| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re: Possible sale of Court House | |
| Posted by: | Malcolm Grimston | |
| Date/Time: | 21/01/07 00:18:00 |
| In general, and this is the same in all political groups in all councils as far as I know, the ball starts rolling with the government's statement on local government grants which is typically published at the end of November (as it was last year). At that point we start the process of working through the implications for what we can afford to spend over the following three years (the period covered by the spending review) given the enormous real-terms cuts we have been landed with in recent years, and implications of various spending scenarios for council tax. Officers provide basic financial and other information about options (they may have been collecting this for some time in readiness) and specific proposals start to emerge soon thereafter. They are then debated with colleagues to make sure that we make the best of the range of talent, interests and community knowledge available among councillors, rather than any policy simply being the whim say of the Cabinet Member or even the Executive. Initial suggestions are often changed significantly at this stage as a result of the debate. We come to a decision as to what we believe is the best possible outcome for the community at large (i.e. the 280,000 residents, all of whom of course have different interests, needs, resources etc), based both on the facts before us and our own priorities and manifesto commitments e.g. to keep council tax distinctively low. We then publish our detailed proposals as soon as possible, after we have had a chance to check their feasibility and tip off any staff or other stakeholders who might be directly affected. There is no point in keeping anything secret unnecessarily (and it is against our culture to do so) and we wish both to allow for proper public input before decision-making and to make sure that the period of uncertainty is as short as possible. It would not be right to reveal specific details of confidential discussions but you will have noted that I was able to outline our preferred route, or at least the bones of it, in this strand on January 8. The decision, of course, is not taken until it is agreed through the council's procedures (Scrutiny, Executive and sometimes full Council). As you will be aware, on several occasions the council has changed its mind on proposals as a result of public response and the emergence of further information - e.g. the proposed move of Greenmead School to Southmead School when I was on the education watch. I don't think anyone has ever claimed that we are dogmatic or do not listen to good argument (after all, our only motivation is to work in partnership with residents to deliver the best possible outcome, given the difficulty of some decisions and a desire to fulfil the manifesto promises on the basis of which we were elected). But equivalently we try not to mess about and publish proposals which are not tenable, as this is not fair to those involved. To fulfil the last requirement we need to do quite a bit of work between the idea emerging and the public announcement being made, as discussed above. |