Barnet Council has just announced that it is cancelling Local Resident Forum meetings due to the forthcoming Euro elections. Now given that the date of these has been known for months, if not years, surely the Council should have booked the residents forum meetings around them? Is it that hard? How much money has been wasted booking, publicising, then cancelling them?
Sure in the scheme of things it's a small amount, but isn't it indicative of a culture of sloppiness & waste?
Rog
ReplyDeleteThey are being canceled because of the council by-elections in Edgware and Totteridge wards not the Euro elections. The by-elections were not known until the Councillors involved resigned.
Firstly, to my knowledge, they were cancelled on or about 7 May. Secondly the email cancelling them did refer to Euro elections. I can't understand why they should be cancelled. Effective chairing would sidestep any issues.
ReplyDeleteMaybe in respect of the Chipping Barnet meeting concerns over the capability of the Chairman to maintain order were high up? Who knows.
Yeah, get with the beat, daddy-o, this was announced a while back and indignation was expressed by Andrew Dismore and in the first instance by residents.
ReplyDeleteIt was one of the reasons that Democratic Services acceded to our request to present our petition on the warden services to the Mayor: no residents' forums + no facility to put public questions at the May council meeting = big lack of democratic accountability just when there is a big issue brewing of great public interest = not good = give them this sop or they will kick up a big stink and the council will look even more out of touch than it does already.
The cancellation is still rankling!
I'm not saying I think they should have been cancelled.
ReplyDeleteThe councillors' resignation was announced on the 22nd April. The notification of the cancellation did mention both elections but it's pretty clear that the by-elections triggered the move to cancel them.
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/meetings/meetingdetail.asp?meetingid=2492
ReplyDelete<< shows the nonsense of this decision. I clearly remember Chairing this meeting DURING the Council elections of 2006 when I was a candidate in the area of the forum and the room was full of candidates for the election. We conducted the meeting, as the notes show, without 'electioneering' and the requirements of purdah were not breached.
So I wonder again have the legal team concluded that the Chairmanship of the Fora is now so inexperienced and unskilled that the rish is just too high? Is there another explanation? It never used to be an issue as previous practice shows, so what gives?