Star date: 22nd February 2021

SALFORD CITY MAYOR PRIORITIES 'REFRESHED' AS TRANSPARENCY DISAPPEARS

Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, has officially omitted 'Transparency' from his new list of 'great eight' priorities for Salford City Council. Up until quite recently, the Council had a huge banner hanging outside its Civic Centre declaring it as 'A transparent effective organisation' – which the Salford Star always disputed. Now the Council has ditched the pretence.

Full details here...

When Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, was elected in 2016 he promised "a fresh approach to governance"...

"It was quite clear during the election process that transparency and accountability, or at least the public perception of those sorts of issues, is very much important amongst our electorate" he said "...So it's incumbent on us all...to tackle some of those issues around transparency, accountability and engaging the public in how we do our business."

Next up, the Mayor decided on his so-called 'Great Eight' priorities, which included, at number 7, that the Council should be a 'A transparent effective organisation'.

But as the words were fluttered from a huge banner outside the Civic Centre, the Salford Star constantly disputed the assertion, with loads of examples which included unanswered Freedom of Information requests, redacted public documents and loads of information stuffed into the 'Part 2' section of councillor meetings, meaning everything is kept secret, despite the huge amounts of public money involved.*

The latest hidden issue is that of the old Crescent Police HQ, which is subject to a £6.5million legal battle between the Council and Stama Developments, currently in 'mediation', with few details released and apparently no contingency within the current budget for the next financial year. At one point the Council set aside a large sum of money to sort the case, the details of which were never made available, even to its own councillors.

Now the Salford City Mayor has 'refreshed', his 'great eight' priorities – and transparency has been totally ejected...

Most of the 'great eight' are almost the same – Affordable Housing (same), Tackling Poverty and Inequality (same), Reducing Health Inequalities (same), Transport and Digital Connectivity (same apart from added 'digital'), Creating An Economy For All (previously 'economic development – jobs with decent wages'), Skills and Education (same), Tackling the Climate Emergency (new) and Vibrant Places and Spaces (replaces 'using social value to make a difference')...

No sign of any transparency...Welcome to Animal Farm, Salford style...

* For a full background see previous Salford Star articles...

Salford Council Banner Declares Transparency, Despite Everything Being Secret – click here

Disgraceful Salford Council Takes Five Months To Release Information – click here
 
Salford Council Wins Uncle Joe Stalin Award For Open and Democratic Government 2019 – click here

Salford Council Wins Uncle Joe Stalin Award For Open and Democratic Government 2020 – click here