Tuesday’s Babergh District Council Meeting was a quiet affair being mainly concerned with formalities of approving matters already agreed upon elsewhere. For example who sits on and who leads the various sub committees.
However at the back of the morning we got around to looking at paper “N9 Pay Policy Statement 2013/14”. It was introduced in a gentle way. We were reminded that our approval was required in accordance with Section 38(1) of the Localism Act 2011.
However, under Financial Implications, we were informed that “The pay policy has been produced within existing resources and there are no financial implications”
I interpreted this statement to mean that Babergh produced the policy without chopping down any more trees than had already been killed in manufacturing the paper and that (perhaps) more importantly we had not used any external consultants.
This was not the information I would have liked. As always the key to analysis is not only to examine what is in front of you but what you are not seeing and what I was not seeing was an indication of how much this policy was costing us on a year on year basis.
After much standing up and sitting down the Chief Executive affirmed that there would be no increase in the payroll as a result of the policy. I was grateful for the unequivocal statement along these lines and thanked the Chairman, the Chief Executive and the Head of Corporate Organisation.
It was like pulling teeth without anaesthetic .
Whilst I was congratulating myself of achieving unexpected reactions it did occur to me that perhaps there will be increases in the overall payroll but they won’t be due to the policy but to something else.
I’ll ponder on this when the time comes, probably in the small hours of a morning.
Month: April 2013
Convalescence
A few weeks ago I went to a poetry reading in aid of Success After Stroke. Readings were taken from “Convalescence” a slim volume of poems written by Gerard Melia and performed by a professional actress and Andrew Frolish (head teacher at St Mary’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School). The evening raised over £300 for Success After Stroke.
More interesting was the description of the work done by Success After Stroke and how Gerard worked through his communication issues after his second stroke.
In a foreword to the book Margherita Baker, Speech and Language Therapist at Ipswich Hospital writes …
“At first his words had a life of their own, never quite able to match Gerard’s voice. Gradually with tremendous effort and determination, after two years, Gerard managed to express his thoughts and observations on paper as poems … He would hope that in sharing them he is raising awareness of how it feels to be lost for words and then, bit by bit to clamber back”
The book is available from Mr. G. Melia,56B, Aldham Road, Hadleigh IP7 6BP.
Please send Gerard a stamped self addressed C5 envelope together with a small donation (min. £5). Cheques should be made payable to Success After Stroke. The book is worthwhile as is the charity (for which Gift Aid is applicable).
Tessitori (Weavers)
For a few weeks Weavers Spice (one of Hadleigh’s Indian restaurants) has been closed.
In a few weeks time it will open under new management (and business ownership) as Tessitori (Italian for Weavers). Tessitori plans to open early next month as a wine bar/pizzeria. I
t’s good to see this part of the High Street coming alive and I wish Tessitori every success.
Tools With A Mission
On Wednesday evening I dropped into the Churches Together in Hadleigh group. I am a trustee and my duties are not onerous and it’s possible that CTiH will deregister as a charity, in which case I and my three fellow trustees will become redundant.
The various representatives directing CTiH are an interesting group of people and one of the items of business was “What will be the group charity this year?” The answer was Tools With A Mission (TWAM).
TWAM started twenty seven years ago, and has since then provided help by collecting and refurbishing tools and equipment no longer required in the UK and sending them overseas. Tools with a Mission enables people to earn a living and to support themselves.
So it’s not just a case of sending money, it’s a good opportunity to clear out the shed(s) and pass on the duplicate tools and those tools no longer required. The web address is http://www.twam.co.uk/index.html and their location is 2 Bailey Close, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 0UD.
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