Richard Baum

So last night was the first Performance and Resources scrutiny of the calendar year, and what seems like the eighty-seventh of the municipal year.

There was lots on the agenda, but the biggest success story was the Disability Services Review - There have been big improvements in the last few months as the action plan has come into force. Waiting lists have come down from 32 weeks, and look likely to be eradicated by April. Equipment is now delivered quicker too, and recycled more. This is great news and the service should be congratulated I think.

I must say though that it was disappointing that no Executive member was present to be scrutinised on the financial stuff. The Executive member for the Performance and Resources portfolio couldn’t make it (for legitimate reasons), but no replacement was sent for the finance stuff, so we couldn’t question the Executive. Since this is one of the main points of scrutiny, it seems like much of our time last night was wasted. The reports were presented, and very informative they were too. But where we had issues about Council policy decisions, there was nobody there to talk about them.

Which was very frustrating, and lots of Members made a very big deal about it. I think they’re right to have done, and I hope that this can be sorted out.

Rick