46, with a bullet

Many thanks to anyone who voted for me in this year's Total Politics blog awards. Number 46 in the UK's top 50 Media Blogs category. To infinity, and beyond...

Devonwall - a brief history

Remember when Nick Clegg said "there will be no rigid mathematical formula"? And then Democratic Audit simply crunched the numbers on the non-existent mathematical formula and told us exactly what would happen. The proposed boundary changes appear to cause particular difficulties for Lib Dem MPs Dan Rogerson and Stephen Gilbert. If you want to know how they voted on the third and final reading of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, you'll find the Hansard here.

Don't look now

Back in May a full meeting of Cornwall Council voted to allow broadcasters to film and record inside the council chamber. At this week's meeting, four months later, the cameras were still banned. So what's going on?

My inquiries reveal that there is something called the Member Development Working Group. It is chaired by the council chairman, councillor Pat Harvey. This working group
asked for a "draft protocol" to be agreed by them before returning to full Council.

I don't think the "draft protocol" can be a very difficult thing to draft. Broadcasters had no problems working their way around the former Cornwall County Council chamber prior to 2009.

The council tells me:

"As there are only two full council meetings this year and it is unlikely the draft protocol will have been agreed by the timescale for the October meeting and the November meeting will be considering the Council's budget , a report is scheduled to go before full Council in January. If the protocol is agreed at that meeting it is hoped that it could be implemented immediately afterwards."

All I can say is that the Member Development Working Group must have an extremely onerous workload for it to have been unable to agree the "protocols" for letting the cameras in.

Apparently meetings of the Member Development Working Group have been arranged to agree the draft protocol. I'd like to tell you more about it, such as when it plans to meet, and who its members are, but not only are broadcasters not allowed in to its meetings, neither are members of the public. It doesn't even publish its agendas.

A top-sliced answer

Question: Please provide an estimate of the officer-time, and therefore the cost to council taxpayers, of dealing with the Sticker tortoises over the past three years."

Answer:

We do not hold this data as we do not record time taken against tasks. The Council's Legal Services Team state that 12 hours and 54 minutes were spent between 13 July 2010 and the date of this request and their costs total £812.06. However, this cost is not directly invoiced to the Public Health and Protection Service; it is paid for via a top-slicing of service budgets in respect of legal advice and support throughout the year.

Cornwall's Angry Brigade on the march

Late on Tuesday Cornwall Council issued this statement, following the talkathon about who should be the returning officer for elections to chose a Devon and Cornwall Police Commissioner.

"They (the council) also agreed to send a strong cross party delegation to the Home Secretary to assert stronger Cornish representation in governance, opposition to Devonwall, assessment of case for Cornish Commissioner and police force, principle of democratic governance and accountability."

Councillors Andrew Wallis, Dick Cole and Jude Robinson have also blogged about this. I've asked the council to let me know the details of the "strong cross party delegation" - and the budget for the trip - because I'm quite confident it will be one of the most entertaining meetings of Theresa May's year.

Tortoise latest - are we nearly there yet?

As the rumpus over Sticker's tortoise sanctuary races towards the courts, I thought I'd helpfully draw readers' attention to this letter from Prime Minister David Cameron, sent to St Austell and Newquay MP Stephen Gilbert a couple of months ago.


Mr Cameron repeats the line which Defra has been telling me forever - that responsibility for all the definitions and interpretations of the 1981 Zoo Licensing Act rest with the local authority. Increasingly, I detect signs that Cornwall Council is seeking to hide behind its expert advice. So I phoned the principal expert, Peter Scott, a veterinary consultant. He confirmed that he sent the council a "mind map" which probably led to its current interpretation of the law. Like the council, he believes the legislation is flawed. But he was very interested to hear about David Cameron's letter, so I've sent him a copy.

I don't know if the Prime Minister is an expert on wildlife law or not. Probably not. But he is the Prime Minister. Incidentally, the council is due any day now to answer my Freedom of Information question about how much officer-time (and therefore cost to the public) has been spent in pursuit of Sticker's tortoises.

STOP PRESS: Peter Scott emails to say that the Prime Minister is not necessarily giving Cornwall Council the green light to interpret the legislation at it sees fit. He says Mr Cameron's observations are "not the same as interpreting whether its a zoo, or what is domesticated. The LA decide based on the legal definitions or guidance. A tortoise is clearly a wild animal, yes - often kept domestically. This is supported by the fact that many need registration under CITES - which domesticated species do not." He goes on to say: "My advice is register as a zoo and stop trying to fudge the definition because they are a worthy cause - which nobody disputes."

STOP STOP PRESS: Defra emails with admiral brevity (and clarity?): ""Local councils are responsible for administering the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 and for interpreting its provisions."

STOP STOP STOP PRESS: It seems this hare got running (see what I did there?) when the campaign group Born Free lodged a formal complaint about the tortoise sanctuary with the council. I hope to get Born Free on BBC Radio Cornwall in the next few days.

How to cut off your nose to spite your face

I wasn't at County Hall for yesterday's meeting of Cornwall Council, and eagerly await the recording of proceedings on the council's excellent webcasting service. I am particularly intrigued by the reports I've heard about whether or not the council's chief executive Kevin Lavery should be the returning officer for elections to chose a Devon and Cornwall Police Commissioner next year.

Apparently the idea of a Cornwall Council official getting his hands dirty by supervising elections which include people from Devon so outraged members that they would prefer the elections to be supervised from outside the county. The council appears to have ignored the fact that these are elections for the Devon & Cornwall Police Commissioner (the clue is in the title.)

Councillor Jude Robinson has blogged on this and I hope to have more to say once I've seen the webcast.