to which the answer is “We need more Liberal Democrats in the Upper House” (i.e. the House of Lords).
Courtesy Damien Thompson in today’s Daily Telegraph see http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100229544/the-amish-jews-muslims-and-the-future-of-religion/ for further amplification.
Author: Brian Riley
Aberystwyth
At the week end I went to Aberystwyth to stay with my older daughter and her family. These weekends always promise to be gentle day fest. We seem to get a lot of not much done, but we enjoy ourselves and clock up a pleasant time. One of the highlights was to travel to Caersws in Powys to visit the Mid Wales Arts Centre run by Cathy Knapp. Cathy’s centre is home to a unique permanent collection of large scale enamel murals and sculptures by the late world renowned Polish born artist Stefan Knapp. Richard Brown (my son in law) collected some of his works which had been exhibited there and we transported them back to Aberystwyth where they will be displayed in the Gas Gallery on Park Avenue. The Gas Gallery was launched at the end of June and is entirely self-funded by artists from the area, with volunteers staffing it on a daily basis. It is situated in the Old Gas Showrooms on Park Avenue – a building which has been empty for some years The new venture marks a triumph for the group known as Celf Ceredigion Art, who ha
ve spent many years negotiating with Ceredigion County Council to turn some of the town’s many empty buildings into exhibition spaces. The project is a one year pilot and sees the group working in partnership with the council as they work to promote the best art the area has to offer. Full marks to the Ceredigion County Council for their initiative in recycling an otherwise empty building which was going to waste. Richard will be taking part in the Ceredigion Art Trail 2013 Richard’s web page can be found on http://ceredigionarttrail.org.uk/richard-brown-2012/
More details of the Gas Gallery can be found on http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/posts/Local-artists-win-long-campaign-for-new-gallery-in-Aberystwyth
High Street Loyalty Card Powers On
Yesterday I had the pleasant task of allocating £500 from the Community Locality Budget provided by Suffolk County Council for whom I represent Hadleigh.
The focus was on the Hadleigh’s Loyalty Card shopping scheme set up by the town’s Chamber of Commerce which has been such a success that it’s been difficult keeping up with demand for the cards.
Two print runs have been exhausted and cards were in short supply. So it was a timely intervention to finance the printing of 25,000 more cards with an allocation of £500 from the Community Locality Budget.
Jane Haylock of Hadleigh Chamber of Commerce received the cheque at the Chamber’s summer party at Priory Hall in Hadleigh.
Hadleigh Chamber of Commerce President, Tony Addison, welcomed the cheque and said how pleased he was to see such a commitment to Hadleigh’s future and the recognition that market towns are worth supporting.
The Loyalty Card, which was Jane’s project, encourages people to shop locally. Shoppers collect stars on the card each time they spend money in participating shops, pubs and restaurants. When all 10 stars are collected the cards are handed in to take part in a monthly prize draw.
“We now have 1,700 handed in each month which represents 17,000 sales in Hadleigh shops,” said Jane. About 75 percent of the cards handed in come from Hadleigh residents with the rest from neighbouring villages and some from people who have stayed in the town as tourists.
Genesis
Yesterday’s first reading at Mass was from Genesis and dealt with the visit to Abraham by Yahweh and two companions (minders?). Abraham plays the part of the unreformed man, calling for his wife Sarah to make loaves from three bushels of flour (that’s a lot of bread, unless bushels were a lot smaller in those days), the servant has to kill and prepare the calf and when all is ready Abraham serves everything to his guests. The reading ends with “Then his guest said, ‘I shall come back to you next year, and then your wife Sarah will have a son.’”
But Genesis continues with:
“Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ‘Now that I am past the age of childbearing, and my husband is an old man, is pleasure to come my way again?’ But Yahweh asked Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Am I really going to have a child now that I am old?” Nothing is impossible for Yahweh. I shall come back to you at the same time next year and Sarah will have a son.’ Sarah said, ‘I did not laugh,’ lying because she was afraid. But he replied, ‘Oh yes, you did laugh.’ “
Paul Johnson in his book “Humorists” describes this episode as the first joke in the Bible and points out that it is also a smutty one (is pleasure to come my way again?).
The Row Chapel, Hadleigh
One of Hadleigh’s less well known treasures is the Row Chapel which holds an important place in Hadleigh’s history.
Originally the chapel was intended for those who lived in the alms houses, but now the congregation comes from all parts of Hadleigh with occasional tourists from further afield.
On the first Tuesday in the month a celebration of the Eucharist, Holy Communion, is held using the Book of Common Prayer and including a sermon and hymns sung with enthusiasm. On the other three Tuesdays the service is Matins, Morning Prayer, again from the BCP, again with sermon and hymns. The Chapel predates the reformation and witnessed the journey of Rowland Taylor’s martyrdom in 1555. He gave his last coins to the folk in the alms houses as he was led up George Street to Aldham Common.
The chapel is a spiritual resource to the people of Hadleigh in general and the residents of the almshouses (to the rear of the Chapel) in particular. It is also a focus for visiting tourists.
It’s governing committee is committed to show casing local suppliers, artisans and craftsmen. The committee hope to raise sufficient funds to re-paint the internal plasterwork, install custom made cushions and replace the old carpet.
Funds are raised from the congregation via the after service coffee and biscuits and from donations. So far over £600 has been raised.
I have committed £550 from my Community Locality Budget to assist their efforts
The ambition is to restore the 500+ year old Chapel back to its former important place in Hadleigh’s history.
Exposure
I have just finished reading “Exposure – Inside the Olympus Scandal” which covers the journey by Michael Woodford from being CEO of Olympus, the Japanese imaging company, to the whistleblower who told the world about the financial, accounting and governance irregularities in the company.
Much of the book can be quite technical as it tracks the money. On the other hand it contains truths which can be carried on to many areas. For example:
“Sales is in large part pure hard work; in simple terms getting what you have to show in front of people. It’s a numbers game. The more people you show, the more you will sell. And just be pleasant, natural, honest and listen. We all sell ourselves all the time.”
More interesting (from the governance point of view) is this extract (originally addressed to the company’s Board of Directors):
“Ignorance is no defence. If you were there and not aware of it, then you were incompetent. If you were there, and aware of it without asking tough questions, then you were negligent. Either way, you need to leave.”
The last quotation explains, as well as any, the need for Councillors to be challenging. They are the equivalent of non-executive directors who represent constituents rather than shareholders and practice incompetent behaviour at their peril.
Visions & Priorities
It is generally accepted that organisations which have a clear vision and values have greater chances of success than those whose vision and values are unclear and blurred.
One of Babergh’s Strategic Priorities is to shape, influence and provide the leadership to enable growth whilst protecting and enhancing our environment. One of the outcomes flowing from this priority is that Babergh is open for business and a champion of the local economy.
So it was with some surprise that when visiting the Council’s office foyer in Corks Lane I saw “Take One” boxes advertising theatre and amusements in Norfolk.
I’m always irked when I see pamphlets in Hadleigh promoting Lavenham and yet I never see any leaflets in Lavenham promoting Hadleigh despite Hadleigh Town Council offering to supply as much literature as needed.
Babergh has spent considerable time formulating its vision and priorities. If you want to bring the vision and values to life we all have to “live the brand”. It’s part of the why and how you work. You can see living the brand in any High Street bank where all staff conform to the dress code. It reinforces the values represented by the brand.
So why aren’t Babergh staff living the brand and sharing the values? Why do we promote activities outside of Babergh and even outside Suffolk? Babergh has plenty of attractions and if you are so minded go to http://hadleigh.onesuffolk.net/assets/Tourism/Town-Guide-2011.pdf for a copy of Hadleigh’s Town Guide.
Perhaps running Babergh is like running a cemetery: you’ve got a lot of people under you but nobody listens.
Quis Custodiet
Y
esterday I attended the inaugural meeting of the Babergh & Mid Suffolk Joint Audit & Standards Committee. The first substantive item of business was to approve the Committee’s Terms of Reference (TOR). The TOR is nice document, well written, reasonably unambiguous and for the most part fit for purpose. It is however written by officers and lacks sensitivity to the needs of the tax payers’ and residents.
Readers of this blog will be aware that I often feel that the information and opinions given to us at Babergh are often not as robust as I would like. I’m also conscious that some of my Councillor colleagues are reluctant to challenge and hold the executive to account.
So in a cross group collaboration I suggested that the TOR should be invigorated with the following additional duty:
To peruse, review and comment upon the non-salary expenses of the officers of the joint councils.
You would think that this was a no brainer – but no – the Chairman dithered and at one point suggested that such oversight could be unnecessary. None the less the item was put to the vote and approved (but not unanimously).
Already I can hear the Sir Humphreys in Corks Lane telling me that the new requirements will be too complicated, too expensive, and (I expect) too controversial to implement..
But the outcome will be that our employees will be fully accountable for their travel expenses etc., and we will enjoy a greater degree of transparency.
There’s nothing like the disinfectant of sunlight to force out sloppy practices.
Suffolk AONB Management Plan
Every now and then one gets a glimpse of the other planets that some people seem to inhabit. One of these astronomical events occurred when the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB) Management Plan 2013-2018 came before the Suffolk County Council Cabinet for approval and adoption. This is a well written document and was presented by Councillor David Wood, Chairman of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB Partnership. Suffolk gives £66,000 to the partnership and Babergh also makes a contribution. I raised the issue that at some point a well written document of about sixty pages was handed over to the design consultants who proceeded to add thirty pages of photographs and other illustrations. Whilst I could understand such artistic creativity if we were promoting a tourist brochure, it struck me that here was a classic extravagance bordering upon a total waste of money. Councillor Wood told us that the design was done in house and that design consultants were not used. He did not tell us the role of Spring Design & Advertising Ltd who are credited with the design and production of the plan. What he did say was that the production of the plan did not come out of the monies provided by the County. It came from Defra (Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs). Management plans are all about Management. (The clue is in the title). They do not need photographs. They may need maps and graphs but we do not need money wasted on fripperies. It all comes out of the same pocket – the taxpayers. The report can be viewed and downloaded from http://www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org/about-us/aonb-management-plan/.
Be careful if you print the maps on pages eleven and twelve in greyscale. It makes the coast seem to be under water.
Did I say that Councillor Wood was Leader of the Liberal Democrat and Independent Group at County and a Babergh District Councillor? Leopards do not change their spots and these people regard spending other people’s money in extravagant ways as a God given right. Thank goodness they did not get a majority in May.
Pay Policy at Babergh
Meanwhile on Planet Babergh, the District Councillors are being asked on Tuesday 25th June to approve the Collective Agreement on Employment Terms, Conditions and Policies.
The statement about financial implications of the new agreement is weak and flabby. Not for the first time do we have a lack of detail in this area. I have previously expressed my reluctance to sign blank cheques or to trust bland opinions.
It should be case of running the spreadsheets to get the opinion that that new arrangements will either mean more money in the staff pockets or not. Telling us that the savings targets as set out in the Business Case will be met, has nothing to do with salaries. Meeting the business case is a sine qua non. We expect nothing less!
What we do expect is hard robust opinions from the officers. How else can we have confidence in their assessments.
Towards the end of the summary of staff benefits we find that parking available to staff at the Council office car parks will be free of charge. The residents and visitors to Hadleigh pay for their parking, whether they are in employment or not. The same should apply to the employees at Babergh.
Free parking is not a perquisite to be enshrined in the Collective Agreement!
It would seem that the staff anticipate further charging for car parking and wish to be exempt from the realities of the people who pay their wages.
The full paper may be read on http://bdcdocuments.onesuffolk.net/council/ see paper N26.
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