Friday, March 18, 2005
January/February 05 Councillor’s Report from Cllr. Ralph Cook
Budget & Council Tax: The last month or so has been quite hectic because of the annual budget setting process. In a hung Council the onus falls on each Party Group to work up their own budget proposals but the task was also complicated by the impact of rebanding and revaluation and the threat that Council spending would be capped by the National Assembly if it increased by more than 5.6%.
The Labour Group’s proposals, which were rejected by the Council achieved the target set by the Assembly without hitting frontline services or causing compulsory redundancies and also improved the Council’s Education budget in comparison with the Lib Dem budget. The Lib Dems succeeded with their proposals thanks to the support they received from the Tories. We think the Tory proposals which the Lib Dems included in their final budget do mean that compulsory redundancies are highly likely.
Either way, thanks to the intervention of the Assembly (although I oppose capping on principle) Cardiff’s Council Tax is actually lower than last years although because of revaluation over 80% of households will face an increase of between 16 and 23% on their Council Tax bills.
Schools Re-organisation Consultation: Despite promising improved
Consultation with Cardiff residents the Lib Dems series of school re-organisation consultation meetings were a disaster. Firstly details of the series of meetings were only announced in a press release issued on the 10th of February. Although all Councillors received a copy at the same time as the press, the release was circulated to us as an attachment to the e-mailed daily media brief. As its description suggests the daily media brief is e-mailed on a daily basis and takes about half an hour to read thoroughly. Few Councillors read this (I do) and fewer still actually notice the attachments which appear in small type. I read the relevant media brief but did not see the attachment. Either way this is not an appropriate method of advising Councillors of important meetings/events.
The South Wales Echo published details of the meetings on the 16th of February only four days prior to the first meeting held in Cardiff West which was attended by only 16 parents. The East Cardiff meeting was held the next day (Tuesday 22nd February) and this attracted over 100 people. The following day Cardiff North was attended by only 30 people.
The reason for the very good attendance at the Cardiff East meeting was that Labour in Trowbridge & St. Mellons, Rumney and Llanrumney joined up to publicise the meetings. We produced special leaflets informing parents of the Lib Dems incompetence and the details of the meeting and distributed 1,300 at schools in Trowbridge/St. Mellons, Llanrumney and Rumney.
At the meeting we got some good points across and I hope our constituents understood that their representatives were on their side (as we are) and that we were appalled by the sloppiness of the organisation with respect to the calling and the publicity given to the meetings (which we are).
The message from the parents is that they didn’t trust the Council, that they were concerned about potential school closures and did want to be involved and kept informed.
After initially defending the consultation process in the Echo, the Lib Dem Executive Member in the Council with responsibility for Education has since admitted that the “Council” got it wrong.
Trefaser Crescent: To my dismay I learnt from a resident that the proposal to block up Trefaser Crescent has been shelved. I asked a question in Council about who, why. when and etc. and I am continuing to pursue the issue with the Council and residents.
Trowbridge Shopping Centre: At long last the planning application has been submitted and will go before the Council’s Planning Committee (of which I am a member) sometime in the next couple of months. I will be abstaining in any vote at the planning committee, although I hope to be able to speak on the application.
Miscellaneous:
A few problems have emerged from the work at Hendre Lake and I have been working with residents to sort them out.
Motorbikes I have been approached by a parent whose son’s motorcycle was seized by the police recently. She wants to lease land for “legal” scrambling. I’ve offered to assist on the proviso that I will not support a site located near homes or where the police oppose.
The Labour Group’s proposals, which were rejected by the Council achieved the target set by the Assembly without hitting frontline services or causing compulsory redundancies and also improved the Council’s Education budget in comparison with the Lib Dem budget. The Lib Dems succeeded with their proposals thanks to the support they received from the Tories. We think the Tory proposals which the Lib Dems included in their final budget do mean that compulsory redundancies are highly likely.
Either way, thanks to the intervention of the Assembly (although I oppose capping on principle) Cardiff’s Council Tax is actually lower than last years although because of revaluation over 80% of households will face an increase of between 16 and 23% on their Council Tax bills.
Schools Re-organisation Consultation: Despite promising improved
Consultation with Cardiff residents the Lib Dems series of school re-organisation consultation meetings were a disaster. Firstly details of the series of meetings were only announced in a press release issued on the 10th of February. Although all Councillors received a copy at the same time as the press, the release was circulated to us as an attachment to the e-mailed daily media brief. As its description suggests the daily media brief is e-mailed on a daily basis and takes about half an hour to read thoroughly. Few Councillors read this (I do) and fewer still actually notice the attachments which appear in small type. I read the relevant media brief but did not see the attachment. Either way this is not an appropriate method of advising Councillors of important meetings/events.
The South Wales Echo published details of the meetings on the 16th of February only four days prior to the first meeting held in Cardiff West which was attended by only 16 parents. The East Cardiff meeting was held the next day (Tuesday 22nd February) and this attracted over 100 people. The following day Cardiff North was attended by only 30 people.
The reason for the very good attendance at the Cardiff East meeting was that Labour in Trowbridge & St. Mellons, Rumney and Llanrumney joined up to publicise the meetings. We produced special leaflets informing parents of the Lib Dems incompetence and the details of the meeting and distributed 1,300 at schools in Trowbridge/St. Mellons, Llanrumney and Rumney.
At the meeting we got some good points across and I hope our constituents understood that their representatives were on their side (as we are) and that we were appalled by the sloppiness of the organisation with respect to the calling and the publicity given to the meetings (which we are).
The message from the parents is that they didn’t trust the Council, that they were concerned about potential school closures and did want to be involved and kept informed.
After initially defending the consultation process in the Echo, the Lib Dem Executive Member in the Council with responsibility for Education has since admitted that the “Council” got it wrong.
Trefaser Crescent: To my dismay I learnt from a resident that the proposal to block up Trefaser Crescent has been shelved. I asked a question in Council about who, why. when and etc. and I am continuing to pursue the issue with the Council and residents.
Trowbridge Shopping Centre: At long last the planning application has been submitted and will go before the Council’s Planning Committee (of which I am a member) sometime in the next couple of months. I will be abstaining in any vote at the planning committee, although I hope to be able to speak on the application.
Miscellaneous:
A few problems have emerged from the work at Hendre Lake and I have been working with residents to sort them out.
Motorbikes I have been approached by a parent whose son’s motorcycle was seized by the police recently. She wants to lease land for “legal” scrambling. I’ve offered to assist on the proviso that I will not support a site located near homes or where the police oppose.
