The past 12 months make me despair for all the lessons lost
My statement to strategy and resources
Democracy has weakened so substantially under the new committee system that I find it difficult to even articulate the ways in which this destruction has been conducted.
We could look at the little ways in which access to information has been delayed and refused: Under the mayoral system, a member of the public could send a statement to a meeting “by no later than 12 noon on the working day before the meeting.” This has increased to two working days.
I was not able to send a statement about the Families First Transformation programme going (again) to Children and Young People’s committee, which meant there is no public record of my concerns. The criticisms of the financial modelling were not raised at committee. The worries about the ‘discreet cohort’ of children who are being stepped down to family care in order for the council to save £5.5m were also not heard.
I wasn’t able to raise the worries about the approach of paying £7.5m to an external partner for a 12-month project containing data analysis and ‘deep dives’ of the data, or the risk/reward structure of the payment which the government considers has the following risks: Misdirected focus of service provision, Burden of proof on actual achievement of results, Cash management issues, and the Lack of appeal for SMEs.
In the Transformation papers going to Strategy and Resources today, the report stating the costs still says £7m and not the new and revised £12m. I don’t know how councillors can examine this programme if they don’t even have the right information in front of them.
Transparency and accountability are not just ways to irritate politicians, regardless of what those in power may think. The public’s scrutiny and the council’s transparency are essential means for helping the city function better. Democracy strengthens decision making. Hiding the assets being sold off is very specifically a weakness of our democracy and yet today, councillors are selling off assets with no information available.
Regarding FOIs, reducing the storage time for emails to two years is also a weakening of our democracy. The SEND spying motion under Labour empowered an inquiry into the behaviour of officers and politicians. The spying happened over two years ago and reducing the availability of evidence will hinder any justice we can expect as a city.
I note the report about FOIs says that all FOIs about senior figures have now been answered. I dispute this statement, strongly. I have asked to see the Labour mayor’s communications about the Bottleyard and I was refused. I have taken that matter to the ICO. Refusing FOIs does not mean they are resolved. The ICO could still order the council to find that information.
Democracy is knowable and it is practical. What I have seen over the past 12 months makes me despair for all the lessons lost and all the ways we are being harmed.
All the items mentioned in the piece relate to the Strategy & Resources Committee held on 19 May 2025. I have submitted this article as a public statement.