by Paul Scully | Oct 16, 2008 | News |
Politicians have always tried to influence the behaviour of the electorate, whether by carrot or stick. I rarely like the stick approach and I can appreciate some efforts to attempt to nudge people in a certain direction, for example walking rather than driving, health prevention rather than cure etc. However, the ‘ban’ on smoking near playgrounds seems a typically worthy but pointless exercise that is endemic in local government.
I don’t smoke but I would have voted against the ban on smoking in enclosed areas as I am instinctively against banning things, believing people should be able to exercise choice. I get fed up with politicians treating people like idiots in one breath and then, should they be wanting something from them like a vote, feting them as having the collective wisdom of Solomon. Similarly, local Liberals cannot decide whether they want to do what their party name says on the tin or give in to an authoritarian craving – the second half of their moniker, ‘Democrat’ went by the wayside a long time ago.
The Liberal-dominated Beddington & Wallington Local Committee has agreed to spend £3200 putting up signs politely requesting people not to smoke in playgrounds within their area. There was considerable debate as to what the wording should be as it was felt that the familiar No Smoking sign was inappropriate because the ban had no legal backing. I humbly put forward my own suggested wording in the picture above.
Of course I’m not in favour of people blowing smoke in children’s faces whilst they play on the swings. However, the signs would have to be far bigger and much more wordy if they were to list all inappropriate behaviour by adults in a children’s playground. This smacks of politicians scratching around for something to do. Last year, a pot of ‘Public Realm’ money was introduced in Sutton where local committees could direct some spending in their areas. The total budget was £2m divided between the six areas. I fear that this is an attempt to be seen to be doing something rather than considering whether that £3200 could be better spent elsewhere. Councillors were surprised to hear that each sign would cost £300. They were told that there were four playgrounds and it would be best to put two signs in each. No-one challenged the chairman, who is an accountant by day, when she announced just before voting on the issue that the total spending was £3200. Remember that when you get next year’s council tax bill.
by Paul Scully | Oct 16, 2008 | News |
Whilst the investigation into Sutton’s Icelandic exposure gathers pace, another amazing story hit the press. The Audit Commission, which is the watchdog that looks into council spending, had put £10m of its own money with an Icelandic bank.
The Conservative chairman of Sutton’s Audit committee has convened an emergency meeting for next week to look into our own problems. The committee will consider a review into the matter conducted by someone with considerable financial experience within both local government and the private sector. However, Audit Committee only has a remit to look at the nuts and bolts of whether correct procedures were followed. Political accountability lies within a committee called the Scrutiny Overview Committee which is chaired by a Liberal Democrat. We have insisted that this is looked at as an urgent matter at the next meeting which is on Tuesday 28th October.
As an aside, the photo used to illustrate this post looks remarkably unblocked, thus clearly demonstrating that I sourced it from the Internet rather than taking my hard-earned cash outside with a camera:)
UPDATE: Sutton’s external auditors have changed this year…to the Audit Commission.
by Paul Scully | Oct 14, 2008 | News |
Sutton’s £5.5m exposure to the Icelandic meltdown was the big topic of discussion at last night’s Executive (Cabinet) meeting. You can see the statement that the Council have issued following UK based Heritable Bank’s slide into administration here.
Tim Crowley, Conservative Finance spokesman has several years of Treasury experience in the City. He addressed the cabinet at the meeting covering the following bullet points:-
- We, as Conservatives, will do all we can to support any Government initiative to retrieve frozen monies – this is the important thing at this time.
- Transparency in Sutton Council on this issue is of paramount importance because we are dealing with taxpayers’ public funds and we need to engender confidence and trust. This must be our next priority.
- This is a reputational issue which could attract attention from other Council services, and potentially overshadow its work elsewhere.
- As the Opposition we are concerned and disappointed with the public pronouncements in the national media of the Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman Dr Vince Cable who has described councils who deposited funds into Icelandic Banks and their subsidiaries as “unbelievably silly”.
- We also note the comments of The Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay on the Today programme who attacked Tory-lead Winchester Council which had deposited one million pounds into an Icelandic bank’s subsidiary, Heritable, two weeks before the crash as “blind and deaf.”
- We are disappointed that the national Liberal Democrat leadership has decided to revert to crude political point scoring in a time of crisis, and that by doing so they are undermining laudable efforts by all concerned to get this taxpayers’ money returned.
- We would prefer to concentrate on investigating under what circumstances we lent this money to Heritable Bank, and to ensure that proper procedures were followed.
- To enable this to happen it is imperative that all paperwork relating to these transactions be secured and that an independent investigator be seconded to provide the answers to these questions.
- As the Opposition, we would like hardcopies of all money market transactions that the Council has taken in the last calendar year and the weekly counterparty risk limits to enable informed decisions to be made.
- Only by us having this paperwork will we be able to ensure that scrutiny process is carried out in comprehensive and competent way.
On the party political point, it is interesting to see Vince Cable quoted in the Telegraph as saying “In a crisis like this I don’t think people would warm terribly to my running around saying ‘I told you so'” The LibDem parliamentary finance team certainly did not warm themselves to Sutton’s Lead Finance Councillor who told Lord Oakeshott yesterday afternoon that his comments were less than helpful.
Although the Cable & Oakeshott double act is an interesting diversion, the matter is too pressing to concentrate on partisan politics. Tim is leading our investigation into the matter with considerable vigour. I am pleased that officers recognise the need for a robust and transparent enquiry. In the meantime, we will continue to support moves to get our money back in order to minimise Sutton taxpayers’ exposure to this. It is important to stress that this loss will not have an immediate impact. I know that some council employees have been spooked by reports of losses in other local authorities affecting payroll. This is not the case here in Sutton.
by Paul Scully | Oct 10, 2008 | News |
For the last few years, Conservative conferences have gradually been introducing new innovations using new media. Two years ago, I joined other bloggers in offering advice to volunteers, councillors and other politicians who wanted to use the Internet more effectively. Last year, well-known bloggers such as Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes were given equal footing with journalists from the traditional media. This year, YouTube joined in the fun with an exhibition stand where attendees could film their thoughts and views. You have seen my rambling offering above and you can see the other Spielbergian shorts here.
This week, I was asked to write an article for Conservative Home, a leading right of centre blog, about why councillors should consider communicating with residents via a blog. You can read the resulting piece, ‘Blogging Along’, here. Feel free to leave a comment either there or back here.
by Paul Scully | Oct 9, 2008 | News |
People have been worrying about meltdown at the North Pole for years. They didn’t suspect it would start with the Icelandic banking system.
Sutton is one of the many local authorities in the UK to suffer in the economic turmoil with £5.5m of loans in Heritable Bank plc, the UK subsidiary of Landsbanki. Heritable was placed in administration following the nationalisation of its parent company leaving Sutton and many other institutions in limbo.
I want to see that every penny-piece of taxpayers’ money is secure. Safeguarding the taxpayer’s well-being, coupled with sound financial management, is the Conservative way. I have given the Chief Executive my support for the call for the Government to step in to help Local Authorities in these exceptional conditions.
In this time of economic hardship it is absolutely essential that the Lib Dem-run Council does whatever it can to protect the council tax payer’s interests – as Conservative councillors my colleagues and I will do whatever we can to ensure this. We have been asking questions of the ruling party and officers to investigate the Council’s investment strategy and risk management whilst recognising the particular backdrop to this unexpected loss.
It was disappointing to see Vince Cable unhelpfully trying to lever some political capital out of the situation whilst others were seeing their monetary capital disappearing. He criticised councils for investing in Icelandic banks explaining that he and his colleague, Lord Oakeshott had concerns as far back as July. It is a shame that he didn’t tell his colleagues at Local Authority level about his fears as it might have saved Sutton £5.5m. Never mind, he got his headline.
Politicians have always tried to influence the behaviour of the electorate, whether by carrot or stick. I rarely like the stick approach and I can appreciate some efforts to attempt to nudge people in a certain direction, for example walking rather than driving, health prevention rather than cure etc. However, the ‘ban’ on smoking near playgrounds seems a typically worthy but pointless exercise that is endemic in local government.
