Hall Green constituency Labour Councillors move decision making further away from local people
Hall Green constituency Labour Councillors move decision
making further away from local people
The nine Labour Councillors of Hall Green constituency –
this includes the two Labour Councillors on Moseley and Kings Heath Ward –
voted on Tuesday that in future all Hall Green constituency Committees will be:
- a) Held in the Council House in the city centre and no longer in community centres in Hall Green constituency
- b) Held in the afternoon and no longer in the evening when the public can attend
- c) The public can no longer speak at the Constituency meeting as they have done so previously.
All three Liberal Democrat Councillors, including Councillor
Ernie Hendricks voted again this.
This is in complete contrast to the Conservative-run Sutton
Coldfield Constituency and the Liberal Democrat-run Yardley Constituency
committees, which will be held locally and in the evening. Both Committees have
still to decide whether to continue to allow the public to speak, after the
latest edict from the Labour Leadership insisting they shouldn’t be allowed.
It is shameful that Labour are trying to move decision further
away from the public.
posted by martin mullaney @ 5:20 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
According to the last comment from Paul Tilsley (Twitter a couple of weeks or so ago) Yardley constituents will be allowed to speak, so I am assuming that is still the case, unless there has been some more recent edict which I have missed.
It seems Acocks Green Conservatives, and Lib-Dems (and non-aligned, ancient Old Labour types like me)would much prefer things this way. We are baffled by what feels like a highly authoritarian move - seems like Blairite type New Labour at its worst to me! We are aware of the argument about giving Districts more power - which, in principle, may, or may not, be a good thing. (What happens when the money runs out, who else can be appealed to if something goes wrong?) However, I am totally unconvinced by the 'Tell your Ward councillor what you think and s/he will speak for you at the District Meeting approach. This feels like having to depend on Uncle or Aunty Councillor to get it right. What happens if they do not agree with the point in question? Even if they are decent, and fairly deliver the point, are THEY then going to bounce back with further argumentm if the point is rejected, or form liaisons with people from other Wards who feel the same way?
These are the new Selly Oak District Committee Rules of Conduct. I am guessing these were not written locally, but are intended for city wide use though? I don't know about at district committee meetings (Hoping things will be different in Yardley, they sound as though they might be) but I am fairly speechless at the moment. http://bit.ly/MFp0nz
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