Letters: December 6, 2016

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Surreal council scenario

GILL Harris gave a very good account of issues relating to councillor integrity and the resignation from cabinet of Coun Dale Heenan ‘Don’t fight it – just own up to the truth’ (SA, December 1).

There were certain crucial points which Ms Harris missed. Swindon Borough Council has its own Councillors’ Code of Conduct in which ‘Table 1 – The Ten General Principles of Public Life’ describes the expected conduct of councillors.

These are: Selflessness, honesty and integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, personal judgement, respect for others, duty to uphold the law, stewardship and leadership.

Obviously, all ten points apply to democratically elected Coun Heenan but I think he would have been wise to have paid particular reference to the following:

Honesty and integrity – members should not place themselves in situations where their honesty and integrity may be questioned, should not behave improperly, and should on all occasions avoid the appearance of such behaviour.

Openness – members should be as open as possible about their actions and those of their authority, and should be prepared to give reasons for those actions.

Duty to uphold the law – members should uphold the law and, on all occasions, act in accordance with the trust that the public is entitled to place in them.

Leadership – members should promote and support these principles by leadership, and by example, and should act in a way that secures or preserves public confidence.

It is the duty of certain Swindon Borough Council officers to ensure that all payable council tax is collected.

Consequently, there are questions which should be answered. Did these officers act inappropriately by wasting their time and council resources by pursuing Coun Heenan for unpaid council tax?

If so what action has been taken to reprimand them? We are, after all, facing a time of severe austerity.

Ms Harris says: “If you’re a politician, at local or national level, don’t break the law. This includes paying your taxes, not driving in a bus lane, shoplifting – you know, the law.”

She could have pointed out that local politicians include parish councillors who are also required to commit to a code of conduct.

It seems to me it would take the deductive powers of Sherlock Holmes to work out why, as a consequence of his actions, Coun Heenan resigned from his post in the cabinet but did not resign as a councillor.

I know it is pantomime season but this whole scenario is surreal.

K KANE

Wharf Road, Wroughton

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Unfit for purpose

I HAVE previously had a letter published which offered mild criticism of the management of SEQOL.

It saddens me that the organisation, which, let us not pretend, is anything other than a tool of the Borough Council, is unfit for purpose and has been since it was foisted on the people of Swindon.

In 2014 the Cabinet Office (central government) lauded SEQOL as a positive case study, with CEO Heather Mitchell describing SEQOL as: “An organisation able to make its own decisions, which provides more opportunities to deliver services that make a bigger difference for the people we work with, and for those we support.”

I can only hope Ms Mitchell is not retained by SBC either in an interim post or worst as a full time manager.

I imagine even the most charitable soul would be hard pressed to consider her tenure a success.

Of course supporters of SEQOL will point to the numerous awards it has received, indeed semi-public organisations earnestly seek recognition and SEQOL in the five years of their existence have received a number of awards of which they are very proud.

Sadly, their claim to have effective business practices and remain financially competitive and cost-effective now looks a little tarnished as their fiscal probity is undermined by the revelation they owe almost £750,000 to the council.

A sum which, can you believe, the council has simply written off so as to avoid ‘disruption’ for those who receive adult services.

I suggest that in a private organisation ‘heads would roll’ whereas in the la la land of local government ‘lessons will be learned.”

Whenever Coun Renard and his very motley crew claim to be short of a pound or two I hope they will remember this saga as well as the two wi-fi farces which have cost the council more than £1.3m and the Averies debacle, which cost more than £700k.

The idea that the administration could ever run any form of revenue raising enterprise other than one based on collecting fines is quite laughable.

DES MORGAN

Caraway Drive, Swindon

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Protect families in debt

AS we approach the Christmas season, a time when many families are struggling financially, I’m supporting The Children’s Society campaign to protect the estimated 13,200 children living in problem debt in Wiltshire.

Children living in families in problem debt are five times more likely to be unhappy than children in families without debt troubles.

That’s why we’re calling on the Government to introduce a ‘Breathing Space’ scheme, to give parents time to get their finances back in order and repay their debts in a safe and affordable way.

Too often families fall into debt because of unexpected life events.

They need time and space to get their finances back on track to repay their debts, rather than being chased by bailiffs and having fees and charges added, pushing them ever deeper into a perpetual cycle of debt.

At a time when some families are being forced to cut back on essentials like food and heating, we need our politicians to get behind this campaign to help protect families in Wiltshire from falling further into the debt trap.

ELIZABETH EVERETT

Massey Close, Chippenham

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Corrosive advertising

EVERY adult in Britain knows, if they ever care to stop and think about it, that the whole billion pound advertising industry sets out to corrode the mind of every child in the nation, from their earliest years.

Every TV advert flashing before a baby’s eyes, intends to implant particular nasty values into the child’s mind, of more possession, of selfishness, of greed, of not sharing, of dissatisfaction with whatever the child already has, creating the eventual result, self-centred adults who are slaves of consumerism, today’s religion. Lucky are those who escape its power.

And the parents and grandparents who were trapped by the same worthless and damaging culture, accept it, because they know no better, and cannot see that they have supported evil.

By the time the baby has become an adult, who has very little concern for other people in society, the damage has been done, and neither honesty nor compassion will play much part in that life.

Guess which political party that adult, bereft of ethical principles, will choose to vote for?

What a strange form of unnatural society, where the parents who love their children, are accomplices in the planned distortion of their children’s values, all to suit a tiny number of dishonest plutocrats who control it.

CN WESTERMAN

Meadow Rise

Brynna, Mid Glam

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Changes in currency

ON NOVEMBER 29 Steve Halden invited me to “look up my old economics textbooks.”

Well, I’m afraid they’re not much help because they go back to the 1950s. This was during our compliance with the Bretton Woods agreement of 1944, designed to assist post-war recovery, when governments controlled the international movement of funds to peg the value of their currencies against the dollar.

Readers may remember that foreign currency was rationed. I recall drawing travellers’ cheques for a small allowance of francs and pesetas to travel through France to Spain in the 1960s and they were entered in the back of my cheque book.

You can’t imagine it today with all the international trade and travel.

The Bretton Woods agreement came to an end in 1973 when currencies were allowed to “float”, but later on Norman Lamont, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, unofficially pegged our currency by “tracking” the value of the Euro.

This came to an abrupt end on Black Wednesday, September 16, 1992, when George Soros made a fortune from a raid on sterling, forcing Lamont to once again set the pound free only after he had borrowed an eye-watering amount to defend it.

DON REEVE

The Pinnacle

Horder Mews

Old Town

Swindon

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Faith in human race

I FIRMLY believe the human race in general cares, and is determined to develop a better and more secure society for our children than we had.

I also staunchly believe in the freedom of the press and, having read the recent letters on these pages, I respect the right of every individual to state his opinion.

However, after the first few lines of some of the Remain zealots I have moved on to the next letter. One letter in particular said the Disunion’s economics were a matter of opinion. Try that one on your tax return sir.

I ignore the boring politically correct drivel that denies the basic facts. Another wrote about the wonderful scenarios the Disunion has created, including union rights and clean beaches.

Is he insulting my intelligence in suggesting that this would not have happened anyway by natural human progression?

Never mind the drivel from the do good brigade. Ask yourself one question: Do your children face an economic future on par with your own at present?

Finally, with Swindon Council in meltdown with personal resignations and disastrous financial mistakes at our expense may I humbly suggest, that at the next ballot box opportunity they will suffer the same fate by the democratic right of the people as the overpaid Disunion parasites across the Channel.

BILL WILLIAMS

Merlin Way

Covingham, Swindon