Cornwall's councillor bloggers lead the way

Congratulations to Cornwall councillor Andrew Wallis, whose blog has shot up the Total Politics councillor rankings to number 6. Launceston's Alex Folkes is at number 7. Dick Cole and Jeremy Rowe are at 13 and 14 respectively. The Illogan blogger is at 16 and Labour's Jude Robinson at 27. That's six in the top 30. Well dones all round.

Cornwall to get tough on empty homes?

Here is my un-edited interview with Cornwall Council cabinet member councillor Mark Kaczmarek, talking about using powers of compulsory purchase to deal with the county's 4,000 empty homes. I forgot to ask him if his (Conservative) cabinet colleagues agree with the idea...

Civic links

Some time ago I asked Cornwall Council about the £509.94 spent on "gifts and hospitality" in pursuit of the chairman's civic duties. Here's the answer:

"The Chairman keeps a small stock of civic gifts that she gives to visitors to the Council. This is something that all Council Chairmen have done over the years, paid from the Chairman's budget. In her civic role the Chairman welcomes all sorts of people to County Hall, including visitors from foreign countries. Some give her a gift as a symbol of friendship; it is important, and polite, that she reciprocates. In April the Chairman ordered some pairs of St Piran flag cufflinks, made of Cornish tin from a local company, at a cost of £34 each (this price includes VAT and a discount from the supplier). 15 pairs were originally ordered, but five pairs were then returned - leaving the Council with 10 pairs."

So far six have been "awarded" to the governor and assistant governor of Austria, the secretary of the Royal Cornwall Show and three senior military officers. There are four pairs left.

Death and taxes

Last month I asked the council:

"In June, the council spent £9,987.22 on the coroners' ledger for the removal of bodies. Can I find out how many of these were holidaymakers, and if there's a "re-charge" scheme to get the money back once families have been traced etc? Presumably in cases where there are no relatives, the taxpayer foots the bill."

And today I got the answer:

"The figure represents the removal of bodies by undertakers to the designated mortuary in cases of unexpected deaths. The bodies are removed for public health reasons. Some of these will be holidaymakers but the majority will be Cornish residents. We do not charge for the removal of the bodies of holiday makers or Cornish residents."

Coping with the cuts

I suppose that if you are going to cut services to disabled people, it is better to cause as little pain as possible.

The think-tank Demos and charity Scope have combined to put together a map, showing how well/badly local councils are coping. Cornwall is ranked as "good" coming 11th out of 152. The Isles of Scilly is 43rd, Devon 55th and Plymouth 62nd.

I don't pretend to understand the methodology. But in general terms I can see that if you have a reduced amount of money, it is a good idea to spend it wisely. I'd welcome the observations of those in the front-line.

Update on the councillors who were late with their tax

Interesting that so far only two members of Cornwall Council have had the courage to "out" themselves as among the 17 who at one time or another over the past two years had to be pursued before paying their council tax.

Last week council leader Alec Robertson roundly condemned councillors who were late with their taxes, and agreed with the suggestion that a voluntary register of members who had paid on time would improve openness and transparency. That's not the same as saying that it's a good idea, or that he planned to introduce such a register. So after today's Cabinet meeting I asked him.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea and I wouldn't support it," he told me. "We've been advised that there are Data Protection issues and I'm taking that advice."

I have now had the council's formal, written, reasons for refusing to disclose the names:

"This information is exempt under section 40 (personal information) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as the information constitutes third party data. Section 40(2) provides that personal data about third parties is exempt information if one of the conditions set out in section 40(3) is satisfied. Under the FOI Act disclosure of this information would breach the fair processing principle contained in the Data Protection Act (DPA), where it would be unfair to that person."

The issue is now with the Information Commission.

There is more joy in heaven...

Congratulations to Miles Davis, the Cornwall Council press officer, who is soon to resume duties as a reporter on the West Briton newspaper. I'm sure I speak for many journalists when I welcome this return to the path of true righteousness.