by Paul Scully | Dec 3, 2007 | News |
Sutton Conservatives have launched a new initiative on an unprecedented scale in local government, to help deliver real change in Sutton with your issues and concerns addressed as a priority. Councils can never stop listening, but all too often in Sutton consultation means an obscure questionnaire or a small advert in Sutton Scene, attracting a handful of responses.
We want to hear from you. We have set up five policy groups consisting of councillors and people from outside politics entirely who have been invited, not because of their political opinions, but because of their expertise and interest in a particular topic. Our Law & Order policy group has two retired policemen and a sitting Magistrate to help advise and lead the inquiry into the fear of crime in the Borough and how we can acheive the very best policing of our High Streets and parks.
You can get involved by post, email or phone through me or your Conservative ward councillor. The main place for discussion will be via our website, www.suttonconservatives.org.uk where you can see what we are doing and have your say.
Meanwhile, each group will be examining the main topics of discussion within their remit. They will speak to those people actually providing the service, look at initiatives in Councils and other organisations around London and the UK and see what innovation we can bring back to improve the lives of residents here in Sutton. The one thing that will be at the forefront of all of this is value for money. As we approach the annual round of cuts to be announced by the Council, we are only too aware of getting the most out of every pound of taxpayers’ money spent.
The five groups are:-
Education & Training
Environment & Community Sustainability
Law & Order
Planning, Transport & Housing
Quality of Life
These are underpinned by a Finance & Constitution working group looking at acheiving real value for money and streamlining decision making in the Local Authority.
This project can only work with your involvement. I hope that you will feel able to give your positive alternatives to shape the Borough that you want to live in. It really doesn’t matter what your politics are or if you are even vaguely interested in party politics. We all live in the same Borough, use the same services and pay the same Council Tax. We are all in this together, so please, go to www.suttonconservatives.org.uk and join us in changing the future of Sutton.
by Paul Scully | Dec 2, 2007 | News |
We’re only one step away.
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by Paul Scully | Dec 1, 2007 | News |
In another of those “You couldn’t make it up” events, Sutton Council refused to move this car saying that it wasn’t parked dangerously.
Cllr Tony Shields came across this car blocking the pavement near Devonshire Primary School when taking his son on Friday morning. He reported it immediately on his mobile phone. Later that afternoon when he saw that it was still there, he called again.
He was told that if it was still there in two weeks, it would be moved. When this was challenged by Tony, the response came, “how would you feel if your motor was towed away suddenly?”
Tony has challenged LibDem lead councillor Colin Hall over this saying, “”I thought it was outrageous enough that this crashed car was left for an entire working day – let alone two weeks! Primary school pupils had to walk around this wreck into the road, risking life and limb, in order to get to and from school.
“I demand this answer from Councillor Hall: how can this kind of base incompetence exist in a department under his watch? It is a fundamental duty of this Council. Failure to deliver is totally unacceptable.”
Update (2nd December, 9.34pm): The Police stepped in and removed the vehicle after some pushing by Cllr Shields.
by Paul Scully | Nov 30, 2007 | News |
The final motion of the last full council meeting was one that we could all agree to. The LibDems sought to protect our post offices from the next round of closures due in 2008. After the next 2500 sites have closed, one-third of the entire network will have closed down in the last decade.
There are only two public “servants” that earn more than an eye-watering £900,000. Both work for Royal Mail. These are the people that have denied communities a vital lifeline in closing so many sub-post offices, they oversaw the ill-fated rebranding to “Consignia” increased the cost of stamps considerably and got rid of the second delivery of post.
I have written before about the politics of envy. I don’t begrudge anyone earning a considerable amount of money if they can demonstrate their worth. The postal service has been decimated by the direction of the company under guidance from the government.
There was one main problem with the debate. Royal Mail is still losing money hand over fist. They will not change their minds just because politicians stamp their feet. Paul Burstow and Tom Brake have not stopped the closure of a single post office in Sutton over the last decade, in fact Paul Burstow has managed to lose the entire postal town of Cheam in that time. We need to push for alternatives that will allow the post office to be profitable whilst still remaining open for the vulnerable in our society. I suggested a few ideas including one that the Council can do now.
At a time when Sutton Council is cutting back on the opening hours of its Cash Hall, why not have a Council one-stop shop in some of the sub-post offices. This will enable people to access council services without having to travel to Sutton.
Anyway, the final result was a lot of wringing of hands. The motion was agreed as we all want to protect our services. However, there were no further ideas on what to do next apart from start another petition. I suspect the same methods may bring the same results.
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by Paul Scully | Nov 25, 2007 | News |
Full Council was somewhat unusual last week. If you looked at the headlines of the minutes, you would have thought everything was hunky dory, tickety-boo and the two main parties agreed on everything. This didn’t cover the whole story.
After a mixed bag of questions, I proposed a motion, graciously seconded by Council Leader Sean Brennan, asking for the law to be strengthened, making the defacing of a war memorial a specific criminal offence. This follows the appalling theft of the yorkstones surrounding the Carshalton War Memorial just before Remembrance Sunday. A stonemason Samaritan stepped in to replace the stones allowing 250 people to commemorate the fallen. The police apprehended the thief. Anyway, the motion was passed and a clear signal was sent by the Council.
The second motion was moved by my colleague Barry Russell, asking for the Union flag to be flown daily above the Civic Offices and the Mayor to sit under the Borough Coat of Arms rather than the European Flag. An exchange of emails between Barry and Cllr. Tope raised the hoary issue of Health & Safety as the wall above the Mayor contains asbestos within the Artex. Despite this, since there seemed to be a willingness to get this change made, we amended the motion to allow further investigation of costs etc. Failing this, I’m sure one or two of our larger councillors can do the heavy lifting with the requsite safety equipment. I’ll cover the LibDem motions in the next post which should have been straightforward but became flashpoints despite the fact that we all agreed in the end.
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by Paul Scully | Nov 24, 2007 | News |
Shortly before the full Council Meeting last Monday, I met some students from Carshalton College. The majority intended to follow their course in public services by joining the police.
They hadn’t schlepped across Sutton just to see me. Sean Brennan, the Leader of the Council and Claire and Rachel from the Sutton Youth Parliament are pictured as well. They had also met our Chief Executive, Paul Martin, had a tour of the Civic Offices and watched part of the Council meeting (that’s dedication for you!).
We told them a little about how we fitted into the structure of the Council and discussed some of the local political issues. It is good that they are able to take the opportunity to see what goes on in their name locally. Although national government grabs all the headlines, local government provides most of the very visible services that people use on a day to day basis. It is the council that empties the bins, maintains the pavements and roads, determines what the neighbourhood should look like through planning and, so often charges you through the nose for this with the annual Council Tax demand. It might not be the sexiest type of politics, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. The enthusiasm of their tutor, Phillip Taylor was apparent and I am sure will give his students a grounding in the political basics which will remain with them for sometime to come.
