January 14: Tory big beasts square up over Boris Island
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THEY are two
Conservative big beasts and they don’t appear to be getting on
terribly well, judging by the tenor of letters exchanged between
KCC leader Paul Carter and Mayor of London
Boris Johnson.
The letters, released to us under the
Freedom of Information Act, show how the two have
squared up over "Boris Island", the Mayor’s contentious plan for an
airport on the Thames Estuary.
How Boris has
snubbed Kent over airport plan - read our exclusive special report
here
They reveal how the Mayor has fobbed
off a succession of requests by Paul Carter to come and visit Kent
both to discuss his scheme and have a look at Manston
airport, which KCC believes could play an important part
in future regional aviation strategy.
The letters also reveal just how
politically sensitive the issue is within the Conservative party,
with a plea in one of the letters sent by Cllr Carter urging Boris
to keep quiet about the plan in the run-up to last year’s local
elections, fearing it could create a backlash against the party in
Kent (as it happens, a fear that was completely unfounded.)
The exchanges also give an interesting
glimpse of a power struggle between two people who can quite
rightly consider themselves the most powerful
Conservative politicians in the country.
Reading the correspondence, it seems
to me Boris senses that to give ground and agree to a meeting would
somehow undermine or weaken his position.
He probably also realises that getting
beaten up over the issue and being forced to engage in political
bunfight in enemy territory is not exactly going to do him much
good.
Especially if it was to be
comprehensively covered by the press.
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WILL KCC give us the details of the other sites it
has considered as a possible lorry park to cope with
Operation Stack?
There’s been a deafening silence from
County Hall despite us winning an 18-month long
battle for the details to be disclosed under the Environmental
Information Regulations.
The council has been ordered to
release the details of all the other sites it has considered, along
with the estimated costs.
KCC ordered to
reveal alternative Op Stack sites: read our story here
The deadline for complying with the
ruling by the Information Commissioner is next Monday.
My understanding is that the political
leaders have been advised by their legal people there are no real
grounds on which to make a further appeal to an independent
tribunal – as they are entitled to - but are still weighing up
their next move.
You can read the full ICO judgement in
our favour here
Ashford borough
councillor Richard Honey, who represents the area, also
successfully challenged the authority. He believes KCC will
find it hard to resist disclosure.
He also believes the ruling has wider
implications for people who might be facing blight as a result of
any development proposals. This is what he told me:
“One of the critical arguments KCC
has made is that the Aldington site is the best site and if they
are going to win that argument, they are going to have to prove it
to the people affected, who have a right to challenge that
assertion. The sooner we can assess the other sites, the better. At
the moment, there is no opportunity to compare the impact on the
Ashford site with the other sites.”
The Information Commissioner had “quite rightly recognised that
the public should be informed so there could be an informed public
debate,” he added.
“This could have significant
implications for people where details of any proposal leaks
out, they will be entitled to all the information. Where there is a
debate about whether to release information or not because of
potential blight, the public interest has come down on the side of
disclosurw."
Meanwhile, I've been contacted by one
landowner whose site is among the ten others considered by KCC to
say he has no objections to his details and his land being
disclosed. More soon...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
MIGHT Conservatives at County Hall be
regretting the authority’s enthusiastic endorsement of the
Government’s school academy programme?
I blogged
earlier about the doubts expressed by KCC leader Paul Carter
this week about the programme, after he said schools that had
become academies had not delivered on results despite millions of
pounds of public investment.
Part of KCC’s difficulty is that it
has chosen to become a co-sponsor of several academies – something
that it had regarded as a shrewd way of maintaining some influence
over them.
But the problem with this is that it
hasn’t really prevented the schools from becoming largely detached
from the education authority and KCC’s ability to ensure academies
remain within the Kent "family" of schools – and co-operate or
collaborate with others - rests purely on their goodwill and
whether they want to (having had a taste of freedom from
bureaucratic interference, you can understand why some have
not).
As one senior Conservative councillor
put it to me: "We have accountability but no responsibility."
The difficulty is that KCC's other
option to federate schools, with high-performing schools being
pared with under-achievers has perceived implications for grammar
schools and their ability to retain their autonomy.
Thursday, January 14 2010
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