The Council Chamber ... and elsewhere

The Council Chamber is a bit like a theatre, not necessarily a theatre of dreams, and what takes place there can be a bit theatrical.

 

I was there for my first Council meeting on the 22nd: it was when the various posts, committee structures and allocations were decided and where formal reports were made. The meeting reflected the deal made by the 3 Independents to support the Labour group

 

The various party groups met beforehand to discuss the agenda and how they should vote; we in the Tory group had concerns that although the allocation of people to the various committees was (in most cases) sensible, the allocation of proposed Labour councillors to virtually all the chairs/vice chair posts ran against the Council's previous policy of splitting roles between management and scrutiny. Does this matter or is it just a technical politician's point? I think it does matter, a bit; Labour did not get enough votes or seats to be in a majority on their own and there is a very important benefit in having a separation of a scrutiny/review function from an executive function. However, with the independents' support (and because some LD councillors were absent) this approach was put through.

 

Our group leader asked for "named votes" on the proposals. This a procedure where the Chief Legal officer reads out all the names of the councillors (alphabetically) and we shout out yes, no, abstain, or whatever. This is really tricky because you have to remember the exact phrasing of the motion and therefore whether to say yes or no. Fortunately I got it right each time. Rather satisfyingly, I'm the last Councillor alphabetically so I will always get the last word on such votes. Less satisfyingly, I'm in the minority group so it'll usually be a pointless last word. The named votes process was a bit time consuming but was actually quite important: it identifies and puts on record how we all voted on the proposals to change the way the Council operates - particularly important for those not in the Labour group.

 

Anyway, all that was theatrical with eloquent speeches, barbed insults and so on. But I sensed - and I hope - that some at least was acting and that once it was out of the way people would get on with working together to deal with the County's problems. And opportunities.

 

Personally, I've been placed on some committees which should be an opportunity to help this area - the Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority; the AONB; the North Area Planning Committee. And on some which I hope will let me help the County as a whole - the Audit Committee; the Licensing Committee and the Economic Regeneration working group.

 

Elsewhere, I had a useful chat with NEAT (I think it stands for Neighbourhood Environmental Action Team) about the issues in this area and I've picked up a couple of problems for people.

 

My main current concern is not knowing enough about who does what at the Council; the induction process starts next week with training on planning and then takes place through most of July.

Week two

(I will try to think of a more original heading for future posts)

 

Week two was a quieter week: as far as involvement with the Council is concerned, I'm waiting for the first meeting of the Council next Wednesday when the committee and management structure will be decided and I'll learn what if any committees I'll be involved in. The Labour group has said it has come to an arrangment with the three independents which could have implications for rural Northumberland. The training/induction/introduction to services and staff mostly takes place in June so at the moment I'm not sure which levers to pull if anything needs doing.

 

I have been to four of the parish councils: they all have different styles, I won't comment on which is more effective - not least because one meeting isn't enough to judge - but one common factor seems to be a frustration in getting a response from the County Council on issues. Some of this will be a question of a mismatch of priorities. I'll be interested over the next few months to see if there's another reason and to see if that can be improved. I got some feedback and help from one of the County's teams regarding bank hoilday rubbish collection, which was good, and the County has allocated someone senior to deal with one of the main problems in Belford. So it's not all bad.

 

Lastly, I've completed my election expenses - for the record, apart from the £6.50 cost of this website, everything else (about £400) was an allocation of printing and other costs from Berwick Conservatives for all those leaflets that I know people admired.

Week one

The election result for the County was inconclusive politically although satisfying for the 67 of us who got elected. Labour is the largest party with 32, reclaiming seats they lost in 2008, the Conservatives are next with 21, a net gain of 4, the LibDems lost 15 seats to end up with 11 and there are 3 Independents. 34 is the magic number to get voting control.
 

Until  how the groups will work together is decided the make up of the Council executive and then the make up of the various committees and how they will operate remains unknown. The critical date is May 22nd, the AGM of the Council and the date when the various posts get approved. And when people like me find out what formal roles we'll get in running or scrutinising the Council. The allocation will be made through a combination of party size, individual skills and interests and probably some unknown factors as well. I've indicated to the powers that be some areas I'm interested in: I'll report back in due course.

 

 

I've been to County Hall twice in the last week - first, a party group meeting to congratulate ourselves on bucking the national trend by winning a net four seats and to elect Peter Jackson as leader and Glen Sanderson as deputy.

 

 

Then a second visit, on Wednesday, an induction day. This was actually the day I legally became a councillor by signing the acceptance form. It was very much like you'd imagine the first day at school to be (although my first day was so long ago I've forgotten whether it was like I imagine it to be). First years wandering around slightly lost and wondering where the loos are; lots of forms to be filled out; old returning pupils being slightly superior and using incomprehensible jargon.

 

 

Another reminder of school (at least my school): there is a Members’ Room for Councillors. When I heard this, I had visions of wood panelling, leather armchairs, retainers with trays of spirits, paintings of long deceased aldermen and so on. Actually, its (70s) modern, some basic chairs and tables, a coffee machine and some photos of the county. It is so like my old 6^th form common room.

 

 

We had our photos taken; we will be given passes, County email addresses and so on. Even a laptop – because security issues prevent us from using our own for County business, which is a pain. And we were given some presentations on the Council, its functions – which are many - and then introduced to the induction training. There’s a lot to learn: the Council has a number of important statutory functions as well as providing the services we know – and those we don’t, and the necessary courses will take up much of June.

The presentation made a couple of points worth repeating:

Local Government is the politics of rationing and the management of expectations; the big three issues facing the Council over the next four years is the reduction in the budget, bringing improved broadband access to the County, particularly the rural parts, and dealing with the consequences of welfare reform. The discussion also raised the issue of how to get greater voter involvement, both in terms of the turnout at elections and also engaging with them between elections.

What else? I went to my first two parish council meetings – I’ll write more about that next week, after going to two more, followed up a couple of live issues with Council officers and went to the exhibition about one of the wind farms being proposed behind Belford. Wind Farms, I had been told, tend to divide communities. But this proposal seems to have united most people – in opposition.

So far when I’ve been stopped in the street people have congratulated me on winning rather than complained about potholes. It’ll be interesting to see how long that lasts. While it does, the first week’s experience suggests the role should be fascinating if time consuming.

 

The result, polling day and the count



My vote. My thanks to the other 812 people who voted for me.



John Holwell LD, 463; Nicola Morrison L 154, John Woodman C, 813.

So that's a win then. To show how in touch I was with what was going on, when I finished on polling day I had worked out that I couldn't possibly win. So I'm as surprised as anyone.

Polling day is a strange day if you're a candidate. Apart from voting, there's a not a lot you can do yet you sort of feel obliged to do stuff. I voted; I was first there at Beadnell and thanks to a couple of proxy votes took an early commanding lead of three. I visited the other polling stations a couple of times during the day, and noted a low count. We had "tellers" at Seahouses and Belford recording who had voted, the idea being that we could then chase potential supporters who hadn't voted. In Seahouses in particular this process sometimes turned the voting into a village event with people catching up with each other. Democracy has a purpose. Towards the end of the day we took stock, phoned a few people and sat back and wondered what had happened; as I said eralier I looked at the information and assumed it wasn't possible.

So the next day I had rehearsed my gracious losers speech by the time I got to the count, in the Willowburn sports centre in Alnwick. People told me I had won: before they count they open the boxes and check the numbers of votes actually tally, and when they do that you get a good idea of who is doing well or whether its close. And when they actually counted (in batches of 25, but unlike in 2008 they didn't use coloured pegs to indicate the party to collate the 25s, they just used paperclips) it was obvious I had won as the batches of 25 piled up. We had a quick discussion about the few spoilt ballot papers (a couple of blanks, a couple of Wot! no UKIP! ones) and then the announcement. I sensed some surprise at my victory - Bamburgh having been traditionally Lib Demn for so many years. A couple of journalists asked for a quote: I thanked the people who had voted for me, I thanked Pat Scott for looking after the Division for many years and wished her a good retirement and lastly I dedicated my victory to one of the world's good guys, Vin Clerkin, whose funeral I also went to on polling day.

And that was that. Except there was some excitement: there was one vote between two of the candidates in one of the Divisons, and that vote was a ballot paper where the voter had written a  comment and a mark by one of the candidates, rather than just a cross. This caused dissent and a number of recounts.

Please vote .... for me..

What can I say?

My thoughts on many issues have been expressed on this blog, and a link to the reasons I'm standing is to the right of this post. I write here about the "one thing" I would like to achieve if elected.

I think I could contribute to the area if elected; in the words of my final leaflet:
We need:
Value for money from our County Council - I'm an accountant so i know how the sums should add up;
A proper focus on this area and its residents.
I've helped local organisations adapt to the future. I can do the same for the Council.

It's election day tomorrow! Don't forget to vote!