Police to be under political control?31 October 2009

At a meeting of Surrey County Council last week Leader Povey (Conservative, Waverly Eastern Villages) suggested that Surrey Police should be brought under the control of the county council of which he is supremo. This would mean removing them from the Police Authority that is, at least on paper, independent of party.

Cllr. Povey's proposal would have the practical effect of cementing control of the police in the political hands of the Conservative party, which has run the county for over a century.

Policies to bring both police and judiciary under political control are frequently being advocated by the Conservatives (Labour's hands are not clean in this respect, either). Leader Povey's suggestion follows the much-criticised recent statement by the Conservative deputy Mayor of London, Mr. Malthouse, who in August claimed that he and Mayor Boris Johnson 'had their hands on the tiller' of the Metropolitan Police. The President of the Police Superintendents' Association commented that flagship Tory plans on policing would sacrifice the service's reputation for the sake of short-term political dogma.

The police and judiciary must remain entirely impartial and this, and our liberty, is irreconcilable with what for all practical purposes amounts to control by any political party.

Racing to spend our money28 August 2009

The excellent Elmbridge Guardian picks up on a job vacancy at Surrey County Council: an "Olympics Coordinator" at £46,000 per annum of our money. Reporter Jamie Henderson points out that Surrey is not actually hosting any Olympic events: "The closest the one-star council came to having an Olympic event in the county was a failed bid to have a shooting competition in Bisley." Surreal!

The council says it wants to ensure “Surrey 2012 programme has maximum impact”. We agree with the Taxpayers' Alliance, whose spokesman was rightly critical, that if there is a small job to be done there, existing staff can do it and the post "smacks of gimmickry by the Council."

The Councillor responsible is Denise Saliagopoulos (Conservative, Staines) who is Cabinet member for the Games. Her stated aim is to get contracts for businesses - which begs the question: "Why are business interests not funding it?"

Residents will be looking to see exactly which businesses, if any, actually benefit from £128,000 of our money being spent in their favour. Meanwhile, if you want the job - assuming they don't already have someone in mind - you have until 6 September....

Why our traffic flows so smoothly - revealed!28 August 2009

A press release from SCC's hyperactive spin team gives you something to ponder while you are stuck in the morning rush-hour in Watts Road, where roadworks will be carried out between 4 September and 12 November that could with a moment's forethought and consideration have been carried out in the quieter, non-school months of July and August. It reads:

"Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes to help keep traffic moving as smoothly as possible on Surrey’s roads? "

(Comment: yes we have)

"Surrey County Council’s traffic management centre in Leatherhead is opening its doors to show you. The event is part of the British Science Festival, Europe's foremost celebration of science, engineering and technology, which is coming to Surrey from 5 -10 September 2009. The Network Management and Information Centre will be open on 8 September 2009 for four sessions of 90 minutes during the day. Admission is free but numbers are limited, so book in advance here."

The Cabinet member for Transport is cllr. Ian Lake (Conservative, Weybridge), who said "There is some outstanding and innovative work going on at the centre and this is a great opportunity to see it."

Drive on down! Or, better, ask cllr. Lake to drive on up here from Giggs Hill to the station at 0830 for a couple of months.

Interim Chief Executive damns Surrey County Council27 July 2009

As readers know, the performance of Surrey County Council, as measured by the Audit Commission, drifted down over the past three years from four stars ('acceptable') to a measly one star, putting the council among the worst performing ones in England. Indeed, even formerly it never achieved the satisfaction of more than half the residents in the county. The basic reasons for this lamentable state of affairs are known to you, but naturally the ruling group on the Council was anxious to find a scapegoat other than itself. It was no great surprise when the senior public servant in charge, Richard Shaw, announced his retirement after the Audit Commission's verdict was published. The ruling party on the Council also decided to waste more taxpayers' money in a futile attempt to have the verdict altered in the courts.

Mr. Shaw's interim replacement, Michael Frater, took over the post which is funded by you, the taxpayer, to the tune of almost £200,000 a year, in January. The leader of the ruling Conservatives said of his appointment:

"As an ambitious council, we have brought Michael in to help ensure that we build on our excellent frontline services, reflected in a strong list of inspection results over the past 12 months, and to keep us moving towards reaching our full potential.

"Michael is a hugely experienced chief executive who is highly respected within local government circles and he has a proven track record, particularly in driving continued improvement in performance and service delivery.

"He also brings a wealth of experience in partnership working and strategic management, and by drawing on his top management skills I am confident that he will be able to add to his many successes and help us to become even better at delivering the comprehensive range of high-quality, value for money services our residents expect."

How far from reality is that view of the council?!

Mr. Frater has had the freedom that comes with not having been responsible for past failings, to write a report of the kind that new brooms write. In it he describes Surrey County Council as "arrogant, bureaucratic, lacking in vision, direction and strategy, obsessed with itself, inefficient, unsophisticated, with a culture of blame and bullying, a lack of leadership, and in denial about its shortcomings" to quote a summary in the admirable Surrey Advertiser. Mr. Frater has since handed over to the new permanent CEO, David McNulty.

The ruling Council Executive, Conservatives all , has also been largely changed in an attempt to distance the Council from its failings over the past few years. But although Mr. Frater's report was available to the ruling Executive in April, and known to the councillor who would become the new supreme Leader of the Council after the elections in May, were these shortcomings mentioned and tackled in the new Leader's inaugural speech at the end of June? The answer is: no. A faintly risible speech full of empty slogans and council verbiage offered little substance or prospect of serious change. It was widely regarded by taxpayers who bothered to read it as all froth and no beer.

The problems in Surrey stem from the basic fact that the ruling group has been the same throughout the Council's existence. They expect to be returned to office come what may. Over the past year they decided to deny the electorate the chance to elect a leader directly, although three-quarters of the public responding to a lackadaisical 'consultation' wanted direct elections. Indeed, under the new dispensation the supreme Leader of the Council, Andrew Povey (Conservative) who is chosen as leader by his party and not by the electorate, enjoys even greater power than did the former leader. All very cosy. You may conclude that in such circumstances the ruling group has grown complacent and lazy, if not worse. The place is in a mess, as Mr. Frater, at least, acknowledges. We've seen this sort of thing before. In Esher Urban District Council, later Elmbridge Borough Council, the ruling clique - the same group - grew so ineffective that by the early 1990s the auditors refused to sign off the council's accounts! Eventually, with the national decline and fall of the Conservatives in that decade, voters reacted and the ship was put in order by pragmatists who weren't interested in political careers, personal networking or provincial vanities.

That's what needs to happen in Surrey.

More details of what Mr. Frater wrote are quoted in the Herald here.

Surrey County Council: news miscellany13 July 2009

In his opening statement to Surrey County Council in late June, under the catchy slogan "Standing Up For Surrey," its new leader Andrew Povey (Conservative, Waverley Eastern Villages) summarised his vision as "to Enhance, Enrich and Enable." He proclaimed that Surrey should be "a world class, leading authority - a Conservative council that is modern, innovative and compassionate." He pledged to switch resources "from spending on things which the public do not value to addressing issues that are of great concern to them." His Cabinet would have to "complete the SCC Grass Roots Diversity Workbooks course." * (Stay awake at the back there!- Ed.)

Cabinet halves own workload: Cllr. Povey declared that his henceforth his Cabinet would be meeting monthly rather than fortnightly. He would retain authority of decision himself for Green Belt development, for opening and closing schools, and for staff recruitment decisions and hire of consultants where payments of over £100,000 per annum were concerned.

Highways: more meetings "Greater links are to be encouraged between local Members and Community Highways Officers, including having regular meetings to discuss truly local issues."

Speeding: Cllr. Povey announced that £1million would go towards a joint initiative with Surrey Police to tackle the issue of speeding.

Council Tax: Cllr. Povey's 'aspiration' was that increases would be constrained to a maximum of 2.5% per annum.

There would be (yet another) review of all services for value to the public.

Cllr. Povey said nothing on the final-salary pension schemes still enjoyed by council officials.

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Meanwhile in a separate announcement, Surrey notes that the Council has secured £7.5 million funding to improve primary school buildings: but a permanent structure to replace the Portacabin for Thames Ditton Infants School is not on the list of schemes to be implemented.

Also announced, presumably within the context of switching resources to " issues that are of great concern" to the public: Surrey Trading Standards have announced the launch of a scheme to adopt healthier cooking practices.

And as last month ended, the Tax Payers' Alliance awarded Surrey County Council their 'non-job of the week' accolade for a full-time salaried (and presumably pensioned) post to write for the glossy Council PR magazine 'Surrey Matters.' Tim Aker from Tax Payers’ Alliance told the Elmbridge Guardian that he believed the council should improve its reputation by using taxpayers’ money on services, rather than self-promotion: “People don’t pay their taxes for the council to employ journalists to tell everyone how great the council is - they just want decent, affordable services delivered on time."

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* From information on the web, the 'Surrey County Council Grassroots Diversity Workbook course' that members of the Conservative Cabinet will be required to take is a 'rebranded' distance learning course from consultants Grass Roots, who employ 350 people in UK to "help our clients achieve their business performance goals." They have a turnover approaching £300 million. A sample of the workbooks available online includes the following:

"It helps to feel empathy for other people,"

"Gypsies find it hard to lead a nomadic life. They want semi-permanent camps and an address so they can access health and education. Sites of up to 15 pitches work best, so around 300 new authorised sites are now needed to replace unauthorised and roadside encampments."

"It may be necessary for an organisation to consider not holding interviews during Ramadan."

"It may be possible to designate an area for all staff for the specific purpose of prayer or contemplation."

Comment: We don't know what the costs to the taxpayer are of this training, but presumably the Conservatives have weighed them carefully against the costs of fixing the drains and potholes and given priority to this important deskbound educational activity. It is certainly an area where, nationwide, grassroots Conservatives have been notorious for lack of empathy.