Yep, tomorrow morning sees the bi-monthly full meeting of Salford Council and the Salford Star is live-streaming all the democracy inaction so citizens can see and hear for themselves the fab workings of our elected members.
So roll up, roll up with this incredible agenda of delights...
The day kicks off at 9:30am with the Disclosure by Members of `Disclosable Pecuniary Interests' and `Members' Interests', which, of course, no-one ever discloses. So we'll then move swiftly along to the Minutes of the last meeting, the one where "Councillor Andy Cheetham sought clarification as to whether the payment of [Salford Red Devils] match day costs was revenue, rather than capital, expenditure..."
Funnily enough, the Mayor's answer isn't included in the minutes, which merely state that "The City Mayor replied to the second point" that Councillor Cheetham made. But anyone who has seen the Salford Star film of the meeting knows what really happened, as Ian Stewart tied himself in knots before admitting that the costs were revenue, ie taken from front line services (see previous Salford Star article click here).
So, after the non-minutes have been agreed it's on to the Councillor Antrobus Motion on Air Quality.
The poisonous air quality in Salford is basically killing us all with measurements of nitrogen dioxide that are fifty per cent higher than those recommended by UK and Euro standards (see previous Salford Star article click here).
The motion "urges the City Mayor and local Councillors to take this issue very seriously", including working "with the Combined Authority to develop a region wide AQ Action Plan to improve air quality while meeting GM aspirations to improve the wider economy", "reducing vehicle emissions from cars and freight" and to "encourage businesses to reduce emissions". Thousands of rumbling tankers at Port Salford and Barton Moss fracking site, obviously excluded.
Next up we have a public question when a Walkden resident will demand an answer to why `Salford City Council is the only council in the country which refuses to pay housing benefit into credit union or building society accounts'. He will be asking for an explanation of the Council's "short sightedness and lack of flexibility"... "I would be further fascinated to know how long it will take to find a short term workaround for this, in order to help some of the most vulnerable members of our community?"
After this Ian Stewart takes the stage for over half an hour, no doubt denouncing all the `lies', `innuendo' and `allegations' of anyone who disagrees with him (see previous Salford Star article click here), plus some other enervating stuff about what he's been up to over the last couple of months take the Salford Star challenge and try to stay awake.
At just after 11am there's a well deserved ten minute break before a presentation on the increasingly controversial £12million second flood basin in Kersal. And then it's time for the Shaping Housing In Salford strategy which bangs on about "a shortage of good quality affordable homes"; especially when Salford Council has just given them all away to Salix Homes.
The `strategy', amongst other things, appears to revolve around surrendering to the private sector to get more homes, and handing public land over to developers who won't really build more young professional-crammed apartments on the edge of Manchester, honest. A lively debate probably won't happen...
...Which just leaves 40 minutes for `Appointments to Scrutiny Panels' (Labour Party scrutinising itself), and reports on CVS (Salford Community Voluntary Services), the Salford Unemployed and Community Resource Centre and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies what's that? No idea? Turn on and tune into the Salford Star Bambuser Channel. You probably won't find out because by then lunch will be beckoning our elected members and they'll just want to get it all over with as fast as possible.
Can council meetings get any more exciting than this? Definitely! But don't let that stop you...
The Salford Star live-stream 9:30am-ish to 12:30pm-ish
CLICK HERE for the live show
Update: 19th November 7pm:
The Council meeting went almost as previewed...
After a minute's silence for Alan Henning, the Air Quality Motion was passed, with Friends of the Earth North West issuing a press release almost immediately afterwards...
"It's good news that Councillors have recognised the serious threat to health from poor air quality and have committed to action to reduce pollution" said spokesperson Helen Rimmer "Salford has been at the centre of fracking protests from local residents concerned about air pollution, alongside risks of water contamination and climate change. The council must now listen to residents and the evidence of its impacts on air and health and say no to fracking."
The European Commission has concluded that fracking has a "high risk" of air pollution and evidence from the US has shown fracking increases benzene and methane levels that cause health problems.
The motion coincides with a ruling today by the European Court of Justice against the UK Government over its failures to comply with EU air pollution legal limits. The Court has ruled that the UK must act in order to clean up illegal levels of air pollution, including in the Greater Manchester Urban Area.
The release ends with the fact that "Over 3,000 Salford residents have signed a petition to the Mayor of Salford against fracking, and over six months after it was presented there has been no response from the Mayor".
The Walkden resident who was due to ask the question about benefits didn't turn up the Council had already answered his question by email. So nobody bothered giving the answer in public.
The Mayor's statement went on and on and on meandering from Greater Manchester Devolution "local democracy is paramount" to the criticism of the East Lancs Guided Busway "human beings will look to their own interests, it is our wider responsibility to look to the future". Then he went onto the Living Wage and how 1,200 Council staff benefitted from the increase forgetting to mention that over one thousand Council employees have lost their jobs, most of them having earned low pay.
Next up the Mayor reported that the proposal to close Salford Royal Hospital's midwife unit could possibly be kicked into the long grass pending a government review. Good news for everyone. And then more good news with a proposal to open a Salford Credit Union account for every 12 year old in Salford, starting them off with a £12 gift from the Council. But not yet, of course. Jam tomorrow.
It was all positive stuff no challenge, no debate, no mention of the affect of the cuts - almost like a Stalinist showcase with Labour councillors lining up to ask leading questions that the Mayor and other councillors could answer, showing how great they all were to the bemused kids from Oasis Academy who were sat in the public gallery to see how `democracy works'...
Once they'd gone after the break, Tory opposition leader, Karen Garrido laid into the Mayor for a complete lack of democracy she'd only got papers on the farming out of integrated adult health and social care at 10:33am, after it had already been in the papers. The Mayor apologised half heartedly.
A few more questions, a load more waffle, a bit about scrutiny and a hint that there'll be a new structure after the local elections...perhaps acknowledging the open secret that loads of Assistant Mayors are for the chop.
Next up the £12million flood basin report, which merited exactly four minutes, then the Housing Strategy report which must have got at least seven minutes, despite calls from Councillor Robin Garrido that it needed more time to debate. The Mayor agreed that the "all important issues haven't got the attention they deserve" and then they all voted to accept it, bar the abstaining Tories.
All the other stuff was noted with no debate or even verbal reports; so, as predicted we'll never know what the hell the Centre for Local Economic Strategies does. Well, it was past lunch time.
Unfortunately the Mayor waffled on so much that the meeting went 15 minutes over time and even the Salford Star live-stream gave up, having run out of batteries. Nobody missed anything in the those last 15 minutes. In fact, nobody missed anything for the whole dull three hours.
If you can't sleep tonight click on the Bambuser channel to re-live the whole enervating experience.
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