What Councillors do ....
No prizes for the wittiest retort to the title.
I was asked why the Environmental Services Committee meeting is at 9am and not later to allow more members of the public to attend. The reason is historic and cost driven: to minimise the overtime cost for officers, and to minimise the time that Uist, Barra and Harris members have to stay away from home (and the overnight allowances they receive).
To give you an idea of the work and time commitment, here is the list of meetings for next week:
on top of which every Chair and Vice-Chair will have a briefing meeting that lasts about 2 hours.
Over this weekend, I have received about 500 sides of A4 for the regular agenda items, yesterday I received another 100 double-sided pages on the proposed budget cuts and the Council Tax proposals and today another 500 sides relating to the LWP application and to some other late items on the agenda came in the post. More late items are expected next week.
So, nice as it would be to have the meetings in the evenings, you can see that we would never get through the business in a week. Given the agenda, my own Committee is likely to run late, pushing everyone else back.
A number of Councillors have full-time employment in addition to trying to fit this in to their diaries, so whilst evening meetings might be easier in some ways, we would never see our families!
(I finally managed to get this to format correctly using tables!)
I was asked why the Environmental Services Committee meeting is at 9am and not later to allow more members of the public to attend. The reason is historic and cost driven: to minimise the overtime cost for officers, and to minimise the time that Uist, Barra and Harris members have to stay away from home (and the overnight allowances they receive).
To give you an idea of the work and time commitment, here is the list of meetings for next week:
| Monday | 3:30 | Members seminar on the budgets |
| 6:00 | Members briefing | |
| Tuesday | 11:00 | Housing Committee |
| 2:00 | Transportation Committee | |
| Wednesday | 9:00 | Social Work Committee |
| 2:00 | Sustainable Development Committee | |
| Thursday | 9:00 | Environmental Services Committee |
| 4:00 | Policy and Resources (Council Tax setting) | |
| Comhairle (Council Tax setting) |
Over this weekend, I have received about 500 sides of A4 for the regular agenda items, yesterday I received another 100 double-sided pages on the proposed budget cuts and the Council Tax proposals and today another 500 sides relating to the LWP application and to some other late items on the agenda came in the post. More late items are expected next week.
So, nice as it would be to have the meetings in the evenings, you can see that we would never get through the business in a week. Given the agenda, my own Committee is likely to run late, pushing everyone else back.
A number of Councillors have full-time employment in addition to trying to fit this in to their diaries, so whilst evening meetings might be easier in some ways, we would never see our families!
(I finally managed to get this to format correctly using tables!)
4 comments:
You think that is a long day well try and do this for the next three years every day apart from weekends.
Wake up: 6:30
School bus: 7:45
Arrive at school: 8:55
Leave school: 3:55
Get home: 5:10
Then homework
Every Monday to Friday
1,100 sheets of A4. Per councillor. Per weekend. (shakes head in disgust). No wonder there's no f"^£&*! trees in the Outer Hebrides. If every councillor had an e-tablet:
a) the photocopying and printing bills of the Comhairle would plummet. Cost effective very quickly.
b) councillors can find it easier and more convenient to read the stuff e.g. can do onscreen annotation.
c) councillors will find it easier and lighter carrying around an e-tablet rather than several thousand sheets of dead tree.
d) councillors will get the "papers" several days quicker via email, so they'll have more time to digest them.
(shakes head in disgust at backward e-practises of the Comhairle). THIS IS 2007!!!
Unbelievably, Council papers must be printed and posted to members in hard copy. The legislation prescribes this. I raised it with the then Minister for e-Government in 2000 or 2001 who promised to amend the legislation ... still waiting.
The Tory group on Sussex CC deselected all their Councillors who were not IT literate some years ago.
I will refrain from commenting about any of my colleagues.
john, the reason they can't do that is simple - it would require getting rid of too much (pardon the pun) dead wood in the coucil building itself!
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