CANVEY RESIDENTS, listening to the likes of the Canvey Island Independent Party (CIIP), would be forgiven for thinking that the Big Society has nothing to offer. That party’s Public Relations person, Neville Watson, recently stated that: ‘[The Big Society] is based on volunteers… that ring Councillors to inform them of any problems they have.’ But Neville’s unique perspective on the Coalition Government’s Localism Bill (widely predicted to come into force this autumn) completely misrepresents its intentions.
Misrepresentation, of course, is something that the Canvey Island Independent Party excels at. It represents itself as a strong opposition; but has nothing to say in the Council Chamber when half-a-million pounds of staff cuts are announced. Any responsible opposition would have demanded to know further details – and asked why it was to be the Chief Executive Officer, earning more than the Prime Minister, whom was to be in charge of the cuts. But not a single ‘independent’ queried the Cabinet’s budget proposals.
Despite an opposition’s duty to speak on the minority’s behalf, no CIIP councillor voiced the concerns of those that will see their wages fall, or their jobs lost, in the cuts.
But then the CIIP is busily re-inventing itself, in preparation for the local elections in May. Pink Sack Man, and his party, are attempting to discard their bellicose image in favour of appearing as a responsible band of local politicians with only residents’ wishes at their hearts. And since that appears (from straw polls conducted by this Blog) to mean that residents want no increase in Council Tax; that they are prepared to live with necessary cuts – and that the majority intend to vote Conservative at the next Town Council elections – the CIIP has seen fit to adopt Tory Blue as its TC colours and nod through any Conservative proposals as a means of appearing responsible and in tune with majority opinion.
Last week, there was no grandstanding in the Echo for CIIP councillors – and even its leader remained tight lipped – while the party reformed its public image.
Interestingly, Neville Watson does not allude to Canvey Island Town Council when he provides his own interpretation on what constitutes Cameron’s Big Society - even though the policy actually draws upon the last Labour Government’s strong support for the creation of Town and Parish Councils in which local residents could take more control of their communities. But then, if he did so, he would be forced to justify his own party’s politicising of what is widely seen as the local CIIP Clubhouse.
The fact is, of course, that Labour never saw Parish and Town Councils as another Government layer. Neither did the other political parties. Labour’s legislation was simply devised to enable residents to create such bodies to deal with hyper-local issues in an orderly manner. Rather than have Borough Councils plagued with providing minority services in which the majority would not necessarily share, it was made easier for individual districts to form their own Parish Councils and hence attract project funding from areas where Borough and County Councils could not.
The Big Society actually came to Canvey Island in 2007, when its Parish Council was formed. But the body was immediately hi-jacked by Pink Sack Man and his colleagues as a base for opposing the Borough’s majority – and a first step towards re-establishing Canvey Island’s old District Council upon which Blackwell’s parents served.
Under the CIIP leader’s impetus, the new Parish Council was immediately renamed as a ‘Town Council’ – and expensive chains of office were immediately ordered for the leader to wear. (Few Town and Parish Councils have any such paraphernalia). And, closely following that decision, application was made to have the new Town Council adopt the old District Council’s Coat Of Arms – at more public expense.
In the months that followed, Pink Sack Man was forced to resign as Town Council Chairman over his treatment of the then Clerk, Julie Abel (whose employment tribunal case is due to be heard this month) and forced to endure the indignity of being charged with treating those expensive chains of office as his own personal property.
The Big Society may have arrived upon Canvey Island; but the CIIP had its own interpretation of the term.
The CIIP had no intention of dealing with burning local issues. The Avenues continued to be plagued by unsocial behaviour exhibited by a minority of youths; other youths in the Town Centre continued to disrupt the area at night – and ride bicycles on the pavement during the day. Sites of Special Scientific Interest were torn-up by off-road motorcycles; the Citizens Advice Bureau was inundated by victims of the recession and crying-out for additional premises and funds.
In its early days the Town Council did invest some of its £267,000 annual precept in Canvey’s skate-board park; but when the Borough Council decided to address some of the youth issues on the island and install an Adizone in Kismet Park – the Town Councillors were the first to object. And when it came to addressing the needs of some elderly residents to have their accommodation improved, the Town Council’s response was to turn it into a photo opportunity for members to arrive with paint and brush in hand.
Islanders have contributed over one-million-pounds to its Town Council over the past four years – and the only thing we have to show for it is some High Street planters, hanging baskets, Town Council plaques – and some surviving new trees.
The Coalition Government’s Localism Bill will make it relatively easy for residents to address local issues (by forming themselves into charitable collectives and organising matters themselves). It is a similar approach to forming Parish Councils – except that they will not be able to set a district-wide precept. The charities will need to source their own seed funding, and then apply to the Parish Council or Borough Council for additional funds. In addition, as charities, such organisations can then chase nation-wide funding from the likes of the Big Lottery Fund and those firms with a charitable arm – such as Veola, which is very active locally.
Cameron’s Big Society appears quite attractive – on paper. The fact is that charitable organisations, as outlined here, could expect to easily double their seed money. (Most funding organisations, when a project is approved, will match funds that have been raised by an organisation). But the management and financial skills required to prepare a detailed proposal are considerable.
Such skills are widely available in both the public and private sector; but they also attract large salaries – so it is unlikely that any resident project could avail themselves of a full time exponent. The Big Society assumes that local businessmen, accountants and project managers are willing to provide their skills, free of charge, to their local community. And it also assumes that, at local level, those skills are also shared by Councillors and their Officers to ensure that taxpayer money only goes to those groups with a viable proposition.
We are quite fortunate, in Castle Point, because many of the majority councillors are blessed with both business and financial minds. That fact is born out by the way the Borough’s finances have been substantially improved since the fall of the last Labour administration – and it is further evidenced by the skills of Jeffrey Stanley, the Deputy Leader, in his resourceful budgets. In the 2011/2012 Budget, set recently, he has carefully made provision for increasing the Council’s contributions to local charities as the Localism Bill comes into force.
But those same skills are not present in Canvey Island Town Council, where, it could be argued, their need is even greater. Despite being able to do so, in the four years of its existence, the TC has not bothered to seek additional funding for its projects and, potentially, double its income. And it is unlikely, given its present financial situation, that the Big Lottery Fund (to whose meeting Town Councillors have been invited by Rebecca Harris) would contribute any further funds – because the Town Council already has too many liabilities.
The fact is: no one is going to invest in an organisation that spends half its income on overheads – and squanders thousands of pounds on chains of office, coats of arms, champagne, and club acts at the expense of its community projects.
Cameron’s Big Society is an attempt to move away from centralised local government providing those services that could be better undertaken by the private and charitable sectors. Aged care; local school and disabled transport are just a few examples. But so are those of Canvey Lake and Canvey’s Concord Pool, which, had they been correctly managed by the Town Council, would not have led to so much waste of taxpayer funds.
Rather than just committing resident money to those projects, the Town Council could have facilitated local resident groups that had an active interest in those facilities by helping them to form a collective – and matching their individual fund raising from its resident precept. Those groups could then have gone on to raise further charitable donations from the likes of Veola and the Big Lottery Fund. But, as Town Councillors have shown us: they do not possess the initiative to organise such matters – and that leaves Canvey ill equipped to cope with the huge changes in local services that are on their way.
Canvey Islander’s cannot afford the blinkered vision of Neville, who hopes that the Big Society will further cement his local position. What Canvey needs is councillors, of the same quality as the mainland, whom can facilitate the creation of local resident groups and show them how to prepare a business plan and raise the funds that their enterprise will require.
Canvey does not need politicians on its Town Council – it needs representatives from the business and religious communities; representatives from its Round Table and the local Masonic Society – all whom have the experience and skills to turn the TC into a hub for local charitable ventures.
That could be a tall order for Canvey. In 2007, only two independents stood for the Town Council. And they were not returned.
Residents did not vote for managerial or financial skills – they were bedazzled with the CIIP’s slogan: ‘Canvey for Canvey,’ and enticed into a political battle at logic’s expense.
Whatever happens in May, it is pretty certain that the Government’s Localism Bill will become Law in the autumn.
It remains to be seen if residents will elect a swathe of new Town Councillors, capable of facing-up to the challenges that the autumn will bring, in this May’s local elections…
Decentralisation and the Localism Bill
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