Political – Local

Babergh District Council (2) Thursday 19th May 2011

Brian Riley Political - Local

The big day arrives. This is the first formal full Council meeting of the new session. We elect (appoint) the chairpersons of various committees and then do  the same for the committee and task group members. If everything has been done properly by the political leaders then the elections are a formality. I get to keep my places on the Overview & Scrutiny (Stewardship), Licensing & Appeals Committees and a place on the Information Management & Technology Group. I drop the appointment as a Babergh representative on the management committee of the Hadleigh High School Dual Use Leisure Centre and instead I am appointed a trustee of the South Suffolk Leisure Group which is to receive a  £2million new fully equipped building in Hadleigh.

I get the sole nomination to the University College Suffolk Foundation Board formerly occupied by Cllr Sue Wigglesworth.
Sue received a “from the floor” nomination. I expected a vote off but we are informed that the Board may no longer be meeting and that the decision should
be deferred until fuller details are to hand.

Now what kind of representative do we have, who doesn’t know whether the post she occupies still exists but if it does that she wants it.

It’s like watching a dog protecting a biscuit!

Babergh District Council (1) Wednesday 18th May 2011

Brian Riley Political - Local, Uncategorized

Today is taken up with training for the newbies and those of us who feel we need a refresher. The morning session is a presentation from the District Solicitor (Kathryn Saward) which looks at meeting procedures and the outward manifestations of probity – particularly the need to declare interests.

I am mentor to one of the newbies and I have twoothers intent on keeping me company on the Overview & Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee. So I have an interest in overseeing the presentations made to them – at a minimum I need to be up to date with developments in the key areas of probity and disclosure. The question to be asked is what to do with allegations of corruption. One has come my way – but as it focuses on meals in
a pub where you can get lunch or dinner for under ten pounds and then on good days where you can buy one and get one free – I am not taking this part of the allegation too seriously. On the other hand I am keeping a watching brief on where the underlying issues might go.

The afternoon is spent on I.T. training. Again the reasons are the same as for the morning except that I am to be a member of the Information Management & Technology Group. The training is quite basic. On a previous occasion I observed someone using the carriage return key! My
contribution to the day was to show everyone how to claim their expenses – particularly mileage and also to give everyone a glimpse of the GIS mapping tools we pay for.

CAFOD & BDC Thursday May12th 2011

Brian Riley Church matters, Political - Local

We go to Sudbury where Alice & I are hosting lunch at Prezzo for two CAFOD officials, the CAFOD rep for Sudbury and Fr. Peter Brett. (I am the CAFOD representative in Hadleigh). We discuss how we might co-ordinate our activities and what events we might promote such as gathering up print cartridges and old mobile telephones.

Later that evening I drop into the Babergh District Council informal get together. Not as entertaining as I expected. But I had a pleasant chat with Dave Busby (Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee) about future plans.

No wine was served at the function and afterwards I dropped into the White Hart to see who was there. I bumped into one of the candidates in Hadleigh South and we had an interesting conversation about his experiences with the Council and the personal history of one or two officers.