Panic in the Ranks

[steveL]

Cleveland Fire Authority is strapped for cash, so much so that it's losing Firemen. So as part of their plans to cut costs (rather than firemen) it wants to reduce the councillor members of the Fire Authority from 24 to 12 thereby saving over £25,000 in allowances paid to councillors each of whom gets around £2,100 a year to attend six meetings (or less than six, as is usually the case). I'll save you the maths - that's £350 per two-hour meeting.

Up against it, the Hartlepool members decide that 16 is as far down as they'll go claiming lack of proper scrutiny if the number drops any further.

So here's a better idea. Keep the number at 24 and have all the scrutiny you want but give up the allowances altogether and bring the Fire Authority into line with the Police Crime Panel which only pays out-of-pocket expenses. That would save £50,000; more if you include the special responsibility allowances. Enough, maybe, to pay for a couple of Firemen.

Panic in the Ranks

Result: The Coalition votes to a man to reject the idea.

Conclusion: It was never about the level of Scrutiny at all; it's all about the money, honey.

How do we know this for sure? Well, under the old Police Authority, Councillors each received quite a hefty allowance; much higher than the Fire Authority. When the old Police Authority was scrapped and replaced with the Crime Panel which paid only out-of-pocket expenses, attendance by Hartlepool Councillors fell off a cliff.

https://youtu.be/ETxmCCsMoD0

[DRiddle]

Same old, same old tonight really. The leader exposed, outfoxed and outmanoeuvred by opposition councillors, led by Brash and Thompson.

His troops looking embarrassed and ashen faced.

Some Labour councillors shown to be more concerned with money than principle, and the CEO of one of the most socially deprived boroughs in Northern Europe tasked by Labour with coordinating the filming of what is rapidly becoming a monthly pantomime.

Still, at least there's the 'consolation prize' for the public gallery. What was, a few weeks ago, a chamber of anger and frustration under the former chair, is now a place of mirth coupled with bewilderment.

Interesting times ahead.

[The Great Dictator]

Maybe the top tier should take a pay cut ?

[Hartlepudlion]

Spot on the two above posts.

The meeting was quite entertaining at first but quickly went from comedy to farce. The only saving grace was Mary. Although out of her depth, she showed some grit and I have high hopes that she might be able to play a straight bat and show the rest of the Labour Party sheep that Hartlepool is more important to its citizens than "the party".

[Foggy]

You're right David, it was very much 'same old, same old' last night and it is definitely a bit of a pantomime.  I found the meeting as a whole fairly uncomfortable to be honest, as I'm sure a lot of people in the room did. 

It was refreshing that Mary acknowledge that she made a 'few' mistakes and would attempt to improve.  I also appreciated her saying she tries to stand up for the views of the people she represents.  However, I can't work out whether some of what happened last night was her wanting to get home or if she has been instructed to stifle debate and move things along.

Whatever it was it can't go on for the next 11 months.  The public (and most Councillors) had no idea what was going on half the time, particularly when the public had to leave the meeting at the end. People were visibly squirming in their seats and I saw Ray's head in his hands on the table on a couple of occasions.  The new Chief Exec looked bemused as well and clearly wasn't providing the same amount of guidance that Stubbs used to.

This is not an attack on Mary at all but it's important that the person chairing the meeting is in control of proceedings so that proper debate happens and process is followed.  It is especially important at the moment with the issues that are facing the town.

I sincerely hope things do improve as I didn't take any enjoyment from watching her struggle last night.  I wonder if anyone has taken any time to help her prepare properly for the role.

[mk1]

I wonder if anyone has taken any time to help her prepare properly for the role.

It would be naive to believe other than she was chosen for this role precisely because she has not got a clue. The last thing the puppet masters want is someone who can think for themselves. Given the default cover is knuckle-dragging Cranney things are not going to improve.

[Foggy]

Judging by the look on some of their faces last night, they might be regretting that particular decision.

Another thing I forgot to mention earlier is the amount of animosity towards particular opposition Councillors.  Their hatred of David Riddle is clear for all to see and obviously Jonathan Brash is not their favourite person, though they should be grateful he hasn't spilled more about his time in the local Labour group.  I'm not quite sure what Paul Thompson has done to offend them but I did notice that Simmons didn't even acknowledge him when he apologised for his comments in a previous meeting.  Marjorie also got het up about people not being referred to by the correct name but everyone gets it wrong sometimes.

It seems the Labour mob still continue to assume that being challenged is a personal attack.  They all seem to have had a sense of humour bypass too.  I acknowledge that the odd dig is thrown their way by others and this is unnecessary but I guess its more out of frustration than anything else.  At least Ray (mostly) takes the comments about him siding with Labour in good spirit.

[steveL]

It would be naive to believe other than she was chosen for this role precisely because she has not got a clue. The last thing the puppet masters want is someone who can think for themselves. Given the default cover is knuckle-dragging Cranney things are not going to improve.

Actually, you may have hit the nail on the head there. During the Mayoral Ceremony Meeting, Cranney went a bit over the top in emphasising just how ready he was to step into the breach should Mary ever feel she wasn't up to it through ill-health and she obviously isn't very well.

Making Cranney Ceremonial Mayor in one leap would be too much at a  time when he was facing several investigations (with more to come). Perhaps they are relying on Mary's bad health to get him in through the back-door. Either way, I'm told that he's already been pencilled in for next year, though that will probably depend on how easy it is to get day-passes from Holme House.

[testing times]

It would have been appropriate if Cllr Fleet, in her last year as a councillor, could have taken on the role of a traditional Ceremonial Mayor but that was messed up by the fix to allow SAB to be both Mayor and Chairman of the Council. Cllr Fleet is going to struggle for the next 12 months but we should all pray that she gets through it because the alternative is a car crash waiting to happen.

[for fawkes sake]

Nye Bevan must be spinning in his grave at these people. They've turned into everything he hated: a mixture of self-enriching liars, misogynists and sweat shop proprietors.