Richard Baum

I have calmed down this morning after lat night’s rant about LAPs and the general rubbishness (pun intended) of the Council’s street cleaning service for Prestwich.

I am still determined to press this though, and won’t be giving up. In addition, I have been giving more thought to why I leave each and every LAP meeting feeling as though I may as well stand screaming obscenities with my fingers in my ears as be a Councillor for all the good I can do.

I reckon it’s because LAPs bring together the angriest residents in Prestwich and the world’s most toothless forum. Toothless not because of the people on the LAP itself, or even the decision-making structure of the Council, but because we’re all utterly hamstrung by bureaucracy and being part of a group unsure who to turn to to make sure things are done the way the community wants them done. We all nod sagely and say we sympathise, but actually getting stuff done to solve problems like vandalism, congestion and litter seems impossible.

At Council meetings the Labour group often accuse the Tories of letting the officers run the Council. And they’re right, but it’s not the Tories’ fault. The Labour group did no better and would do no better if in charge again. And I doubt we would either. Officers DO run the Council, because that’s their full time job and because they are in effect the agents not of the people of Bury or us Councillors, but of central government. And central government call the tune.

Our over-bearing, over-centralised and so often unaccountable central government control almost everything that the Council does. When I was a Council officer, the Members had lots of good ideas, as did I. But there was no flexibility in budgets, no room to try anything new, and far too little responsiveness to local community need. And it’s borne out at LAPs where people have problems and we just can’t respond.

We all want a responsive service but there’s no local power to vary ringfenced monies or alter government imposed targets that direct money away from things we really do need (like clean streets).

And it reduces Councillor power to virtually nil. All we can do is keep trying, keep building the relationships with the officers and see what comes of it.

I hope this cynicism of mine passes. I’ve been a Councillor nine months, so maybe I’ll learn how to be better. I can do the casework that comes my way, and I can do the big political stuff. It’s this middle bit about stuff that’s pertinent to the ward as a whole that I struggle with. Getting lots of streets cleaner, or revising bin routes to make things better for lots of people. In the end I sometimes think that all I am as a Councillor is a regular guy with the direct dial number of the guy in charge, so that it’s him that says no direct rather than the person in the call centre.

I want to help. I want to be the magic man, the man that does the thing that makes the difference. Sometimes it works and it’s great – I’m doing what I was elected for. Often times though it just doesn’t, and it’s very frustrating.

Rick