Elected Officials and Changes of Employment

[mk1]

It's taken him a while to get there, but this above was the whole reason why James posted this topic in the first place. My stalking trolls have been wanting to know more about this for months.

Who can forget the 'big' story they broke last year:


News Flash, Breaking news.  D Riddle resigns from PHF....details to follow.......... Queen in crisis meeting about replacement ....



Nearly as good as their prediction you would not get elected  in Hart!

[Jeff]

Unfortunately for some the electorate decide...not the trolls

[Alnwickist]

Does Henry have a job then. I'm told he was chucked out of the family business?.

[Balotelli]

OK,

I might have included David's RoI as an example because I knew it would annoy him (FYI I know all I need to on that question anyway), but my point is serious.

The RoI forms and the way the information is gathered/held/updated and the level of detail is not fit for purpose.

When reading them, they raise more questions than answers.

What you should be able to tell from a RoI entry is who the councillor is employed by or how where they get their income from, whether that income source has any links to the council (i.e. does contracted work for them, receives funding etc) and whether the councillor is in a position to influence decisions for their own benefit.

Likewise with property holdings so that planning and licencing decisions can't be manipulated.

What I'm suggesting in my original post is that they should also be used as a tool in documenting and therefore making a person accountable for their conduct in public life.

By including details of reasons for change of income streams, there would have been a more detailed and documented case for dealing with the SAB situation a lot earlier.  As it stands he'll play out his term as Mayor and will probably only be accountable to the electorate in terms of his position as councillor.

Just flicking through the RoI for five minutes tells you that the current forms are a joke.

[fred c]

The matter has been raised by members of the public at full council meetings on several occasions & still we have councillors "Body Swerving" their responsibilities on their RoI`s

There are some of us who informed Mr Mitchell of the deplorable content of councillors RoI`s, it was mentioned in his report to council & like a lot of his recommendations.... promptly discarded.

He recommended that HBC should be more Open, Transparent & Accountable.....

But under The TorLab Mob, It just hasn`t happened.

[DRiddle]

It doesn't annoy me James. It just makes me feel sorry for people like you and Harry. You're lives are obviously so empty you feel the need to 'fill the void' by involving yourselves in mine.

There's no big secret regarding my employment situation.

No need to send for Harry, Scooby Doo and the gang to 'solve the mystery'.

[Balotelli]

Would any councillors be interested in having a proper template and process designed so that a new, more robust process can be proposed to council?

I'm sure I could come up with something easy to implement quickly and built a case that's difficult to argue against for implementation if anyone is interested.

[Monkeys mate]

If that's the form that HBC use I don't think it's the councillors fault for filling out the ROI form that they are given. As long as the information given is correct then your point seems to be nothing but sour grapes to me. If you want to prove a point about ROI in general then with complain to the HBC solicitor or the local government ombudsman. Or if it's to prove a point why not display every councillors ROI form on your post?  Cheap point, badly made is how that comes across.

[Balotelli]

Monkey's Mate,

'Or if it's to prove a point why not display every councillors ROI form on your post?' - I've been criticised on here for over-long posts before so instead of spending hours posting links to all of them I picked a cross section from 3 different parties where, from previous knowledge I knew there were points to be made.

Mr Riddle's entry raises a question in the minds of the inquisitive, kind of along the same lines of my original post about Mr Akers-Belcher.

Mr Wells' entry raises all kinds of questions, he's one of the people who should be getting plenty of stick on these boards and somehow doesn't.  Have a look at his RoI and see if you think that's anyway reflective of him.

Mr Cranney has a dubious business past, he does get stick on these boards. But yet again has a strangely vanilla RoI.

'If that's the form that HBC use I don't think it's the councillors fault for filling out the ROI form that they are given' - This is the point I'm trying to make.  The form and process are not fit for purpose. I work in an industry where fit and proper tests are failed at risk of multi-million pound fines or prison sentences.  The same standards of governance, in terms of the forms and process should apply here.

'If you want to prove a point about ROI in general then with complain to the HBC solicitor or the local government ombudsman' - I'm trying to generate discussion on a topic and see if there's any interest in trying to effect change.

'your point seems to be nothing but sour grapes to me' - How so?

[DRiddle]

Like with most things James raises on here, he's about 3 or 4 years too late.
There have been articles on the dubious nature of certain councillors ROI declarations on this site for years. What's your next 'revelation' to share with us James? Certain councillors are in it for their own ends? The Tories vote the same way as Labour? You'll be telling us the hospital is closing next.

[Balotelli]

3 or 4 years and still nothing done about it David?

I'm if anyone is interested in developing a way forward.

Now please stop trolling.

[mk1]

3 or 4 years and still nothing done about it David?

Right v might.
In a numbers game the biggest gang always wins.

[Jeff]

James, ROI's aren't going to help in weeding out the bad councillors.
Courts, tribunals and Judges have already had their say on our ruling Labour group. They are still in power. Only by people like Cllr Riddle standing up and taking them on will things change. We can't rely on the Council's own checks and balances to keep them in line. Sad state of affairs, but that is the truth of the matter.

[Monkeys mate]

Balotelli
Thanks for your reply. I agree the length of posts can be an issue but in trying to raise a discussion you are talking to the wrong people. The forms use and what is declared are legal points that won't be effected by discussion. The topic needs to be raised at a local government or national level. As for sour grapes I do think that either all councillors forms should be shown or none at all. You can still get your point across without highlighting individuals.  And I agree- we don't need a form to highlight ineffective, self serving councillors who have no interest in this town in any shape or form. Their declaration of interest should simple say 'me'

[Balotelli]

MK1,

Agree re the numbers game.

There's a need to box clever.  Taking them in a head on confrontation will not work, I believe that there are ways around that.