For those who may follow our Blogs, you will be interested to know that at the Full Council Meeting this week Councillor Baines asked a question to explain the facts I had raised in the Letter to the Editor I wrote, the question was addressed to Councillor King to respond.
I have repeatedly said that Councillors must base their judgement on fact. Those facts should normally be presented fully and clearly in Council Reports, or be readily available for Councillors to see in Records and Minutes of Meetings etc. These facts should also be first fully analysed in detail by Scrutiny, before any far reaching decision is taken by Councillors.
I have also said that we, as a Group, will only report known facts that we have researched or obtained through Freedom of Information requests where required. As far as we are concerned, such information should be made readily available for members of the public for them to also form a clear opinion and understand the decisions being taken.
In his reply on Monday, Councillor King attempted to address the areas I had raised whereby I stated that Rutland Council could have saved huge sums of money, running into Millions. Sadly, practically everything he related was not a reflection of the facts.
One of the problems faced by Councillors is in confirming what Councillor King states, since in every major Asset Disposal and major Capital Project, it has been solely in the hands of Councillor King. There would of course be no problem with this if there was a clear paper trail, with Reports and clearly recorded Minutes for all to see, in fact this is essential, since, if Councillor King were unable to fulfil his role as a Councillor then anyone should be able to step in and fully familiarise themselves with the situation. (You will find that when I Chaired the “Future Provision for Social Services Working Group”, we had a fortnightly meeting which was fully Minuted and made available for all to see, including the public, we also fulfilled this project without employing a single Consultant or Project Manager.)
Most of the major Capital Projects, asset disposals and planning decisions have taken place in Councillor Gale’s Ward, yet, as we have reported, Councillor Gale has been totally excluded from being involved in any capacity and has been refused access to see any of the Reports, Files or Minutes. This can only suggest one of two things, either those Reports/Minutes/Files do not exist or for some reason those involved do not wish Councillor Gale to be fully appraised of just what is taking place.
Through Freedom of Information requests surrounding these projects, information has been found that has NOT been reported to Councillors or Council, very important and essential information for Councillors to make a proper decision, especially when it involves so much money. In fact, some of this information clearly contradicts what Councillor King has stated
It is choice, therefore, that Councillor Baines should ask his question to be addressed by Councillor King yet does not first contact me or ask to meet with me to explain the facts behind what I had written. If he chooses to ask for such an explanation we are fully prepared to present it to him. Perhaps then Councillor Baines will choose his words more carefully when trying to so abusively denigrate us in Council.
However, one of the main problems we have is that this dialogue should not be taking place at all, since all the facts, files, Minutes and records of meetings etc. should be readily available for all to see, including the public. It should not be us as Councillors who have to do all this detailed research. Furthermore, if Councillor Baines is unclear as to the facts he should be doing his own research, unless of course he is fully appraised of just what is going on whilst others haven’t a clue. People have repeatedly said that Rutland Council operates as a Cabal and I have found nothing to suggest otherwise.
