| . |
p9
 Good news and bad news. The good news is
that senior council staff are to be sent on a 'relaxation day' of beauty therapy, woodland
walks, wall climbing, aerobics and meditation. The bad news is that it's not Hackney
Council but their counterparts in Newport, Isle of Wight that will be enjoying this
healing process. Pity, although if it were Hackney, the woodlands would probably have been
flogged off to a private developer, the bricks from the wall would be missing and the
meditation might have been led by the Council guru, Max Caller, contemplating how to turn
Clissold Park into a shopping mall.
The Councillors, of course, have their own group therapy sessions. It's called the monthly
Council Meeting. The District Auditor is in town again and has discovered a few oddities
in the accounts. Although the Council pays out £250 million annually, invoices could not
be found for 25 per cent of the payments he checked. In a sample of staff pay files, 75
per cent were missing. In 25 per cent of cases of non-payment of Council Tax, the arrears
were four or more years. Around two-thirds of the 5000 'empty' Council properties appeared
to be occupied but no Council Tax was being paid.
The DA's report was the main item on the agenda but, before that, a few other issues had
to be debated. The first six contributions were excellent. The ghosts of Councillors past
must have woken from their slumbers to hear polite, analytical, accurate and yet
impassioned speeches on important Hackney issues. There was no shouting or finger
pointing. More leisure facilities, practical proposals on how cycle lanes could be
improved, cutting down on street bullying, the need to re-open the lido in London Fields,
compliments to helpful teachers in local schools and a plea for the Council to get its act
together on waste recycling. Conor (aged 10), Rachel (16), Tina (15), Rosa (15) and other
young people were raising these issues to press the Council to establish a Hackney Youth
Parliament.
This was then formally proposed by Councillor Hettie Peters and won the support of all
parties, a unique event in itself. After their success, the Mayor said that they could
stay for the rest of the proceedings if they wished and, amazingly, they stayed. It was
noticeable that their presence (almost) induced the Councillors to behave properly.
Another clear statement followed. The hacks at the press table rubbed their eyes. Were
they in Hackney or had they been beamed up to Planet Logic? Councillor Peter Kenyon
introduced Dr Gaby Tobias of Hackney Primary Care Trust who presented a detailed report on
this sector. There is a shortfall of 35 GPs (25 per cent) in the borough, those going to
visit a GP are guaranteed only to be seen within 48 hours and the death rate is 36 per
cent higher for people under 65 than the national average. Dr Tobias said, wryly, that
some doctors viewed working in Hackney as similar to serving time in the Peace Corps.
The
Fox Reformed
Wine Bar
Learn the real stuff, meet
soulmates, make friends, impress the boss, confuse your enemies, embarrass your
colleagues,
bore your partner! Join FRILLS the Fox Reformed Imbibing and Low Life Society
and enjoy
- FRILLS card 10%
- discount on wines purchased by the
bottle
- Superb wine tastings
- Wine at cost price
- Best backgammon in the UK
- Monthly book reading club
- Discount at selected shops
- AA rosette food
£30 a year
176 Stoke Newington Church Street,
London N16 0JL Phone/fax on 020 7254 5975
Website: www.fox-reformed.co.uk
|
|
The War Corps then sprang into action and launched an unguided missile.
Andrew Bridgewater, leader of the Lib Dems, opposed the Council's acceptance of the
District Auditor's proposals. This was like trying to reject bad weather. The DA, Les
Kidner, is a person of such financial probity that he makes Gordon Brown seem reckless.
Kidner does not kid. However, even he had criticised the Council for selling off too many
properties. He understands, as do most Hackney residents, that you can only borrow money
if you have sufficient collateral i.e. buildings and land. It's now clear that the Council
and, in particular, its Managing Director, did not grasp this simple fact before they
rushed to the auctioneers.
Councillor Bridgewater's attempt to turn back the waves was lost, as was his rejection of
the strings tied to the £25 million bailout given by the government to the Council. The
future members of the Youth Parliament seemed amused as he spoke. In past meetings he has
waved his arms up and down but he now also shifts from leg to leg, rather like one of
those unfortunate dancing bears. Green leader Chit Chong pointed out that the £25 million
would barely cover the losses caused by the privatisation of the (non-) collection of
Council Tax. Council Leader Jules Pipe had a fit of feigned anger at hints by Councillor
Kay Stone that there were some murky financial goings-on behind the scenes. He threatened
to report her to someone called the Head of the Board of Standards of England. It turned
out that this important person was sitting up on the platform with the Managing Director.
Luckily, he did not descend and lead Councillor Stone away in chains.
It was getting late but the young people had managed to stay the course. Perhaps they saw
themselves as councillors in a few years time. We can only wonder if they found any role
models during their visit.
|
. |
