Access and Information

As many readers of this site will know, I've been having some problems getting hold of the information I wanted from the Council.

Perhaps some of this was due to the changeover of the council, perhaps some was because I didn't know what I was asking for. However - just a little may be to do with the fact that the Council don't like giving out information that much.

And perhaps this is where I show my age, or perhaps my "culture". Because I've never been one for withholding information. I've always found in my work life that you don't prevent others from attacking you or climbing the ladder quicker than you by withholding information from them - you just end up making yourself look like a bit of a prat.

But for many people it's comforting to keep schtum. I disagree, and that's why I have this blog, and why I got the big wigs here for the day, and why I'm so keen on the leaflets.

There is a concept closely linked to this, and that's one about letting people have their say. I've found over recent months that many people in my ward are upset because they feel their previous Councillors* didn't listen to their point of view. At first, these people are quite angry, but once they feel that they've been heard and you talk about the difficulties involved in getting what they want I find that they're a lot happier.

But for many people it's comforting to keep your head down and never chat to someone who might disagree with you. I disagree, and that's why I quite enjoy talking to the slightly weird fellow on the bus. And the Socialists.

So I'm quite upset that I had to speak out at a Council meeting this week to suggest that "listening" should be the attitude that our council took. At the "Children's and families" scrutiny committee we were asked to consider if we should let the public speak to us at the start of the meeting. This isn't about dealing with particular items on the agenda, it's about Joe Bloggs being able to walk in off the street and speak about anything he likes.

I was agast when it was clear that my colleagues didn't like this idea. Their concerns were that it would allow the public to raise anything they wanted....I mean, the cheek of the taxpayer to think they should have their say!

The current way this works is that there is a public speaking time of 10 or 15 minutes, in which each speaker may be limited to a couple of minutes. It's not like you can get stuck with a 2 hour diatribe - and as we're a scruity committee and not part of the executive we don't have to, and in fact can't, give on the spot answers.

But it works. We had a representative in from the Older Peoples Network who had concerns about funding a couple of months ago and we got her problems dealt with. To be honest - although it's 10 minutes of your life which you'll never get back, every now and then it throws up points of view you'd never ever considered.

We voted on it, and my view won, just. 6 votes to 5. Unfortunately, this is being decided by higher powers and this only goes to represent our committes viewpoint, but at least it's a start.


****************************
* Edit for clarification:

Some people have contacted to ask why I was singling out my colleagues, Andrew and Liz, who previously represented Ivy Ward for criticism. Of course the truth is I wasn't - the entire ward that I represent was covered by up to 3 of a possible 7 different representatives previously, depending on where you lived. Only 2 of these are from the same party as me.

Previous to getting elected, I contacted one of my ward Councillors named above with regards to an issue that we had. I received a quick response from the Councillor in question, followed by contact from an officer of the Council who dealt with the issue. I was another satisfied customer.

I wasn't specific because I felt that those with "good" Councillors know who they are, and those who had trouble getting their voice heard would similarly know who their Councillors were.

But if it's still not clear: I'm not a Labour supporter.