| Topic: | Re:Re:Facts | |
| Posted by: | Phil Andrews | |
| Date/Time: | 12/06/11 19:32:00 |
| Elizabeth Could I refer you back to my posting of 12:55 on 06/06/11? You will see that I attempted to address this issue during the last administration with a proposal which would have handed some powers back to officers, which was at worst cost neutral and which would have at the same time have given more decision-making powers to local communities. You will also see that either of the major parties could have taken the opportunity to consider my proposals, the Conservatives during the last administration and Labour during this one. Both chose to ignore them in favour of an officer-driven recommendation to Borough Council that reduces the powers of communities and hands them to unelected officers. The "call in" caveat is an illusion - those of us who know how difficult it was to overcome the lack of co-operation from the department when the councillors had the power are unlikely to be reassured now that the same powers are in the hands of chief officers. Obstacles will be thrown up and few elected members will have the character or the determination to overcome them. Local democracy has been crushed between the need of one party to control and the desire of another just to save money at any price, two narrow tribal aspirations that have been cynically exploited by a canny chief officer with a barely concealed contempt for elected members of any persuasion and a greater contempt still for the wider public. This is the awful legacy of "that" local election and we are stuck with it for the forseeable. |