Left hand and right hand not working in unison?
Category Archives: EDDC
Norfolk County Council to ditch Cabinet model in favour or politically representative Committee method
Cllr Paul Smyth, chair of the committee governance steering group, said: “I strongly believe the proposals agreed will offer better governance for Norfolk. It will bring greater democracy, transparency and accountability to the council by giving councillors from all parties a much larger role in decision making.
“The proposals we have developed over time will provide us with a strong council, well defined delegations of authority and clear divisions of responsibility that should promote good governance in Norfolk. Each committee will contain a politically balanced mix of councillors, giving them a much stronger voice in future decision making, which can only be good for democracy. All parties will have a part to play in the decision-making cauldron.”
Cllr Smyth said the November review would act as a “safety net” in terms of how the new system was working. “If needs be, we can amend how things are working then, but I believe this new system will give the 84 elected councillors a bigger voice on issues which were previously only the preserve of the nine or ten members of Cabinet.”
Norfolk’s Leader George Nobbs said: “I would like to pay tribute to the ordinary members of the council who have worked tirelessly to come up with a new system of working for the council. I can’t praise the huge amount of work they have put in highly enough and I wish it well.”
Nort Devon council to spend £80,000 (yes eighty thousand pounds) on relocation
The equivalent, perhaps, to EDDC moving to the cash haemmoraging Thelma Hulbert Gallery … hhmmm
http://www.devon24.co.uk/news/museum_move_for_council_s_top_brass_1_3579621
Some councillors get away with blue murder, some don’t
This is the second time Councillor Wragg (Lib Dem) has been brought before EDDC’s Standards Board for comments that seem to be the sort of thing that councillors of another colour call “robust debate” when they make similar remarks and have no action taken against them
Click to access signed_decision_notice_240414_redacted_signature_pdf.pdf
and reported here
And recall that Eric Pickles himself has said that councillors should have broader shoulders than the general public.
One might see a pattern emerging here, in the year before EDDC elections are due. One hopes not.
East Devon Leisure to bail out Exmouth bowling alley?
East Devon too rich for regeneration cash that will even go to South Hams!
How to whip – carrots and sticks
‘What do they know’ about Knowle relocation?
EDDC has formally been asked for critical calculations, and other details. See https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/relocation_from_the_knowle#incoming-507521
Still think WE are to blame for failure of the Local Plan EDDC?
There has been a concerted effort recently at EDDC meetings to blame us, the public, for failure of the draft Local plan because we are all NIMBYs and forced EDDC (we know not how) to reduce housing numbers against their collective will.
Let us then revisit this statement, made in December 2010, by EDDC’s then Leader, Sara Randall Johnson:
29 December 2010
Ms Randall Johnson said with support from partners including the Exeter Civic Centre and Devon County Council, EDDC is “bucking the national trend” and forging ahead with a reputation for delivering growth.
“I do understand the concerns of some that expansion must not jeopardise our delightful East Devon environment,” she continued. “And I couldn’t agree more. We now believe some of our housing and employment building estimates may have been too high and I have ordered a complete review of this strategy with a report due in the summer.”
Devon County Council “is a business” says its Leader
But, unfortunately, its “shareholders” are not allowed to talk to it:
In the past Councillor Diviani has also referred to EDDC as a business and officers have referred to developers as its clients.
Our only role as “stakeholders” appears to be to vote them in or out in 2015. Other than that, we should, apparently, be shut up.
Tell Andrew Moulding and EDDC what YOU think!
District council bosses have refuted claims their Local Plan was not ready to be submitted last August – or the continuing delay in confirming the blueprint means East Devon is set for a developers’ free-for-all
Campaigners last week branded the authority ‘shambolic’ and called for a ‘root and branch reform’.
Councillor Andrew Moulding, East Devon District Council (EDDC) cabinet member for strategic development and partnerships, said: “The inspector’s response to our plan was one that has been replicated across the country.
“A paper produced last month by consultancy Nathaniel Litchfield & Partners (NLP) found that local plans are taking longer to get through the examination process and more are being delayed because of problems over housing assessment.
“Their review of 109 local plans that had been examined since the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) came into force two years ago found that many have effectively stalled because of the NPPF’s requirement for authorities to meet ‘objectively assessed needs’ for housing. The consultancy reported that just 40 of the 109 plans have been found sound, while a quarter of these are subject to immediate or early review, chiefly because of housing issues. Some 15 plans have been withdrawn, with the main reason being the provision of housing. The consultancy also noted that more plans were in difficulty after failing to meet the ‘duty to cooperate’ requirement.
“More than 50 per cent of English local planning authorities outside London have yet to formally publish local plans since the introduction of the NPPF. Inspectors want to avoid future challenges and potential judicial reviews and therefore look for objectively assessed information contained in local plans.”
Cllr Moulding said warnings of a developers’ free-for-all were ‘scaremongering by those who have an agenda of belittling the council’s efforts’. He claimed the council has an ‘enviable record’ when it comes to defending and winning planning appeals.
“Experience shows that our policy of saying ‘yes’ to sustainable development and ‘no’ to over-development is standing us in good stead,” he added. “We remain confident that the latest version of the plan is not too far off being a document that finds favour with the planning inspector, once we have completed the extra work he has requested. In this, we are in the company of a good number of other English local authorities that are working hard to find the right balance between housing demand and quality of life.”
l What do you think?
Email us your thoughts at sidmouth.letters@archant.co.uk.
EDDC refutes campaigners’ Local Plan criticism – News – Sidmouth Herald
Exeter and East Devon: practically a Combined Authority now?
Planning Inspector unhappy with the way Cranbrook Community Infrastructure Levy calculated – yet another setback
And once again, he points to figures apparently having no evidence behind them:
Click to access cilletterno1.pdf
Reminds me of an old saying: “I’m always in the excrement, it’s only the depth that varies”.
Alternatives to whipping, observed at EDDC
Tory Whip Phil Twiss is claiming once again on Claire Wright’s blog (comment left on 22/04/ 14) that he never whips.
He makes no mention, though, of the familiar range of ‘sticks and carrots’ that are used to produce an obedient majority that will rubber stamp key decisions. Incentives and disincentives include:
1. Patronage. ‘Juicy jobs’ (with bigger allowances) are given to faithful supporters or dangled before potentially awkward members.
2. Sacking. The occasional rebel is quickly removed from power. Cllr Stuart Hughes committed the dual sins of setting up an ‘in-depth study’ (Business TAFF) of the relationship between EDDC and the East Devon Business Forum, and of challenging the leadership’s aspiration to move the Council HQ from the Knowle. Predictably he was dismissed in May 2013 as chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and from all his other positions, because he was “too busy” according to Cllr Twiss. Stuart Hughes had a blunter explanation: he said it was the result of the “arrogant and spineless leadership” of EDDC.
3. Arm Twissting. Short of sacking, councillors who break ranks are leaned on by the formidable Mr Twiss. Tory councillor Mike Allen, former chair of the Local Plan Panel, is a case in point. At a meeting of the Council on 24 July last year, he accused the Chief Executive of “not having a grip on the Local Plan” and “not understanding” National Planning Policy guidelines. Mr Twiss sprang to his feet immediately to slap down the critic: the CEO must be right, he said, as “he’s a qualified solicitor, and you’re not!” Reliable sources report that, after the meeting, the riot act was read to Mike Allen. He has not repeated his criticisms, and, despite their severity, there is no reference to them in the minutes of the meeting.
4. Group meetings. Often, private, unminuted, meetings are held before big decisions are made to ensure that everyone is on side. For example, the Tory Group assembled in advance of the Development Management Committee meeting of 5th February last year to discuss the lack of a five-year land supply. The result was predictable: the docile Tory majority on the committee sat mute until they voted en bloc when the chairman decreed. They thus meekly endorsed a crucial element of the Local Plan which the Inspector has found to be unsound, leaving East Devon vulnerable as a result.
Finally, given the majority on the Council that his Party currently has, it is surprising that Cllr Twiss spends so much energy trying to discredit the opposition. The most indiscreet example was his insulting suggestion in the Sidmouth Herald that Independents are invariably “single issue” councillors “holding back progress and directly disadvantaging their communities.”
We might expect a little more humility from the Tory whip, given that in the 2011 local elections he received only 813 votes in his Honiton ward. For comparison, at the same election, Independent councillor Roger Giles, whom Cllr Twiss accuses of rarely doing “anything tangible and beneficial for his local community”, polled 1546 votes in Ottery St Mary Town Ward.
Free speech for councillors is an important part of our democratic process says Eric Pickles today
Over on claire-wright.org the popular Independent councillor is being given a very hard time by Tory Whip/Not the Tory Whip Phil Twiss for daring to disagree with him and his party as he smarts from having to defend the indefensible when one of EDDC’s leading Conservative lights (Councillor Bloxham) attempted to bring in complex bureaucratic rules to gag the public at Development Management Meetings (rules so complex and comprehensive it took him 27 minutes to explain them).
He would do well to note the pronouncement of HIS boss and Whip, Eric Pickles, who has today said in an article about how he is thinking of prosecuting five councils for using the council newspapers for political purposes:
Eric Pickles said:
“Localism needs robust and independent scrutiny by the press and public, and municipal state-produced newspapers suppress that. ‘Town Hall Pravdas’ not only waste taxpayers’ money unnecessarily, they undermine free speech.
“I have given written notice to councils most clearly breaching the Publicity Code, noting that Parliament has passed new laws to tackle this abuse. We are prepared to take further action against any council that undermines local democracy – whatever the political colour.”
He added: “We have changed the law to protect the free speech of councillors. If councillors and political parties want to campaign and put out political literature, they are very welcome to do so, and it’s an important part of our democratic process. But they should be using their own money, rather than taxpayers.”
Tory council protests about developers not being made to build affordable housing and Boles confirms new garden cities will not need to build them either
“Hostility, defensiveness and denial”: millions suffer in silence due to public sector complaints system
Excerpt from article published by the Daily Telegraph
Britain will face another scandal like Mid Staffs, in which hundreds of patients died needlessly, unless there is a cultural “revolution”, the Public Administration select committee says in a report released on Monday.
MPs say public bodies are increasingly resorting to using “euphemistic” terms such as review, appeal and feedback to describe complaints, a practice that should be banned. They urge David Cameron to create a new minister for complaints to champion those with grievances and overhaul the way that the public sector is run.
Bernard Jenkin, the committee chairman, says: “There needs to be a revolution in the way public services are run, and how the public perceives government.
“As things are, most people believe there is no point in complaining.
“The shocking collapse of care at Mid Staffs hospital should be a warning to the whole public sector that too many managers in public services are in denial about what their customers and staff think about them.
“Unless and until we have a culture of leadership in public services that listens to, values and responds to complaints there will always be the potential for tragedies like Mid-Staffs. Opportunities to improve services and public confidence will be missed again and again.”
Across government, the report finds repeated evidence that officials have failed to deal with complaints in good time, make “grudging” apologies or fail to resolve issues entirely.
It suggests that every government department should be forced to publish information about how many complaints it has handled and resolved each year, alongside details of the lessons learned.
“The aim is not to create bureaucracy or a tick box exercise, but to achieve a greater level of transparency,” it says.
The report also criticises ministers for failing to respond to MPs raising concerns on behalf of their constituents quickly enough or to take up complaints themselves.
EDDC take note …
A WATCHDOG has criticised City of York Council for failing to make background papers available for public inspection before it launched its draft Local Plan last summer.
The Local Government Ombudsman, giving its provisional view on a complaint about the authority, also said that by not finalising some papers before a meeting, the council had left itself open to allegations of intentionally withholding information from the public.
It has also recommended that the council should finalise background papers before public meetings and make them available for inspection before such meetings in accordance with regulations, and that the council should provide training to relevant staff to ensure they are fully aware of the requirements of regulations.
The complaint was made by local economic development adviser Gwen Swinburn, who on May 14 last year asked to see a report which she considered was a background paper to the Local Plan preferred options.
The Ombudsman said the council told her it was not yet able to share the report but all the supporting documents and studies would be made available on June 5, when the public consultation on the Plan would start.
“It explained that it was finalising and checking some of the studies to ensure the information was organised and presented in a co-ordinated and coherent way,” said the Ombudsman. “The report was then made available on June 5.”
Th Ombudsman said Ms Swinburn claimed that when the background papers were made available in June, it was clear from the dates that some of them had been finalised before April and the council failed to comply with regulation requirements by not making all the background papers available before a cabinet meeting on April 30.
“I consider that, on the balance of probabilities, at least one of the background documents had been finalised before the Cabinet meeting on April 30 and therefore should have been made available for inspection by members of the public,” it said.
“This was administrative fault. I will reconsider this view if the council is able to provide evidence to show that each of the background documents had not been finalised before April 30.”
Ms Swinburn said she had complained to the Ombudsman because she believed there was a growing disregard for democracy at the authority and she was pleased by the provisional view.
Council director Darren Richardson said: “We are looking at the Ombudsman’s provisional comments and will be preparing a response to this soon. Until this has been carried out, we’re unable to add any further comment at this stage.”
Consultation on effect of National Planning Policy Framework – have your say
The Communities and Local Government Committee has launched a Parliamentary Inquiry into the effectiveness of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and is inviting comment. This is an opportunity to state, however briefly, your views on the planning system and whether it is working properly.
Submissions should be no more than 3,000 words and must be submitted by 5pm on Thursday 8th May 2014. Your comments should be provided in a Word document and submitted online.
The link is here:
It is not appropriate to send comments about specific planning applications or appeals, see guidance on written submissions. We strongly urge you to take this opportunity to comment.
We will be providing our comments to the inquiry and we will publish these on our website in due course.
24-hour security on those allotments, folks – Pickles is after them
Sunday Times, Matt Rudd, page 27:
Freedom of Information requests have revealed that Pickles (who must by law decide whether allotments can be sold, has agreed to the sale of 81 out of 83 requests that they be sold for housing development between 2010 and 2013.
East Devon Watch 