TORY MENDIP - ONE OF THE WORST COUNCILS IN THE SOUTH WEST! (WELLS CONSTITUENCY LIBERAL DEMOCRATS)

WELLS CONSTITUENCY LIBERAL DEMOCRATS <info@wellslibdems.org.uk>

TORY MENDIP - ONE OF THE WORST COUNCILS IN THE SOUTH WEST!

December 15, 2009 12:04 AM

Mendip Mendip Liberal Democrats respond to Mendip's new inspection rating (CAA)

Speaking on behalf of Mendip's Liberal Democrat group, Cllr Claire Hudson, the Leader of the Opposition said:

"The Liberal Democrats are not surprised by Mendip's CAA results and find no pleasure in saying 'we told you so'. The Liberal Democrats have been questioning the Conservative administration of Mendip about their performance for the last five years; the Liberal Democrats have been asking why they have chosen to ignore the recommendations of numerous Audit Commission inspections and the Liberal Democrats repeatedly challenged the former leader of Council Ken Maddock's assertion that Mendip was 'Better than Excellent'. This has been well and truly shown to be what it really was deliberately and cynically inaccurate.

"This CAA result - Mendip's score is a 1 - is the lowest possible score a Council can get. It means Mendip is an organisation that does not meet minimum requirements and performs poorly. This result makes Mendip one of the four worst councils in the South West.

"Unfortunately, the Conservatives have only themselves to blame. This result hasn't just come out of the woodwork, but is a result of consistent ways of behaving that fly in the face of best practice.

Apart from their failures to produce proper policies required of a local authority, the Conservative group have consistently denied a voice to any opposition (nearly half the council).

"For example the Conservative administration's decision to not advise the opposition of this year's proposed job cuts (redundancies that have cost the Council well over £1million) before it was released to the media; their decision to vote along political lines to deny the participation of experienced Liberal Democrat members in the council's businesss; along with an unrelenting spin on their actions, have made them undemocratic and have lead to significant criticism, not just from the opposition, but from government agencies working with the Council.

"Over the last few years Mendip has haemorrhaged talent and knowledge; this must stop. We still have many excellent officers, who can help us to improve, who have the drive to push the council forward, but there has to be the political will - and this is the challenge to the Conservative administration.

"The Conservative group need to stick to their agreed Improvement Plan, engage with the opposition, and take responsibility for their actions. Their targets are ambitious, possibly over ambitious, but if the Mendip dog truly can learn new tricks, then things will change. If nothing changes, we will not improve and the next step down is government intervention. I hope it is the former that prevails."