... of course, I'm sure some will claim it was all down to the infamous traffic-lights, but truth is the agenda was pretty light and I suspect September's meeting will be more weighty?
Of note:
- Lord Provost casting vote used to reject a one-off request for funding of £8,000 for 'Senior Action Group Edinburgh' (SAGE)
- Lord Provost casting vote used to reject a perfectly reasonable motion from the Greens on the use of the 'Climate Challenge Fund' - see item 10.6 on the agenda here
But, much more serious than the LP using his casting vote to prevent progress on items such as those above (important though both are in their own right obviously) is the ever-creeping, and blatant, politicisation of the LP's position.
At the meeting (and anyone present will confirm this I'm sure) there was a woeful use of Standing Order 22 (see page 11 here) which stops a decision of the Council being changed within 12-months.
The LP has used it frequently to prevent us discussing issues such as school meals, and he used it during this month's meeting to prevent the Council discussing the Fairer Scotland Fund (see item 10.1 here) ... all these topics are just too embarrassing for the current Lib/Nat Pact, you see :-(
... but not Post Offices - no, that's not too embarrassing because the whole Post Office Agenda is being led by a tier of Government within which they have no power or control.
Now, the fact that we've discussed, and made significant decisions, on Post Offices at Council Meetings in both May 2008 and June 2008 was quickly swept under the carpet and Standing Order 22 (despite my request for it to be applied consistently!) was ignored when it came to discussion of an 'emergency motion' on Post Offices.
Shameful.
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