Published 6th February, 1996. I'd written a long report for the Annual General Meeting, but Shrewsbury v. Liverpool was postponed. Days of preparation (so I had the pertinent points covered in my report) then seemed like overkill - I'd even had my photo scanned so members could remember what I looked like.
County Council portrait.
Achievements
More seriously, I think we can take pride in the achievements of the last year -
the election of Saghir & Emma; creating a Tory free zone in a seat no-one ever thought would fall to Labour;
the tremendous industry Emma has shown, in fighting for local people, and especially those living on our poorest estates;
the determination Saghir has shown canvassing parts of the ward on her own on Saturdays, building up a loyal and local support in Mapperley;
the branch's continued production & delivery of Fñ"Labour Forward"Fˇˇ; delivering more leaflets than any other branch in the conurbation;
our active role in the "Protest" campaign; which played an important part in stopping the severe cuts in services planned by the Tory Government to pay for tax cuts;
the open style of the branch meetings, where members discuss so many issues in a constructive manner; the recent average attendance of 25 members is the envy of many branches.
There were disappointments - a further £22 million in County Council services, the privatisation of Waste Notts, and for me personally, losing the resolution for adopting a proper figure for the minimum wage at the Labour Party Conference.
Looking Forward
Our major task may well be Unitary City Council elections. But if these do not happen - and we can hope - let us concentrate on building Labour's strength in the chain of six Parliamentary marginals in the North-West of Leicestershire and the South of Derbyshire.
I know there will be changes in the branch officers tonight. I hope the opportunity will be taken to involve new members in the running of the branch.
Francois Mitterand
"Francois Mitterand contributed a great deal to politics, especially in France"
- John Major
I liked him; though you wonder how well his record will stand up in time.
The radical plans of his 1981 Gov't were wrecked by the same pressures that had frustrated the Labour Gov't of the '70's and caused the divisions of the early eighties.
These pressures still exist (see above) and make socialist policies on the economy, such as more common ownership, better regulation and tackling trans-national companies & the currency markets more relevant today, not less.
Cuba
Still, things aren't as bad as in Cuba, where the economy has shrunk by a half over the last three years.
The U.S. oil blockade has finally taken effect now the Eastern bloc has collapsed.
The U.S. dollar is now the only credible currency in Cuba.
U.S. Budget
Whilst in Cuba, I saw a lot of American television.
Republicans who control the Congress have sought to challenge Clinton's spending plans by closing federal government offices.
The tri-partheid arrangement of President, Senate & Congress is full of checks and balances, but causing great confusion.
Re-inventing Democracy
U.S.'s checks and balances is contrasted favourably against Britain's complete lack by Graham Allen in his "Re-inventing Democracy".
In this pamphlet, Graham does more than highlight problems with Britain's democracy and suggest policies for change; he also proposes a timetable for legislative change which turns our values into tasks.
Regional government
Graham explains step by step measures for building Regional Government, from local Councils and the electorate.
The Community Services cttee. is making plans to assess the accountability of the Regional Quangos in the East Midlands, such as the Government Office, the Regional Health Authority and others.
Introduction to Local Issues
The Chair of Leisure has written to a local member about the concern expressed over the loss of full-time youth worker posts in the city.
The County Council report addresses January's key issue - the closure of the Home Brewery.
Education - Harriet Harman
However, the dominant issue has been Harriet Harman's decision to send her son to a selective school; dominating to distraction.
In my three years as a Councillor, no other issue has caused such controversy amongst colleagues at work; and pain amongst Labour Party members.
I support calls for her resignation.
Controversy
Harriet Harman's decision has been such a talking point, that I have to spend a lot of time talking to colleagues at work, party members and teachers, some of whom are highly distressed at what's happened.
Why Harman is wrong
The party resolved to stop selection for schools by exam or interview at the last Conference;
the party has worked for decades, sometimes in difficult circumstances, against selection because we know how it divided society and categorised children as failures at a very early age;
there are choices in South London; Harman's explanations merely state that St.Olave's was best for her son;
there is no indication of other local schools being judged by fairer criteria, such as value-added analysis;
some explanations feature the local schools exam results; adopting the league tables mentality Labour has been trying to defeat;
St.Olave's does not have a good equal opportunities profile;
as an M.P., she has rejected schools that serve her constituents; yet she wants those constituents votes;
her actions contrast poorly with other MPs such as Jack Straw who've got involved with their local comprehensives.
Some may think this is too much to expect of an M.P. But elected representatives at local and national level discuss these types of issues continuously. Our experiences train us to tackle these awkward situations.
Blair
Blair has saved some credibility by not caving in to Tory pressure.
But again, some of his responses cause more problems.
Party members are exhorted to demonstrate discipline so as not to give succour to the Tories; yet a close colleague pulls a stunt like this;
Blair won't criticise Harman for this kind of personal decision; but will attack Notts Councillors who reinstate their expenses to the levels held four years ago;
the famous spin doctors sit on the story; and then it breaks at the worst possible time; no doubt because the Tories knew and tipped off the Mail on Sunday at the right moment;
the latest announcements on shipping good teachers into the inner-cities has offended some local schools;
the "gimmick" of pushing some children forward a year, overlooks that this does already happen at local schools.
Real issues
But we must now focus on the real issues that are affecting our local comprehensives -
that parents are using parental choice to avoid schools serving children from the inner city areas;
that value-added analysis shows that schools' performances can be largely predicted by the social background of their children; that value-added analysis would show that Elliott Durham gets more out of its kids than some of the suburb schools, but that it also emphasises the poor backgrounds of the children that deters parents;
that the existing education system is actually adding to the social segregation in society;
that schools that are now drawing children from largely these backgrounds need extra finance to break the cycle of deprivation;
that middle class parents need to be brought together so that they will work to make local schools work, rather than opt-out;
that schools in the local suburbs are now under too much pressure.
The challenge is to do more than condemn Harman.
Campaigning - Priorities
If the unitary elections are postponed (see below), I suggest our priorities will be -
Worksop North & Carlton-in-Linderick (Co.) by-election (22 Feb.),
Sherwood & Byron (city) by-elections (29 Feb.),
Derby City elections,
phone canvass for North West Leicestershire.
Ross' paper
Ross has issued a paper explaining why fighting NWL is so important.
Labour Forward
Thanks to all those who have helped with the distribution of the latest Labour Forward.
Cases
154 in 1995.
7 in 1996. Mapperley issues
Unemployment
The latest figures are 641, 16.2%, 16th highest District ward in the County.
Mapperley Cllrs review
Saghir, Emma and I met recently to review progress on cases in Mapperley ward.
Carrington Sports Ground
The planning permission sought by developers (who are prepared to buy the land from the County Council) was refused by the City Council's Planning Cttee.
The main reason cited - that of over-intensive development - has prompted ideas such as building 8 of the 12 proposed flats on the existing accesses from Esher Grove and Tavistock Drive.
Ebers Grove
The owner of the garages has met residents and City officers.
Residents have been invited to put a bid together to buy the plot by 14th Feb. Such a sale is likely to mean a significant profit for the developer.
Mapperley Hospital
City Councillors and officers seem set against proposals to demolish half of the hospital.
Wells Road Traffic Calming ...
has been awarded the runner-up prize in a national award scheme for safer roads.
It was judged an effective route calming scheme which did not unduly impede buses and which incorporated cycle bypass facilities.
The scheme has achieved a 53% accident rate reduction in its first year.
The award and scheme was welcomed by a local resident who wrote to the Evening Post.
Sherwood Vale
Another accident involving a speeding car hitting a resident's car.
Traffic calming is highly desirable, but practically frozen by the cuts.
Tories are Masons
The January's City Council adopted standing orders to require members of secret societies to declare interests on issues.
Seconding the motion, Cllr. Malcolm Wood named Bill Bradbury, former Mapperley Councillor, as a Mason, and invited us to picture him undertaking the initiation ceremony.
Malcolm says both Bill and Rex Rollings, the Tories candidates for the next City Council elections in Mapperley, are masons; they are members of 4 and 2 lodges respectively.
Prostitution
Following a change in Police policy, fewer prostitutes in Nottingham were "stopped" last year (527 c.f. 633 for 1994); whereas 4 times as many kerb-crawlers were "stopped" (629 c.f. 163).
Nottinghamshire County issues Youth & Community Services
The branch expressed concern about the loss of nine full-time youth & community posts at its last meeting.
In particular, that these posts are largely being lost in the City District; and in areas of high social deprivation.
The report to Leisure Services Cttee. shows that the posts were selected on the basis of the only management tool agreed with the trade unions (known as the "Staffing Kit").
It is coincidental that these posts largely city based; elsewhere within youth services, and leisure services more generally, there is no city-county divide in the cuts.
Inadequate management tool
However, there is concern that the management tool only measures success by the number of young people who attend clubs; and does not sufficiently reflect the success of
out-reach work, which so benefited Kingsthorpe Close last summer; or
detached work;
nor does it sufficiently take account of
tackling social deprivation,
the potential for youth work or
how successful youth work would be in deprived areas if better managed.
I sought a review of the named posts at the Labour Group meeting; but the majority view was that a fresh agreement with trade unions could not be achieved in the short time available.
I'd still like a review of how these cuts are being implemented; but not on the basis of being a City-County Councillor.
CCTV
The Community Services Cttee. has called for operators of Closed Circuit Television to be licensed and to adopt a code of conduct.
Licensing would allow control of how they use images collected by video cameras viewing the public; and codes of conducts will allow people who feel the cameras are intrusive to hold operators to account.
Regional Quangos
The Community Services Cttee. is also planning to assess the accountability of the Regional Quangos such as the Government Office, the Regional Health Authority and others.
Unitary Council delayed?
May be delayed by at least a year, and perhaps much longer.
But we won't actually know until 13 Feb. at the earliest; and the announcement might be even a fortnight after that.
County budget
The impact of the £22 million cut is becoming known.
Schools
The 1.5% cuts in budgets for schools is set to mean the loss of 242 teachers.
Audit
Independent Auditors have praised the "Opening the Books" exercise, so criticised by Tory MPs and some Tory County Councillors.
They thought it a worthwhile exercise, a proper presentation of the financial situation as it was understood to be at the time, and a valid use of taxpayers' money.
Home Brewery
The decision to close is based on Scottish Courage's ambition to dominate the domestic market with a small number of national brands.
Assurances given in 1986 (at the previous takeover), to sell Home products beyond the East Midlands, were never meant.
The free market, without regulation, is destroying choice.
Waste Notts
I note from the minutes that some members believe the sell-off of Waste Notts was an anti-City measure.
In fact, it's an anti-County measure as well. Selling off waste disposal sites to private operators increases the risks of environmental health problems in the future.
What drove the County to make the decision was the Gov't restrictions on finance that stop further and much needed investment into Waste Notts; meeting debts from capital projects that had overrun and creating new funds for other much-needed capital projects.
The purchaser is almost certain to be Yorkshire Water.