Category Archives: Democracy

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2 Dec 2014

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Democracy, EDDC, Phil Twiss

Is a part-time/temporary/interim/shared Monitoring Officer going to be enough for EDDC in these rumbunctious times?

Since our Deputy Chief Ececutive/ Monitoring Officer departed earlier this year we have shared the Monitoring Officer post with South Somerset District Council (as, of course, we share our Chief Executive). Our Monitoring Officer still has his job as Legal Officer at South Somerset on what appears to be a full-time basis.

We were given no time-scale for the appointment of a permanent EDDC Monitoring Officer but it now seems to be an urgent need as we suspect that activity requiring constant Monitoring Officer monitoring will be a permanent feature of political life in the district until at least May 2015.

And, as neither of the mainstream political parties in East Devon admits to having a Party Whip, which might moderate the more outrageous comments of errant councillors, the Monitoring Officer is even more needed.

Oh, and a definition of rumbunctious in case there is any argument: uncontrollably exhuberant, boisterous, difficult to control or handle, turbulently active and noisy.

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2 Dec 2014

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Democracy, EDDC, Phil Twiss

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Political row hits regional news headlines

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Police-urged-investigate-cull-Tories-blog-remark/story-25016293-detail/story.html

and this comment from Damien Mills on Councillor Wright’s web blog adds an interesting new perspective to this fracas:

“If I was Claire, I would be consulting a solicitor.

Dare I suggest Cllr Twiss might be well advised to forget about the Malicious Communications Act 1988 – which, plainly, he grasps about as well as he does the English language – and to concern himself instead with garnering a better understanding of the Defamation Act 2013.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/26/contents/enacted

Cllr Twiss has sent an email to his 58 fellow East Devon councillors in which he accuses Claire of ‘knowingly publishing a threatening and highly offensive comment’.

That’s a very serious allegation which, clearly, could do serious damage to Claire’s reputation – all the more so when you consider Cllr Twiss didn’t just voice his concerns in private to the Monitoring Officer but chose instead to share them with more than 50 others.

As far as I can see, Cllr Twiss’s only possible line of defence is that ‘the words complained of are true in substance and fact’ – that’s to say, he can demonstrate beyond all reasonable doubt that Claire deliberately set out to intimidate / threaten the Tory contingent on East Devon District Council. Frankly, I reckon there’s more chance of a new Local Plan being in place by the turn of the year!

Cllr Twiss might, I think, do well to issue a public apology before this goes any further; failing that I fear he might need to get in touch with his fellow correspondent on these pages, John Richards, and seek out the contact details of his learned friend at Lincoln’s Inn! wink

And finally… I would be disappointed if the Monitoring Officer at East Devon has not already communicated their concerns with Cllr Twiss’s defamatory comments to each of the 58 other recipients and instigated an investigation as, it seems clear to me, there can be little doubt such comments represent a clear breach of the council’s code of conduct.”

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28 Nov 2014

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Democracy, Phil Twiss

Author Frederick Forsythe to be reported to police? Too late!

Funny, he posted this in 2008 but don’t remember him going to prison!

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/frederick-forsyth/63233/Tories-must-cull-our-bloated-bureaucracy

But the statute of limitations has probably ruled it out now!

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28 Nov 2014

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Democracy, Phil Twiss

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Phil Twiss worried about Tory councillors being assaulted in car parks

This is a reply from Phil Twiss to an elector who wondered whether Councillor Twiss might have over-reacted somewhat to the (correct) use of the word “cull” by a commentator on the blog of Independent Councillor Claire Wright (bold lettering ours). The letter to which this is a reply is below Councillor Twiss’s response:

“Dear (Voter)

The Conservative Party takes all threats of violence or incitement to violence very seriously and will always take appropriate action (no matter how innocuous or isolated/infrequent they may seem to casual observers like yourself) on a better safe than sorry footing. There are no exceptions to this and whilst the problem is more frequent with higher profile politicians (particularly during election periods) it is none the less a problem at all levels. I was election agent for Neil Parish M.P. during the 2010 General election and speak from a position of experience and it is pretty unpleasant.

Following concerns expressed by fellow EDDC Councillors on the precise wording of the comment made on Claire Wrights blog site yesterday as Secretary of the EDDC Conservative Group (a quite distinct role from Party Whip) I asked that it was removed which it was. A complaint was then made to Devon and Cornwall constabulary about the person who submitted the comment and where it was published; this is now subject to police investigation. The police have confirmed that this was the correct course of action to take and if after investigation they conclude there is no problem then that is the end of the matter.

As an illustration of a regrettable and unfortunate aside you may have read that a Councillor was recently attacked in Coventry by three people over a car parking issue, see http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-city-councillor-attacked-car-8191149 which is also the kind of function EDDC deal with and therefore why this kind of threat is unsettling to our Group members.

I make no apology for this apparently uncompromising position which has absolutely nothing to do with the size of the EDDC Conservative Group.”

Regards
Phil
philtwiss-conservatives@hotmail.co.uk

T: 01404 891327
M: 07971 871651

Web: http://www.tivertonhonitonconservatives.co.uk

One has to hope that the police are more widely read than Mr Twiss.

Here is the original letter to Mr Twiss

“Cllr Twiss,

What on earth has made the majority party, (of which you are not the Whip so why are you reacting on their behalf?) so twitchy as to provoke your over-the-top language and threatening behaviour towards Cllr Wright?

I suggest you read the East devon Alliance website where you will see quotations from Messr Cameron, Clegg and Robinson all using the word cull in the sense of reduction in numbers, not as mass murder.

An apology to Cllr Wright for the threat would be in order if you are man enough.”

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28 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC

Twiss to report Cameron, Miliband and Clegg to Metropolitan Police?

In each of these articles the jounalist uses the word “cull” in relation to David Cameron, David Miliband and Nick Clegg

http://toryaardvark.com/2014/07/15/uk-david-cameron-culls-greens-from-government/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29319189

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/sep/03/nick-clegg-ends-agreement-on-mps-cull

Who should be reported to the police: the journalists or the Leaders?

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28 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC

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Councillor Twiss gets his dictionary in a Twiss!

I honestly wish we had made this up!

Councillor Phil “I have never been and I am not currently the EDDC Tory Party Whip” Twiss is reporting Independent Councillor Claire Wright to Devon and Cornwall Police for publishing a comment on her blog, from a contributor, which suggested that Tory councillors should be culled (i.e. reduced in number)!

I think poor old Phil has been spending too much time with seagulls and not enough time reading his papers! As Paul Arnott (in his private capacity) said in his response to this news on Claire Wright’s blog:

“Cull” is a commonly used expression which in a political context means “reduce”. When the BBC’s Nick Robinson talks of a cull of Labout MPs in Scotland after the next election nobody imagines them being chased across grouse moors with shotguns. … Do the people of Honiton St Michaels really want their member to be wasting police time like this?

But the serious side of this is how dirty local politics has now become. Mainstream parties are now not just rattled but panic-stricken at the once unbelievable (to them) idea that they would not rule forever.

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26 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC, Greater Exeter, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation, Paul Diviani

Trust and accountability

Why does the Cabinet at EDDC not trust its elected members? The Tories have a large majority, so even if it did not trust OTHER councillors it can, presumably, rely on its own members to agree with its policies.

It seems, from the element of surprise shown, that neither minority councillors nor majority councillors could be trusted by the Cabinet with the knowledge that EDDC was seeking a “Greater Exeter” solution to its current problems.

It also seems that those same majority and minority councillors could not be trusted to give useful input and feedback on a plan to move from Knowle to … well, where rather depends what month you are in!

If you are the Leader of a Cabinet that does not trust the majority of councillors, whatever their political persuasion, and keeps most of its business secret, why on earth would a councillor not in the Cabinet continue to accept such a situation?

Voters expect their councillors to represent them, yet how can they do this when the councillors themselves have no idea what is going on with two of the biggest issues facing the council.

To that we must add a third: the lack of a Local Plan and no 5 year land supply and all the problems that is causing. Yet we hear nothing from majority councillors on this dreadful state of affairs, and none of them seem to feel the need to question what is going on.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee should be investigating these matters, instead of which it is just another rubber stamp committee which asks no questions and uncovers nothing that needs critical examination.

The only hope is that the public can shine lights – but their speaking rights have now been severely constrained, again with almost no dissent from ordinary majority party councillors.

Something is surely badly amiss in the “sovereign state” of East Devon.

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26 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC

Councillors then and now

“I JUST couldn’t believe my eyes when I read “We risk having a council run by officers”, Gazette, November 18, on Cllr Bob Evans’ views on the Campaign for Democracy in Mid Devon.

I became a local councillor (not in this area) way back in the 1970s when local government was being reorganised into larger units replacing the old town and rural councils, and I remember hearing the chief executive of one of the unitary councils telling us we had more power than an MP. That was then – but certainly not now.

As for the argument about the council being run by the officers should the committee structure be re-introduced, that can work both ways. If one could rely on seven strong councillors making up a cabinet, the cabinet system might work. If you select your seven cabinet members on the strength of their party allegiance and length of service, the results can be very suspect.

The cabinet system may be quicker, but is it achieving the sort of results local people want? Not in my view. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And the lack of an effective system of questioning and seeking to identify and improve weak areas in any proposed policy decision (such as the present system whereby the cabinet can over-rule the scrutiny committee) allows just that scenario.”

JEAN TENNANT Former district & town councillor

http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/Cabinet-quick-results-wrong/story-24667479-detail/story.html

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25 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation, Misc, Paul Diviani, Skypark

The Omnishambles Buck Stoppers Awards go to …

“Buck of the Millenium” awards go to:

Leader Paul Diviani – Leader, that’s a clue!  He led his fellow-councillors up the Skypark creek and dropped them in their supermarket boat without paddles.

To the members of the Relocation Working Party for … well for nothing- wasting public money perhaps? Councillors Bloxham, Buxton, Cox, Diviani (of course), Elson, Gazzard, Hull, Moulding, Newth, Stott and Twiss. Particular mention here for Councillor Newth who, as a Sidmouth councillor, allowed the Knowle and all its employees to slip away on her watch.

Special mentions must go to the Chief Executive Mark Williams and particularly to the Deputy Chief Executive Richard Cohen who managed to make the whole process so secret that no checks and balances could take place, let alone consultation. It is possible that the fatal flaws would have been spotted much earlier had they been in the public domain so why … .

And, last but definitely not least, let us not forget “embedded” Relocation Manager Steve Pratten, hired out from Davis Langdon for a huge fee to provide us with …. er … pass.

To all these we would really like to say ….. goodbye.

A statistic: the amount of money spent on this failed project would have paid a good part of the upgrade costs of the Knowle.

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24 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC, Exeter City Council, Greater Exeter, Paul Diviani, Teignbridge

The “Greater Exeter” agreement in the words of EDDC Leader Diviani

It appears most EDDC councillors of all political persuasions were not aware of the signing of the agreement for joint working between East Devon, Teignbridge and Exeter.

Those councillors may wish to reflect on Mr Diviani’s acceptance speech when he was made Leader:

“Whilst the election results speak for themselves, we need to enable better lines of communication. The cynical view of the last Government – decide, consult, do it all anyway – is not my approach. Obviously, we won’t all agree on everything but my path is one of consensus and inclusivity.”

Whoops.

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24 Nov 2014

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Democracy, Greater Exeter

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EDDC expects its councillors to debate merger AFTER agreement signed!

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/east_devon_district_council_to_form_partnership_with_teignbridge_and_exeter

Perhaps only Conservative councillors were informed in advance!

EDDC: the council that consults you AFTER the event!

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23 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC, Freedom of Information and EIA

Secrecy has increased at Cabinet meetings: the evidence

In the EDDC council year 2013-2014 (May 2013-April 2014), the Cabinet met 11 times and three of those meetings had secret sessions.

So far this council year, the Cabinet has met 5 times and 4 of those meetings have had secret sessions.

http://new.eastdevon.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/committees-and-meetings/cabinet/agendas/

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22 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC, Freedom of Information and EIA

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What’s another word for secret?

Answer: at EDDC – think tank, forum, meeting, group, working party, board

All these words mean secret

as in

Economy think tank
Asset Management Forum
Parishes and town councils meeting
Capital Strategy and Allocation Group
Relocation Working Party
Exmouth and Seaton Regeneration Board

As stated in the post below, most of EDDC’s work now seems to be done this way. You can’t see agendas or minutes and Freedom of Information requests for information on these meetings are routinely refused.

Recall that, in its first incarnation, even discussions about the (failed) Local Plan (called Local Development Framework in those days and chaired by expelled-ex-Tory Councillor Graham Brown) were secret until an Independent Councillor (Claire Wright) forced publication.

How can you know who or what to vote for if you don’t know what they say or do?

Click to access 211114-the-knowledge-issue-28.pdf

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21 Nov 2014

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Democracy, Exmouth, Local Plan, NPPF

Another unsatisfactory ‘public consultation’ in Exmouth.

See recent entries and comments about the Marley Road planning application, on the EDA facebook page https://www.facebook.com/eastdevonalliance?hc_location=timeline

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21 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC

“Transparency”: a joke at our expense

This week’s EDDC “Knowledge” e-newspaper shows 12 forthcoming meetings at EDDC:

7 are being held in secret (including a new group “Capital Strategy and Allocation”

3 are open to the public – Cabinet (though some parts of the agenda may be secret), the Planning Inspections (which must be open to the public by law) and the “Value of Trees Task and Finish Forum” and

2 are cancelled as not being needed (Licensing and Enforcement).

So, the vast majority of council business is being conducted in secret, with no published agendas and no public minutes. We have no idea what they discuss. In theory, these “groups” and “think tanks” do not make decisions BUT they do decide what aspects of their discussions they take forward to (supposedly) open committees. So, how do they decide what goes forward and what gets dropped if they don’t make decisions.

Transparency? You (or rather they) are having a laugh – on us

Click to access 211114-the-knowledge-issue-28.pdf

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15 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC, General Election, Misc, Voting

The missing 6,000 voters: and the award for best lame excuse goes to – Mark Williams!

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/East-Mid-Devon-district-council-chief-executives/story-24538976-detail/story.html

… The committee was concerned that Mr Williams and Mr Finan were among 22 nationwide that had not included door-to-door canvassing in the process of encouraging more people to register on their district’s electoral roll.

The concern was reflected in the report which stated that an Electoral Enforcement Officer repeatedly failing to comply with their statutory obligations in a way that has an adverse effect on the quality of voter registration, should be subject to enforcement action. …

Note that remarks about having done telephone canvassing in interim years has disappeared , replaced with the words “other sources of data matching” (the Electoral Commission says that no telephone canvassing OR house to house canvassing was done in some years) and Mr Willliams is the only electoral officer in the country soecifically singled out in the Parliamentary Committee interim report for not answering Freedom of Information requests.

The way Mr Williams talks about the problems of canvassing in a rural community makes you wonder just how those EROs in places like Cumbria or Cornwall seem to manage the job, where he cannot. What are they doing right that he is doing so wrong? And how come he doesn’t have the same problem (or the same methods) in rural South Somerset where he does the same job?

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13 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDBF, EDDC, Graham Brown

Police and Crime Commissioner at this evening’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee (6.30pm, Knowle)

Heated debate is inevitable this evening at Knowle. The final Overview and Scrutiny Committee (O&S) meeting of 2014 will be handling red-hot issues, notably that of the Business TAFF rearing its head once again, much to the Chief Executive’s apparent displeasure. Whether the CEO will be present, and how O&S Chair Cllr Tim Wood handles the meeting, will be significant. Both seem at risk of having their fingers burnt…

See our latest posts, e.g. http://eastdevonalliance.org/2014/11/12/mark-williams-on-unfortunate-circumstances-arising-from-g-brown-case/
and http://eastdevonalliance.org/2014/11/12/eda-intense-disquiet-with-chief-executives-letter-to-councillors/

For this evening’s agenda, go to http://new.eastdevon.gov.uk/media/476265/131114-os-agenda-combined.pdf

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11 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC

Speaker tells politicians that people are contemptuous of what is not straight dealing

In other words: speaking truth to power.

On Monday, the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, suggested the government’s attempt to avoid a vote on the issue of the European arrest warrant – and therefore sidestep a backbench rebellion – would be regarded by the public as contemptuous.

In an extraordinary attack on the government, he said:

“I think I have given a fairly clear indication that this has been a sorry saga. And the house should not be put in this position. Most of us think that a commitment made is a commitment that should be honoured, and we should try to operate according to sensible standards, rather than try to slip things through via some sort of artifice.”

“It may be the sort of thing that some people think is very clever, but people outside of the house expect straightforward dealing. And they are frankly contemptuous, and I use the word advisedly, contemptuous of what is not straight dealing. Let’s try to learn from this experience and do better.”

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/nov/11/labour-force-vote-european-arrest-warrant

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5 Nov 2014

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Democracy, General Election

Devolved power … but where?

Interesting debate this evening (available on BBC Iplayer) on devolution of power in the south west and how it might evolve.

If power is devolved in England how far should that power go down? To the south-west (if so, where would it start and which city would be its administrative centre), to a Devon/Cornwall/Somerset/Dorset combination (if so, which ones), to Devon (including or excluding Pkymouth and/or Torbay?), to Northern Devon and Southern Devon, to East Devon(!) to a conurbation centred on Exeter and/or Plymouth, to a collection of towns and parishes (if which towns or parishes?).

Who do you trust to hold power?

What a conundrum!

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5 Nov 2014

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Democracy, EDDC

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A council not fit for purpose and the report which confirms it

Carmarthenshire County Council has suffered many problems similar to those in East Devon: lack of transparency, a perception that is is officer-led and unaccountable. Its Chief Executive was awarded a dubious pension deal at a meeting at which he was present and he is currently attempting to negotiate a severance deal (designed by him and other officers) of £250,000 plus.

Unlike here, a combination of opposition councillors, local bloggers and the press forced a review of the situation and a hard-hitting report was commissioned and is now published. It makes fascinating yet anxiety-provoking reading – particularly on the issue of public speaking and overview and scrutiny.

The executive summary states:

· Despite pride in the Council’s services and high regard for the workforce, there were widespread concerns about the way the Council conducted business from many internal and external stakeholders;

· Internal systems of governance and constitutional processes were either not consistently followed or were perceived to be designed to constrain democratic debate and public engagement;

· Internal tensions affected the way that the Council worked and was viewed externally;

· There was generally an inconsistency in the understanding of the respective of roles of elected members and officers, and the perception has been that the Chief Executive and senior officers have dominated some of the decisions of the Executive Board to the extent that the balance of governance has become disjointed and the Council is widely perceived to be officer-led;

· the Council’s member and officer leadership was viewed by some as defensive and did not encourage or respond constructively to challenge, but there was a clear consensus, particularly from members, that there was a need and a willingness to strengthen internal and external accountability arrangements;

· There was a consensus, particularly from members, about the need to redefine and strengthen the member role and provide leadership of the openness and transparency agenda

You can read it here:

http://www.wlga.gov.uk/download.php?id=5988&l=1