There are days when we all have “would you believe it?” moments. The key skill is that one’s reaction should be just below that which irritates the family beyond measure. You only have to be a regular reader of the EADT to be glad that you are not a close family member of some of the regular Europhile correspondents.
One such WYBI moment was when I became aware that Babergh-Midsuffolk are advertising for a political assistant to support the new Green Party administration at an exciting time for Mid Suffolk District Council.
Now in the normal course of events I have only a brief interest in what Mid Suffolk Greens are up to. But, as Mid Suffolk and Babergh’s expenses tend to be shared I get concerned that we might be paying for this extravagance. So, I put the following question down for answering at the Council meeting on the 21st November.
Would you kindly confirm that:
No costs for this post will fall upon the taxpayers and residents of Babergh District Council and that any recruitment by Babergh District Council for a similar post will come to full council for approval prior to the post being advertised.
You’d have thought that the answers would be simple and that this could be an exercise in discovering something right and reasonable for a change. But, no! The matter was referred the Political Leaders’ Group who rejected the question.
Discreet enquiries as to the constitutionality of this action caused the question to be reinstated on the Council’s agenda.
The answers were that the costs of Mid Suffolk’s Political Assistant were for them to fund and that there were no plans for Babergh to have Political Assistants.
So, what does this mean?
Why the fuss, if the matter was innocuous?
Were one or more of Babergh’s coalition groups thinking of having political assistants and didn’t want the matter aired before they were ready?
Did they change their mind about their perceived needs once the disinfectant of public awareness’ was applied to their ambitions?
All in all, I think Babergh has dodged the Political Assistant bullet for the time being and the future requires us to be alert to similar future developments.
This blog/post is the sole responsibility of its author Brian Riley.
It has not been approved nor is it endorsed by Babergh District Council or South Suffolk Conservative Association
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Brian, you may be interested that our local DC (Wealden), now under the joint control of the Greens and Lib Dems spent £245,000 on meeting their staff’s domestic heating as they are working from home! I am trying to find out if this benefit was taxed or not.
In an ideal world, Councillors set policy and the Executive implements it. In many cases staff set the policy and regard councillors as the democratic legitimacy of their actions. If you cannot find the answer to your question, you could always go along to your Council meetings and and ask. You may have to give notice of your question, but you should also be able to ask a follow up question (for which no notice need be given)