tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35761729.post-1160432337399465042006-10-09T22:02:00.000Z2006-10-09T22:36:14.850Z3rd March 2006<br /><br />I have just completed my fifteenth year on Salisbury District Council and am now the longest serving member and “Father of the House” (at the relatively young age of 45). Over the weekend, I was contemplating the changes which I have seen. For one thing, the faces have changed. I have served for 8 times longer than the new Leader of the Council!<br /><br />The outgoing Leader of the Council, Cllr Kevin Wren - and his deputy John Collier - worked hard to keep the Conservative Group united. Kevin just about managed to keep the lid on the divisions.<br /><br />However, the Council is now on the verge of financial chaos. There has been a significant increase in the number of staff employed by the Council, massive spending on propaganda and spin, and big rises in the Council Tax to pay for it all.<br /><br />The Housing Wardens scheme for elderly people has been destroyed and the villages have been penalised by cuts to leisure provision. The Tories have tried to blame this on the Government – but it has been down to their own poor management really.<br /><br />The only way in which this is going to change is if new, fresh faces come forward from the rural Wards next May to stand as non Conservative Councillors.<br /><br />You get the Council you deserve and if you are angry about the way the Council performs, you need to get in there and change it.<br /><br />The best that can be said of the new leadership is that the Tories have at least elected a competent Deputy Leader in Fred Westmoreland. Fred is a likeable man and has friends on both sides of the Chamber. I don’t think anyone knows much about Cllr Britton. He simply hasn't been around long enough - which is probably why they picked him.<br /><br />The one major embarrassment from his perspective, so far, was on rural transport for teenagers. Britton was put in to box at the State of the District debate last year. In response to a reasonable - but repeated - question about whether he would put money into supporting transport schemes which helped local young people get into towns to use the local leisure centres., he said: "Yes".<br /><br />He now denies that he said it, but too late, we all heard him say it. It was a simple case of being backed into a corner by the radio interviewer (the always professional Ceri Jones), who wasn’t going to let go. “Are you going to do anything about it, or not?” Answer: Yes!. Nothing has been done. It is probably a County Council responsibility anyway.<br /><br />I'm now beginning to feel the Lib Dems provide a sensible alternative. We put a budget amendment this year, and forced it to the vote. It was council tax neutral. Cuts to the budget for spin. Cuts to salaries for Cabinet members. Cuts to the number of high paid directors.<br /><br />Of course, over the years there have been many changes to the structure of local government. My own view is that Cabinet Government at the local level doesn’t work. It ttakes power away from ordinary elected Councillors and gives it to a small elite of Councillors chosen by their party. It therefore increases the power of the political party at the expense of local people and local accountability. Of course the Labour and Conservative Parties just love it!<br /><br />Liberal Democrats want to devolve power and give it back to local people in local villages. We trust the people more than we trust the Party! That, at the end of the day, is one of the reasons I'm still happy to call myself a Liberal Democrat after all of these years!Paul Samplenoreply@blogger.com