Confidential news for Councillors only.

A vacancy arises in Orkney for a new Chief Executive.

Did you know that one of your very senior officers was in for this? And didn't get it.

Why did they apply and why didn't they get the job?

I know. Why don't you? Isn't that symptomatic of the current organisation?

Who is the keeper of the mushrooms?

(FYI: I know that the vacancy in Shetland has just been filled, but Orkney have been interviewing to fill their vacancy, which is where the interviewee went visiting...)

A new big windfarm for Lewis?

Yes, probably, maybe.

When I get a few moments later this week when I have much more time to pontificate whilst spending quality hours with the family, I'll give my take on how this proposal and the study on peat bogs should actually have knitted together for the benefit of the islands.

As I said at the time and was shot down by those who didn't listen.

I'll say it again, hopefully more clearly and with fewer vested interests putting the boot in, and I hope it provokes a proper debate, rather than just knee jerks.

What do the SNP stand for?

I've read and re-read the interview Alex Salmond gave to the Times (no longer free and accessible thanks to the paywall) and I really have had to take step back and think about the issues he raises - or more accurately, the issues he demolishes as unimportant.

As Independence is no longer the principal driving force for the SNP, the question has got to be just what the party actually stands for and what its purpose actually is.

Well, the message is clear, the SNP are now the party who will administer the functions better than all the others.

Wow, what a wonderful political slogan.

The ambition is now to be better guardians of the public purse than all the others, and to fight for Scotland's interests. As if any party standing in Scotland would claim the contrary.

The new election slogan is going to be "Vote SNP for more efficient bureaucracy" which isn't perhaps the best way to get the troops on the streets and the voters into the polling stations.

Many SNP activists and supporters must be deeply bemused and appalled by the change, indeed abandonment, of the main purpose for the SNP's existence.

Many longtime supporters are asking the questions about the purpose of the SNP, and I cannot now understand why the SNP need to exist if they abandon independence as a cause, other than for personal aggrandisement, when there are other ways to achieve the same aim through engaging with the other parties through entryism and negotiation, rather than through conflict and intransigence.

The political landscape has changed as a result of this interview and whilst there may be some ulterior motive - the likelihood of the loss of a referendum - and the impact of realpolitic, the motivation and purpose of the party is seriously undermined by the unilateral change.

How this plays with the wider party and the Annual Conference will be enlightening as to whether political debate is encouraged (or even allowed - as I found out) and whether the body of the party actually concur, or are just gagged.

The result next Holyrood election will be largely determined by how this policy runs -- or if it remains as party policy.

Lady Matheson Seminary

With the collapse of the regeneration scheme following the withdrawal of funding by the Comhairle has led to five complaints being lodged against a senior officer of the Council.

Am I right in understanding that the person undertaking the investigation into the complaints is the depute to the self-same (very) senior officer?


I have been told that the complaints relate to explicit promises to provide funding, and the provision of misleading and contradictory information to different people - in essence, telling people whatever was necessary to get them to go away, and actually doing something else.

Given that the apparent lack of credibility of the investigation being in any way independent or objective, I think this has the juicy prospect of having to be aired in public.

Confirmation of the names will be very welcome. Wild speculation about the individuals concerned may result in the comments being deleted.

New ferries on HP?

My initial reaction to the proposal by the Comhairle to fund the purchase of new ferries was one of incredulity, followed by disbelief, followed by laughter. Then followed by a lot of thought.

It actually makes sense in the convoluted world that is now public sector finance. And it may have the virtue of speeding up the whole process and giving the community some say in what might actually be delivered to meet our needs, and not some public sector cash-limited vision of tourists in and sheep'n'tweeds out.

So how would it work? A simple explanation for the layman is never going to be simple, but here goes.

• The Scottish Government is very limited in what it can borrow
• The UK Governments has tightened finances, so borrowing is going to get even less
• Local Authorities can fund almost unlimited capital expenditure by reducing future expenditure (it's called HP in the real world)
• Local Authorities are funded by the Scottish Government year-by-year
• The Comhairle agrees to buy the vessels and borrows the money to do so
• The Comhairle sets aside (say) £1m of revenue expenditure for later years to fund the loan repayments
• The Government undertake to increase the revenue grant to the Comhairle by £1m
• The Comhairle reinstates the cuts, as they are now fully funded

Fantastic - in every sense - and totally unnecessary if we didn't have utterly disjointed public sector financing arrangements.

And who said accountancy was boring......

Coastal erosion in Uist

Just why were Oxfam chairing a meeting in South Uist this week about the threat of Coastal Erosion?

The potential threats have been well known for many years, and there are a number of extant reports about the issue, with the Council have commissioned and paid for some major scientific studies. In deed, the Council representatives and the Storas Uibhist representatives were in the audience, of bemused locals, who were unable to ascertain the purpose or outcome of the meeting.

If the reports that reach me are correct, the thrust of the talk (or was it a lecture?) was that volunteers were needed to do some work in planting Maram Grass along the coast as a starting point and that the public would have to be involved in working voluntarily to prevent further erosion and water ingress from occurring.

Neither the Comhairle nor Storas were able to offer any direct input.

Yet they are both able to find large sums of money for large future projects which may become white elephants if the sea breaches the sand dunes. Make that WHEN the sea breaches.

We are looking at a situation where large areas of South Uist may become uninhabitable and uninsurable, and where fine crofting land is lost, which will lead - inevitably - to large scale depopulation.

I know this has been discussed by the Council, as I was Chair of some of those meetings, and I know what the reports state, and there is a very serious a major debate to be had about:

1. Is it cost-effective to prevent all coastal erosion?
2. What will be the impact of sea breaches?
3. How are those breaches dealt with?

The answer to question 1 was hugely negative, as the sums involved to try to plug one area were unaffordable, and would simply result in leakage elsewhere.

The answer to question 2 was more nuanced, with specific areas receiving immediate preventative support - Stoneybridge and Stinky Bay are two examples - whilst the cemetery are at Baleshare could not be protected in any conceivable manner, and continues to erode into the sea.

Question 3 remains unanswered, as it is a scenario no-one will discuss - at least not in public - as it will involve almost inevitably sacrificing large areas of land to protect others.

But as the meeting realised, no-one is addressing these issues, and a blind faith that Something Will Be Done (by someone else) and that future developments will be unaffected is leading to a situation where nothing seems to be being done, beyond the bare minimum.

This was a point put eloquently at the meeting by David MacPherson, whose personal experience of family tragedy has spurred the limited and delayed works that have occurred to date.

"Please do anything rather than nothing", was his plea to those who can actually fund and direct the necessary projects, but unless Oxfam are planning a fund raising telethon, it appears that the ball has been passed to them, with a view to it being kicked into the long grass.

Perhaps the new marina at Lochboisdale may come into its own when the sea breaches at Kilphedar and cuts the island and the communications network.

"No roads but somewhere to moor your yacht" isn't much of a marketing slogan, and doesn't hold out much hope for the residents.

Fuel duty petition

We need to praise Erica MacDonald for organsiing and raising her petition, which has now ben presented in Parliament.  The Petition reads:

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to introduce a fuel duty regulator-a rural fuel duty derogation-in the Emergency Budget with a view to reducing the tax burden on a fragile rural economy.

All those who organised, signed and supported the Petition will be delighted to know that it was presented by Chocolate Teapot MP at 7pm on 22 June, or some 7 hours after the event it was supposed to affect.

How this winning thing works

The BBC seem to have a different grasp of the English language from the rest of us:

USA have gone and finished top of the group as well.

Well done to the two teams who tied at the top of the table, and I look forward to seeing the coin-toss or drawing of the cards that will be necessary to determine the REAL group winner, between those two giants of soccer.

(Admittedly, that first comment was made at 16:52 just as the match finished and in the heat of battle.  And the group winner was correctly reported 3 minutes later, before you have a go.)

Sharing the pain

It is good to see that MPs and Peers of the Realm are sharing the country's pain as all the cuts and VAT rises start to take effect.

House of Commons bar prices are to rise to those of "high street" pub chains, as Parliament looks to make savings on subsidised food and drink.

Yes, that's right. Bar prices are going to rise from (I believe) about £1 per pint to come into line with Wetherspoons prices.

Only with no licencing laws (yes, honestly), beautifully maintained surroundings, waitress service, and armed Police to keep voters away.

Good to see that they haven't lost the common touch or let their position go to their heads....

The budget overall

A fairly reasonable and sensible mix of policies. Some better IMHO that others, but the key ones that jump out are:

Freezing public sector pay: Will not be popular in the public sector, but well trailed and almost expected, if not accepted.
Reducing WTFC income eligibility levels: Sensible cost-saving exercise. Surprised that the limited not reduced further. Next year perhaps?
Reduction in Corporate Tax rates: How on earth can that be afforded?
VAT up to 20%: Inevitable to fill the black hole. I suppose it makes the computations easier (!)
NIC exemption for new business: I sense a huge loophole opening up here....bring me the detail, quick.
No new sin taxes: A surprise, but I suspect it is purely political to offset the pain elsewhere.
CGT rate up to 28% for Higher Rate taxpayers: Sensible and income generating, but still leaves huge loopholes, if you have a good accountant!
£1,000 increase in Personal Allowance: Excellent move which will mitigate the pain for the lowest earners, but very expensive.

Summary: I can see most of the give aways, and some of the increases, but they don't really balance out to a huge increase in taxation. I didn't see the Public Spending detail, and I suspect a lot of the pain is going to be hidden in the fine detail which will be perused over the next week.

Better and fairer than I thought, possibly due to the LibDems influence, but what have I missed?

Harman has started speaking, so time to switch off.....

Crap football teams

England were so crap at football tonight that they could almost be the new Scotland.

Making the workers work less

My jaw hit the floor...

Volunteers will be sought from among staff at Western Isles Council to work fewer hours to help the authority save millions of pounds.

Are the Councillors that blind and insane as to think that this will do anything but allow the overpaid and under worked to take a holiday at the expense of the overworked and underpaid?

It's not 1st April you numpties.

Make the staff all work their allotted hours and crack down on the flexi-time abuses - do managers know or even care about the staff who go for external 'meetings' and do their weekly shop in the Co-op?  Or the 2pm meetings on Friday which mean that the staff don't come back until Monday?  Or the 30 minute lunch break courtesy of a friend swiping their pass?

There are very many excellent staff in the Comhairle and then there are those promoted well above their ability who sit there and draw a fat salary, accrue a fat pension, and contribute f'all.  And their subordinates now them only too well.

The hole in the finances

I am told by the usual reliable sources, that the forecast hole in the Council budget might be filled by an ingenious method.

Ingenious in the sense of an ingenious plan by the ever ingenious turnip, Baldrick.

This cunning plan - which has all the cunning of a fox wearing strobe lights whilst sneaking into the hen house - proposes the use of the entire capital programme to fill the gap in the revenue budget, by re-designating some of the projects.

The fact that the 'cure' causes as many problems as it will solve and does nothing to deal with the underlying issue is neither here-nor-there as there is this blind faith the the problem will disappear soon (or at least before any of the turnips are held responsible).

Back in the real world, those who don't care about the capital/revenue debate just see the spending by the council being designed to protect the jobs of the few and their friends at the expense of the public.

Such is the divide between the public sector and the public in the Western Isles. Tough decisions to be made and no-one to take them....

The looming elections

With cuts, cuts and more cuts on the agenda, being in the hot seat suddenly looks like a horrible place to be for the SNP with a Scottish Parliamentary election looming.

I took some abuse, mainly from SNP activists in 2007/8 when I suggested that the SNP got it totally wrong by forming the Government, as they would have been much better being the opposition.

Time has (sadly for all sorts of reasons) proved me completely right.

Can you imagine Alex Salmond on the opposition benches in Holyrood berating the cuts agenda? It could have been an almost automatic SNP majority in 2011 and hence onto an Independent Scotland.

Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war.

Along with the adverse polls, is it any wonder that there is an unexpected series of retirals from the Parliament as the reality of implications of holding the purse strings starts to click.

Unfortunately, it is many of the most able from the SNP benches who seem ready to go with their heads held high, whilst the unable and unemployable hold on kicking and screaming for dear life.

Word reaches me of 3 or 4 other senior SNP MSPs who are planning on standing down before the elections, and of list and constituency MSPs at war: on current voting intentions they can't both be returned, and fraternal co-operation has disappeared.

The 2011 elections are going to be interesting for all sorts of reasons, but represent a chance for Scotland to create a new and revitalised identity for itself, with less Party affiliation and more independent thought.

As I also predicted years ago, RET is up for grabs just before the election, with a decision to be made by the winners, which in light of the budgets cuts, is the worst news possible....

Council cuts - the very latest

I am told by a very knowledgeable source that the actual cuts being planned by the Comhairle are only slightly less than the £25m I forecast, but that they may need to be completed in a shorter timescale than the 4 years I predicted.

All will be clear next week.

However, I have also been told about the plans on how to deal with the cuts, and the proposals on how to bridge the shortfall.

If the suggested resolution (sic) is accurate, then I am appalled at both a professional and political level as it is not so much a cure as a mask to hide the seriousness of the situation and to delay the impact. Not to cure it - and that is a huge and important distinction.

I'mm looking forward with some trepidation to seeing the final plans, and Councillor need to be very wary of avoiding difficult decisions today in favour of a suggestion that makes the long term solution more difficult to achieve and will make the inevitable even more serious when it has to be faced.

However, hovering over the entire process is the elephant in the room - the Budget and the Budget cuts.

There is a certain understandable fear that the UK Government cuts will be so deep as to fundamentally impact upon the cuts that the Scottish Government has to make and pass on to local authorities. If these happen, then all bets are off about the continued existence of the Comhairle as a viable entity.

Update: A phone call reveals that the cuts to be discussed this week are planned to be £4.5m , £5m, £7m and £7m giving a total of £23.5m over 4 years.

Minimum alcohol pricing - how it works

And who can argue with....

Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy said the retailer would now "support any future discussions on a minimum price for alcohol"

Apropos nothing in particular, can you guess which supermarket was today running a "World Cup Special" offer on beer; with two cases (of 10 cans each) for £16 or 3 for £20?

Yes, 67p gets you a can of full strength beer or lager, to help you get in the right mood (sic) for supporting which ever team rocks your boat.

This quadrennial event, it looks like I am supporting Ireland, as the Guinness was also on special offer.

Next to me at the checking, two lads were taking advantage of the special offer. Not once, nor twice, but at least thrice with 90 cans of beer/lager/cider for £60.

And you wonder why pubs are in trouble and excessive boozing occurs.....

All that minimum pricing will do is increase the margin that supermarkets make, leaving them still cheaper than pubs, but without the overhead. And generating no cash for the Government to work on providing alternatives.

Football

Is it just me, or is there really not enough coverage of the World Cup on TV?

There are some movie channels, and the kids channels not dedicated to 24 hour coverage of the universe shattering events in South Africa.

FFS, TV executives - get a grip. I want to be able to watch the North Korea coverage of all the games, whilst listening to the DBS radio broadcasting Gaelic play-by play being spoked by a drunk man in a shed in Tolstachaolais, who is actually watching a badly sub-titled internet feed of a stolen Spanish TV feed. Why am I not being catered for?

A Lego computer printer

A summer project for the boys...

Dept of typos...

Heb News might want to check the title of this letter from a concerned citizen, unless there is actually a bigger and weirder story here.....

Keep dogs on a lead in pubic spaces     9/6/10

It can happen to the best of us, but typos like this are just such a joy.  I've kept a screen dump for posterity.

Balivanich school

I have just been told that local Councillors have been briefed that, er, the Council haven't finished the negotiations to purchase the land for the new school at Balivanich. Yet.

Why must I be the bearer of bad news - indeed be the source of any news - for Councillors about what is happening in their organisation? News that the officers seem to want to have kept entirely secret from elected members.

Negotiations over the new site started in 2005, after the old school was destroyed by the storms. Yet despite over 4 years of negotiations, frustration, angst from local Councillors and mounting public anger, community consultation and misleading assurances the negotiations still aren't complete.

A realistic view at the future

At last someone in the public sector is starting to realise that action on reducing the budgets is inevitable, and action needs to be taken soon.

Plans for wide-ranging budget cuts in the public sector are "patchy and lack urgency", a cross-party committee of MSPs has warned.

Members of the Scottish Parliament's finance committee also said the efforts of the public sector to tackle the issue were inadequate.

Inadequate isn't the word I would use, but the image of ostriches springs to mind.

The Budget is going to be a hell of a shock for some people who think that someone it can all be done without pain; especially when they realise the nature and extent of the pain that is necessary.

I'd much rather we weren't in this situation, but we are and there is a huge responsibility to manage the public sector down to bridge the huge gap; balancing jobs and services, and specifically how the impact on the general public will be felt.

The private sector is going to suffer too, especially those dependent directly or indirectly on the public sector, and the public sector has a responsibility to manage their expectations too. That means flagging up where the cuts will come so that there are no false expectations.

I forecast that there are going to be some big job losses, with substantial local businesses going under, but planning for coming out of the crash is going to be the key. That means letting the weaker businesses go so that the stronger can survive.

But the public sector will face similar cuts and cannot expect to be immune from the impact, and the sooner that Government and Councils get their act together and develop a coherent strategy - beyond ignoring the impact or playing the blame-game - then the better for us all.

Brace yourselves. It is going to be rough.

Balivanich school

With the plans for the new school well advanced after years of negotiations, plans and campaigning by the local community; and with building due to start over the summer, a legal source tells me that the Council haven't actually bought the land yet...

Oops.

Road gritting

With the Council agendas now being placed on the web in advance of meetings, it is useful to read through them to find matters of interest.

And here is one (and I declare an interest in this matter):

Winter Maintenance 2009/10 – Expenditure Monitoring

SUMMARY
2.1 The current position as at 17 May 2010 for winter maintenance expenditure is as follows:-
Budget - £1,394,075
Current Position at 17 May 2010 - £2,471,301
Estimated Expenditure for year - £2,471,301
Overspend for Year 2009/10 - £1,077,226
[...]
RECOMMENDATION 3.1 It is recommended that the Comhairle
(a) note the overspend on the Winter Maintenance budget 2009/10 which cannot be covered by funding within the overall Transportation Budget; and
(b) note the concurrent report from the Winter Maintenance Member Officer Working Group which has been considering alternative delivery methods for winter maintenance aimed at providing a more cost effective service.

----

The concurrent report from the MOWG is not on the agenda, unless it forms part of Item 9, but I understand that the recommendation is that the Council take all the winter maintenance contracts back in-house, as they can be delivered more cheaply by the DSO.

Stop that laughing at the back there.

The winter maintenance contracts have been the subject of furious debate for as many years as I can remember, with allegations of nepotism, favouritism and double-dealing being levied against the council and counter allegations of profiteering and oligopolistic behaviour by the contractors.

All the claims seem to be true to one extent or another, but it looks like it is all going to be academic, as gritting goes the way of the bus contracts i.e. low-balling, anti-competitive behaviour and massive losses for the public to underwrite.

Council cuts - the latest

As the Councillors gather this week for the Committee meetings, word reaches me that the forecast cuts are even deeper than we originally thought, and that the Council is recognising the severity, extent and prolonged nature of the likely reduction in expenditure.

There is - of course - a blame game to be played between Westminster, Holyrood and the global economic climate, but none of that cuts the mustard with the planned impact on the Comhairle.

I am told by a well-placed source that future budgets are to be set on the assumption of a 25% cut in expenditure over the next 5 years.

That is about £25m off a £100m budget, or just under 5% pa, and represent an enormous axe to be wielded, and can only have devastating effects on the public sector, regardless of how it is managed.

Make no mistake, cuts of that magnitude go way beyond cutting out the fat and the extras built into budgets, and will impact directly on front-line services. I don't just mean staffing cuts, but also a reduction in service hours and increases in costs to try to bridge the gap.

As some costs are effectively fixed - for instance, it is effectively impossible to sack teachers - the cuts are going to have to fall over a subsection of the services delivered, meaning some sections are going to have to be closed whilst others will face enormous reductions.

If the Councillors want the public to understand and support the difficult choices, then there needs to be an open debate about the options facing the Council. We won't all agree with the all the choices made, but at least the public might start to appreciate the complexity and onerous nature of the decisions. And might just appreciate that the cuts are being driven at Governmental level and are not some made decision of the White House.

As more information become available I will keep you informed.

Don't shoot the messenger

The Council salaries and expenses details for are all published (h/t Hebrides News) on the Comhairle website.

Let's try and have a rational debate about this, without kicking the Council, for the simple reason that the number of Councillors and their remuneration and expense rates is all governed by national agreements.

The Councillors have their own merits and demerits, but let us ignore all of that.

The basic wage bill for Councillors is £528,000 or just over £20 per person, annually. But that is not the full story. Omitted from the schedule is employers National Insurance at 12.8% - or another £67,000 to be added to the total bill.

Oh yes, and Councillors are entitled to a pension now, but if they are above pension age then they may not fall into that scheme. I guess 50% of the Councillors might qualify with employer contributions of 8% (if I remember correctly), so perhaps another £20,000. The Council can publish this information (in total) if my numbers are wrong (hint, hint!)

All of which takes the total base cost up to £615,000 or £25 per person annually.

With major cuts in public expenditure planned (and if the rumours are true then I have substantially underestimated the severity) and to be revealed later this month, I have to question whether we can justify and sustain 31 Councillors. Doing what, exactly? Especially post cuts. You could get 10 full time highly-skilled professionals for the price we currently pay.

Turkeys, Christmas, voting.

OR

Self-sacrifice, showing an understanding of the public mood, and realism. (Safe in the knowledge that the law cannot easily or quickly be changed to change Councillor numbers until at least after the next elections)

Solidarity comrades?

But on to our MSPs, who also must accept and act on exactly the same principles of many fewer, but better paid representatives at every level, with higher public expectations and more accountability. It will be painful, especially for those who lose out, but politics is supposed to be abut public service, not self-service, and the bullet needs to be bitten.

Or will we end up with more Chiefs than Indians and a wringing of hands?