View From the Conservative Back Benches
Cllr Andrew Lawrence - Medway Council
The first proper full Council Meeting of the year allowed Cllr Vince Maple to deliver his first Leader’s report which he did with much gusto. A barn storming speech that laid down a marker on how he would proceed through the remainder of the civic year.
Cllr Maple focused his speech on Medway Labour’s achievements in it first fifty-five days of power and Cllr Maple laid out a long list of successes that he wanted the electorate to be aware of, tweeting a clip of his speech just to make sure as many people as possible heard about Medway Labour’s achievements. But just how many of these “successes” stand up to scrutiny?
Before proceeding I am sure the reader will want to know why am I raising this here and not in Council? The answer is simply that there is not enough time in the Council meeting for all Councillors to ask questions of the Leader and the Leader’s report is not published in advance of the council meeting.
Back to those achievements. I want to focus on five key areas of Cllr Maple list: GPs, Federation of Small Business, Consultants employed by the Council, air quality and the cost-of-living crisis.
GPs
Cllr Maple stated that Medway Labour had “addressed the concerns of residents”. This is interesting as of course Medway Council has nil power to employ GPs which is entirely in the hands of Kent and Medway NHS, the Integrated Care Board (ICB). Cllr Murray has a very cosy relationship with the ICB, lots of talk of partnership and collaboration but unfortunately very little action or holding to account. With many residents struggling to get a GP appoint the number of GPs is absolutely critical. So, Cllr Maple, how many GPs have you managed to employ since coming to power?
Federation of Small Business (FSB).
In June, Cllr Maple and Cllr Edwards signed the FSB declaration on small business. Of course, signing a declaration is the easy bit - turn-up, sign and photo but what does this mean for Medway small businesses? Can Cllr Maple or Cllr Edwards for that matter, tells us what has be done for Medway small businesses or even, what is the plan?
Consultants employed by the Council.
Cllr Maple made a bold statement on consultants and other staff who are employed by the Council on non-standard contracts. Invariably, these staff are employed on a day-rate structure but do not receive sick pay, holiday pay or pension contributions. Cllr Maple’s statement was clearly that he had addressed this and had had achieved better value for taxpayers. If this is the case here are a few questions to test his assertions:
1. How many consultants have been terminated?
2. How many consultants have become full time employees or have moved on to a fixed term contract?
3. How much money has been saved to date and what is he full year saving?
Air Quality
This is an important matter in Medway. Cllr Maple made a stunning claim that he had addressed air quality. I am guessing that Cllr Maple was referring to the Government School Street scheme which went to Cabinet on the 11th July and is not yet up and running. Can Cllr Male tell us by what amount he has improved air quality?
The Cost-of-Living Crisis
The centre piece of Medway Labour’s “achievements” heavily trailed in the local election campaign as an answer to the real problems faced by some families in Medway. With much fanfare, the plan was delivered to Cabinet on the 11th July and what a damp squib! It contained nothing new at all except £40K of spend on an app that might give access to £210K of existing funding that is already available to residents.
The most striking thing about Cllr Maple’s plan is the sudden change in corporate branding that looks suspiciously like Labour Party colours of red and yellow. Now far be it for me to accuse Medway Labour of using Council Tax money to promote the Labour Party, but it is something that we will be keeping an eye on in the run-up to the General Election next year. So, Cllr Maple what is the new money in your Cost-Of-Living Plan and please explain why the plan was printed in Labour Party branding?
Cllr Maple has been enjoying his time in the media spotlight. You cannot keep Keir Starmer out of Medway these days which is odd given that Cllr Maple was such a strong supporter of Jeremy Corbyn but at this point Cllr Maple needs to start delivering – saying you have done something is not the same as doing it!
August 2023.