Mr Dale’s Diary

The bid to topple Sir Albert is gathering pace

The inside track on Birmingham City Council - Paul Dale's Diary

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Published February 21, 2013, in Mr Dale's Diary, Opinion


Sir Albert Bore

Sir Albert Bore

It is inevitable that Sir Albert Bore and Ian Ward will be challenged for the leadership and deputy leadership of Birmingham City Council at the annual Labour group meeting in May.

Quinton councillor John Clancy has indicated to colleagues that he will definitely pitch himself against Sir Albert, assuming that a more heavyweight contender cannot be found from the cabinet, or possibly a senior elder-statesman figure in the shape of a scrutiny committee chair.

And it has become clear in recent weeks that Clancy is planning a double-coup by also lining up a candidate to take on Ian Ward, the affable and hard-working deputy council leader.

One can never be certain in politics, of course, but my estimation for what it is worth is that Clancy and his supporters among the 78-strong Labour group have zero chance of toppling Sir Albert and Cllr Ward. In fact, Clancy has as much chance of becoming the next Pope as the leader of Europe’s largest local authority.

We’ve been here before. Sir Albert certainly has. Will this be

Continues…

We may get a black Pope: will we ever get a black Tory councillor?

The inside track on Birmingham City Council - Paul Dale's Diary

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Published February 12, 2013, in Mr Dale's Diary


councilhouseIt is probably a coincidence that Mike Whitby announced his intention to remain leader of the dwindling band of Birmingham Tory councillors just a few hours after the Pope said he would be abdicating.

Such are the affairs of great men, though, that the timing of these proclamations invariably raises more questions than answers.

Whitby, rattled by criticism of his extremely low profile since losing the council leadership last May, says he is renewed and eager to carry the fight to Labour. A perfect opportunity to do so will be at the annual budget meeting later this month where, for the first time in eight years the Conservative group will put forward its own spending proposals.

Any prospect of a joint Tory-Lib Dem budget in the spirit of the two parties’ coalition was dismissed somewhat abruptly by Liberal Democrat leader Paul Tilsley: “It will be my intention to present a

Continues…

Mr Dale’s Diary: Amey sheds light on Birmingham’s heritage

The inside track on Birmingham City Council - Paul Dale's Diary

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Published January 15, 2013, in Mr Dale's Diary


lampYou might have thought, what with the end of local government as we know it (copyright A. Bore), that city councillors in Birmingham would be ecstatic at the thought of getting new, energy-saving, street lights on their patch.

But this is not necessarily the case for some who retain an inbuilt suspicion of the £2.5 billion contract granted to construction giants Amey to improve and manage the city’s highway’s network.

The fact that thousands of street lights in Birmingham will be replaced, making the council the envy of many other local authorities who tried but failed to conclude PFI deals before George Osborne’s financial Armageddon struck home, cuts no ice with conservation-minded councillors.

They worry that ‘unsuitable’, modern, lighting columns are being placed in Birmingham’s conservation areas, completely out of keeping with Victorian and Georgian architecture.

The issue was raised at a scrutiny committee where executives from Amey were on hand to gently explain that

Continues…

Mr Dale’s Diary: Promises, promises and how politicians failed to keep their word

The inside track on Birmingham City Council - Paul Dale's Diary

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Published December 5, 2012, in Mr Dale's Diary


It didn’t take very long to break a promise to protect workers at Birmingham City Council’s Shelforce unit, which employs disabled people to make double glazed window frames.

On February 13 this year Tim Huxtable, then the cabinet member for transport, environment and regeneration, told a cabinet meeting that none of Shelforce’s 81 staff with disabilities would suffer compulsory redundancy even though the unit was losing money hand over fist.

It is true that Coun Huxtable, a Conservative in the dying days of the city’s Tory-Lib Dem coalition, found himself in

Continues…

Ian Ward becomes Mr Quite Harsh….and the strange case of the phantom font

The inside track on Birmingham City Council: Paul Dale's Diary

By:
Published November 20, 2012, in Mr Dale's Diary


Gosh. Who would have thought it? Mild-mannered Ian Ward, the personification of reasonableness itself, has transformed if not quite into Mr Nasty then certainly into Mr Quite Harsh.

In his second stint as deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, Ward seems determined to ensure that this Labour administration will not repeat the mistakes of 1999-2004, when cabinet members openly fought against each other and no one was prepared to take a decision about anything.

He spent a good part of this week’s cabinet meeting issuing veiled threats.

Directors and cabinet members for the three departments not hitting a £17 million savings target will be invited to meet Coun Ward and his ‘star chamber’ enforcers for

Continues…

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