Comment posted More controversy as outgoing council Executive meets tomorrow on unexplained Education Capital budget by Tim McIntyre.
Simon – your yellow smilies certainly brighten up our days and help us forget our conspiracy worries!
Of course, conspiracy theories flourish in an information vacuum which was what my post was actually about, and something our dear leaders in Kilmory are all too adept at creating & maintaining.
Tim McIntyre also commented
- The papers for the meeting do not contain any detail on what the money is to be spent on, making it impossible for the public (and councillors?) to judge the wisdom or otherwise of the capital allocations.
The paper does contain the sentence “Improvements to school buildings are targeted at properties in the poorest condition, and building elements which are currently rated as Bad or Poor.”
So why is there apparently no money at all for North Bute school, acknowledged by Cllr Morton at the time of the closure proposals to be in a particularly poor state of repair?
Recent comments by Tim McIntyre
- Conundrums on ‘Challenge: see what you make of these VisitScotland statistics’
The survey results are said to relate only to overnight visitors, so how come only 66% of them spent “one or more nights” in the area? - Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
newsroom – could you not maybe confine your hair-trigger anti-SNP rants to the threads where they are at least vaguely relevant? The schools issue was always largely and commendably non-party-political and for you to suddenly take a hissy fit against one of ARSN’s most committed campaigners and member of the Rural Education Commission, for absolutely no apparent reason, is not only bizarre and irrational but, in your own words, pretty personal and vicious. - Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
The peer-group argument really only comes into play in the tiniest schools. People who talk about ‘classes of 1 or 2′ are perhaps not familiar with the way that small schools work – such a situation would only occur in a school with 1 or 2 pupils in total.In the more typical situation the kids of all ages are taught together in one or two groups. Obviously they each work at their own level, and teaching staff need to develop specific methods – which they seem to do very successfully. The kids benefit from working with older & younger peers which is in any case a key principle of the Curriculum for Excellence.
I don’t know the current situation at Southend, but I doubt it is down to 1 or 2 pupils.
- Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
“…there was eventually agreement that rural authorities are compensated for the challenges of rurality.”Spot on – as we clearly showed was the case in Argyll.
This is one of the reasons why the reasonable-sounding but false assumption that closing rural schools saves lots of money is nonsense. The other key reason is the sky-high and increasing cost of transporting children from one community to another and back every day of the school year.
These factors were always clearly there in the evidence right from the start, as demonstrated time & again by SRSN who must surely now feel thoroughly vindicated.
- Cybernat response shaming as Chris Hoy’s rationality highlights a genuine independence issue
Newsroom – your stories recently appear to be spinning in ever-decreasing circles around a black hole of anti-nationalist sentiment.Another desperate slow-news piece following close on the heels of ‘sh*tgate’.
For goodness sake, get out in the sun for a bit!
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Well, I hope the administration councillors who tend to behave like glove puppets realise that if they really do nod through any stupid – or even vindictive – decisions tomorrow, they’re likely to be digging their own graves. And if any such decisions have been promoted by senior council management, those people would deserve to get the heave without compensation for their years of ‘loyal service’.
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The papers for the meeting do not contain any detail on what the money is to be spent on, making it impossible for the public (and councillors?) to judge the wisdom or otherwise of the capital allocations.
The paper does contain the sentence “Improvements to school buildings are targeted at properties in the poorest condition, and building elements which are currently rated as Bad or Poor.”
So why is there apparently no money at all for North Bute school, acknowledged by Cllr Morton at the time of the closure proposals to be in a particularly poor state of repair?
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It’s exactly what you’d expect from this lot: queering the pitch for the next administration. Typical. And the sooner they are all OUT the better. Three weeks to go, and counting……GRRR and more GRRR
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I wonder if the £75,000 for Luss is their attempt to buy some votes back for mime artist Danny Kelly? Won’t work
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Less than two weeks now Tyger.
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Hre is a little test. Look at the list of schools with capital spend allocated to them and pick your local school. Then call your local councillors and ask them what the money is to be spent on. See if they can answer the question.
I wouldn’t expect them to be able to give a massively detailed description of the capital works proposed but something high level like ‘a roof’ or ‘playground repairs’ or ‘rewiring’ wouldn’t be too much to ask.
If they can’t answer the question then ask them if they voted for this capital budget/plan to be implemented and, if so, why.
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Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean to say that they are not out to get you lot
Calm down dears. What a sorry pile of conspiracy theorists you really are. Crazy thinks giving Luss money is a bribe whilst Tim thinks not giving North Bute money is evidence of ….. well something!!
And all the time this is probably no more than a procedural device to ensure that work can start on schools.
All this excitement over nothing and still two weeks to go (well three for Tyger
)
Take a chill pill and have a nice day
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I think there are two core issues:
1: Firstly the merits of making expenditure decisions just weeks from elections that may change the political make-up and thus priorities of the Council. There should probably be a purdah period ahead of an election on non-urgent expenditure (a month).
2: There is no detail as to what the capital expenditure is for (except for some of the larger ticket items). I’m certainly not complaining about the 55K slated against Barcaldine but neither myself as PC Chair or the HT have any idea what the money is intended for. Good governance would suggest that there should be at least consultation with the people on the ground. Without detail as to what the costs are for, how can the elected members make decisions on whether or not these expenditures are sensible?
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Simon – your yellow smilies certainly brighten up our days and help us forget our conspiracy worries!
Of course, conspiracy theories flourish in an information vacuum which was what my post was actually about, and something our dear leaders in Kilmory are all too adept at creating & maintaining.
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Simon – you know how you are at Kilmory fairly regularly, do you ever talk to the staff when your there. Just wondering how they feel about their emails, telephone calls and how long they are at their desk being monitored by senior management?
Oh, did you know that Dinah MacKay & Janet West have now officially resigned? Silly me, of course you knew that.
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Did they jump or were they pushed?
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If as you say they have resigned, then there is no reason for the A&B wall of silence which was erected as a necessary protection for those under precautionary suspension during disciplinary investigation. I look forward to full and prompt disclosure of the circumstances and events that led to the decision to suspend and to reassurances regarding access to internal communications.
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I wouldn’t bet on it Jake, the council now feels the matter is closed – Oban Times website
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Scruff – didn’t know I was “at Kilmory fairly regularly” – you must be thinking of Simoh…
And what about the Oban Times’s exclusive on the resignations?Well done the OT!!
I expect Newsie’ll tumble to this story get there eventually (http://www.obantimes.co.uk/ ) and print her account* of events at Kilmory days after everyone else.
* prefaced of course by Newsie’s usual “we hear from…”
(a)”a reliable informed source”, or,
(b)”disgruntled insiders” or
(c)”employees who wish to remain nameless for fear of retribution”.
Have a nice day everyone
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Simply on a point of fact, we have never used the expressions: ‘we hear from’, ‘reliable informed source’, ‘disgruntled insiders’ or ‘nameless’.
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However, those phrases might be used to describe Simon – but not the second one?
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Awwww come on, we all know Simon is really just a big old cute and cuddly teddy bear!
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Crazy – does Simon like a bowl of sugar puffs?
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Aw c’mon Newsie – no need to be so touchy!
You might not have used those exact words/phrases but everybody knows you often print stuff with no basis in fact other than your vague “we understand” prefix. Even “doc” and ‘interested bystander’ have taken you to task previously for hearsay and unattributed stories.
In fact your miserable attempt to explain this in a previous reply is worth re-printing here (even down to the old royal we again
)
“When we use the formula:‘We understand…’ it means we have authoritative sources who do not wish to be quoted.
This relates centrally to the culture of retribution this council administration has bred. It is profoundly unhealthy and it is very powerful”.
Now who was it that recently mentioned polishing turds???
‘Newsie for Cooncil communication officer’! Her CV shows turd polishing is a speciality and has loads of experience… of making things up
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