Local Conservatives

[mk1]

Perhaps you can persuade Wells to be a bit more forthcoming over the Manor situation?
Nail your colours to the mast and tell us what you think of the Council's reputation?
Do you believe we have a group of self-interest obsessives  running to the town to ruin?
Please expalin why Well's has feck all to say about the situiation.

In plain English you have an open goal to aim at yet 'you' never mention any of the Labour failings in your campaighning.
Seems to me 'you' are more interested in cosy deals where some of the crumbs are thrown your way and you get comitte chairs.
I believe power is the game and you know you will never oust Labour so do backroom deals with them in return for your silence.
If the Labour group are run for the benefit of the ruling four then for sure the Conservative group is there to keep Wells in the limelight.
Ego, ego, ego!

[SRMoore]

To say that I have not mentioned the peer group findings is not entirely true. Please see my comments in the corresponding topic on this forum.
I don't think there is a sane person in this town who does not believe that our councils reputation is in tatters. I spend a lot of my time travelling around the region and the UK with CF and I'm forever talking this town up and there aren't many occasions when the comment "didn't you elect a monkey as a mayor" isn't brought up.

When it comes to vested interests by certain members I cannot disagree with the Peer group findings at all. I read that a Labour Cllr in Peterlee I believe it was, was recently sacked because a company she owned did a small amount of work for the local authority and she directly benefited from it. Why is this the case with private companies but not CiCs or charities?
I have no doubt that said organisations do provide good services to local residents but it is my personal opinion that you either help those organisations from the sidelines, fundraising etc as a voluntary act whilst a serving cllr or you do it as a paid position from within the organisation but stand down as a cllr so as not to cause a conflict of interest.

The local Labour group do have some very good members, a number of whome I have respect for and consider them as friends. Would I work with them if elected? Yes of course I would! Just as I would work with members of Hartlepool First, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, Greens or Independents if I believed that what we were working on was in the best interest of this town and it's people.

Isn't that what we are all supposed to do?   

[marky]

"I've read this site enough to remember I'd read this prediction before. A quick search later and it turned out it was you who made it before the May election this year Lord Elpus."
Surely with Wells voting with Labour every time, the prediction has turned out to be true - the Torys ARE down to two Councillors.

[fred c]

I believe your right in thinking that councillors should be putting the town first & their party second.

Quote from SRMoore.

When it comes to vested interests by certain members I cannot disagree with the Peer group findings at all. I read that a Labour Cllr in Peterlee I believe it was, was recently sacked because a company she owned did a small amount of work for the local authority and she directly benefited from it. Why is this the case with private companies but not CiCs or charities?

Unless i went deaf, your leader didn`t take up the above point when it was brought up in a question to Full Council last night.

Quote from SRMoore

I have no doubt that said organisations do provide good services to local residents but it is my personal opinion that you either help those organisations from the sidelines, fundraising etc as a voluntary act whilst a serving cllr or you do it as a paid position from within the organisation but stand down as a cllr so as not to cause a conflict of interest.


Is that just your personal opinion or the opinion of your party ? if the latter, why didn`t your leader speak on the issue when it was brought up in a question to Full Council last night.

Quote from SRMoore

The local Labour group do have some very good members

Again, i think your right, but why don`t they have the courage of their convictions & stand up for the town as opposed to rolling over & being the lap dogs of "the Mob".

We all criticise the electorate for not bothering to vote come election time, but the real criticism should be directed at councillors who sit there & vote for things they don`t personally believe in for the good of their party, or even worse, for the good of themselves.

[steveL]

Wells has obviously decided that, as a minority party, the Tories have to cooperate with Labour in order to gain concessions like a few chairs of Committees. The two parties are, in effect, in coalition just like the the Lib-Dems/Conservatives nationally except Wells is far less open about it.
We would all hope that all Councillors can work together constructively but if the public could see just how close Wells is to the Cabal then I think they would be shocked - the nobs up The Park certainly would. 

[SRMoore]

Quote from SRMoore

I have no doubt that said organisations do provide good services to local residents but it is my personal opinion that you either help those organisations from the sidelines, fundraising etc as a voluntary act whilst a serving cllr or you do it as a paid position from within the organisation but stand down as a cllr so as not to cause a conflict of interest.


Is that just your personal opinion or the opinion of your party ? if the latter, why didn`t your leader speak on the issue when it was brought up in a question to Full Council last night.

Quote from SRMoore

With all due respect Fred, the clue was in the "but it is my personal opinion".

Please refer back to my original post in this topic where I asked for people to help to build a strong, compassionate and conservative local party. I didn't say we were perfect but then no group is by a long way. Aspiration...

[fred c]

i was curious as to how you can express the Opinion of accepting that some councillors are in effect, & i will put it in the vernacular......... "Filling Their Boots" but your leader in the council doesn`t appear to hold the same view as yourself.

Is he awaiting the outcome of the full Peer Group Review before he expresses an opinion, or doesn`t he believe the Interim reports criticism of the council ? the facts are that the Peer Groups report is an out & out condemnation of the way HBC has been allowed to fall below an acceptable level of Government.

There are numerous examples of the collusion between the Tories & Labour, some of us are puzzled as to why they should cosy up to "The Mob".

[SRMoore]

As reported in the Hartlepool Mail.

Conservative group leader Ray Wells said: "The Conservative Group welcomes scrutiny from independent outside sources, and we note the initial comments in the interim report and look forward to the final report being produced."

Coun Wells added: "It is difficult to comment on the reputation being damaged because there are no specifics in the interim report but I am aware public confidence was knocked by the pay rise to the former chief executive, the sacking of almost the entire cabinet and the Tall Ships overspend.

"It is my understanding the review team spoke to various groups and individuals, all of whom gave their opinion on the current state of Hartlepool Borough Council.

"The danger with individual perceptions is that if you ask 10 people for their account of a car accident then you are likely to get 10 different descriptions."

Coun Wells, who has "total confidence" in the senior management team, said scrutiny's place is to "question the executive" and hold them to account and urged people to make a complaint if they feel a councillor is not behaving in an appropriate manner.

He added: "To my knowledge, no complaints have been made against members of the Conservative Group."

Coun Wells believed the summary was "fair and balanced" and there was "categorically" no conflict of interest between his group and the voluntary/community sector.

So there you have it straight from the horses mouth. The Conservative group on council welcome independent scrutiny. Perhaps this conversation should carry on in the relevant topic.

[fred c]

As reported in the Hartlepool Mail.

Conservative group leader Ray Wells said: "The Conservative Group welcomes scrutiny from independent outside sources, and we note the initial comments in the interim report and look forward to the final report being produced."

Coun Wells added: "It is difficult to comment on the reputation being damaged because there are no specifics in the interim report but I am aware public confidence was knocked by the pay rise to the former chief executive, the sacking of almost the entire cabinet and the Tall Ships overspend.

"It is my understanding the review team spoke to various groups and individuals, all of whom gave their opinion on the current state of Hartlepool Borough Council.

"The danger with individual perceptions is that if you ask 10 people for their account of a car accident then you are likely to get 10 different descriptions."

Coun Wells, who has "total confidence" in the senior management team, said scrutiny's place is to "question the executive" and hold them to account and urged people to make a complaint if they feel a councillor is not behaving in an appropriate manner.

He added: "To my knowledge, no complaints have been made against members of the Conservative Group."

Coun Wells believed the summary was "fair and balanced" and there was "categorically" no conflict of interest between his group and the voluntary/community sector.

mmmmmmmm 3 examples in your little C&P, i don`t remember the tories making much of a fuss over any of the items he mentions in the above, did he proposes an amendment to any of the above ?

You may propose an amendment to any proposal, i feel certain that no such proposal was made by your leader on those issues.

[SRMoore]

You are now deflecting the arguement from one thing to another.
There seem to be a lot of people caught up on Ray lately. You do realise he isn't the only member of the local party right? We do have over 100 other members

There is much that I from the way certain members of Hartlepool First operate within the council. Do I hijack thier/your posts with criticisms of those people whilst ignoring the topic in discussion, turning it into nothing more than a slagging match between two parties? No and demanding change from the sidelines will get you nowhere, you have to be part of the team to change things.
Now if you would like to revert back to the original topic of discussion I'd be glad to hear how you believe we can build a stronger, compassionate Conservative party in Hartlepool. 
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[steveL]

dump Mr Wells... when people vote Tory then they should get a Tory

[SRMoore]

I would remind you that Cllr Wells was democratically relected with the largest share of the vote despite a smear campaign that claimed he wasn't Conservative enough.

[steveL]

claimed?.....he voted with Labour on every vote and his name has appeared on the regional Labour party web site for supporting Labour policy against his own party. If you want to increase the membership of the local Tories then you have to give them a reason to join. As it stands, they may as well keep things simple and join the Labour Party.

[SRMoore]

I believe the group leader of Hartlepool First was just a few votes behind him too.
As was brought up at the time, most negotiations and decisions are made in the working group and other public meetings. Meetings in which all parties have the opportunity to engage with. If some prefer not to attend these meetings then that's their perogative but you cannot attack the Conservatives for engaging and getting the best of of those negotiations for the people they represent.

That is after all why they were elected.

[steveL]

The Conservatives are in favour of applying a little imagination when it comes to making savings in local Government spending - such as outsourcing services. The outsourcing of ICT and Revenue and Benefits would not only have produced savings of around £11m at a time when the council is facing serious financial difficulty but would have seen Hartlepool become the regional centre for the processing of housing and council tax benefits after 2014. That would have brought 300 brand new jobs to the town and secured the jobs of those currently working in the council's benefits department for at least 5 years.

Labour's fag-packet budget in February scuppered those jobs, created an even more serious financial situation for HBC and effectively gave notice to existing benefits staff that their jobs had only an 18-24 month life span.

Cllr Wells as Leader decided that he and his colleagues would vote with Labour as usual.

Your Tory Party, Shane, is one of coffee mornings, warm beer, cricket matches and flower arranging circles; Mr Wells' Tory Party is no more than an annexe of the Cabal.