Comment posted Council lose Court of Session case raised by Helensburgh Landlord by Integrity? Not in the ConDemAll.
Hi George,
Is the IT centre going to be relocated into the new Clyde Centre building or are those plans not firmed out yet?
Recent comments by Integrity? Not in the ConDemAll
- Conundrums on ‘Challenge: see what you make of these VisitScotland statistics’
Do you have a link to it? - Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
To my knowledge nobody is judging parents for their choices but isn’t it wonderful that they still have that choice?ARSN has gone on record many times to say that they are not blanket opposed to school closures, just opposed to closures which do not provide an educational benefit and which are progressed without the interests of the children at their root.
Parents and grand parents will always put what they believe their children’s best interests are first (and rightly so) and it was one of many insulting slurs made by ABC during the closures issue that this was not the case.
Luss is a prime example of a school with a small number of pupils in a small number of classes which thrives educationally, and there are no signs that its pupils are suffering form the issues you mention Islay (however that doesn’t mean it might not be an issue elsewhere). Didn’t stop ABC insinuating that rural schools can produce ‘socially dysfunctional’ children.
- Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
My reference to Helensburgh appears to have sparked something it was never meant to spark.It was a source of frustration for ARSN that the argument was constantly put forward that rural schools, and rural children, were somehow overly privileged, yet the lack of other council services in rural areas conveniently ignored.
However none of us would have ever entertained the idea of turning the table and, for example, advocating closing or amalgamating urban schools, even if the proposal could have been put forward using the same flawed arguments as ABC used to close the rural ones.
Tim is right to say that ARSN wasn’t political. There were a few blinkered individuals on here who, as soon as an ARSN member supported local schools, instantly assumed we were Mike Russell’s sheep however it was normally by people with a limited understanding of the issue at hand.
Anne is right to say that Helensburgh need to join in, and she knows full well that so do Dunoon, Oban, Luss, Barcaldine etc etc – all she was doing was responding to my reference to Helensburgh (which I made purely because it was the urban area I am most associated with). It was not the demonisation of an area but a call for us to cast off these stupid idea that rural and urban areas can’t work in co-operation with each other.
- Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
JohnI certainly hope you are right about urban and rural communities not turning on each other. During the previous schools campaign it was staggering how many Helensburgh people were adamant the schools should close (often without ever having bothered to even read the reports or make any effort to ascertain any facts).
The tired, somewhat idiotic, and entirely incorrect argument about rural children getting a private school education and the even more ridiculous one about rural communities bleeding the urban ones of funds was trotted out time and time again.
- UK National Lottery Good Causes in Scotland
AngusApologies for slight rounding as I don’t have exact figures to hand but doesn’t that mean funding has been awarded at about the same % as the population spread?
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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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