But for the authoritarianism and pathological furtiveness of the small group of senior councillors at North Northants, I am quite sure we would be hearing broadly the same story from NNC too. We probably will, pretty soon.
The first problem for both councils is lack of income. They are beset by the history of low council tax levels from the pre-unitary days and the inability to raise the tax level by more than a couple of percent per year without a local referendum (something they are incomprehensively afraid of staging).
Let me be very clear here - council tax throughout Northants very definitely is low. I have lived in several other areas around the country, in each one of which the council tax for the little house that I currently own would be hundreds per year higher than I am currently paying. We can bleat on as much as we like (or have the Labour party do it for us, as per the article) but we have no special right to additional funding from central government. The Great British taxpayer does not owe us a living. We really do need to pay more council tax, and local government is unsustainable in Northants unless we do.
The second problem is the cost of social services. At the time of the Caller report (much derided by Jim Harker, former leader of NCC, and his fellow-travellers, but, in fact, a very good piece of work) we were paying significantly more for social services per head of population, and social services had a considerably higher case-load per head of population also, than other counties with a similar socio-economic mix. Mismanagement at the senior leadership levels and empire-building among service managers together made a very credible explanation of this. It is also reasonable to speculate that the same is still true now. I am not a great one for calling for external inquiries, but a very great deal of our money is being expended on social services without visible effect or public explanation, the sustainability of local government is clearly being threatened, and the so-far inactive local MPs would undoubtedly be well employed in pressing for a proper investigation.
Wendy Randall's point relating to the lack of interaction between the four WN MPs and the council is important. What are they doing to execute their role in support of the people that elected them?
And yet northants childrens trust has supported a private planning application to turn a factory into a residential home for those leaving care. A private initiative that simply lines the pockets of developers and will be inadequate in terms of safeguarding and serving the community as a whole. More good money after bad.
Looks like they need some “Team Bonding “ or are they still social distancing in that meeting room set up, with the leader at his own desk and who are they in the gallery……bring in the HR experts!
So how long before the Conservatives come up with the 'imaginative idea' to merge together again to save costs and benefit the local tax payer? Following the asset managing initiative the next step will be to pass on loss making services to local parish and town councils so they have to precept their communities. Safe to assume that with these losses any thoughts on increasing the number of councillors is now off?
I guess with the Tory government tanking after the disastrous mini budget no one wants to be a Conservative MP in public at the moment.
But for the authoritarianism and pathological furtiveness of the small group of senior councillors at North Northants, I am quite sure we would be hearing broadly the same story from NNC too. We probably will, pretty soon.
The first problem for both councils is lack of income. They are beset by the history of low council tax levels from the pre-unitary days and the inability to raise the tax level by more than a couple of percent per year without a local referendum (something they are incomprehensively afraid of staging).
Let me be very clear here - council tax throughout Northants very definitely is low. I have lived in several other areas around the country, in each one of which the council tax for the little house that I currently own would be hundreds per year higher than I am currently paying. We can bleat on as much as we like (or have the Labour party do it for us, as per the article) but we have no special right to additional funding from central government. The Great British taxpayer does not owe us a living. We really do need to pay more council tax, and local government is unsustainable in Northants unless we do.
The second problem is the cost of social services. At the time of the Caller report (much derided by Jim Harker, former leader of NCC, and his fellow-travellers, but, in fact, a very good piece of work) we were paying significantly more for social services per head of population, and social services had a considerably higher case-load per head of population also, than other counties with a similar socio-economic mix. Mismanagement at the senior leadership levels and empire-building among service managers together made a very credible explanation of this. It is also reasonable to speculate that the same is still true now. I am not a great one for calling for external inquiries, but a very great deal of our money is being expended on social services without visible effect or public explanation, the sustainability of local government is clearly being threatened, and the so-far inactive local MPs would undoubtedly be well employed in pressing for a proper investigation.
How is that £10,000 a wee
Wendy Randall's point relating to the lack of interaction between the four WN MPs and the council is important. What are they doing to execute their role in support of the people that elected them?
And yet northants childrens trust has supported a private planning application to turn a factory into a residential home for those leaving care. A private initiative that simply lines the pockets of developers and will be inadequate in terms of safeguarding and serving the community as a whole. More good money after bad.
Looks like they need some “Team Bonding “ or are they still social distancing in that meeting room set up, with the leader at his own desk and who are they in the gallery……bring in the HR experts!
So how long before the Conservatives come up with the 'imaginative idea' to merge together again to save costs and benefit the local tax payer? Following the asset managing initiative the next step will be to pass on loss making services to local parish and town councils so they have to precept their communities. Safe to assume that with these losses any thoughts on increasing the number of councillors is now off?