Council meeting today was uncharacteristically brief ... I have a sinking-feeling that June's meeting will not be of similar brevity :-(
Main (and just about only) topic of contention was, as thought, the long-term budgetary position for the Local Authority.
The Labour Group moved a relatively benign amendment, mainly concerned with opening-up the consultation and communication process that's undertaken in developing the Council's budget ... rather bizarrely, the Lib/Nat Coalition rallied against it for what appeared to be no other substantial reason other than it was a Labour Amendment.
All fairly depressing stuff.
They spent most of the debate arguing that the consultation and communication process they were proposing was absolutely fine and everyone would be properly engaged ...
... they seemed to completely forget - rather conveniently - that half-an-hour earlier the Council Leader and Convener of Education had refused to reassure me over the imminent merger/closure of 3 Nurseries --- the proposals for which have been through no local or parental consultation whatsoever?
And the whole recent saga over the Community Centres was temporarily obliterated from their minds ... hardly a paragon of how to consult professionally?
And the traumatic events of late 2007 never came up at all??
Do I thus believe the budget process will be genuinely open and transparent? ...
... what do you think!
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