Firstly a statement midweek from Councillor Angus McCormack
Manford accused of misleading comhairle and compromising officers
Councillor Angus McCormack has reiterated his claim that Councillor Donald Manford, the SNP Group Leader, misled a meeting of the Comhairle on 6 December 2012, and says he will pursue the matter further given the ‘overwhelming’ evidence proving Cllr Manford’s culpability.
Cllr Manford is accused of repeatedly misleading colleagues and compromising the professional integrity of senior officers when he protested that the advice which was given to him by officers at the meeting regarding the competency of his motion on school transport, was not the advice he had received from them earlier that day.
Despite Cllr Manford’s refusal to accept that he has anything to answer for, Cllr McCormack claims that the evidence against him is overwhelming and cannot be refuted.
Cllr McCormack said: “Further to my formal question last week to the Comhairle leadership regarding Cllr Manford’s conduct in December, I will be pursuing this matter to a satisfactory conclusion. I find it unacceptable that having misled members and senior officers, Cllr Manford refuses to apologise for his behaviour which has fallen well below the standards expected of elected members, not least an office-bearer and a Vice-Chairman of a Comhairle committee.
“If behaviour like this is left unchecked, it sets a dangerous precedent that will allow further breaches of conduct about which the leadership of the Comhairle will be powerless to do anything.”
Cllr McCormack concluded: “I am considering what further steps to take in order to have this blatant abuse of public office addressed.”
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Then, a weekend reply from Councillor Donald Manford
Dramatic Developments on Safe Routes to School Controversy.
The Council’s school travel policy provided an appeal mechanism in 2012 to consider where walking routes to school were unsafe. It was immediately apparent that parents had major concerns about the transparency and fairness of appeals.
A report to council’s Audit and Scrutiny Committee 5th December 2012 informs how appeals on the safety of walking are considered. The risks associated with pedestrian and vehicle conflict resulting from road defects. Routes with no footways but narrow verges to have the width of the carriageway, traffic volumes/types and visibility applied. The report lists 7 walking safety criteria, the 3rd of which is the availability of a footway.
It has now emerged that the existence of a bus is a major criteria, completly absent from the report to “inform members”, the absent criteria also appears to override all other criteria. Whatever the ethics of a policy which requires payment to secure a child’s safety. The most pressing question is would the large numbers of appeals have been embarked upon if it had been known the appeals may have been pre-determined by the existence of a bus on the route?
How much time, energy and money was spent on potentially fruitless appeals? This can only be properly ascertained by enquiring of every parent/guardian or child who was put through the stress of these appeals.
It is no secret that I have been pursuing and will continue to pursue answers, to ensure effective and fair appeals mechanisms which I believe to be a purpose of an Audit and Scrutiny committee. Councillor MacCormack knew that this damning evidence was about to be exposed and while I am grateful to him for unwittingly raising the profile of the questionable appeals process, his methods are sad and unfortunate.
I utterly reject his scurrilous accusations and contrived conclusions and I sadly feel required to pursue further guidance on Cllr MacCormack’s own conduct in regard to the council’s Standing Orders.
One for the Public Standards Commissioner for Scotland if either (or both) ever get round to complaining. As a matter of interest when last was a Comhairle councillor investigated?
Good old Labour v SNP. Will end up all talk like their parties. No baws but makes good reading.
Was the last not that full moon charachter snooker from benbecula?
Jan, answer; some time ago and no one bothers anymore because like every other ‘investigation’, it ends up covered in white wash. I suspect though if someone wants to start making proper investigations at the Comhairle, they are going to be kept very busy indeed. On the subject of appeals processes, I site the various appeals involved in the Single Status debacle. Many council staff spent time an effort appealing against the p-poor salary bands that they had been dumped in, whilst others and carved themselves a nice little earner on the CNES food chain. And what a waste of time and effort it was. Expensive solicitors from the mainland were employed to intimidated staff and write rubbish, sapping the will to live from all those that stood in their way. Manford describes a set of variables that can be applied in so many other incidents that have taken place at the Comahairle over the last few years, and frankly are not surprising at all. Its just same old, same old. They get away with it because no one stands up to them, and when they do its just one person stincking their neck on the block.
The last occasion that I spoke to Councillor McCormack, was in the Council Chamber, when I confronted him about the e-mail he had sent in his capacity of Chairman of the HHP Board, to Tony Pendle, former Operations Manager. HHP. In which McCormack complained about a lady being “housed among decent people.” That was six months after Hosie. McCormack’s only concern was from where I’d got the e-mail.
Objections to the alterations to Percevil Square were properly lodged with Lesley An McDonald. But McCormack had to have his way. Where there once was a dusty oasis, he created an Empty Quarter studded with pagan symbolism.
How many trees have had to be replaced?
Our largely useless council, probably the worst since the BCCI debacle, continue to collect their large salaries and expenses whilst doing little for the people of the islands other than their usual of ignoring the wishes of the people; the same people they were elected to represent.
Since this council came to power, the islands have gone backwards in time with services rapidly approaching those we had in the 1950s and 1960s. In the meantime, they waste vast amounts of money indulging in this or that legal fight costing hundreds of thousands of pounds; and in giving council contracts to mainland or Irish companies.
We now have one councillor, McCormack, who seems intent on spending vast amounts of time and effort in a fight with another councillor, and which may well result in even more legal costs to the islanders. Then again, why should councillors care as, after all, it is not their money they are intent on wasting.
To make matters worse, this particular fight seems to be over the question of bus transport for island school children, with the majority of our councillors prepared to risk the lives of these same school children by making them walk to school along poor quality roads without footpaths, and in the dark and often stormy weather we have on the islands.
We also seem to have a high percentage of councillors who appear to do little towards improving things on the islands; again, other than saying and doing nothing and/or ignoring the wishes of the people. This, of course, is not helped by the fact that we have about 50% too many councillors, all gouging the council taxpayers for between £16,000 and £26,000 a year. If we got rid of at least half of this deadwood, the savings would be more than enough to retain the lifeline air services and pay for buses for school children.
Then we come to that other invisible man, our MSP. What is he doing? If nothing else he should be ensuring that the Scottish government changes the law to halve the number of our deadwood councillors before the next council elections; and to change their term of office to no more than three years. We also need the law changed to allow us to recall useless councillors.
Come the next council elections we also need to make sure that we check on the record of the existing councillors before we vote, making note of those few who have tried to do something for the islands, and of those who have either done nothing for us or who have been more interested in making money from us than representing us.
well the church block voting system allows for any one without any abilities to be voted in……..
all one needs to do is to attend church regularly…….take a look at Stornoway North Ward Councillors? Which church do they all attend? Haven’t seen or heard any of those guys do anything, yet… tbh the ONLY councillor that does do any work is Charlie Nicolson, man of the people……
As for Labour Vs SNP…..it’s a shame that children are being affected by party politics….another reason never to vote for a party in a local election…..
it’s time we got a new MSP to look after our interest’s……
Billy, I cannot believe you have not questioned the abilities of our MP!
Time for personal vendettas and petty party politics to be overlooked by our councillors. If they won’t work together for the benefit of the islands they should step aside and let new faces in that have the interests of these islands and their long suffering people at heart.
@spikey
i havent seen the MP in that long that i totally forgot about the waste of space…..
nuff said,,,
the whole thing smacks ‘student politics!’
get in the real world the pair of you!
Bald men fighting over a comb…..
As Chair and Vice-Chair of Audit and Scrutiny (sic), just how productive is that Committee going to be when they are at each others throats. Time for a vote of no confidence in them both.
@Absent Minded, the reason McCormick ignored you is that your are, quite literally, a w*nker, Mr Scott.
Quote from article: ” Cllr Manford is accused of repeatedly misleading colleagues and compromising the professional integrity of senior officers when he protested that the advice which was given to him by officers at the meeting regarding the competency of his motion on school transport, was not the advice he had received from them earlier that day.”
What’s all the fuss about? All McCormick needed to do was summons the “Senior officer” who allegedly gave the advice to C’llor Manford, and ask him the question.
This dispute is all secondary and nothing more than a smoke screen to deflect us all from the principal matter C’llor Manford and all of us need to be concerned about, before there is a death on our roads of a child going to school, as a direct result of flawed and confused council policy. Individual decisions, and appeals, based on “Risk Assessment” protocols, clearly requires these protocols to be transparent and universally understood. This is my understanding of what c’llor Manford was trying to achieve, on behalf of constituents he represents. Which C’ttee deals with this should not be placed as a stumbling block to get at the truth! The CEO needs to have serious words with his Convener (and Snr Officer), sort out this mess internally, and give us all the info we require to ensure our children and young people are as safe as they possibly can be in arrangements to get them to school each day. This is what concerned parents, represented democratically by their c’llor, are demanding. C’llor McCormick, by his actions, is impeding this process and failing in his duties and leadership. This “stand off”, unless resolved quickly, reflects poorly on our Comhairle, and does not augur well for the future.
Andrew, excellent comment.