The Accounts Commission

[Shoogler]

^^ Not really, but it could have been written as two sentences for the sake of clarity.

[north]

I would bet anything that nothing is going to change.

 

The entire council has reached a level of ineffectiveness, incompetence and the demonstrated inability to make any resolution for change.

 

If the SIC were to be abolished, would anyone ever notice?

[Brian]

Why are you writin aboot it dan.

[north]

Because this is the typical outcome of ineffectual government on a disaffected electorate - total apathy.

 

These might be considered the progressive steps that should forge activism and revolution in society; but in Shetland they seem to simply inspire even greater perfunctoriness in both the elected membership and the electorate that enables them.

 

The ability and necessity for change and evolution are clearly demonstrated mechanisms for societal development. Shetland seems to be locked into an inertial black hole damning it to repeat failure after failure, and an inability to embrace change away from the steadfast commitment to "the way it has always been done".

 

That, dear Brian, is why I continue to occasionally comment upon it.

[Brian]

Is yun no a bit o an exaggeration.

[north]

Depends on your appetite for change, improvement and advancement.

 

Or your degree of apathy?

[Longdog]

@Vicky 10/10

 

I have some sympathy with North's view. But that's because I pretty much despair at the politics of the country as a whole, never mind Shetland or wider a field.

 

Not apathetic but not one to try to jump in the driving seat either, more likely to jump in the sea in dispair

[Brian]

North: when the coalition government's cuts kick in, then you will see the failure of Council services in Shetland in a big way. But it's a subject that contributors to Shetlink ignore entirely. You will soon have to wake up, boys.

[Pooks]

But it's a subject that contributors to Shetlink ignore entirely.

Strong words. That would include yourself then?

[Ghostrider]

* Procedures for consulting and communicating with the local community

 

Tell us what the hell is going on instead of hiding.

 

"The real SIC communication problem is not that it is too secretive but that it does not present its policies and activities adequately to the public. The Shetland Times and Radio Shetland devote a lot of time to reporting Council meetings, but they cannot possibly do full justice to the sheer volume of business handled by the Council.....

 

.....No attempt is made to inform the public systematically, to make available regular accounts of Council decisions and policies on a range of issues."

 

Written and published as part of the Editorial of a local publication 24 years ago, (and even endorsed by Brian at the time ).

 

The rot didn't begin today, and obviously nobody where it matters has been listening or trying to do anything about it for in excess of quarter a century.

[Spinner72]

In fairness, there is a raft of information regularly posted on the councils website which many people (it appears) just don't know about.

 

The fact is that so much of it is mundane and routine, so publishing a paper version, for example, would probably be considered wasteful.

 

Then of course, there is nothing stopping those individuals interested enough from going along to the appropriate meetings themselves, as has always been the case. All dates and agendas are published with plenty of notice.

 

What I would like to know is, that if elected members have not gained the basic abilities to abide by the code of conduct (some seem to be under the impression that because they were cleared of one or two specific incidents they are cleared of all other breaches by default!) and gain a basic grasp of democracy, what actions can be enforced, if any, when the commission conducts its folllow up?

[Ghostrider]

^^ The internet has helped a little, for those of us with it, and happy to use it. Bear in mind though that there are a quite significant number of people out there who do not have internet access, and quite a significant number more who while having it, only use it if and when they really have no other choice. It is not their medium of choice by a very long shot.

 

The SIC site, I would argue is quite a difficult and time consuming one to find much of the more detailed and specialist information it contains. Perhaps a more detailed advanced search option would help, or then a restructure of how the information is presented. At the moment it gives the impression it was structured from the point of view of the mindset of someone "inside" the council machine with a reasonably good overview of the internal structure and procedures of the council, your average Joe Public's knowledge and preception of the council tends to be something completely different. The ability to find information of certain services, procedures, regulations etc without having to first figure out what committee or department they fall under the jurisdiction of, or end up having so many hits come back in a search because it brings back everything with the search term, that the results are useless, would be a big help. As it stands, I can see a lot of people giving up trying to find something, due to their lack of knowledge of where exactly to look making finding it appear virtually impossible.

 

Attending meetings is fair enough, but not really practical unless for desperately important issues. Council meetings as best as I recall mostly, if not all occur during the working day and working week. Being able to get away from earning a living, and having to make the choice between earning a living and keeping tabs on the folk that should be looking after your collective interests, is not always possible, no do I believe it is a choice anybody should be asked to make, certainly not on a regular basis anyway.

 

The council operates on six week meeting cycles as best as I recall, therefor, as I see it, a quarterly two or four page insert included in the "Times" with a brief summary of matters arising at the previous two meeting cycles, and of any other ongoing council business the public have the right to know about, would go a long way towards keeping everyone better informed. It doesn't need to be detailed, just enough to let folk know what was decided at the meetings, and what progress (or not) the council are making in general.

 

I'd add one provisio though, that it be written by an independent author, a freelancer under contract, and not by either a direct council employee or an employee of a commercial media outlet. "Making it pretty" to keep the "management" sweet, or dressing it up to sell a commercial publication would defeat its very prupose.

[Spinner72]

That final point is a good one.

 

The problem of the volume of minutes and information could be offset by having a regular summary written this way.

 

I find the search facility pretty good : http://www.shetland.gov.uk/coins/DocumentSearchPublic.asp

 

It does require a bit of thought to narrow things down, but thats preferable to having things limited IMO.

[icepick239]

Times Past:

This week we have a photo of hordes of people watching and enjoying the Tub Race in the peerie boat harbour and later the Greasy Pole competition, all part of the Annual Lerwick Regatta.

For us that can remember all of this, it was a magic time.

Thank you Dennis Coutts.

Times were still tough financially for most, but no-one really suffered too much, as people helped each other overcome whatever life threw at them.

 

Turn Back One Page:

And we have being reported the shambles of what and where we have been and for some, where they still are.

DC had to go, as there was no chance ever, he could regain the trust of all and right the wrongs, hence Alistair Buchan.

The same applies to certain senior Councillors and to a lesser extent some of the new intake in 2007.

There is now nothing they can do to help right the wrongs in the short time left to this Council, in order to regain the respect and backing of the electorate until 2012.

Their motives for wanting to stay on are for their own consciences.

Shetland has come a long way (and in a good way) since this photo was taken in 1960, but this has now been greatly jeapordised I fear.

[Talpa]

The present set-up might not be perfect and maybe some hard lessons need to be learnt but I for one am blyde we're not a mould of "doon sooth" and I'll take no lectures from them.

 

And any report fae "doon sooth" is always going to have it's nose out of joint because we don't fit their mould and such a report is always going to suggest that we should be "following their lead".

 

Be careful what you wish for....

 

The Charitable Trust may make astute investments, or at least the companies who manage the various portfolios (doon sooth?) do. Unfortunately it is when the money comes back up here to be spent that things have gone tits up. The S.I.C has a weird mix of arrogance and complete lack of confidence. On one hand ‘we do it our own way here’ and on the other there is blind trust put in consultants. Oh and Norwegians…Maybe wise not to mix pride in cultural heritage with economics? The Norway/ Faroe obsession has resulted in wasted zillions. Faroe may be a more romantic bed fellow than Scotland but is the love mutual? Narrona? Fish quotas? Yet still they are wooed? It is a bit cringe-worthy to see such unrequited, puppy love.