Comment posted Council lose Court of Session case raised by Helensburgh Landlord by newsroom.
The incoming administration – entitled, as elected members, to see the legal advice received on this matter, might make it public in the interests of transparency.
Recent comments by newsroom
- Radically new council group changes all the dynamics: party politics dead in Argyll
The fact is that the SNP councillors in the Argyll and Bute for Change group are not ‘SNP councilors’ in council group terms – as rules forbid membership of more than one group.
So the ‘Russell camp’ is definitely no longer in the council’s SNP group, although presumably they will personally vote in elections according to their preferences.
And IF the other 8 SNP members have actually joined [as opposed to supporting [the Argyll, Lomond and the Isles group, there is no formal SNP group at all in Argyll and Bute Council.
If this has become the situation, it means that the SNP as a party has no right of purview over the behaviour of ANY of its originally elected councillors, none of whom would now be SNP councillors.
You have to say this is fun. It's not politics but it is a laugh. - Argyll and Bute Council: Councillor McCuish leads again
As given in one of the recent updates above - the missing person is Councillor Strong - from the, as of this morning, Argyll and Bute for Change Group. This would leave that group with 18 members but only 17 present to vote - which would not be enough to carry them to administration IF all other 18 councillors voted together.
This has to be likely but in the current situation the finessing is so arcane that one cannot be certain of anything until it's done. - Argyll and Bute Council: Councillor McCuish leads again
The fact is that they were quite prepared to work with the Liberal Democrat and Conservative groups - but were ordered by the the SNP to face expulsion from the party or to leave the administration that was planning just such a coalition.
We do not yet know what the SNP party position is today - although in our 14.15 update above, we have laid out the range of possibilities - but we do know that the 8 SNP Councillors have not resigned from the party. - Argyll and Bute Council: Councillor McCuish leads again
Sincere apologies for the temporary error - now corrected - and thank you for the prompt.
We are doing our level best - live - to get changing situations out to people as fast and as best as we can.
When we inevitably have the odd muddle [like cloning Mary Jean Devon], it is corrected very quickly. - Argyll and Bute Council: Councillor McCuish leads again
Apologies. We’re working flat out to keep the information coming. Anne Horn got submerged by a second Mary Jean Devon – correction now made.
It IS a confusing situation because the council has elected a leader with no obvious administration to lead.
That comes next.
With two 18-strong groups, the issue is how will a decision be made?
We think that the Provost has a casting vote – a situation which with the Provost and the Depute Provost now in the same camp, cannot be other then controversial.
We cannot afford to drop an entire day for an event of indeterminate length so we do not know whether Provost Councillor Isobel Strong is in the Chair; or whether she is still absent through serious illness.
If she is absent through illness, this would not have prevented her known wishes form being recorded as her membership of the group named in the council email at the top of this article.
However if she was absent, it would prevent her from voting.
But the impact of that vote would depend on who else is absent.
It has been pointed out to us that Councillor Semple has posted on his facebook page since the meeting began – raising a question we cannot answer: Is he absent – which would balance the Strong vote if she is absent; or is he posting from the chamber as matters wind their interminable way through to some conclusion or other.
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‘How much has this cost?’ – presumably quite a lot, if the council took it to the High Court. If ‘the calibre of the legal advice that the council and its officers are receiving internally and externally’ is toxic, perhaps the council could limit their loss by terminating (or at the very least transferring out of harm’s way) the internal adviser responsible for this debacle, and deducting the council’s costs from their pension package. External advisers could be difficult to sue, but it would be reassuring to have it confirmed that no more advice would be sought from that source.
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What a wonderful idea and just to balance things up when the Council wins a dispute the advisor could be given a huge bonus. Do you honestly expect a local authority to win every case it contests? It must be good to be utterly perfect like yourself. I’m surprised you didnt make a bigger mark on the world.
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Sorry if I hit a nerve, JayC – perfection’s got nothing to do with it – why are you defending the advisers who’ve dropped the council in it, when the council’s struggling for want of finance? Or do you think the council’s a glorified job creation scheme for the senior staff, and anything goes? A case of the ‘untouchables’?
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No nerves here bt if you want to penalise poor performance lets rewards good performance! The suggestion that an employees pension should be altered as a result of “interpretation of law” is ridiculous. Based on both your and Coracles thinking then I assume you’ll be shouting for Alex Salmond /Keith Brown to go if the contractor challenging the Serco Ferries tender award is successful? After all we all want consistency and transparency! As DC would say LOL.
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Shouldn’t your ‘interpretation of law’ read ‘misinterpretation of law’? You’re mixing threads, but no, I wouldn’t be calling for a fatwa on politicians; whoever ‘managed’ the Kilcreggan ferry fiasco in SPT should be given the bum’s rush, and if someone in Transport Scotland bungled the Northern Isles contract they should be held accountable. It’s surely reasonable to expect people to be adequately qualified to adequately execute their job, and you could be picking a bad time to suggest giving rewards for not screwing up – witness recent shareholder’s meetings, and the furore over London bus drivers threatening strike action unless they get extra money for doing their jobs during the Olympics. p.s. in some places LOL is translated as ‘Lordy oh Lordy’ – take your pick.
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It might be illuminating to see the Council’s record in such cases over, say, the past ten years. There has been , I suspect, a policy of attempting to “face down” possible litigants with the threat of expensive High Court action. Of course we do not then hear of the consequences when the bluff is called and the people of Argyll & Bute pick up the tab.
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As a Council taxpayer in Argyll & Bute and I suspect you are also, I do not expect this Council to continue wasting our money in court cases that they quite obviously cannot win. This case bares all the hallmarks of one I have just won against them(another waste of money). The time has come for the Council Officer/s who are responsible for filling Brodies bank account with our Council tax money to be exposed and forced to explain there actions. This blatant misuse of money in a private business would be treated as commercial suicide. However it seems that these officers are left to make there own decisions and waste Council tax money in a cavalier fashion without any of our Councillors being fully informed of what is going on and the likelihood of success. Lets hope our new administration put an end to this and the money wasted is utilised on far more important cash strapped services.
This may even lead to the children in Lochgilphead getting a decent school dinner..
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incompetence but also sleazey as the council tries to evade a few pounds on a technicality but loses thousands in the resulting court case. bin louden must go.
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With you on that one coracle. They obviously don’t assess Best Value on their own performances.
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It might be worth pointing out that this incompetence was yet another example of why the administration had to change.
We now have a new one.
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Can someone please say what this premises is used for and what is the justification for renting this property? How much property does the Council rent in total?
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Hotbird, this is the Graham Williamson Building which is the Council’s main IT centre.
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Hi George,
Is the IT centre going to be relocated into the new Clyde Centre building or are those plans not firmed out yet?
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Integrity, the details have still to be finalised.
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Thanks, Councillor Freeman.
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The incoming administration – entitled, as elected members, to see the legal advice received on this matter, might make it public in the interests of transparency.
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LOL. Me has preference for Dave Cameron’s reported use as LOTS OF LOVE. What we all need, particularly directed toward our new administration entrusted by us, the electorate, to bring forth better local government.
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