Peter Kent-Baguley

Shaker's Shock Stratagem

After two years of continuous and continuing organisational restructuring, the Council Manager has resigned with effect from 1st October to become the Chief Executive of the new West Cheshire Unitary Council, to be established next April. Politicians, officers and community members throughout the City have expressed shock, dismay and in some cases, disgust. On appontment not two years ago, Council Manager Steve Robinson gave the impression he was here for the long haul; to see through some major changes to successful completion rather than leaving the organisation still adjusting from massive and continuous structural and personnel changes that have left some key areas of the council reeling from shortage of officer expertise and experience.

This has come at a time when only last Friday, Full Council accepted the controversial 14 recommendations of the government-appointed Governance Commission. With the prospect of a further controversial and acrimonious Full Council on 11th September when Members are required to decide which of the Commission's two forms of Executive should be named on the Referendum question, likely to be held in October this year.

The legislative farce of the referendum question has been known for years, yet only at this late stage has the Eelected Mayor declared the law to be an "ass". If that isn't playing politics I don't know what is. He must know that the minister has absolutely no intention of changing the situation now. So, since the law requires that only one question be put (ie not any number of questions for the voters to tick the ONE they support) AND that if the majority vote against the question, the FALL BACK position is that we would have an Elected Mayor and Cabinet of Councillors appointed by the Mayor.

Since, the government, through its Governance Commission, has stated categorically that there are only TWO forms of Executive to choose from, namely:

Elected Mayor & Cabinet

or         

Leader elected by the Councillors in Full Council with Cabinet of Councillors apppinted by the Leader

then clearly it would be STUPID for Full Council on 11th September to decide that the question should say would you like an Elected Mayor? Why? Because if the majority say NO, the FALLBACK position is (wait for it!) elected Mayor!!!

So, why do we need a Full Council to decide the obvious? Why should Full Council be put in the position of appearing to recommend one or other of the alternatives?

Why is the government so fearful of Executive Committees? The Development Control (Planning) works well enough; the Licensing Committee works well enough, and not just in our Council but throughout all local councils. Those are executive  committees, politically balanced, allowing all shades of opinion to be expressed and debated. Why can't education, care of the elderly, environmental services, housing and so on be organised in a similar way with exectuive committees? The chairs of the executive committees could be cabinet members.  This is a manifestly more INCLUSIVE approach which does NOT emphasise structural pary-political differences. It does not deliberately set out to create an opposition in the way Labour's elected Mayor Mark Meredith has done with his party-political obsession to bolster at any cost the declining fortunes of Labour.

The people don't want party-politics in the local council. They are absolutely fed up with the childish antics and pernicious manoeurvres of Labour, intent on pushing through the unwanted privatisation agenda of the New Labour government.