KATY GORDON: What is Perth and Kinross Council going to get wrong next? |
It’s not been a great week for Perth and Kinross Council.
From traders angry about road closures affecting their takings to the Scottish Information Commissioner’s rebuke over the council’s record keeping, and school staff airing their grievances over working conditions, it’s all been going on.
And all in the middle of the Easter holidays too!
Irate business owners have a point
I have to say, I agree with the traders’ ire. To have three city centre streets – Tay Street, George Street and Mill Street – closed on Good Friday for an orienteering event was just bonkers.
As was explained by one business owner, it can be a busy time for trading and marks the start of the summer season.
It verges on ludicrous to close down that end of the city centre for such a niche event when businesses are facing ever-increasing costs and are struggling to stay afloat as it is.
And why does an orienteering event even need road closures? Do they not just go up Kinnoull Hill and pull out their compasses?
To top it off, some of the business owners have claimed they were not informed about the closures before they were put in place.
If that’s the case, it is a huge oversight and someone needs to be held to account for this, and for approving the closure in the first place.
I’d like to see what the event brought into the local economy versus what was lost by local traders.
Records are the best protection, so why did PKC not have them?
But that wasn’t the only bit of bad press for the council. This week, the long-running saga of the local authority’s lack of records over the departure of their director of economy, place and learning finally came to a conclusion.
The Scottish Information Commissioner issued an unprecedented Freedom of Information practice recommendation relating to the incident.
Commissioner David Hamilton said: “I still cannot fathom why that lack of basic record keeping was judged to be acceptable and hence why I am asking the council leadership to introduce business rules to ensure compliance with the code of practice.”
How did the council think that not keeping any documentary records surrounding the departure of a director earning £128,000 after just six months was OK?
Even if conversations were conducted verbally, someone should have taken minutes or written up a report or email afterwards detailing the discussion.
A local authority needs to be transparent and accountable in every single aspect of its business, because its business is conducted at the expense of you and me, the taxpayers.
Yes, there are circumstances where information cannot be made public in part or full, but the records should still exist in the first place – if nothing else but to cover their backsides should the you-know-what hit the fan.
School staff deserve a break
And at my old school (although admittedly, a different building to the one I spent my teens in) Tayside Contracts staff are hitting a breaking point over staff shortages, vandalism and problems carrying out their job.
Although an arm’s-length organisation from the council, the school and education is their domain and they sit on an oversight committee for the company, so they can effect change, whether it’s hiring more staff or changing working hours to give employees more time to complete their duties.
Forgive me for getting a bit “back in my day” about things, but I truly don’t remember it being this bad 10 or 15 years ago.
Don’t get me wrong, I could point out problems and mistakes that happened decades ago, but it just didn’t seem to be this amount of failures across all different council departments.
Things seem to have got worse
For more than half of my career in the media, Perth and Kinross Council was “on my patch”.
I read committee reports, spoke to councillors, attended meetings, covered stories from tenants, residents, staff and everyone in between.
I knew a lot about the nitty-gritty of local authority business, so I feel that I can give a fair assessment.
I have also lived in the area since I was 10 (minus a few years away for work and university) so I have seen it from the residents’ view as well.
To me, it appears that PKC is too keen to “get big” that they are overlooking the little guys and cutting corners. It’s all sizzle and no steak, much like their new slogan, which I’ve discussed before.
What many residents I speak to want is a return to the basics: supporting small, local businesses; providing safe schools where their children can thrive; keeping our streets and parks clean and fit for purpose.
And above all, to show how what they are doing is being done properly and is truly helping our communities in tangible ways.
Otherwise, people are going to leave to live, work, shop and socialise in other places, and that is no good for any of us.