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22nd May 2007
The First Few Weeks on the Council!
I thought that readers might be interested
to hear about the first few weeks experienced by the new
Councillors elected on May 3rd to Aberdeenshire Council.
After the elation of winning a seat and
taking up the responsibilities as an Aberdeenshire
Councillor, we were all summoned to the Woodhill House, the
HQ of Aberdeenshire Council to learn what you the electorate
expected from us, and attend three days of training.
Chief Executive Alan Campbell, officially
welcomed us to the Council and opened up the first of the
sessions which covered the structure of Aberdeenshire
Council and tied this in with a presentation from Prof
Richard Kerley, Queen Margaret University, on the changing
face of local Government. The presentations continued with
Director of Education , Bruce Robertson, Director of
Planning and Environmental Services, Christine Gore,
Director of Housing and Social Work, Colin McKenzie and the
Director of Transportation and Infrastructure, Iain Gabriel.
I was rather astonished to hear that over 6000 people are
currently on the Aberdeenshire Council waiting list for
housing, a list increasing at about 1000 each year.!
Neil McDowall, Director of Law and
Administration took time to explain the new Code of Conduct
which lays down the standards to which we must all comply as
Councillors. He stressed the importance of planning
decisions, and being impartial throughout when such
applications were being determined. Councillors can declare
an interest and abstain from any decision if they feel they
might be influenced in any way from taking a neutral stance.
We were then briefed on Licensing policy and
the various partnerships which Aberdeenshire Council
participates along with Community Planning.
All Councillors now have to complete a
Disclosure Scotland form as they may find themselves in
contact with vulnerable people.
Our training concluded with a presentation
from Police Constable Colin McKerracher and David Dalziel,
Chief Fire Officer.
Councillors were made aware of the
secretarial and IT assistance available and given a tour of
Woodhill House, taking in the large Committee rooms as
well as the facilities for Members.
Outside the official calendar of training,
talks were taking place between the various Political
Parties on who was to form the Administration of the
Council. As the Liberal Democrats achieved the highest
number of seats in the Council, they took a lead in
conducting talks with both the SNP and the Conservatives. An
agreement was not possible between the SNP and the
Conservatives due to restrictions imposed by the SNP
nationally on doing deals with the Conservatives. (I suspect
that ruling will soon change). A partnership arrangement was
achieved between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives
with each party manifesto commitments being championed. It
is easy to sit in splendid isolation and not enter an
administration, but it really is no way to achieve any of
your manifesto commitments and the will of the electorate
was to deny any of the political parties a majority to run
the Council alone.
The Council positions are allocated to each
Political Party following discussions with the group
leaders and the individual groups decide on who they will
nominate to the various posts. No cross Party nominations
take place.
This new partnership arrangement however,
does not prevent me attacking my Liberal Democrat colleagues
for past performance both in Aberdeenshire council and their
record in the Scottish Parliament – and I will continue to
do so, but we will work together to pass the business of the
Council.
The first full Council took place on May
17th and we took our seats in the Council chamber for the
first time, each of us with our name plates in front of us.
It really was the moment when you realise you are now an
Aberdeenshire Councillor, one of 68. My 14 Conservative
colleagues were around me at one side, the 22 SNP members
across the horseshoe chamber with the 24 Lib Dems in the
middle and the 8 Independents along the back. The Area
managers and directors of service are all present as the
Council started its business with the election of Provost
and then Chairmen of the various policy committees were
nominated and seconded.
Each Councillor will now sit on one major
policy committee instead of 2 as was the case before May
3rd. In my case it will be Education.
The next stage will be to meet our
Kincardine and Mearns Area team at Viewmount, Stonehaven,
and the officers we will work closely with to try and
address the various issues which come up locally.
I have already been round the various
Community Councils in my ward before the election, and have
been dealing with issues raised by them. I find this one of
the most interesting aspects of being a Councillor. The
Mearns is a great area to represent and has many live issues
which will challenge all Councillors to find solutions.
I suspect we will have to keep on fighting
long and hard for these things until we achieve them.
Conservative Cllr
George Carr, Mearns
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