Councillor Roddy McCuish, the new Leader of the new administration of Argyll and Bute Council has issued a press statement to clarify, without equivocation, the council position on matters relating to the treatment of young Martha Payne and her NeverSeconds blog on her school dinners.
This statement therefore ‘supersedes all other council statements on the matter already issued’.
Councillor McCuish says:
‘There is no place for censorship in this Council and never will be whilst I am leader.
‘I have advised senior officers that this Administration intends to clarify the Council’s policy position in regard to taking photos in schools’
‘I have therefore requested senior officials to consider immediately withdrawing the ban on pictures from the school dining hall until a report can be considered by Elected Members.
‘This will allow the continuation of the Neverseconds blog written by an enterprising and imaginative pupil, Martha Payne which has also raised lots of money for charity.
‘But we all must also accept that there is absolutely no place for the type of inaccurate and abusive attack on our catering and dining hall staff, such as we saw in one newspaper yesterday which considerably inflamed the situation. That, of course, was not the fault of the blog but of the paper.
‘We need to find a united way forward so I am going to bring together our catering staff, the pupils, councillors and council officials – to ensure that the council continues to provide healthy, nutrious and attractive school meals. This ‘School Meals Summit’ will take place later this summer.
‘I will also meet Martha and her father as soon as I can, along with our lead councillor on Education, Michael Breslin to seek her continued engagement, along with lots of other pupils, in helping the council to get this issue right.
‘By so doing Martha Payne and her friends will have had a strong and lasting influence not just on school meals, but on the whole of Argyll & Bute.’
After this remarkable fiasco will Councillor Roddy McCuish do the decent thing and make a substantial donation to Martha’s charity on behalf of A&B Council as well as issuing an unconditional apology to this poor young student.
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A donation from the senior officers of the Council would be far more appropriate!
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Its nice that the council are really concentrating on the important problems in Argyll.Never mind SPYGATE and Chord lets just a have a big meeting about School dinners.
Anyone got any news about officers retiring and being employed again with the council as consultants just a wee story I got today.Will check up to see if Rhodie has any crack about it.
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Pingback: Argyll News: It’s goodbye from Martha as Council switches off her dinnercam | For Argyll
Yet another near wholly embarassing (yet neither much entertaining or particularly humorous) carry on from out of this astonishingly backward local authority. This incident being ingloriously graced with master classes in fumbling incompetence in the interpretation of facts, inappropriate knee-jerk reactions, & then by embarrassing U-turns accompanied by cliche-ridden, rushed out howls of self-justification from the centre, ‘it wisnae me’ etc etc etc (when justly spotted). All comprehensively demonstrating systemic institutional self-regard, woeful symptoms of myopic arrogance, poor organisational coordination, good old-fashioned pomposity, poor service values in general – & the now customary Stalinist methods that have so often disgraced & discredited this thorough shambles of a local authority.
You really couldn’t invent the catalogue of crass stupidities & self-inflicted wounds that, not infrequently, emanate from the offices of this local council. Barely fit for purpose as an organisation, is the continuing impression that’s created…certainly an impression that’s now well evidenced.
‘Happy to hear that this recent incident of sheer disregard & institutional disdain for the aspirations & views of members of the local constituency (i.e. the actual people of the area) has come to detailed national attention via “The Guardian” newspaper’s website. ‘Delighted also to learn that the story has gone viral across the internet. Welcome to the 21st Century, Argyll & Bute Council – it’s perhaps time to wake up to modern ways of doing things now. Could try very much harder – probably would be a good idea to, not least so as to try to avoid becoming a UK-wide laughing stock, in addition to being increasingly deplored across the real world of 21st century Argyll & Bute.
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Will the person or persons responsible for placing the gagging order on this young lady please put his or her hands up, and then resign from AB. This is a disgraceful episode in what was supposed to be a new open council, shades of the old Mc Intyre regime. We need a full enquiry into this matter, and a review of all funding for childrens meals at school. Someone is making money , and children are not getting value for money.
Lets clear this up and soon before there is a massive public backlash, and heads will roll.
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Time for the person or persons reponsible for making a wrong decision to learn from it. I think calling for resignations is as knee jerk a reaction as the decision to pervent Martha from doing her good work. These times of Tory/Lib Dem imposed austerity are hard enough without individuals giving up salaries simply for making what was in my opinion a bad call.
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I know it’s non-PC and in very bad taste, but I can’t get out of my head the image of the perpetrator of the ban trussed up in a large cooking pot suspended over a brisk fire somewhere in the jungle with a lot of very happy kids dancing around it. Sorry.
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How many mistakes do our well-paid council employees have to make before they are asked to resign. There is a well known say “three strikes and you are out”. Clelland Sneddon and Sally Loudon have certainly made more than three glaring mistakes and it is time for them to be given their P45′s with NO payoff.
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Are you all saying that none of the elected members were involved in this fiasco?
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Lowry: it seems so.
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