Argyll & Bute Council's £11.5 million own goal

[Tartan Seer]

Coming hot on the heels of the school closure fiasco, it appears that pure incompetence at the very top of the Council is the reason why Argyll & Bute Council has the WORST budget settlement in the entire country.

Argyll News has the story here

http://forargyll.com/2011/01/did-counci ... -november/

Heads surely must roll.

[Ship called Dignity]

Certainly beggars belief if true!

The situation in local government is dismal, and will only get worse. There will be knock on effects in Campbeltown and Kintyre too. Not just in services but employment by what is in fact the areas biggest employer. And to think this is only the first year of three cuts to come!

[Nancie]

Argyll and Bute is a laughing stock but the joke is on us, the council tax payers. This is the price we pay for being run by the Alliance of Independents, a motley crew who do not have a policy or vision between them.

They ran Argyll and Bute as a coalition with the SNP until the SNP refused to back the flawed proposals for closing 25 rural schools. The Independents then went to the Lib Dems and asked them to join them in the administration and the Lib Dems forgot promises to parents, pupils and communities as they betrayed the people who had put their trust in them.

Not forgetting of course that they all received remuneration for the new posts they acquired as part of the new administration.

Ellen Morton, new Lib Dem Depute Leader of the adminstration, is blaming the Scottish Government for the poor settlement received by Argyll and Bute this year. We now find it is the incompetence of the administration which has led us into this mess.

God help Argyll and Bute.

[gizmo]

Not sure I am getting this right. You are saying the Alliance of Independants who are lacking in vision, until lately were joined at the hip with the SNP who must be tarred with the same brush. After dumping them, or being dumped by them, promptly jumped into bed with the Lib Dems, who as tradition dictates abandoned every policy they at one time held dear, then pocketed money (30 pieces of silver plus Vat) and crapped all over the electorate as well. Towards the end of the last parliament the newspapers were full of stories of Tories stealing money from the taxpayers to pay for moat cleaning, dovecotts, new furniture and paying for several mortgages on properties they or their families already owned.
Recently we have found out Labour politicians are lying through their teeth in court or are just as prone to telling the odd porkie to line their pockets with the taxpayers cash as their oppos on the other side of the house.
Who then can I trust with my vote? My brain hurts.

[weetoonboy]

Argyll and Bute is a laughing stock but the joke is on us, the council tax payers. This is the price we pay for being run by the Alliance of Independents, a motley crew who do not have a policy or vision between them.

Should all councillors be scrapped and Argyll and Bute run by unelected officials, a Corporation of sorts? If not what are you suggesting about democracy as a whole?

Maybe if the local press published the major voting issues and how our councillors voted on these issues the public would be able to make a better assessment of their performance and when election time comes, they will truely be held to account.

[Nancie]

Maybe the answer is to take some of the functions away from local authorities, such as education. The education budget runs away with a huge proportion of money but a lot of it is never seen by schools. Instead it pays education officials inflated salaries and expenses while schools struggle to pay for the basics.

I'm not sure we are getting value for money from these people - as we saw in the proposed closure of schools when the information produced by education officers was found to be full of mistakes eg how many pupils in schools, travelling distances and school occupancy.

Local authorities can never be run by unelected officials. Thank God we live in a democracy but councillors are human and deserve to be kept under scrutiny. What major voting issues do you think should be published?

[smokynuk]

So basically the top dogs who get paid a ton of money fail to do the job they have been paid to do. The consequences for them are non existent, but the consequences for the remaining council staff is to probably face even more cuts than what was expected which means more job losses and an even bigger impact on working class lives as well as the local economy.

Well done Sally on your 6 figure salary, i have no doubt you can sleep well because "im alright jack". Just leave the rest of us to suffer.

[weetoonboy]

@ Nancie

Totally agree with you on the point of School funding, but this is true in all areas of Government, the NHS for example. All departments of Government are too top-heavy.
The irony in this though is that Argyll and Bute and Campbeltown in particular has a massive Public Sector relative to private sector, and the local economy is a function of Government spending. Schools, Council, Police, Hospitals etc.

As for our local councillors, I dont know or understand the issues that are discussed and voted upon @ Kilmory when the councillors convene. But Im starting to take an interest in local politics, and will hopefully become more informed as time goes on.

Current headline issues, The School Closures is definetly a vote changer for the people of the communities affected, as is the construction of Windfarms in the area given the situation at Skycon and the threat to the workers, their families and their extended families. The selling of ABC assets as mentioned in another post may rub some folks the wrong way.

My point is that I feel its not easy to hold the councillors to account. There is no summary published on how they voted for the last 4 years, so people vote for our representitives because they have always done so, or their family has always done so. More Information please.

[Nancie]

You could try reading the For Argyll site which has a lot of information on what goes on behind the scenes. Most councillors hate it because it reveals what goes on behind closed doors. It has been especially effective in the schools closures fiasco and the mess the high heid yins have made of the budget settlement.

You could also come along to community council. There are vacancies and we are looking for new blood. A councillor is always present (well nearly always) and can be asked about current issues.

Please take an interest in local politics. This is our town and we need to fight for what we think is important.

[Nancie]

So basically the top dogs who get paid a ton of money fail to do the job they have been paid to do. The consequences for them are non existent, but the consequences for the remaining council staff is to probably face even more cuts than what was expected which means more job losses and an even bigger impact on working class lives as well as the local economy.

Well done Sally on your 6 figure salary, i have no doubt you can sleep well because "im alright jack". Just leave the rest of us to suffer.

Heads should have rolled for what has just happened, smokynuk. The top dogs have been, I was going to say negligent, but they could probably take me to court, so 'they have failed to do the job they have been paid to do'. You're right, the electorate cannot touch them but they can reach the councillors, some of whom do not deserve to represent the people of Argyll and Bute.

Sally Louden, Chief Executive, will probably get a pay rise

[smokynuk]

Heads should have rolled for what has just happened

You're absolutely right Nancie, but the worst that will probably happen is a slap on the wrist and all is forgiven till the smoke blows over.
What make this worse is that there is already plans for voluntary and compulsory redundancies across the board. Then take into account the 5.6mil LESS the Council is receiving than what was exected and where does that leave us?

The most annoying thing is that if i mess up this badly in my own job, i'd most likely be shown the door (like most working class people), but these "high and mightys" seem to be immune from such consequences.

All i can hope for is for the word to spread on this story and for the general public to know what has happened here.

[Nancie]

Spread the story, that's what I am doing. The other tactic is to put in Freedom of Information requests to Argyll and Bute Council asking eg what remuneration do councillors get for being spokespersons.

I have it on good authority that some of the Lib Dems who have gone into the administration with the Independents are richer by almost £10,000 per year, some significantly richer like Ellen Morton, the Lib Dem Leader from Helensburgh. She is now Depute leader of the Council under Dick Walsh and she is now earning a great deal of money for ditching the parents and children in schools all over Argyll and Bute.

These people deserve to be exposed. They are a disgrace.

[Kintyre Forum News]

Official response from Argyll & Bute Council

Council sets record straight over CoSLA budget setting meeting

Argyll and Bute Council has set the record straight over its involvements in the meeting of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA), held on 19 November 2010, at which council’s budget settlements were discussed.

Council leader Dick Walsh attended the meeting, along with Sally Loudon, chief executive and Alison Hay, in her capacity as environment spokesperson for CoSLA.

A recent media report questioned the responsibility of Councillor Walsh and Sally Loudon in relation to discussions around the budget settlement which took place at this meeting.

The council has confirmed that papers presented at the CoSLA meeting did not give any indication that the settlement for Argyll and Bute would be significantly below the national average.

In addition, the two areas of funding which contain the majority of Argyll and Bute Council’s reduction – the Special Island Needs Allowance and the Supporting People Allocation – were not highlighted in the CoSLA papers.

Those present would not have been able to identify a reduction of allowance in those particular areas from the papers issued on 19 November. The impact of these reductions was not indicated until budget settlement papers were issued.

It has since become clear that Argyll and Bute Council faces a significant variation in funding for these two areas: Special Islands Needs Allowance (SINA) - a reduction of just under £0.4 million and supporting people allowance - a reduction of £5.6 million. The total reduction in Argyll and Bute Council’s grant is £11.429 million.

The SINA reduction is a result of the Scottish Government no longer classifying Seil as an island, because it has a road bridge – even though this bridge and Seil’s island status has existed for hundreds of years.

Other councils have also experienced a higher-than-expected reduction in their Supporting People Allocation and CoSLA is raising this with the Scottish Government.

In the past, where wild variations in funding have emerged for councils the Scottish Government has advised CoSLA in advance, so these could be discussed with council leaders and a mitigation strategy agreed. On this occasion there was no indication from either the government or CoSLA that the settlement would include any such variation.

The publication of the settlement figures in mid December gives the council only eight weeks to identify an additional £6 million in savings, ahead of its February deadline for budget setting.

Argyll and Bute Council’s plans its finances over a short and long term horizon. The one year settlement presented by the Scottish Government, instead of the usual three-year settlement, makes it even more difficult for the council to make long term plans.

Dick Walsh has already raised his concerns over the settlement with John Swinney, in a letter dated 21 December 2010. Councillor Walsh also wrote on 7 October, raising the impact of GAE on the council’s budget with the cabinet secretary. Councillor Walsh said:

“If we received an average reduction in our budget for local government then we were looking at unpalatable cuts within services. Because our budget cuts are double the national average we now have to look at devastating cuts. I wrote to the cabinet secretary, John Swinney, a number of weeks ago to discuss with him the impact of the Scottish government settlement will have on our communities. I am awaiting a response and would hope following these discussions I will be in a position to report that our budget situation has improved and these more devastating cuts won’t need to be made.”

[smokynuk]

In addition, the two areas of funding which contain the majority of Argyll and Bute Council’s reduction – the Special Island Needs Allowance and the Supporting People Allocation – were not highlighted in the CoSLA papers.

So Dick, Sally and Alison, just because it wasnt "highlighted" you missed it? Surely the omission of these funds should have caught your attention no? Do you expect the Scottish Government to highlight every detail of reduction to you? Isnt it your job to work it out yourselves? Even if it isnt, wouldnt you want to do that anyway?

Usually when im given change i check it there and then when im at the shop, that way i can bring it up instantly. I dont go home watch Emmerdale then decide to check if my change was right then cry foul when i discover that it isnt.

Im sorry but i see this as a big finger pointing exercise in order to keep your jobs.

Council sets record straight over CoSLA budget setting meeting

Far from it

[Tartan Seer]

The meltdown of Argyll & Bute Council continues apace. Once again, Argyll News leads the pack with a piece laying out the deeply embedded culture of dishonesty at the highest reaches of our Council. Read it here

http://forargyll.com/2011/01/foireveals ... ntial-lie/