Comment posted Council lose Court of Session case raised by Helensburgh Landlord by Ken MacColl.
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.
Recent comments by Ken MacColl
- The Stones, The Stars and Professor Thom
Genuinely sorry to miss this talk but Putechan Lodge is a long haul from Oban!
Professor Sandy Thom is the grandfather of my sister-in-law and was a genuine polymath-with wideranging interests and considerable expertise in engineering, mathematics, astronomy, sailing and almost any other field that attracted his interest.He was truly “a living example of the power of a flexible mind and a versatile disposition.”
During the war he worked on the aereodynamics of fighter aircraft.
Only after retiring from the Professorial Chair of Engineering Science at Oxford did he devote his undivided attention to one of his many other interests, the locatin and distribution of megalithic monuments across the west coast of Scotland and further afield.He worked closely with Marion Campbell in Mid Argyll. He is considered to be the father of archaeoastronomy.
If you are able, go to the talk and enjoy.
Then support the campaign to safeguard the Sighthill Stone Circle. - Disappointing stunting from Michael Russell
And, W.S., if you reveal your name, will we be entitled to make assumptions or presumptions about your ethnicity -as if it should matter? - Another question for Andrew Mitchell
Were it not for whistleblowers and serious investigative jounalists-for too few around at present-we would know far less about those entrusted with our government. - Campbell Cameron: Saying Yes
Pot, kettle , black….responding to Gus mackay is rarely a productive exercise but could I suggest that while the march was in support of Independence for Scotland, those who carried placards stating “YES” were in support of that cause.
My family had a long tradition of active support for the Labour party in Argyll and I recall how my father used to explain to me when I was a child the importance of countries like India and Ireland gaining control over their own destiny. Mind you he also spoke about the obscenity of nuclear weapons and the massive importance of the NHS and the principle that care should be free at the point of delivery.At that time the abolition of the House of Lords was a stated aim of the party.As a working class boy who got to university he would have been appalled at the notion of the Labour Party introducing student fees. I suspect that he would not have been singularly unimpressed with either Blair or Brown.
Devolution, even in times of financial stricture, has mostly worked well for Scotland and it has worked best in those areas where services, like Health and Education are in our Holyrood’s control and our own priorities are able to be addressed – contrast those with the chaos under Westminster control! The progression to independence is part of the process started in 1999 and perhaps the most significant factors of Saturday’s rally were the contributions from Dennis Canavan, Ruth Wishart and the growing Scottish Labour for Independence movement. - Campbell Cameron: Saying Yes
I am the bloke in the blue fleece and I am entitled to look older than Campbell Cameron for the simple reason that I am considerably older.Campbell is as hale and hearty as ever.
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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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