Frank Branston - Blogging for a Better Bedford

In my last blog I said that County Hall seemed to be undergoing a collective seizure. I don’t know if they have called in the men in white coats yet, but if so they haven’t been very effective.

Apparently County Council Madeline Russell is appalled at the thought of leaks within the Conservative group over the unitary business. She had better get used to it.

One of the most intgriguing was that members were told that the chief executive, Andrea (remember to pronounce it ‘Ondrea’) Hill had taken the decision to refer for judicial review the Government’s decision to give unitary status to the borough not the county.

Now this is odd. Most councils would take the view that such a decision should be taken by the elected members not an officer, no matter how senior. One member, feeling slighted looked into it and came back with the answer that decisions taken by members can be called in for consideration by the scrutiny committee but decisions taken by officers can’t.

I don’t know if my informant is right, but if so it is another reason to preferr the borough where decisions like that have to be taken by members.

It appears from that fine newspaper Bedfordshire on Sunday that at least some members want the decision called in anyway and some members of the Tory group are horrified that the council is proposing to spend yet more taxpayer’s money on a judicial review. The county says it is likely to cost £75,000 but the savings to be made for the taxpayer make it worthwhile.

It may cost the county £75,000 - although where the High Court is coincerned it is always as well to think of a nmber and double it - but that doesn’t account for what the borough, mid and south Beds will have to pay to ensure that their interests are represented, and all of that will have to be met by the Bedfordshire council taxpayer. You can certainly add at least another £100,000 for that, and then there will be the Government’s costs which will at least match the county’s albeit they will be met by the general taxpayer. Hence my estimate of £250,000.

The strain of all this appears to be afflicting Madeline with amnesia to the extent that she is ascribing to me things which she said herself and appears to think she has spoken or written to me when she hasn’t.

Madeline if a good church-going Christian so we must blame these memory lapses on stress rather than any other cause. Get well soon, Madeline.

IS County Hall suffering from a collective seizure? Maybe not but something weird is going on.

It has announced that it is taking the unitary fight to judicial review at goodness knows what cost to the taxpayer, council and national.

This is the organisation which has, by its own (belated) admission spent £300,000 on its bid so far (in contrast with the borough’s £11,000 for its successful bid), squandering it on ridiculous stunts like its ‘We’re the hottest thing in town” nonsense when it got three stars while remaining in the bottom third of shire council performance.

And then there was its equally ridiculous “We love Bedfordshire” advertising campaign. I suppose council leader Madeline Russell and chief executive Andrea Hill might be able to explain what that was supposed to achieve, but it baffles me. I can only suppose they were persuaded into it by Bell Pottinger, the PR firm they paid at least £31,000 - though I suspect a good deal more - to beef up its campaign.

Back to the judicial review. Its purpose must be to delay the implementation of unitary status for Bedford and Central Bedfordshire (a merger between mid and south Bedfordshire) in the Micawberish hope that something will turn up in the six or more months it will take to reach the courts.

This is the council which joined with the three districts a week before the announcement to sign a statement saying whatever the result they would work together for the good of the county. Lumbering the taxpayer with potentially huge legal costs doesn’t match with that in my book.

Let’s look at the likely cost of a judicial review. One day in the High Court is generally reckoned to cost in the region of £25,000. A judicial review on this subject is unlikely to last less than five days and could well be more. Although the county’s opponents will be the government its action will force the three districts to take counter measures. There will be weeks of meetings with expensive lawyers before that takes place. And whoever wins, the county taxpayer will foot the bill even if the winning side obtains costs because all the protagonists are Bedfordshire authorities. I doubt if the coists payable locally will stop far short of £250,000 on top ofthe £300,000 already squandered by the county.

There is no sense in it, but then the words common sense might just be Swahili for all the county council appears to understand them.

Time for a concerned citizen to call in the Audit Commission, perhaps.