I went along to the Inquiry this morning as an observer as I wasn't ready to submit any information.
I was utterly underwhelmed by the non-presence of the public as I was the only one there.
However, I started chatting with Mr Mitchell and I eventually ended up discussing the Inquiry with him. A few pointers were given and accepted.
I expressed the doubt over the security of emails and the venue. He doesn't believe confidentiality will be compromised and, as he pointed out, he has to work with what HBC gives him. He is now alert to these concerns. He does have a separate room where he can discuss your submissions without being observed but you are advised to book this in advance.
I strongly recommend that you participate in this inquiry because, without you, it will come to nothing. I did say that many people saw him as a stooge of the Councillors. He assured me that he isn't and I believe him. I think he will do a good job and will not be fobbed off.
BUT WITHOUT YOUR HELP IN POINTING HIM IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION HE CAN DO NOTHING. YOUR INPUT IS ESSENTIAL
Obviously, he would prefer as much detail as you can give him. He will, however, listen to your experiences/concerns particularly if you have been directed affected.
Note: he would prefer to work within the allotted hours but, if there is no other alternative, he may see you out of hours.
Give the guy a chance and I hope I don't have to ask again "Where were you?"
I am still working so I have enough money to pay my council tax ;)
I'll compose what I know over the weekend and pass it on.
I must admit what I do know is based on this web site over the last year.
It would be good if people do leave a little note here to say they have contacted him just to know some effort has been made.
It would be good if people do leave a little note here to say they have contacted him just to know some effort has been made.
GOOD IDEA,
Better to leave this (or another purpose built) thread clear for such notes rather than clutter it up with rumours and such like.
Lets hope the know alls on this site will contribute to the enquiry.
I e-mailed Mr Mitchell on Wednesday with concerns about Councillors who are also Directors, Trustees or Employees of Charity / Voluntary organisations having the opportunity to appear before him as members of the Charity / Voluntary sector & also having the opportunity to appear again as Councillors.
I`m not sure he had thought of that possibility, but it doesn`t seem right that they should have 2 bites of the Cherry.
I rang the lady on reception this morning & there were was only 1 person booked in to see Mr Mitchell..... I do intend to make an appointment & pop along & raise my concerns, not sure what he will be looking for by way of evidence ????? a lot of the concerns are in the Peer Groups Report & on the HBC website.
It may be a good idea if he contacted the Chair of that Committe & Quizzed him ( or her )
A good point, Fred, re councillors involved in the charity sector possibly having a second bite as councillors. I urge you to go and see him as I do think he is earnest in his endeavours.
Another reason to see him face to face is for you (all) to check him out to see if you agree with my assessment of him.
I do think the idea of keeping our experiences of the inquiry to be recorded here is a good idea. The only thing wrong with this is it is an open forum and thus read by the SCABS et al. Any chance Admin that a post can only be access able by members? That is if you think it is desirable. It will help us all, especially the 'not so sure' to become involved.
I emphasise yet again, without your input he can't do his job.
I was told today, that we can't change anything and it is all cut and dried as per the mob. I hope that we can prove him wrong. Go to it!
Mind you, if say a HTH poster emails something to the enquiry, and mentions on here what he has emailed, does that mean he/she is now identifiable from their email address? Or is that too cryptic?
I guess that it is possible/probable.
If worried, create a new email on, say, Google using different ID etc and don't be too explicit on detail of submissions. Your opinion of the Chair doesn't count and would be welcome.
Quote from: rabbit on April 25, 2013, 08: PM
Mind you, if say a HTH poster emails something to the enquiry, and mentions on here what he has emailed, does that mean he/she is now identifiable from their email address? Or is that too cryptic?
I think we can get overwhelemd by Conspiracy Theories at times, i can`t imagine Mr Mitchell being in anyones pocket, so i hope people who use HTH show some commitment & make him aware of the concerns you have about things.
What are "The Mob" going to do to us ??? the reason they act like they do is because "They Can", it`s up to us to try & change that.
Although it's possible to set up a separate board only readable by registered users, there would be nothing to stop anyone registering and still reading whatever was posted so it would be a little pointless. I would suggest using the PM system.
If I'm reading this correctly, the last day for the public to make submissions is next Tuesday which is a very limited timeframe, especially for those who are working as the times also appear to be limited to 10am to 4pm in Hartlepool Civic Centre .
Members of the Public: Thurs 25 April - Tues 30 April
Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations: Wed 1 May - Fri 3 May
Elected Members (previous and serving): Wed 15 May - Fri 17 May
Reply to ffs. Yes but he had to start with the public and has a limited time frame imposed on him by the Councillors. He has allocated one day more for the public than he has given to the voluntary sector and to members. There is to be a wash up in the final week before he goes away to write his report. I don't know to what extent it may be Q&A.
Times & Availability
There is a Link to the Public Inquiry on the Front Page of The Council web Site, you can clik on it & see if there are any session booked that you could go & attend.
I attended the Inquiry today, & with regards to times & availabilty, Mr Mitchell expressed the opinion that he is very keen to meet members of the public.
The Inquiry is in session from 10am to 1 pm & from 2pm to 4pm All it takes to book a time is a Phone call.
He is prepared to accept, emails & letters & the face to face sessions can be in the Public Committee Room or on a1 to 1 private basis.
Going to see him isn`t an easy thing for any of us to do, but he makes you feel comfortable & at relative ease in the surroundings, he does guide you through various points but in the main...... he listens & takes note on a PC about what you have to say.
If you have points to raise about the way things are run in Hartlepool, now is the time to stand up & do something about it, the more people that attend these public session the better.
Unless people put in their two-penneth the guy will only have what councillors are saying to go by so even if its just an e-mail, people need to express their concerns. Councillors will be queueing up to say that everything is hunky-dory - can't let them get away with it.
I reckon that those in the know (i.e. have the evidence required) are "keeping their powder dry" for the present.
No point in them giving the "opposition" any advantage.
I don`t blame them for that!
Rabbit, good point.
Why have the Hartlepool Tories not blown the labour group out of the water already ?
Provide us with the evidence and I'd be happy to do it, Stig.
ah..everyone's waiting for everyone else. The Tories are never going to disturb their cosy relationship with those with their hands on the levers of power. Their quite happy for things to stay the same as long as a few crumbs come their way.
Shane, if you were that bothered then you'd be gathering your own evidence not merely waiting for others to do it for you.
You assume I'm not bothered and not doing anything, Steve.
Quote from: SRMoore on April 27, 2013, 10: AM
Provide us with the evidence and I'd be happy to do it, Stig.
I hope you are but the quote above doesn't point to it.
Ask next time then. Don't assume.
OK then, I won't assume, I'll just go on past experience - which means you'll no nothing.
What does Carl Richardson do in the civic??? he was in there on Friday buzzing around the corridor outside the public inquiry room.
I wonder if he gets free tea n biccies??? to sustain him in his endeavours on behalf of "The Mob"
Oh, sorry Steve, I forgot that I'm the 'do nothing' type. I remember now that I was stood doing nothing by myself the day we first met too.
Just as a point of information as much as anything, I made my submission to Mr Mitchell and the inquiry this morning by e-mail. I've also sent it to some other people who could perhaps submit a paper copy on my behalf. I have no opportunity to meet with Mr Mitchell face to face as I work for a living and my working day runs throughout the allocated hours.
For the benefit of any Labour Councillors reading this comment, my submission made no allegations. It merely highlighted some areas which might be of interest to Mr Mitchell. Thus, there is no need for anyone to phone my boss, and accuse me of things which I did not actually do, to try to get me into trouble. ::)
Quote from: DRiddle on April 28, 2013, 10: AM
For the benefit of any Labour Councillors reading this comment, my submission made no allegations. It merely highlighted some areas which might be of interest to Mr Mitchell. Thus, there is no need for anyone to phone my boss, and accuse me of things which I did not actually do, to try to get me into trouble. ::)
David, Surely you Jest ;) ;) ;) who would want to telephone your Boss & attempt to get you into trouble ??????
I know of a Councillor who recently made a complete fool of himself by doing just that, in fact he won the "Kn*b Of The Month Award" for his efforts, he has also qualified as a member of the "Hypocrite Team of the Year Award" for work on the remodelling of the Towns Constitution to deny the public an Opportunity to Put Questions to Councillors.
I would hope that your fears are totally unfounded though David, i mean would another member of "The Mob" want to appear in Private Eye ??? although there could well be reasons for some of them to be appearing in the press in the near future.
As I was in town, I decided to pop in and see how the Inquiry was going. Unfortunately, there was no one there bar Mr Mitchell. I think he was grateful for someone to talk to. I got the impression he was a little disappointed with the numbers of people who have responded but not the quality of the submissions.
so COME ON YOU CHAPS AND LASSES skates on and register your doubts and suspicions. Because of this site being down (DOD.) this exhortation is a little late. I am sure, however, that you input would be welcome. You can email or phone and, possibly, still have a private meet.
I was quite impressed with the bloke, myself.
Quote from: steveL on April 30, 2013, 05: PM
I was quite impressed with the bloke, myself.
Not the type of chap to be flannelled ... this could get rather interesting ...
Quote from: Lucy Lass-Tick on April 30, 2013, 05: PM
Quote from: steveL on April 30, 2013, 05: PM
I was quite impressed with the bloke, myself.
Not the type of chap to be flannelled ... this could get rather interesting ...
Ohhhhh Yes, i don`t think this man is for turning, he certainly seemed to have an understanding of the Issues that concern most of us.
Just for info. I had an e-mail back from Mr Mitchell today just to let me know he'd got my submission as much as anything. He intimated he would be willing to meet outside the initial hours allocated if required, which I think is a good sign.
I also was contacted by deputy chief solicitor Carman regarding the 'Ged Hall thing' and i've been asked if i'm willing to meet with the independent person. Which I am. Interesting times.
I should have said sooner, I've submitted my comments too.
Hopefully I should just be re-enforcing what Mr. Mitchell has already been told (repeatedly hopefully).
I hope his work manages to restore some faith in the council or if not opens the eyes of the wider public / council tax payers.
I think that is what the Electoral Reform Society, who produced the report which triggered the Manchester Evening News story, are basically saying. The ERS favour PR in local elections to try and get the number of councillors from each party to reflect more accurately the votes cast but PR comes with it's own problems, not least for Independent councillors.
In our own town, the belief that labour will always hold power has led, not so much to inflated allowances, but to a belief that that the party can do whatever it wants with impunity. As a result, arrangements covering grant allocations, registering councillor interests and access to public funding have become slack. Likewise, there is now clear resentment of any questioning of their activities i.e. public questioning and the visible and verbal resentment we have seen over the outcome of the Peer Review.
KD is right to say that the real answer lies with the public but it would be a brave politician who blamed the public for the mess that we're in - however true it might be.
I emailed BBC TEES last week recommending that they make a report on the Public Inquiry on Look North. Haven't even received an acknowledgement.
Anybody know the BBC's number or, possibly better still, ITV?
Media Contacts:
Radio:
BBC Radio Newcastle newsdesk: radionewcastle.news@bbc.co.uk - 0191 244 1459/1460; Durham Office: Tony Jones, tony.jones@bbc.co.uk or 0191 383 4418
Durham FM: news@durhamfm.net - 0191 383 5051 (news editor is Julie Howe)
Metro & Magic FM: news@metroandmagic.com - 0191 279 0228
Century FM: news@centuryfm.co.uk - 0191 440 7500
Galaxy FM: galaxynews@galaxyFM.co.uk - 0191 206 8131
Sun FM: news@sun-fm.com - 0191 548 7799
Television:
BBC Look North: newcastlenews@bbc.co.uk - 0191 244 1253
Tyne Tees Television: tttvnews@itv.com - 0844 8815100 (main newsdesk)
Additional media contacts for Queen's Campus, Stockton:
Newspapers:
The Northern Echo (Stockton Office): Mike Chipchase, mike.chipchase@nne.co.uk or Karen Westcott, karen.westcott@nne.co.uk – 01642 675 678
Evening Gazette (Stockton Office): Naomi Corrigan, naomi.corrigan@eveninggazette.co.uk or Mike Blackburn, mike.blackburn@eveninggazette.co.uk – 01642 674 484/5. Head office: news@eveninggazette.co.uk - 01642 234254
Darlington and Stockton Times: Malcolm Warne (editor) malcolm.warne@nne.co.uk or newsdesk dst@nne.co.uk - 01325 505 109 or 01325 505 071.
Middlesbrough Herald & Post: Sue Giles, sue.giles@gazettemedia.co.uk - 01642 245 401
Cheers
Finally completed our documentary evidence for the enquiry to be handed in today. Even we weren't expecting to end up with something 11/2 inches thick. I hope he likes reading. ;)
The bad news is that we've ran out of toner now. Wonder if we could get a grant? :-[
Contact P Cranney for a possible "community toner grant" after all he is on the Teeside Grants Panel...... lol