Political blog, July 17: Op Stack and FOI
Comments |
How far away is
Kent County Council from succeeding in its efforts
to build a lorry park off the M20 to cope with the problems caused
when Operation Stack is triggered?
Publicly, the authority remains optimistic that its plans for a
large site off the M20 close to Aldington, near Ashford are on
track but the problems are mounting up just as fast as the lorries
do when the M20 becomes a temporary car park.
The latest problem, as we report this week, is that KCC may be
stymied by a law that says any motorway-related services have to be
provided by the private sector, not public authorities.
Read our story on how law change will be
needed for Op Stack lorry park>>>>>>>
Now why this potential hurdle has not been spotted before now is
something I've not been able to get to the bottom of. It seems
rather odd that no-one appeared aware that the policy guidance
might throw a spanner in the works. One theory is that the
Government may be cooling on the idea and doesn't want to help
susbiside the costs and has thrown this in to slow things up.
Either way, the irony is that the Conservative administration at
County Hall is being fettered by legislation that clearly has its
roots in the party's wide-ranging privatisation agenda that began
under Margaret Thatcher, who just so happens to be the politician
KCC leader Paul Carter once told me was why he became motivated to
get involved in politics.
As to its idea that it can use another piece of legislation to
get round the problem, some have their doubts. The
Sustainable Communities Act 2007 has its origins
in a desire by politcians primarily to enable communities to be
released from the shackles of central Government and put
forward ideas to benefit their own local areas (although it doesn't
rule out councils from doing the same).
I dare say that not many of those who live around the site
identified for the huge park would agree with KCC that its plan
"would provide the local community with social, economic or
environmental benefit" as the Act envisages.
Ultimately, it will be for the Government to decide but I
imagine that protest letters are already being drafted.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A small step forward for
Freedom of Information. The Government has
announced it plans to add more bodies who will be captured by the
scope of the Act. These include school academies, the Association
of Chief Police Officers, university admissions body Ucas and the
Financial Ombudsman Service. There are also plans to consider how
utilities and private contractors working for public bodies could
also be brought into the scope of the Act.
Not surprisingly, the Government's fairly modest plans have not
been well-received by campaigners or the opposition parties, as you
can read
here and here
The Conservatives are particularly scathing about the proposals
and it is encouraging to see the party shaping itself as a friend
of Freedom of Information - something not always apparent at
a local level.
Either way, there are still far too many public bodies that lie
outside the scope of FOI and while the Government deserves credit
for bringing in the Act, it has too often dragged its feet over
improving it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It is so long ago but I
cannot exactly remember when KCC first set out on its "journey" to
reorganise highways services.
If I'm right it was around 2006 when County Hall decided it
would take back control over road improvements and maintenance from
the district councils, a move that didn't go down too well with the
districts and boroughs.
Fast forward to 2009 and a major piece of the re-organisation
jigsaw has stilll not been found, namely a new super depot for west
Kent to complement the one in Ashford that opened last year.
However, there is some progress. KCC has identified a new site
somewhere west of Maidstone off the M20 (it won't say where) and a
planning application is due "early in 2010."
It will be interesting to discover exactly how much the final
costs of this re-organisation are and how they compare with the
savings KCC first mooted.
Friday, July 17 2009
The KM Group does not moderate comments.
Please click here for our house rules.