Co-operation and Cabinet

Bristol's Labour Party could decide tonight not to accept places on the new Mayor's Cabinet or to advise the Mayor (see here) and impose a ban on all its members. I hope they dont [**see the series of updates below!]. Local govt co-operation between parties is eminently sensible – and it’s what people have voted for, so this should be recognised provided the new Cabinet is: committed to taking decisions openly and accountably; and its members are able, diplomatically, to speak their minds and not own every single Mayoral decision.

Each individual Councillor and Party needs to change mindset and both scrutinise, criticise and support as appropriate. Conscience first not party – that’s what they are supposed to be doing according to the code of conduct they sign up to in any case! This code includes ‘making decisions on merit’ and reaching ‘their own conclusions on the issues before them and act in accordance with those conclusions’.  Councillors have power through a vote on the council, through committee work and through lobbying the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Asst Mayors when in place. Hopefully some power will be properly and effectively devolved to local councillors and people in neighbourhoods soon too.

Labour were the party with councillors that got the most votes and in next May's local elections Labour are likely to make gains on the council - the Tory and Lib Dem vote has sunk and is unlikely to recover enough for them not to suffer councillor losses. I'm most in favour of people getting into the Cabinet on the basis of merit not party but having said that the Mayor should also take into account which parties the public are voting for.
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[Update 22 November: According to The Post Bristol's Labour Party last night voted against taking up three Cabinet seats offered to them and so have have refused the opportunity to argue for their policies directly with the Mayor and others. Its still unclear to me whether they voted to ban all members from taking part.]

[Update 23 November: According to The Post Labour Councillors in Bristol have agreed to join the Mayor's Cabinet and have gone against the local party vote. Its a good sign that Labour Councillors have asserted themselves. Its Bristol's voters they have to be listening to and not just the local party and they seem to have done that. Which Councillors finally end up doing what is not yet finaliised though.]

[Update 26 November (!!!): According to Bristol 24-7 and ITV West and The Post Labour's South West regional organisation, probably with some central party influence, has prevented Bristol's Labour Councillors from joining the Mayor's Cabinet. This has caused Cllr Peter Hammond the Leader of Bristol's Labour Councillors to resign. It remains to be seen whether individuals choose to defy this intsruction.]

Better Bristol

We need to talk about Bristol - and why it just can’t get things done like other cities. says the Post. Why can’t Bristol get things done like other cities? Not sure that Bristol is that much worse than the average - this would need quite a bit of looking into to establish properly. That aside however, I do agree that Bristol doesn't get things done. The key reasons as I see them: petty party politics and very poor cooperation between the parties; lack of vision and proper strategic thinking; frequently poor quality candidates coming forward to be councillors, spokespersons and cabinet members; relatively low status of being a councillor; ineffective and inefficient council systems and organisation; lack of joined up thinking resulting in lack of coherence and sometimes contradictory policies and practices; poor attitude towards consulting and involving the public genuinely - and poor attitudes in the public towards getting involved; being stifled and slowed down by the political system as a whole, in particular by central govt. These are pretty fundamental problems that only a large cultural change can solve - and I strongly suspect this is far from limited to Bristol.

Optimism on sorting Bristol's transport problems

The Bristol Evening Post says 'Bristol's metro is not as far off track as you might think'. I hope they are right and can help build up momentum for change on this issue. As many of my blog posts show I'm in favour of a Greater Bristol Integrated Transport Authority that implements a sustainable transport plan. History points to lack of agreement and cooperation between the local authorities though. If agreement and cooperation is reached they still need to get the process of decision making right: exploring the situation; formulating problems, opportunities and systems of interest; identifying feasible and desirable changes; taking actions; and re-exploring etc as appropriate. They need to fully involve as wide a range of people as possible right from the start, ensure good quality, comprehensive information is widely disseminated, get genuine cross-party and cross-organisational cooperation, agree the right goals, get finances sorted, assess technologies fairly and broadly, find a combination of technical, behavioural and socio-economic change that will consistently take us in a firmly sustainable direction... Its nothing like as straightforward and obvious as this Post report - which has a strong technocratic, techno-optimist slant - suggests.

Talks between town green and new stadium sides

Its a good thing for both sides to talk issues through. Polarisation and vilification that has occurred during the debate has hindered rational consideration. I watch with interest to see what is proposed, by whom, and what the final outcome is.

A DOOR has finally opened which could break the deadlock over Bristol City building a new stadium at Ashton Vale.

Bristol's football and rugby clubs sharing one good, new stadium: eminent good sense

Letter from todays Evening Post that I agree strongly with:

I HAD a nightmare last night. I woke up in a sweat realising that I had definitely lost the plot. Was I going mad? I had dreamt that the directors of Bristol City, Bristol Rovers and Bristol Rugby actually got together around the same table – and discussed how one, state of the art stadium could be built to house one united Bristol City football club and Bristol Rugby. How wild was that?

The plans even included an athletics track, indoor sporting facilities etc that could rival other major cities. I simply had to wake up from this crazy nightmare.

Surely we are never going to achieve Premiership football status with two mediocre teams, or a Premiership rugby side with a struggling first division side. We do need creative thinking, vision, financial investment and a team of enthusiastic 'drivers' who could perhaps make my nightmare a reality.

It will never happen if things remain as they are and the City shows no ambition. My dream stadium was going to be built somewhere along the M4 / M5 corridor which has good connections to motorways and rail links whilst away from residential areas.

Thank goodness I woke up then and realised that I was having a really mad crazy idea, and that, thank goodness, it was only a dream. We must carry on here in Bristol with second best, of course.

Sonny,
Portishead.

Elections and coalition government

I’d just like to put on public record my thanks to the many hundreds of people who supported my views and campaigning for economic wellbeing, social justice and environmental protection by voting for me as the Green candidate for Bristol East in the general election and for Knowle in the local elections. I’m finding the coalition government election outcome a fascinating one to see developing and unfolding. I have mixed feelings about the coalition because whilst I support the principle and practice of cooperation and consensus decision making between all parties it is very clear that the Liberal-Conservative Government is far from progressive and modern: it is planning both huge cuts in public services and large tax rises; the AV voting system we are to have a referendum on is no more fair and proportional than the current system and just tends to reinforce the status quo power of centre-ground politics; the new Cabinet does not fairly reflect our population eg 83% are male and 65% went to either Oxford or Cambridge; it has no more idea on how to reconcile our economy and society with the environment to build a fair, green and sustainable future than the Blair or Brown Governments.

The voluntary, community and social enterprise sector

Fighting for equality, sustainability, democracy, local community, self-reliance and cooperation is inherent to being Green. We want: fairness for all; to meet needs and provide plentiful opportunities now and in the long term; openness and accountability; strong and empowered local communities and economies; all people and sectors working together. The Green Party vision is of a strong, independent Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector making a vital contribution to socially and environmentally sustainable living and enhancing our wellbeing. Central and local government need to play a constructive, enabling role and develop and empower the sector.

VCSEs have grown and they play many different roles. This includes: provision of services to individuals, groups and to the environment, [though they should not be used to deliver public services on the cheap]; offering mutual provision of support and self-help by members to members; advocacy; education and research; and community business. They play a key part in the economic, social, cultural and environmental life of local communities and our society. Individuals and communities often come together to form organizations to carry out purposes that have not been adequately recognized by other institutions.

The sector competes against vastly better-resourced competitors often on an unequal playing field at present and yet risk taking and innovation is a key characteristic of many VCSEs. This puts them at the cutting edge of social, political, economic and environmental development in our society – though they should not be used as a pawn in the battle to roll back the frontiers of the state. The community and voluntary sector brings many benefits: building of civil society; strengthening our democracy; discussion of topical matters – and taking action on issues; contributing to the economy; helping people who have problems finding paid work transition into jobs; job creation; skills development; research and development; and linking communities.

In recent times Bristol’s Greens have welcomed the local government performance framework National Indicator 7 becoming a part of the Local Area Agreement - the voluntary sector needs the right kind of environment to thrive and this is a step in the right direction – but more is needed. Our policies commit us to: do away with the heavily centralised political system and empower local authorities and VCSE to help each other much more. We want to support and strengthen the community development and VCSEs support functions of Local Government based on principles of empowerment, participation and mutual respect. Greens support quality education and training programmes which increase sector capacity at all levels, both within and outside the formal education system.

Greens will provide sustainable funding of VCSEs and redesign the banking system with more emphasis on local communities and recirculating money throughout the local economy. Our intent is to: overcome problems with access to capital; see reinvestment of profits locally; support community activities and voluntary organizations; have local community banks administer a community development fund; provide investment funds for local enterprises engaged in ecologically sustainable businesses; make loans available to small business and community enterprises using innovative as well as traditional forms of security; have community ownership, including democratically elected, accountable shareholder directors; provide full retail and small-to-medium business banking services. Greens support the development of local currency and time banking schemes such as LETS, Time Banking, bartering and alternative currencies.

We will lay the basis for a cultural shift in favour of VCSEs through a charter for volunteers and carers outlining the statutory right to time off for education, public service and voluntary work. Greens would introduce a minimum income level beneath which no-one could fall, but upon which the vast majority of people could live - a Citizen’s Income - financially underpinning volunteering. We would ensure Government policy across all departments recognizes the contribution of volunteers, and foster a culture which promotes and supports volunteering as a key part of community life.

All elected Greens will keep up the pressure on statutory authorities to abide by Compact guidelines, drawing attention to those that do this well, pointing out those who do not. Recession is biting, EU and UK funding schemes are going/gone – how well are Bristol VCSEs coping with this? With VCSEs in Bristol relatively well-organised and well-represented they are perhaps doing better than many. But we are not out of the woods. We don’t yet have the culture needed to ensure that VCSEs can cope well in hard times and thrive in good times – that culture is what Greens are working for.

Greens want the divisive past few decades reversed so that there is no artificial separation between large and smaller VCSEs and no sacrifice of distinctiveness to compete for contracts. Good funding, effective capacity building, full cost recovery is what VCSEs need. Full and proper participation in decision making and proper use of the sector’s expertise in shaping communities and meeting needs is vital to the sustainable society Greens aim for.

No proper systems thinking in transport

This story 'Bristol rail link could be scrapped in favour of bendy buses' (Post, 13 Jan) and the ensuing online debate shows that we dont yet seem capable of building a properly integrated transport system which makes the best use of the most appropriate technologies. Rational assessment of transport needs? Comparing and contrasting rail vs bendy-bus [and other]technologies? I think not. Some faceless person, somewhere decided long ago to favour bendy buses in Bristol and the surrounding areas and proper assessment has gone out of the window.

There is fair bit of argy bargy (though not in the same sense as in a rugby union match!) between cycling and rail enthusiasts on the Post's website. There has also been argy bargy between the various councils in the West of England who have not been able to work together effectively to develop a proper integrated transport system run by an area transport authority as a proper public service. Where is the cooperation and joined up thinking ie systems thinking?? Where is the full and proper technology assessment?

I'm not a big fan of bendy buses/bus rapid transit (BRT) and its a shame that for the moment its the only game in town with serious money available. For me it is of very limited ambition. The sums involved are too small. The coordination is rubbish - and as for genuinely participative planning using social, economic and environmental information made available in a early, timely and effective way just forget it!!

I've been to many public meetings about BRT, especially about proposals in/near Knowle. I've put questions about the cost-benefit analysis they say they go through: what techniques are used for assessing non-market costs and benefits eg health, social changes? Why/how is a money value assigned? Is the net present value of each course/option assessed? What discount rate is used - and if the discount rate is fairly high does this mean a low value is assigned to the longer term? Does the 'currency' used in cost-benefit have to be money eg why not energy?? Often I'm fobbed off or only get a partial answer and I'm always given the impression that there are very large scale accuracy [more like inaccuracy!] issues which mean that you can choose to get the outcome politically chosen as opposed to objectively decided.

Bristol primary schools axed

Two Bristol primaries axed...This is a shocking decision. Bristol City Council's Primary School Review should be totally reassessed. It shows scant regard for the quality of educational relationships and experiences that children and parents get at smaller schools.

There should indeed be an extraordinary meeting of the whole council organised. There should be a vote of no confidence in the current Labour Administration. All political parties should be planning how the city will be run and by what party or arrangement between the four parties if Labour loses the vote. I'd certainly vote against this leadership and administration.

Bristol City Council Leadership Crisis

'Bristol City Council could be left leaderless because of in-fighting between the three main parties...' reports the Bristol Evening Post. It seems to me that there are some pretty big personality clashes to add to the party political differences. These have developed and deepened over some considerable time as the petty and unethical squabbling has gone on. People involved dont seem to be big enough rise above these. The 'advice' given by national party figures/structures may also worsen chances of cooperation as the big parties focus on winning certain parliamentary seats, local wards and also getting MEPs elected. The problem to be solved according to Lab, Lib and Tory parties is how to get elected and stay in office and not transport, education, the local economy and environment....

In my view it would help a great deal if we elected the whole council all in one go. Stalemate seems to me to be more likely if we go on electing just a third of the council at any one time.

All parties on the council should form an executive together

In breach of the law, the first meeting of the newly elected Bristol City Council on 15 May failed to select a council leader and appoint an executive.

The electorate in Bristol have voted such that there is no one party in overall control, requiring a cooperative approach from councillors instead of the squabbling and posturing that we've got instead.

Squabbling and posturing has long been a feature of Bristol City Council's members so what's happened so far is no surprise - last year we had no group running the council for seven weeks!
It is, sadly, a key characteristic of current mainstream politics.

Unless voters switch to parties who favour a different, more cooperative approach and/or the electoral system is changed it looks like we are stuck with a politics that brings itself into disrepute. This is not the best way to get problems solved, which is for me what politics should be about.