12/9 Graham Smith's Cornwall ~ Blog of Asad Mirjat

Graham Smith's Cornwall

A new group on the horizon at County Hall?

December 9, 2010 at 6:49 PM

I hate stories like this because no-one will go on the record. But I have to ask - how independent is the 31-strong Independent group of Cornwall councillors? Not independent enough, according to some of them - who want a change of leadership.

Plans are afoot for an election early next month. Some of the Indies are twisting the arm of Roche councillor John Wood, asking him to lead them into the brave new post-budget world. But others are quite content with Stoke Climsland's Neil Burden, the cabinet member for Children, Schools & Families, who has led the group for the past 18 months. Will the election be contested? Could the group split? Could it eventually cost the Conservatives their leadership of the council?

Barbarians at the gate (2)

December 9, 2010 at 12:00 AM

A few months ago I expressed my fears for the long-term future of Cornwall's university at Falmouth. Yesterday the University College Union published this report, including Falmouth as one of 49 "at risk" as a result of the government's proposals for higher education. Indeed, the UCU identifies Falmouth as one of the 27 most at risk. The University tells me I shouldn't worry, claiming the UCU has failed to properly appreciate the popularity of arts, media, design and performance degrees. Let's hope so.

Plenty of time to sort out those pesky peers

December 8, 2010 at 8:47 PM

My thanks to the Electoral Commission for clarifying that Monday's government defeat in the House of Lords need not be too much of a calamity for those who want the Alternative Vote referendum on 5th May.

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act of 2000 sets the statutory framework for such things, and requires a minimum of 10 weeks before polling. This means the Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies Bill must gain Royal Assent before 24th February for a 5th May AV poll.

Stephen Gilbert says tuition fees hike "progressive"

December 8, 2010 at 8:09 PM

Stephen Gilbert has just posted his weekly local newspaper column, revealing his thoughts on the university tuition fees issue ahead of tomorrow's vote.

Andrew's statement on tuition fees

December 8, 2010 at 6:23 PM

Andrew George says he'll vote against the government tomorrow.

Andrew George's statement on tuition fees

December 8, 2010 at 6:23 PM

Andrew George says he'll vote against the government tomorrow.

"Poll Tax and Iraq" moment approaches for Lib Dems

December 8, 2010 at 1:18 AM

Congratulations to St Austell & Newquay MP Stephen Gilbert for passing another career milestone - turning down the opportunity to be interviewed on BBC Radio Cornwall. As far as we know this has never happened before.

The occasion was an invitation to discuss his approach to Thursday's vote on university tuition fees. My colleague Tamsin Melville tells me she is still waiting to hear back from North Cornwall's Dan Rogerson and St Ives's Andrew George, who have been strangely silent all day.

As I write this (Tuesday evening) the Lib Dem Parliamentary Party is in a huddle trying to work out what to do when push comes to shove. Some have suggested the issue will do for the Liberal Democrats what the Poll Tax did for the Conservatives in the late 1980s and the Iraq war did for Labour in 2003.

Rest assured that once the votes are in and Hansard duly published, the Lib Dems' opponents will make sure the record is fully reported, repeatedly, all the way to the next general election.

The new target: an extra sickie

December 8, 2010 at 1:04 AM

Not sure you'd get away with this in the private sector. Cornwall Council is increasing its "target" number of annual sick days per employee from 8.5 to 9.5. Here's the official explanation:

"The target has been revised to reflect last year's actual absence levels. This should better take into account the impact on the workforce of the financial issues the Council is facing this year. Whilst performance against this new target now looks good, for the year up to the end of October, it should be remembered that we are now approaching the winter months, when sickness trends are higher, and that a great deal of organisational upheaval is expected to occur over the coming months as a result of the emergency budget."

Cornwall Council workforce 15% below strength

December 8, 2010 at 12:37 AM

An interesting detail from the latest performance management statistics:

"- The 19,504 employees (size of workforce) is a head count of the number of people employed by the Council, not the number of positions. - In addition there are 1,506 vacancies on our establishment (15.50% of all posts, excluding Schools). - Of those vacancies, 99 are "live" (being advertised). - Of the employees on the redeployment list (a mechanism to reduce redundancy by filling existing vacancies), 2 of those are already in job trials. - To date, 16 employees have been successfully redeployed to other neccessary, vacant posts rather than being made redundant."

A spanner in the works for Devonwall Bill?

December 7, 2010 at 5:08 PM

Labour peers inflicted a four-vote defeat on the Devonwall Bill last night, over the timing of the proposed referendum on the Alternative Vote system. The amendment carried in the Lords means the referendum could be held as late as October 2011, rather than 5th May as the government wants. The Bill must now return to the House of Commons where a whipped government vote will send it back to the Lords again: classic ping-pong. Conservative and Lib Dem peers see this as irritating and inconvenient, rather than fatal - the prospect looms of some very late night Parliamentary sittings in the run-up to Christmas.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

December 6, 2010 at 8:05 PM

A total of 23 councillors - 18.6% of the total - did not vote in Friday's emergency budget debate at County Hall.

Four failed to send apologies: Irene Bailey (Independent), Brian Hobbs (Liberal Democrat), Denise Mutton (Conservative,) and Neil Plummer (Mebyon Kernow).

Apologies were received from Lisa Dolley, Mike Eddowes, Geoffrey Evans, Derek Holley, Ann Kerridge, Mary May, Sue Nicholas, Jan Powell, Chris Ridgers, Roy Taylor, George Trubody and Terry Wilkins.

Seven others had to leave before the end of the meeting, which had been re-scheduled at short notice because of poor weather.