In yet another unproductive ‘smart move’ at Kilmorograd, Councillor James Robb has been excluded from a budget meeting wiht the Council Leader – on the grounds that he is not a group leader.
Councillor Robb is the only non-aligned councillor in the chamber and it is hard to lead a group of one.
These rules are anachronistic and, frankly, silly.
It is in Argyll and Bute’s interests to have as many councillors as are interested and competent in this field to be fully briefed and to be able to interrogate ay questionable figures and fiscal strategy.
Councillor Robb, from our experience in scrutinising councillors’ performance during prolonged engagement in the schools closure programmes, is one of the small number of councillors who are comfortable with figures and accounts. Our education system has not produced widescale competence in this general field.
It is wasteful of Argyll;’s interests to adopt a blanket leader-qualified access to budget meetings of this kid.
One could speculate that Councillor Robb’s exclusion, as a capable potential contributor,is convenient to the administration.
The administration has failed to consider the utility of the ‘group leader’ qualification in its Working Group on Political Management Arrangements – which, ironically, was one of the reasons for Councillor Robb’s resignation from that Working Group.
Mr Robb has now asked the Council Leader for an advance copy of his budget speech on a strictly reserved and confidential basis so he can prepare his response to the administration’s budget before the decision is taken on the day.
By right, there is no excuse for not automatically providing that to every single elected councillor.
It is bizarre that counciullors go into the chamber for the most important meeting of the year – without having had effective prior access to the budget detail and the arguments that have produced it. They are presented with an ineviably fat document with columns of figures in fine print. Go figure.
It is even more bizarre that opposition councillors continue to accept this, by default, as professionally acceptable practice in the responsible management of the affairs of Argyll and Bute.
Councillor Robb says: ‘Councillor Walsh’s budget speech is usually a mixture of actor Kate Winslet’s gushing Oscar acceptance speeches, a Brothers Grimm fairy tale with the SNP Government as the ogre and a bit of the magician Paul Daniels: ‘You’re going to like this, not a lot’. ‘
This procedure of choice may even, God help us, be part of the reason for deliberately withholding the budget documents from elected members – to enable the Leader to pull rabbits out of hats like a tired old entertainer at an end of the pier show.
And Argyll and Bute has some grim examples of piers long neglected by this council – Dunoon, Helensburgh, Craignure…
But. dear readers, on the day – administration and opposition alike – councillors will clap and laugh like ventriloquists dummies. We’ve seen them do it and we get what they continue to buy.
It seems that Walsh & Co are the enemy of transparent, honest government. The sooner they get put through the shredder the better for all of us. If their argument rests on administrative efficiency, they’ve been taking bad advice and need to remember that Mussolini famously made the trains run on time, but look what happened to him.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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There is a bigger issue here, it isn’t about one individual. The Political Management arrangements actively work against non-aligned councillors. It forces councillors into unnatural political groups to get recognised within the Council. This must be changed. Of course some councillors elected as independents openly declare they will join Cllr Walsh’s team if elected . Others don’t. The suspicion is ahead of the election the current group of “independents” controlling the Council (With Lib & Cons support) don’t want that to change this. They can then continue to stand as independents but will re-join the Dick & Dunc team if elected. It should be possible for anyone to stand as a genuine non-aligned councillor and not be forced into a political group or be disadvantaged in participating in Council matters.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I wonder who it is that’s chosen to ‘dislike’ this comment?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Wasn’t me.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Might have been me – Mussolini didn’t make the trains run on time- just one; which was taking him to Rome so that he could then be appointed as ‘leader’ of Italy….
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You can bet your boots they will be some of band of anonymous contributors!
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Just have to say kudos to newsroom on “Kilmorograd”. Excellent play on words for the base of the Dick-tatorship.
Take it as a back-handed compliment James, you must be too honest and intelligent to be at that meeting and they didn’t want to be humiliated…
again LOL
Hot debate. What do you think?
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If James Robb was my councillor,I would be fuming at this turn of events.
A&B administration…….keep it up …you’re doing a fine job!!
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WELCOME to FOR ARGYLL…the completely independent,unbiased,
SNP NEWSLETTER
Hot debate. What do you think?
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How come, exactly?
We’re talking about a procedure that excludes a councillor competent in budgetary matters from a meeting informing those present on the detail of the forthcoming budget for Argyll and Bute on which he will be voting.
This piece is concerned wholly with flawed procedure and the removal of fairly rare expertise from a forum where it should bear down upon Argyll’s best interests.
But hey – what’s reason and evidence when you have shouting to do?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Perhaps Brian thinks party political rant is more important than the quality of our local government.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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LOL @ Brian
Brian, did you happen to READ the above article? James Robb, whom this article is about, is non-aligned.
The issue is about being excluded by the Dick-tatorship.
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Well Brian – you know it makes sense – Be Part of Better, as the saying goes….
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Councillor Robb now that you have been excluded from this meeting you will have sympathy with George Berry who was
stabbed in the back by a local administration councillor just for speaking the truth.If we have no decent and honest
councillors willing to tell us the name of this coward what
does it say to the people who put you in these positions.
Nothing will change in Argyll unless these people are exposed for the garbage they are.Its down to you.
Power to the people.Let Oban know his name.
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Neil, I don’t know. Surely the easiest thing would be for the person involved to just explain what he/she actually did and why they thought it the appropriate action to take. Just ask the question of all the councillors. To save you one letter, I had no part in this whatsoever.
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For councillor Robb.
Thank you for responding, you seem a decent bloke.
Sadly this coward will not come forward, so as a member of the public we have no right to this information even though the council communications manager was involved in doing his dirty work.The personal data laws protect him at the expense of honesty, so where do the people of Argyll go for answers? I find it unbelievable and a insult to our intelligence, to keep being told that other councillors are not aware of what went on, especially the Oban ones.
I will keep asking the question, along with many more in the run up to the elections in May, so hopefully this councillor and his buddies will be exposed for what they are.
Power to the people.
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