Sold Out for A Song

[Hartlepudlion]

I think the signed agreement was subject to the endorsement of the full Council of each of the participating authorities. Hartlepool Council is to debate (don't make me laugh)  this tomorrow night and a vote taken. If (ha ha) the vote to join is passed by the full Council it becomes valid and that's it. So from tomorrow we are officially in. Already decided. Done deal.

[steveL]

This is being pushed as a 'no choice' deal but read the report carefully and you can see that it's only the first stage. Planning is also on the way to Teesside City although you'd never know it until you read the spin about bringing brown field sites back into use. You're only told the good bits; not that the only way to do this is to hand over responsibility for planning in its entirety to the Combined Authority.

In addition, how sustainable is it to have the newly elected Mayor able to set business rates while still having 5 different levels of council tax? In other words, once they've got settled in, expect responsibility for Finance to also be heading down the A19 to Middlesbrough.

Also interesting to Google around the other Combined Authorities being set up around the country who are at different stages of the process and to see how things are panning out. As well as the Leaders forming a new Cabinet, picking up a new special responsibility allowance along the way, (the special responsibility allowance for Manchester, for example, is working out at around £21,000 per cabinet member) there are also moves to form new committees within Combined Authorities, taking 3 councillors from each authority, each with its own new chairman and special responsibility allowance.

This all comes after they start thinking about a new constitution which absurdly comes after each authority has voted to join. It's like voting for someone on X Factor before they've actually opened their mouth to sing. 

[craig finton]

Voting for something before you know how it will operate is ridiculous. This is a 30 year deal so we will be stuck with it for at least 30 years. Totally absurd.

[not4me]

I haven't met anyone in town who is in favour of this.....democracy my ar**.

[DRiddle]

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/business/business-news/boulby-potash-mine-job-losses-10432420#ICID-FB-Gaz-main

Why are we joining up with authorities having the economic heart ripped out of them?

[steveL]

Better late than never. I don't remember UKIP saying much when others were fighting for a referendum last Spring

Actually, perhaps 'better late than never' should be UKIP's new slogan - having such a referendum on the same day as the local elections next May might well save a bit of money but it will also be too late - the Combined Authority will come into affect, appropriately enough, on April Fools Day - April 1st.

I wouldn't worry too much about the date. The battle is for the Junta to give us a referendum in the first place. After all, to quote Christopher Akers-Belcher himself, 'it is only right and proper for the people of Hartlepool to have their say in how they are governed."

Mind you, he was chasing a £16,500 pay increase at the time; this time, he gets a pay increase if he DOESN'T give us a referendum.

mmmm .... I wonder which way it will go :-)

Read more: http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/hartlepool-s-ukip-members-call-for-referendum-on-devolution-proposals-1-7567713#ixzz3rIcT6low

[pensionater]

Personally think we should be thinking of those who are losing their livelihood's, rather than trying to score political points.

[DRiddle]

Well, that was one of the most bizarre council meetings for quite some time.

[steveL]

Just a thought:

The single CrossRail link in London will cost £15billion, 33 times the £450m the Combined Authority has been promised. The difference is that the Combined Authority will receive the money at a rate of £15m a year spread over 30 years and part of that £15m will be used to pay the elected Mayor, his Cabinet and the administration staff of the Combined Authority.

On a pro-rata basis by population, Hartlepool will receive £2.1m per year but as the money will be pooled, there's no guarantee Hartlepool will receive even this amount.

(A 3rd runway at Heathrow will cost an estimated £10billion.)

If this is the Northern Powerhouse then it's running on two AA batteries.

This is the deal the Labour sheep have just signed us up to for 30 years while at the same time admitting:

• They have no idea how it will work
• They haven't even started discussing what the constitution of the new Combined Authority will be.
• Although they do know the newly elected Mayor will have 'Autonomous Powers', they have no idea what that means or what those powers will be.
• They have no idea how much the new Mayor will be paid along with his Cabinet.
• The new Combined Authority plans to set up a new Teesside Development Corporation which will also be funded from the £15m yearly payment.
  
• The power of the elected Mayor and the Combined Authority are expected to widen and increase over time but they don't know how.
• They voted against waiting until they knew what they were voting for before they actually voted on it.
• They voted against following Durham's example of holding a poll on whether the people actually wanted an elected mayor or indeed a Combined Authority.
• Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn and local MP, Iain Wright have both said that the move to a combined authority/ elected Mayor should be put to a public vote but the local Labour Group ignored their comments.

On a lighter note, we learnt that:

• Mr Grumpy Jim proved that he could read from a script.
• We had it confirmed that time restrictions only apply to opposition Councillors
• Marjorie James is an a*r**o** . . . .  no scrub that one; we already knew that.
  

[DRiddle]

On a lighter note, Mr Grumpy Jim proved that he could read from a script.

He also appeared to be wearing a poppy borrowed from Liberace . . .

[DRiddle]

Now that the dust has settled on another farcical council meeting, my other general observations of the two and a half hour pantomime are as follows.

(1) The Labour Group still seem intent on trying to give the impression decisions are made there on the floor of the council chamber and not before hand in committee room B by a select few.

(2) Stephen Akers-Belcher has indeed lived up to my prediction that he will remain 'mute' in the council chamber between now and May, in the hope that the voting public forget his lies and don't remember the disgrace he brought on this authority.

(3) A certain councillors frequent visits to the toilet during the meeting were a textbook example of 'breaking the seal'.

(4) The Labour group reminded us they are more than prepared to agree to anything in principle they think will court favour with the public (giving up the members free car parking), and then going back on their implied intention once the elections are over.

(5) It remains blindingly obvious to anyone within the civic centre that the level of political awareness of a former Labour group leader, exceeds that of the entire current Labour Group combined.

(6) Despite various 'olive branches' from so called opposition councillors the Labour Group are still riddled with spite.

(The ridiculous situation at the end when the council leader refused to extend the meeting in an attempt to avoid answering Councillors Brashs question about car parking was laughable. Having been forced to finish the meeting at 9.30, opposition councillors pointed out it was only 9.27 and there was still 3 minutes left in the meeting. Councillor James then answered the question (sort of), and Brash's rebuttal took us to 9.30. THEN    having been made to look ridiculous by Brash, James then wanted to reply and continue the debate beyond 9.30.

'Opposition' councillors were then laughing saying "Sorry Marjory it's 9.30". An utter shambles in full view of the few members of the public masochistic enough to still be there at the end.

[fred c]

What we got last night was proof positive of the hypocrisy that is endemic within The Mob, Calamity Chris & Mad Dog both affirmed their fierce opposition to "Elected Mayors" but then, promptly turned that position on it`s head by voting for the combined authority, headed by..... An Elected Mayor.

You really couldn`t make this up, if the meeting had been next month it could have passed for the Christmas Panto.

[fred c]

The most Important decision on th futureof the town for the next 30 years & this is the best The Mail can come up with.

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/there-will-not-be-a-referendum-in-hartlepool-over-tees-valley-devolution-1-7569535

[marky]

Personally think we should be thinking of those who are losing their livelihood's, rather than trying to score political points.

what a stupid and totally puerile comment. Is it not possible to sympathise with those who have lost their jobs and at the same time object to the way the town is being forced into something it doesn't want?

You could do what Clarke did last night and cynically use and twist those redundancies as a reason to join a Combined Authority. Note, Tees Valley Unlimited did nothing to prevent those redundancies and kept very quiet when they were announced until, that is, it heard of the Government's £80m 'aid package' then suddenly it became interested at the thought of getting its hand on some of that money.

[fred c]

I was struck by the number of councilors who declared an interest via their Union membership, strange then, it can`t be remembered when a number of them were last gainfully employed.

In my previous life as an employee, the term used by fellow workers for that kind of behaviour was.......Poncing Off The Tax Payer