I turned up at a meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee last Monday. There were a couple of items on the Agenda that were of interest to me. To my great surprise, a TV crew was in the lobby. I gather that BBC 1, tomorrow (Sunday 12th June 12.05pm) will have Marlborough Town Council as one of the features. I guess this is about the money that was spent by last year's Mayor on the 2004 Celebration booklets etc etc. I shall be watching and listening - will you??
From what I can make of it the film crew were banned from going in the chamber and according to one Councillor they missed the point with the report as well but I will let him explain when he comes on here.
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I'm a Dyslexic Agnostic Insomniac...
I sit up all night wondering if there really is a Dog
Hi all - Sorry I have not replied to this sooner, but unfortunately we have just had a close family bereavement (my mother-in-law) after a short illness in the new Great Western (for the record, I know it has many critics, but the care in the Intensive Care Unit was wonderful, sensitive and very caring).
Indeed the BBC did kind of miss the point ... but then again any programme that at least refers to the shenanigans and unpleasantness in the Council Chamber, as well as reminding everyone of the findings of the external auditors cannot be all bad!
What I was trying to get across in the programme was about the shortcomings of the Standards Board for England (the monitoring body for all Councillors) who have the powers to discipline Councillors for breaches of the Code of Conduct.
The example that concerns me is with regard to the 800th anniversary of the Charter celebrations of last year in which one Councillor was responsible for the following: -
He gave £8,000 of business to someone he knew
No other other quotes were obtained
The company went into liquidation - a new company was formed and the business stayed with the same person as a result
An offer was made to carry out the same work absolutely free of charge at a meeting attended by just this one Councillor and never reported back to the Council - this never came to light until some months later
No contract was ever drawn up
No official order was placed until after the invoice arrived
The external auditors felt that the matter was so severe that in consultation with the Audit Commission they insisted on immediate publication of a report in the public interest
The same Councillor has steadfastly refused to answer any direct questions on the matter despite publicly promising to do so
Yet despite all of this the Standards Board (even after appealing their decision) have decided not even to investigate the whole matter.
In essence what this decision means is that any Councillor anywhere in England, can individually give business to someone he/she knows (and for all we know, split the profits with their acquaintance) without any fear of retribution. They don't need to get competitive quotes, contracts or orders and that is just fine .......... according to the Standards Board for England.
Well I don't know about you lot, but to me it is little surprise that most people think Councillors are in it for themselves. No wonder it is so hard to get people to get involved in local politics. It seems that it is best suited for the "old pals brigade" who can spend yours and my money without any fear of retribution .. because unfortunately most people have long since given up caring and are not prepared to do anything other than leave them all to it.
Well, it is our money they are spending. For me what I would dearly love to see, is a dozen people calling a Special Parish Meeting (that is all it takes) and demanding answers and that something is done.
Just for the record .... only this week yet more breaches have come to light .. and it will carry on until local people decide enough is enough.
