An afternoon at Endeavour House

As an antidote to recent setbacks Colin invited me yesterday to accompany him to a full Council Meeting at Suffolk County Council.

I thought that the glass and chrome headquarters (pictured above), which opened in 2003, was very impressive, although whoever designed the Council Chamber should have come to see our lovely facility at Babergh, which in my view is the nicest I have seen. Although light and attractive, the Chamber in Ipswich seemed a bit cramped, although the way that the parties sit opposite one another, plus the screens and automatic voting, certainly add to the drama of the occasion!

It was nice to see some of the Babergh Councillors doing their stuff as County Councillors. Debate at the County is on a different level really - much more political, and less spontaneous than discussion at Babergh. I found it very refreshing to hear reference to national politics from time to time. Both Colin and Peter Beer contributed to proceedings without dropping their papers, losing the plot, or letting the side down in any other way!

The two debates that I heard were particularly topical. The first was on the subject of the appointment of Andrea Hill, the new Chief Executive. I have written about this on the blog recently, and am not surprised that it has caused controversy. Interestingly today the Taxpayers Alliance has published the fact that at present only six Council Officers in the UK are paid the sort of money that is going to be paid to Ms. Hill. As a Council Tax payer I can only hope that she will be, as Jeremy Pembroke, the Leader of the Council, promised ‘good value for money’.

The second debate was on the subject of Local Government reorganisation. I had to leave before the end, but I understand that the Council voted to go for a ‘one Suffolk Unitary’ option. I have to say that I am not fully convinced that this is the right way forward, despite the fact that it is undoubtedly the cheapest. We are debating the matter at a special Council Meeting at Babergh on 8^th April, and I will elaborate further at that time.

I accept that listening to the proceedings at Endeavour House might not be everyone’s idea of a fun afternoon out. However, I was so riveted to proceedings that I was almost late for the the Little Waldingfield Committee Meeting to discuss the QUIZ NIGHT ON 3^rd MAY. (Tickets available from me, or Elizabeth Tora; £7.50 to include supper)