am just saying, somehow or other, we have to complete this. It’s taken a long time we have made some commitments.

“Personally I wouldn’t have started the journey from where we did and we wouldn’t be where we are now, but the fact of the matter is this is where we are, and I’m saying if you don’t want a hotel we have got to come up a really good idea to replace it and when you listen to what Wayne has told us, I have gone from thinking from the beginning of this year ‘there’s no way we should have a hotel’.

“I met Wayne and listened to what he said and I thought ‘Ben you have got to think again because what he’s saying makes a lot of sense’.

“And I much prefer that from burying my head in the sand and thinking we can do something else where a lot of people, one way of the other, are going to have to pay that bill.”

Mr Hemingway said attracting the under-25s and under-35s, and their disposable income, was the way forward for Exmouth seafront’s survival, and building boutique accommodation on an area within the final redevelopment site would encourage Millennials and Gen Z to spend and stay.

He said overnight beach stays will fit in with the aesthetics of the ‘meanwhile space’, (Queen’s Drive space) which has become ‘embedded in the community’ benefiting the town.

“Don’t assume the accommodation will be a block,” said Mr Hemingway. “The whole point of the hotel is open space and the fluidity.

He added: “The opportunity is that you haven’t got a hotel that is fit for purpose in this town – and that’s the opportunity. And you have got space to put it there.
“Even with that hotel there, you have still got two-thirds of that bit of the site still for open space for kids to play. The worst-case scenario is, it will leave you with two-thirds of the space.”

Mr Hemingway said the decision to build boutique hotel accommodation lay with the community, not him as designer, adding ‘nothing that’s being proposed here is weird or dangerous – it’s just life.”

He said: “We are totally open to your responses. I can absolutely guarantee there’s no closed shop here. It’s a robust discussion between where the money comes from and what everybody wants. But do think about what people have been saying, and thinking, about the future. The taste of the world has never changed as much as it has at the moment and it’s changing for the better.

“You are not investing £18million and that fantastic – then you change it in three years and change is good. Change should be good in places like this. Young people want change.”

Mr Hemingway added: “It was Facebook and now that’s for the old people. Then it’s Snapchat and that’s gone. Then Instagram, now its Tik Tok and once it was eBay and now its Depop and that’s fantastic.

“And if you don’t know what Depop is and you don’t know what Tik Tok is, then great because young people do and life’s got to move like that, and it will continue to move like that – forever – so do something interesting.”

He said: “Using that space for a little bit of commercial and a lot of social is really where we are trying to go with it.”

Kevin Blakey, EDDC portfolio holder for economy, said: “The whole point to that hotel is this open space and the facilities that are going to go on there, whatever they maybe post-consultation, they have got to be paid for somehow.

“The district council owns the land, the district council wants to see very good quality facilities for a great many people in this space but we don’t have a magic money tree.

“We have to do something commercial to pay for it rather than borrowing, or higher taxation.

“The point is to make this place sustainable commercially and physically in the long term.”

‘Blackmail’ anger as district leader tells Exmouth to back new seafront hotel or pay more council tax for regeneration costs

Andrew Moulding joins election insults battle

Just about the only candidate who HASN’T joined the slag-fest is Claire Wright!

“Tories and Independent trade insults over former radio candidate.

Housing? Employment? Refuse collection? Regeneration of seafront towns? Any one of them could be top of the charts when it comes to issues of critical importance to East Devon. But Tory and Independent council leaders in the constituency are instead having a spat over whether ageing rocker Iggy Pop would do a better job than Conservative candidate Simon Jupp.

The former radio presenter and journalist won the selection battle to wear the biggest blue rosette at the weekend and took immediately to door-knocking to drum up support. He’s defending an 8,000 majority bequeathed to him by outgoing MP Sir Hugo Swire. But that majority itself was down from 12,000 on the 2015 election, with independent Claire Wright snatching a sizeable share of the vote.

Now East Devon District Council leader Ben Ingham, an independent, has told a local newspaper he thinks Mr Pop – who had a top 10 hit in 1986 with ‘Real Wild Child’ – would have been a better candidate. “People would be able to relate to him more than a DJ from Plymouth,” he’s reported as saying. Mr Ingham also says he’d thought of running for parliament himself because he’s disappointed by the area’s MPs.

That’s got the leader of East Devon Conservatives, Andrew Moulding, into a lather. He’s penned a 500-word response metaphorically telling Mr Ingham to wind his neck in. Being “a DJ from Plymouth [is[ not in itself a crime,” he claims (although he may not have met some of the profession in that city). If Mr Ingham thinks he can do a better job, he’s still got time to stand, he suggests. And “To compare [Mr Jupp] with Iggy Pop shows how out of touch with reality disaffected Conservative Ben Ingham actually is, stuck in some 1970’s time warp, where Simon Jupp will be nobody’s ‘Stooge’ and has a clear ‘Lust for Life’ (apologies to Iggy), working hard for residents of East Devon on both local and national issues.”

East Devon and its predecessors have been Conservative for more than a century. It’s considered a two-way battle in next month’s election between Mr Jupp and Ms Wright. “

https://www.radioexe.co.uk/news-and-features/local-news/tories-and-independent-trade-insults-over-dj-candidate/

East Devon leader Ingham “nearly stood for Parliament “

NOT in East Devon, but in Tiverton and Honiton. He has strong views on East Devon candidates:

“Independent councillor Ben Ingham told this title he seriously considered running for Parliament as a protest candidate – so dismayed is he at the performance of the area’s MPs.

He is a supporter of Ms Wright and said he would not have stood against her in East Devon, but he said he might have challenged MP Neil Parish in Tiverton and Honiton.

“That would be the obvious one or maybe Mid Devon…or even West Devon and Torridge where Geoffrey Cox is,” he said. “I think he needs to be questioned now and again, I think he’s a bit too full of himself for my liking.”

He said the aim of a campaign would have been ‘to give people the opportunity to show their disquiet at the political parties’.

All the main parties, he said, have ‘let down’ the people by failing to achieve a good Brexit deal in three years.

Ultimately, he said he decided to focus on his role as leader of East Devon District Council.

In the East Devon constituency, Conservative Sir Hugo Swire is not running again and Claire Wright, currently a county councillor, has come second in each of the last two elections.

Her opponents, announced so far, are Simon Jupp (Conservative), Henry Gent (Green), Daniel Wilson (Labour) and Eleanor Rylance (Lib Dem).

Cllr Ingham said he believes Cllr Wright is the favourite in the race.

He said: “As an Independent, I think it’s wonderful that we’ve got this chance to put an Independent in the House of Commons.”

The Woodbury and Lympstone councillor said he heard ‘last year’ MP Sir Hugo Swire planned to stand down, describing it as ‘disrespectful’ of the Conservatives to pick a candidate at such a late stage.

Of the selection of Simon Jupp, he said: “If they wanted someone charismatic, which is what I think they tried to do, they would have been better off with Iggy Pop in my opinion. People would be able to relate to him more than a DJ from Plymouth.

https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/general-election-ben-ingham-considered-standing-1-6370864

Urban sprawl – Greater Exeter, Lesser East Devon

From a correspondent:

This correspondent had a beautiful sunny autumn drive through the villages of West Hill and Woodbury yesterday morning. Then the enthusiasm of conservative Cllr Philip Skinner for a “network of linked villages being built in the North West Quadrant area of East Devon” came to mind.

Has not East Devon sacrificed enough Grade 1 agricultural land to build Cranbrook? Were we not told that this sacrifice would be EDDC’s contribution to housing need?

Then we found that Ottery St. Mary was sacrificed.

Feniton was sacrificed.

Exmouth was sacrificed. I could go on.

And now we are told the villages of Poltimore, Huxham, Clyst St Mary, Clyst St George, Ebford, West Hill, Woodbury​, Woodbury Salterton, Exton and Farringdon would be most likely to be sacrificed.

Has the ward councillors of the above villages consulted their constituents? Are the constituents of Ben Ingham and Geoff Jung happy that Woodbury will join Cllr. Skinner’s “bigger vision”?

Why aren’t our independent councillors telling Exeter that East Devon has done their bit, they do not wish urban sprawl and it is now the other surrounding councils turn?

EDDC spending £3.5 million in Exmouth: Tory gets the spotlight, Independent has reservations … dog, tail and wagging again?

Here’s Tory Skinner waxing lyrical about £1.5 million for Exmouth College (though Tigger Nick Hookway has concerns):

https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/cil-money-for-community-college-expansion-1-6344922

and here’s news of cash for the completion of a road in Dinham Way – with Skinner again seeming to have the biggest voice and Hookway again expressing reservations:

https://www.radioexe.co.uk/news-and-features/local-news/exmouth-projects-backed/

Tail … dog … wagging … again?

And so near general election time.

And when will other towns and villages get their shares of Community Infrastructure Levy goes into one big pot rather than being locality-based like Section 106?

More flack for EDDC Leader Ingram on spending and transparency

Not looking good … now being attacked for  wanting to employ consultants to tell him what town centre problems are:

“East Devon District Council ‘lacks good detailed intelligence about its towns and their economic wellbeing’.

Cllr Ben Ingham, leader of the council, admitted: “This is not a good state of affairs,” when questioned at Wednesday night’s full council meeting.

It came after Cllr Mike Allen asked questions over the decision of the portfolio holder for economy, Cllr Kevin Blakey, to commission a major study into town centres.

Cllr Allen asked for an indication of the cost proposed and in the interests of proper transparency, for the Consultancy brief envisaged be put to the next Overview Committee for discussion before any expenditure is committed. …”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/east-devon-lacks-good-intelligence-3474769

“Leader says in hindsight, notes should have been taken when CEO met developers”

Owl says: Well, duh! And just how long has EDDC’s CEO been in the job? Where was his “hindsight”?.

And our “Leader” is now fully au-fait with the language if the previous majority party as far as giving non-answers is concerned!

Everything changes, nothing changes …

“At last Wednesday’s full council meeting, Cllr John Loudoun, asked questions around the keeping of notes from meetings that officers of the council are involved in.

Notes of meetings when senior council officers meet with developers over planning issues should be made in future, councillors have been told.

It follows an instance where East Devon District Council’s chief executive allegedly told developers to appeal his own council’s refusal of planning permission for the Sidford Business Park.

Paragraphs 13 and 14 of the Richard Kimblin QC final closing arguments at a planning inquiry held this said: “After the 2016 application was refused, there was a meeting with Councillor Stuart Hughes and the CEO of the Council. The CEO advised that the way to progress was to appeal. That is an extraordinary state of affairs.”

The claims, made both in writing and verbally, were unchallenged by East Devon District Council during the inquiry, but afterwards, an East Devon District Council spokesman said that Mr Williams did not advise the appellant of anything but the applicant chose to interpret the comments he did make as encouraging an appeal, and the comments were made in a ‘situation where a degree of hyperbole and exaggeration is not unusual’.

At last Wednesday’s full council meeting, Cllr John Loudoun, asked questions around the keeping of notes from meetings that officers of the council are involved in.

He said: “Sometimes officers from this Council, beyond those directly responsible for local planning matters, meet and/or discuss with developers their planning applications. Sometimes these meetings take place to discuss applications that this Council has failed to support.

“Does the leader of the council agree with me that when such meetings and/or discussions take place, it is most imperative that they are held in ways that give residents faith that the Officers are transparent and accountable in these matters?

“Does the leader agree with me that it would be appropriate that at such meetings, or in such discussions, there should be more than one Officer present, such as a legal adviser and/or planning officer? Do you agree that any meetings or discussion with developers when they relate to planning should have a formal record kept of what was discussed and agreed, and why?”

In response, Cllr Ben Ingham, leader of the council, said: “The circumstances surrounding any meeting will determine whether it is necessary for them to be held in any particular way. I have the upmost faith that our officers would appreciate the need to act in a way that ensures nothing untoward occurs.

“But in hindsight, it is probably a very good advice and many members and officers of the council may say in future they will.”

It was of a number of questions raised at the meeting relating to concerns about the processes of the council which followed what some councillors called the ‘shambles’ of the previous full council meeting which left councillors unclear as to what they were voting for.

Cllr Loudoun added: “At the last Full Council meeting there was lengthy debate around a motion. A Member at one point interjected and proposed ‘that the question now be put’ and the chairman put this point of order to the meeting.

“Many members did not fully appreciate the implications of voting for or against this point of order and when passed by a show of hands, there appeared to be confusion amongst some Members as to what had just been agreed. When the chairman invited the meeting to vote on the motion on the agenda paper, some Members appeared not to understand what was happening and what they were now being asked to vote on.

Once the meeting had voted on the motion some Members were confused and it was only at this point that it was fully explained what had happened and the implications of their first vote, but by this point the votes had been cast and decisions made.

“The meeting ended with some Members expressing frustration and/or confusion about what the meeting had decided. Does the Leader recognise this set of events and if he does, what would he recommend this Council does to avoid a similar set of circumstances occurring in the future?”

In response, Cllr Ingham said: “It is not for me to say what other members may or may not have understood. I understood what was happening but members are always able to ask for confirmation on what is going on and I am sure the Chairman would, in such circumstances, ensure that clarity was given on the procedures from the officers present. We have may acted at a speed that was not appropriate for new members.”

Asked by Cllr Paul Millar on the potential merits of ensuring Members can make informed decisions when asked to vote in Council meetings, Cllr Ingham said that any council or committee makes mistakes, but as the new council learns, he hopes members and officers will make fewer mistakes when acting in a hurry.

Cllr Eleanor Rylance also questioned why a significant number of meetings had been scheduled to take place during the half-term break. As well as the full council meeting, a Strategic Planning Committee, an Audit and Governance Committee, and a Scrutiny Committee meeting took place last week.

She said: “In the spirit of inclusivity, how is it that this council is wilfully disadvantaging anyone with school aged children, caring responsibilities for school aged children, or those who work in schools or other educational establishments, by organising major meetings including this one during school half term? This is entirely avoidable. Please can the council set its timetable with school dates in mind in the future?”

In response, Cllr Ingham said: “Whilst it would clearly be difficult to plan a yearly meeting cycle to accommodate school holidays, particularly bearing in mind the length of the summer holiday and the potential impact on the business of the Council, it would be helpful to consider if changes could be made in future. “

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/leader-says-hindsight-notes-should-3475242

Indie councillor wastes no time holding EDDC Leader to account**

And some very interesting answers he gets too (and the questions of other councillors are also pertinent):

To answer questions asked by Members of the Council pursuant to Procedure Rules No. 9.2 and 9.5

** Apologies for the deletion of this post earlier today due to technical problems with the attachment.

“Senior role in East Devon’s ruling cabinet has been axed”

So, the “transformation” role in Ben Ingham’s TiggerTory cabinet has been abolished by said leader.

How convenient – no more pesky questions about the Leader’s pre-election promise to move from a Cabinet system to a committee system, more representative of the diverse groups that now exist.

Councillor Millar, understandably, believed “transformation” meant changes to the way officers AND councillors would work. Instead it seems Leader Ingham sees “transformation” as applying to more commercialisation of council services and more revenue-boosting asset-sweating or selling. In other words, a continuation of the previous Tory policies – local government as business rather than public service.

More BOGOF (buy one, get one free) than transformation!

“… No reason for the decision of the leader of the council to not replace the portfolio holder position is stated in the papers ahead of the meeting. …

Instead, the cabinet collectively will take on responsibility for delivery of the Council Plan and the associated strategies of Fit for Purpose, Careful Choices and Commercialisation of Services.

The report says that Cllr Jess Bailey, Corporate Services Portfolio holder, will take on responsibility for Digital by Design and Systems Thinking, while Cllr Geoff Pook, Asset Management Portfolio holder, will now be responsible for Commercialisation of Assets rather than Revenue Generation.

… Next Wednesday’s meeting will also see changes made to committee membership as a result of the political balance of the council changes following Cllr Millar’s resignation from the Independent Group.

The council now consists of 19 members in the Independent Group, 19 Conservatives, 11 from the East Devon Alliance, eight Liberal Democrats, two Green Party members, and one Independent, Cllr Millar.

Sitting as an Independent, he is entitled to two seats across all the committees, and the full council is recommended to approve a proposal that would see the ruling Independent Group lose a seat on both the Overview Committee and the Licensing and Enforcement Committee.”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/senior-role-east-devons-ruling-3442021

Is EDDC Leader Ingham “sowing division between communities”?

From a correspondent:

“Like many others, I have a complimentary copy of the Budleigh Journal put through my door which is usually very out of date.

Today –October 17th-I received the October 9th copy. Hence I have just read that EDDC Leader Ben Ingham thinks that it is unfair to villages that they subsidise the Budleigh Salterton free car park on the Green. Originally given to the Town by Lord Clinton.

https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/consultation-on-pay-and-display-at-budleigh-car-park-1-6304735

What happens to the money received from all the beach huts in BS?

What happens to the money received from the Lime Kiln car park in the summer months, particularly on a hot day when it is difficult to find a car parking space?

And of course towns like BS and Sidmouth do have a very high council tax receipt.

There are cross subsidies on all forms of taxation. We do not expect someone with a chronic illness to pay for their NHS treatment. They are subsidised by those fortunate enough to remain healthy.

It is not helpful or wise for the Leader of the Council to sow division between communities”.

“East Devon leader responds after call for him to resign”

Might more councillors who rushed into “The Independent Group” which Ben Ingham was so very keen to lead, be regretting their choice? If so, interesting times. As Owl has already pointed out, if all other non-Tory and non-TIG councillors came together (Independent, East Devon Alliance, Green and Lub Dem) they would be the majority group …

“East Devon leader Ben Ingham said he will not be ‘stepping aside’ after a former cabinet member called for him to resign.

Writing for this title, Councillor Paul Millar said Cllr Ingham has ‘failed to deliver a workable policy let alone the change people were asking for’.

In response, Cllr Ingham said he will not be stepping down ‘just yet’ and the ruling Independent Group are focused on delivering on its policies ‘including a balanced budget for next year’.

Cllr Millar said: “I call on Ben to do the right thing and step aside to allow someone more in touch with the reality of people’s lives to lead the council.”

In response, Cllr Ingham said: “I won’t be stepping aside just yet.

“There is so much to do and the Independent Group is eager to put our priorities into action.

“This includes preparing a balanced budget for next year.”

https://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/ben-ingham-response-to-resignation-call-1-6311778

EDDC Leader on car park charges … basically now a complete muddle

Leader Ben Ingham’s statement – a masterclass on how to make a bad decision worse – a rushed, piecemeal temporary fix that suits no-one and has no clear outcome.

“East Devon Scrutiny committee to set up a Task and Finish Forum to consider the ongoing future of the council’s car parks

At a meeting of East Devon District Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday 2 October, councillors discussed a report detailing proposed changes to car parking charges in East Devon and resolved to take the following steps:

That statutory advertisement and consultation procedures are actioned with a view to changing car park charges from £1 to £1.20 per hour in high demand car parks (including the London Inn, Imperial Road and Queens Drive car parks in Exmouth).

The 20p per hour increase for the high demand car parks is a rounded down inflation based increase from 2010.

To implement a 12 month trial of free coach parking in Seaton Jurassic coach park and a promotional tariff of £2 all day parking in the Canaan Way and Brook Street car parks in Ottery St. Mary

The Cabinet decision was subsequently debated at a meeting on Thursday 3 October by the council’s Scrutiny committee, which has resolved to set up a Task and Finish Forum (TAFF).

This will consider a range of matters with regard to the ongoing and future management and operation of the Council’s car parks.

There is a possibility that the Cabinet decision will also be called-in to the Scrutiny Committee but we will not know this until later next week.”

https://exmouth.nub.news/n/leader-of-east-devon-district-council-issues-statement-regarding-car-parking-tariffs

“Yet another delay in reveal of Exmouth seafront future plans”

“A report on the current position was due to come to tonight’s Cabinet meeting – but there is no sign of it.

September’s East Devon District Council Cabinet meeting saw an urgent item brought forward to dissolve the Exmouth Regeneration Board and replace it with the Exmouth Queen’s Drive Delivery Group.

Although not initially on September’s agenda, it was brought forward at the last minute so that they could meet that month and receive the latest information, with a report to come to the October cabinet meeting outlining the current position and a timetable of next steps.

Explaining why it was adding as an urgent item, Cllr Ben Ingham, leader of the council, said that had they waited until the next meeting, it would have caused a further delay in progressing the plans.

But the cabinet agenda for tonight’s meeting (October 2) does not include any items on the Queen’s Drive project. A council spokesman has said though a public engagement event will take place in November.

They said: “A cabinet report will come forward later on regarding progress and next steps on the delivery of Queen’s Drive Phase 3. A public engagement event will be taking place in November led by Hemingway Design who have been leading on a new vision for the Queen’s Drive site. More information on this will come forward shortly.”

Consultation with the public was undertaken by HemingwayDesign in the summer of 2018 and it was hoped and expected by senior councillors that their report on the options for phase 3 would have been published this summer, but that date has passed.

Phase 1 of the Queen’s Drive project, the realignment of the road and the new car park, was completed in June.

Phase 2, the new watersports centre, is set to open in time for the summer of 2020, and the hoardings have been installed around the new, upcoming watersports development, Sideshore. …”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/yet-another-delay-reveal-exmouth-3385751

Exmouth resident supports young sacked/resigned councillor

From Exmouth Journal

“Dear Sir,

I was shocked at the so called “sacking” of Paul Millar. Here we have a young man interested in getting involved in local politics who should be supported not pilloried for his lack of experience.

In taking on the leadership of a team of Independents perhaps Ben Ingham an experienced Councillor and ex party member has not quite grasped that he is now the manager of individuals not a party gang that he can whip into order .

Leadership in this scenario requires nurturing your team. Working out their strengths and weaknesses and if you see people struggling, stepping in with support and encouragement.

Above all , as presented in the reports that I have read so far, he should not be taking the side of paid officials who are there to advise and deliver what the Councillors decide.

I get the impression that the current Senior Management team in EDDC that he lauds is so used to calling all the shots for years , that a new young broom presenting what they perceive as a challenge to the existing power structure needs to be flattened and crushed from the outset.

Anybody who has changed jobs and become a new boss will know that in the early stages of a new job, it’s always a battle of wills. You will be resented by the old guard who will look for ways to trip you up. That’s where a mentor would come in useful. Charm, persuasion and proving that you have a vision and work hard yourself will usually win through.

So far the new Independent group have badly misread why they were voted in.

People in Exmouth voted for change not continuity. What that means is real transparency, not lip service, being open to feedback and above all listening. The value of listening cannot be emphasised enough. Listen and act. If you find you cannot deliver what people are asking for, tell them why you can’t but offer what else you can do for them.

That’s what we voted for. We now need to see some evidence that the election promises made are not just empty words which the Town sadly has become all too used to from previous administrations.”

EDDC: the resigned/sacked councillor saga continues…

Owl says: Of course, none of this would be happening if Leader Ingram had been prepared to work with the other independent group – East Devon Alliance (of which he had previously been leader – after being an independent independent – after being a Tory!).

AND it re-ignites the argument: who actually runs the council: councillors or officers? In theory, officers advise, councillors decide …..

“Cllr Paul Millar, who represents the Exmouth Halsdon ward, quit the Independent Group who are in control of East Devon District Council

A blistering attack on East Devon District Council’s management has been launched by a councillor who resigned from group running the council.

Cllr Paul Millar, who represents the Exmouth Halsdon ward, quit the Independent Group on Monday night.

In an email announcing his departure from the group, Cllr Millar said he found working with the Senior Management Team and trying to have any influence over his transformation portfolio to be impossible, that he had no confidence in the senior management, and that the Independent Group has little desire to change anything really at all.

His resignation from the group means that they are no longer the largest party on the council, with both them and the Conservatives having 19 seats each.

In a response, Cllr Ben Ingham, leader of the council, said that he thanked Cllr Millar for his contribution but that the ‘personal and unfounded comments’ do not help advance understanding of the work carried out by East Devon District Council’s officers and councillors.

It is understood that Cllr Millar had been removed from his transformation portfolio role by Cllr Ingham prior to his resignation from the group.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Millar confirmed that he would remain a member of the council and would sit as an Independent not aligned to any group.

He said that he has found local casework immensely fulfilling and this will enable him to concentrate on that and he joked that his contributions to the cabinet wouldn’t be missed as his ideas seemed to be ignored and they didn’t give him anything to do.

In his resignation statement, Cllr Millar said: “Since being elected I have sadly found working with the Senior Management Team and trying to have any influence over my portfolio to be impossible. I was not once asked my view on any matter of policy or given information with which to make any real decision.

“I raised this on a number of occasions, and was sent an email by the Monitoring Officer telling me it is ‘impractical’ for councillors to make even a ‘small fraction’ of decisions.

“Although I’m very new, as a democrat I found this despairing and disappointing as I believe elected representatives are best placed to make decisions in the public interest. We take the blame when things go wrong, so we should have more control, as we’re the ones on the ground.”

Cllr Millar was absent from last Thursday’s overview and scrutiny committee meeting where the service plan objectives for 2019/20 where being evaluated due to illness, but had he attended, he said: “I would’ve struggled to explain what I’d done at the as I’ve not been given any opportunity to make a single major decision. I can only conclude this has been a deliberate action taken by the officer lead for my former portfolio.”

He added that he has no confidence in the current Senior Management and he would like to work with colleagues to at some point submit a motion of no confidence against the Senior Management Team.

He said: “I have become convinced by my short experience and conversations with others across parties that cultural change at the top is required if East Devon District Council is ever to provide a better service, win greater trust among our residents and to have fewer decisions made behind closed doors by officers who are unelected, unaccountable and often I believe show an arrogant contempt towards councillors.”

And he questioned whether the current administration in charge of the council was sustainable for much longer, and his departure means that the Independent Group, which was made up of 20 individual Independent councillors, is no longer the largest group, with the Conservatives also have 19.

He said: “My departure means the ‘Independent Group’ no longer has any majority and as a result to my mind no longer has any mandate to continue as the current administration.

“I will be voting against the Council Plan as I believe it is mostly a load of wishy-washy nonsense written entirely by senior officers, some of whom view our residents merely as “customers” to have money sucked out of, and underestimate the intelligence and ability of elected representatives. In its current form the plan gives the council and the current administration no clear direction of travel.

“Worst of all, I’ve been disappointed that the Independent Group has little desire to change anything really at all. I’ve never been part of a more autocratically-minded institution in my life, and my old Students’ Union was pretty bad.

“The leader and deputy leader have consistently bowed to the SMT (senior management team) in the name of ‘continuity’. It’s been so frustrating and there’s no active feeling that SMT want to work with councillors.”

Cllr Ingham, in response, said he was grateful for the work Cllr Millar had carried out and wished him well for the future.

He added: “It is very unfortunate when individuals resort to personal and unfounded comments. Such attacks do not help us advance understanding of the work carried out by East Devon District Council’s officers and councillors and their respective roles and responsibilities as detailed in the council’s constitution. Rather, they confuse, contribute to rumours and create more harm.”

“However, I am confident that the council offered Cllr Millar a high level of support and assistance to help him try to adjust to the demands of being a Portfolio holder, and I thank him for his contribution.

“On behalf of the council I am very grateful for the work that Cllr Millar has carried out since his election and appointment to the cabinet and wish him well for the future. Looking forwards, though, it is business as usual for East Devon.”

It is understood that Cllr Ingham had sacked Cllr Millar from his role as he failed to take the ‘many chances’ given to ‘show respect to officers and each other at all times’.

Cllr Millar’s resignation leaves the Independent Group and the Conservatives both holding 19 seats on the council. The East Devon Alliance hold 11, the Liberal Democrats eight, the Green Party two, and one Independent.

A meeting of Conservatives members will take place next week to discuss what, if any, moves they plan to make to try and regain control of the council.”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/councillor-quits-independent-group-launches-3313607

Who decided to sack “Independent Group” councillor?

LATE CORRECTION: Greens are independent of the Independent Group but Ollie David accepted the role as Lead Member for Environmental Health and the other Green councillor accepted the role of Lead Member for Health and Wellbeing.

How does a group of Independent Councillors sack an independent councillor?

We know how parties and alliances do or might sack a member councillor – they would have a committee meeting of elected members, make a decision and communicate it to other members and the councillor concerned.

But the “Independent Group” appears to have simply decided it was a group and elected itself a leader in the first week of the new council. As it then had the most seats, its Leader got to be Leader of the new council. Green Party councillors also joined the Independent Group (can you be even be Independent and Green Party?). It did not follow up with a committee or internal executive as far as we know, the Leader simply chose Cabinet and other roles for councillors – some of whom were Tories (eg Head of Development Management Committee) and one of whom was an East Devon Alliance member (Dan Ledger – Procurement).

So, did the Leader unilaterally decide to sack Councillor Paul Millar from the Independent Group, or were all of its members involved in the decision or just a small number of them? If so, were Tory councillors and Green councillors also involved in the decision (it seems unlikely the EDA councillor would have been consulted)?

Who initiated the call for the sacking? Were officers involved and, if so, how and why? Will the Monitoring be involved? Was the Monitoring Officer involved? Was the inexperienced, young councillor offered advice or extra training in his new role?

So many questions!