Select Committee to visit Wearside

So the Communities and Local Government Committee is to visit Sunderland on Monday 9th July. 

My first thought is to ask why they picked Sunderland? Perhaps they've visited the Sunderland City website http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=6920   which has the following gems:-

Councillors have also been involved in the development of the city's economic masterplan and the potential for communities to benefit from this.

 There's a plan???

Would that include ideas over what to do with the huge Vaux site that's been in dispute for years - which is finally being "redeveloped" as a car park, after various ideas such as leisure facilities, supermarkets, hotels etc. have not yet materialised?

Would that include allocating vast sums of money to an iconic bridge, far more expensive than a simple design, rather than using the money for social care, mending roads or even supplies of salt for our roads in winter?

Would that include such expensive follies such as the Ambit sculpture which broke, the "million pound fountain" on the Seafront which is now an expensive plant pot, or the bus station that was the wrong shape for buses (some of us have long memories)?

Would that include the metro that stops halfway to Washington/Doxford/anywhere. South Hylton is nice but it isn't the hub of industry that some of us might dream of?

In Sunderland, the drive to devolve services to a more local level is continuing with the introduction of new 'place' and people' area boards.

As in a pinboard. Or a whiteboard ? How much did it cost?

 Cllr Watson added: "What we're aiming for is a much more bottom-up approach

No comment. Do I need to?

There they will meet employees of Beckwiths, a community interest cafe set up by the City Council, based in the old coach house in the park and talk to frontline workers from the area response teams, who deal with issues like litter, grafitti and dog fouling. The launch of this team has helped the council achieve some of the highest satisfaction levels for a decade.

In one park, in one corner of the city. Take them to visit the Houghton Landfill, why don't you? Ask the local people if their levels of satisfaction are high, considering the flies, smell and water table contamination they face.

This has led to councillors playing a major role in redesigning services to make them more responsive to the needs of local people. This has already resulted in significant improvements in front line services including litter, fly tipping, graffiti and dog fouling.

 If the council thinks that dog fouling and litter are front line services, heaven help us. Not schools, social housing, disabled provision or roads, but bloody dog sh*t! Yes, by all means show the nice MP's how you look after that.  Mind you their website has the following publication:-

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmcomloc/uc432-i/uc432i.pdf
 The first wrung of promoting local democracy was simply about making as widely known and as comprehensible and understandable as possible who does what, why and how, and who is accountable to whom...


Sigh.

The uncaring banks

I've been reading A view from the Foothills by my former MP, Chris Mullin, and I was interested to see that in April 2000, he was the subject of headlines for his remarks about the social responsibility of Barclays Bank. His words on corporate responsibility of banks show that even 12 years ago, Barclays was the subject of controversy. What he actually said was:-

As has been said, banks play an important part in the stability of local communities. I am sorry to say that in their drive for greater profits--it was pointed out that their recent profits have been huge--they are abandoning any sense of social responsibility...

At the end of the day, the banks' customers must themselves make a commercial decision. If their bank fails to continue to meet their banking needs, they may consider transferring their business to one that does, either directly at a local branch, or through an agency agreement with the local post office. That sort of market pressure sometimes works. Some hon. Members will recall that in the 1970s, Barclays was forced to rethink its investment in South African defence bonds. Many local authorities that had bank accounts with Barclays and many individuals--including me, although I doubt whether the withdrawal of my modest account made a great deal of difference to the bank's corporate strategy--forced the bank to review its attitude towards its investment policy.
 
That sort of popular uprising can sometimes work, when appealing to the better nature of the banks might not. I note that Members of the National Assembly for Wales are calling for the closure of the Assembly's £3 billion account with Barclays. That ought to ring a bell or two in the appropriate quarter, even if what we say in Parliament does not have quite the same impact. That could easily spread, unless Barclays starts to take more interest in the welfare of its customers...
 
I am only too happy to add my voice to that of my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney and the other hon. Members who have spoken this morning, in calling on Barclays bank to reconsider its strategy. However, I am under no illusion--the most effective pressure on Barclays is likely to be customers voting with their feet.

 Hansard reference
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000329/halltext/00329h02.htm#column_88

Although Mr Mullin was primarily interested in the role of Barclays in damaging small communities by bank closures, his words still have a lot of merit.