Forum Topic

A Labour council? - really?

From today's 'Observer' 'Scandal of vital public services still using premium rate phone lines'."Council tenants in Hounslow are unique in that they have to pay up to 60p a minutes to pay their rent if they call from a mobile. Although that is in breach of government guidelines, the council is unapologetic. Its Leader, Steve Curran, says: 'This number is provided by a third-party provider and customers are warned about the charges. The council encourages residents at every opportunity to use alternative methods such as online or via direct debt if they wish to avoid these charges. We regularly tender services with third-party providers to obtain the best value'. The Dear Leader really is all heart isn't he?

Vanessa Smith ● 2759d18 Comments

I wonder if there is a problem persuading people to stand for election, which is why 18 year olds going to Uni end up getting selected?

Christopher Gillie ● 2749d

Soon they will be agonising do we cut services or raise council tax? While sitting there on nice allowances.

Nicholas Beard ● 2749d

From front page - insult to injury?19% Pay Rise Proposed for Hounslow CouncillorsIncrease in allowances to be back-dated to the day of the election

Vanessa Smith ● 2749d

Young Jason Eller who was a councillor for the Syon Ward went straight to University after being elected at 18 years old and only attended about two council meetings a yearHe was still made the Labour Groups Whip though entitling him even more allowances and some still deny the whole system is corrupt

Paul Fisher ● 2750d

Too right - and the allowances they can get as a Councillor when they are away at university or abroad and not attending Council Meetings or available to deal with their electorate's problems.

Philippa Bond ● 2750d

I can see merit in what you say.My feeling is that the public hold people who go into politics in such low esteem already that most people are put off by the idea of getting involved.The way the party system works means that getting selected in a winnable seat is the most significant part of the process. The vast majority of elections are not competitive, but just a matter of going through the motions. It is therefore the selection committees that decide, for the most part, who gets elected.Electoral reform to make elections competitive might help ensure there were fewer "guaranteed" wins, and that councillors and MPs have to campaign to get over 50% of the vote rather than just the biggest minority.

Christopher Gillie ● 2750d

Guaranteed allowences is an important point I agree. As for politics uni etc is a path for a career. For many who do not like state or nationalisation funny how they love a state provided MP's pension!

Nicholas Beard ● 2751d

Given the state of most of the major political parties I think you'd be hard put to come up with a solution. It may seem old-fashioned but the ethos of public service seems to have gone the way of the Dodo and that is a great pity. I think the rot set in - especially for local politics when councillors started getting guaranteed allowances. Up until then all that was paid was really out of pocket expenses and some of those were dependent on people attending meetings, of course no-one should lose financially but the attitude towards local government has undergone a massive sea change with the 'cabinet' system. This has placed too much power in the hands of too few elected councillors.  The Leader can surround him/herself with acolytes by distributing cabinet positions at their behest, people no longer have to be elected by colleagues.The committee system may well have been more bureaucratic but it involved all members and gave a better overview of borough wide issues, essential where planning issues are concerned. As for national politics - this now seems to be a career choice instead of living in the real world with a real job and then progressing through the ranks and real 'pavement politics' to get some experience. Now it seems to be Uni, job as a researcher in the House, stand in a losing seat and then progress to a safe seat if you can.That's not say many people are committed and really do care, but so many are in it for all the wrong reasons, and that's no good to the rest of us.

Vanessa Smith ● 2751d

If we want better MP's and councillors what would you suggest be done to achieve this?

Christopher Gillie ● 2751d

Yep.

Steve Taylor ● 2752d

Saw this today and thought I really couldn't have put it any better.Billy Conolly "The desire to be a politician should bar you for life from ever becoming one".Followed by another observation from Brian Reade- "There are some excellent MPs and councillors but they are becoming a threatened species. Increasingly, the average pleader for our vote appears to be an attention-seeking mediocrity making a career out of imposing their many flaws on us."Remind you of anyone?

Vanessa Smith ● 2754d

Dig deep enough and you will find connections to NHS suppliers and preferred works procurment suppliers and installers.One for Private Eye Perhaps?

Raymond Havelock ● 2758d

The “cock-up rather than conspiracy” notion is however rather undermined by Curran’s defence of the practice.

Phil Andrews ● 2758d

Scandalous

Paul Fisher ● 2758d

As someone in The Observer noted - "the continuing use of these number is more 'cock-up than conspiracy', as councils seek the cheapest deal to save taxpayer's money without realising it comes at the expense of those same taxpayers".If this government have advised that these numbers should not be used then it says something................

Vanessa Smith ● 2758d

I can also see the logic of that. Given that there appears to be no evidence of a competitive tender, one should be concerned.I found a company - https://www.globaldoor.co.uk/door-designer, that provided a cheaper quote, including fitting and a 5 year guarantee, for only doing one door, so with a big contract it is all very suspect that it is costing so much.

Christopher Gillie ● 2758d

I can see how it would be better for all the fire doors to be replaced by one company so that the specification and workmanship should be guaranteed.  Didn't the Council go out to competitive tender to several reputable companies for this?And won't they have independent inspections of the doors provided together with the workmanship by people with technical knowledge?

Philippa Bond ● 2758d

This is utterly outrageous and Hounslow needs to be constantly and relentlessly shamed over this.  The people it is likely to hit the worst are the very people who are least in a position to pay - older people who lack IT skills and others who cannot afford to be online.I am at a loss to understand what it is about Curran that identifies him as a "Labour" politician beyond the fact that he uses the party as a flag of convenience for realising his personal ambitions - his politics are nasty and right-wing as are those of his followers within the Labour Group.  Even the most cursory look at some of the people they are all happy to run with in Isleworth is ample demonstration of this.

Phil Andrews ● 2759d

Lots of people do not have landlines any more.  The mobile is expensive enough and far more useful for work and running/co-ordinating your family life if you are working on a zero hours contract.When is the Council going to change their arrangements?  This looks like another tunnel-visioned outsourcing contract.

Philippa Bond ● 2759d

It is like the fire door nonsense. Instead of taking on board helpful information that could both improve fire safety and reduce cost, he sticks to his guns and defends the £1300 per door replacement project, thereby lining the pockets of whichever contractor the Council has "selected". I have no evidence of whether this is due to nepotism, corruption or stupidity, but one does wonder how many leaseholders there are who are paying £1300 for a 30 minute fire door, when they could, if the council was a bit more imaginative get people 1 or 2 hour fire doors at a much lower cost (perhaps half the cost).

Christopher Gillie ● 2759d