Monday 13 October 2008

"Well, here’s another nice mess you've gotten me into, Stanley." (Oliver Hardy 1930)

Wanted: One clerk to the council, Stanley, Co Durham. Salary scale £43,118 - £46,503. 37 hours per week.

A town council, established with the encouragement of Government when it received a 2,500 name petition of support, held its first meeting some five months ago.

Now, Stanley Town Council is advertising for a Town Clerk, with the not inconsiderable salary package shown above.

As you’ve probably already guessed, not everyone is totally happy with this development.

For example, Watts Stelling, who leads the Derwentside Independents (the main opposition group in the district) doesn’t seem to be very impressed. He said “That seems a ridiculous amount for somebody taking over what is in effect a parish council. I personally don’t believe there will be enough work to justify that scale of salary”.

And Mr Stelling isn’t the only one it seems. DCC Reg Ord who represents Burnopfield and Dipton, Stanley weighed in with: “The town council is going to have to justify that salary to the council tax payers of Stanley; they are the ones footing the bill”.

We rooted about for the job ad. It reads: “We are seeking a suitably qualified, experienced and enthusiastic person to be appointed as our first Town Clerk.

“This full time post requires the Clerk to be responsible for managing the day to day business of the Council, providing appropriate advice and implementing Council decisions”.

(Think I’ll dust off my CV: I’m experienced; and I can surely be enthusiastic with a salary of c£45,000 on offer!)

If you follow the wild and wonderful world of local politics, you’ll recall that the issue of a town council for Stanley caused a bit of a tiff among Labour Party loyalists.

Some of them supported North Durham MP Kevan Jones who campaigned vigorously for the council; but others said the new beast would simply add to the burden on local council tax payers – it would be a white elephant.

(Hmmm….white elephant, Stanley, mess…..there must be room for another Laurel & Hardy gag in there somewhere!)

Thursday 9 October 2008

Is that why smart mums – and councils - shop at Iceland?

Forgive the blatant ‘steal’ of the recent Iceland frozen food company’s TV ad tag-line, but I just couldn’t help myself….

You can’t have failed to notice that there’s a bit of panic out there in the financial world (and there’s a fair bit of consternation here at ‘Cobblers Towers’ too), but the most recent twist has brought an altogether different meaning to the old phrase ‘frozen assets’….

More than £40m of taxpayers money has been invested in collapsed Icelandic banks by North-East local authorities. (Taxpayers: that’s your money – and mine)

Council chiefs were today seeking urgent guarantees from the Government after finance officers revealed the deposits this morning.

Four authorities in the region - Redcar and Cleveland, Derwentside, Gateshead and Northumberland – are at risk of losing their money.

Derwenstide District Council has £7m invested in three Icelandic banks - Landsbanki, Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander and Glitnir Bank.

Council leader Coun Alex Watson said: "We think we will get the £7m back, but we might still lose £350,000 in interest.”

“It won’t affect council tax or services – we’ve still got a revenue balance of £4m - and its not going to cripple us, but we appreciate it's a lot of money."

I’m sorry to be such a miserable and pernickety old git, Alex, but your words above (as quoted in the local media so they’re bound to be accurate) don’t exactly fill me with confidence.

We THINK we will get the £7m back? How can you be sure? Is this ‘pint half-full’ philosophy you’re giving us here derived from some sage at the Treasury? Or is it a question of fingers crossed and let’s hope it doesn’t all go pear-shaped?

And as for ‘we appreciate it’s a lot of money’ – top marks for that revelation. Of course it’s a lot of money!

As far as this crotchety old scribe understands the situation, it is this:

So far, HM Treasury has declined to say that it will guarantee councils’ investments in Icelandic banks (unlike the guarantee given to individuals). The councils are desperately trying to pin down Alistair, darling – sorry that should be Alistair Darling – in the hope he might come to their rescue.

Financial experts (mind you, can we really trust these so-called ‘experts’ anyway?) think that, for smaller councils with limited budgets there could be a pretty severe impact on front-line services.

It will be interesting to see exactly what effect this latest development has on the services Derwentside District Council provides to its’ citizens

Still, not to worry: Alex Watson seems to be doing a good impression Dads Army’s Cpl Jones: “Don’t panic, Mr Mainwaring, don’t panic!”

Hope you’re right Mr Watson – I really DO hope you’re right!

(And finally….returning to my Iceland TV ad theme: If I remember rightly, Kerry Katona, who fronted those ads recently went bust. Exposure to Iceland didn’t do her much good either it would seem!)