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This afternoon I attended the “AGMA summit” at the Manchester Central conference centre. Present were Councillors and senior officers from all ten Greater Manchester authorities, plus assorted partners and voluntary groups. For those who don’t know, AGMA is the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities – an umbrella group for the 10 Councils in Greater Manchester.
The summit was compered very ably by former broadcaster Jim Hancock, but I came away wondering what on earth the point of it all was – a mixture of items that most people are already familiar with together with some self-congratulatory back-slapping, with very little room for genuine discussion and contribution.
The only interactivity prior to a short and dull Q&A at the end was a farcical “interactive” session with a series of loaded questions about City-Regional Governance.
I understand the summit cost the taxpayer in the region of £30k in hard cash, and the cost of lost officer time (most senior officers from all 10 Councils seemed to be there) would add to that considerably.
I won’t be going again and I would be very disappointed if the AGMA leadership embarked on another similar summit. We’re moving in the right direction in terms of devolving power back to Greater Manchester but today’s meeting was far from a shining example of devolution in action!
Back in January, nine fire service staff from Greater Manchester went out to Haiti as part of a larger search team to help with the rescue attempts following the devastating earthquake. I’m extremely proud of the dedication and hard work that they showed out in Haiti; all nine members of the team were a huge credit to themselves and to Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service.
Sadly, Echo the search-and-rescue dog was quarantined on return to Britain, which I thought was a daft decision. I’m really pleased to read today that Echo is now out of quarantine and back home with his handler Mike Dewar. Mike is one of the most dedicated people I’ve ever met and I’m delighted that he has been reunited with his dog.
I’m delighted that the coalition government has halted the daft “lane gain” proposals for the M60 motorway, and I hope that the forthcoming review removes these plans for consideration completely.
Local residents in Worsley and Eccles already face dreadful air quality due to the motorway, and the extra lane would only have made things worse, as well as making the already-dangerous entry at Junction 13 even more difficult.
I’m really pleased that the Government has mothballed this Labour decision and I do hope that it never sees the light of day again!
I was extremely sad to hear that former Winton Councillor John Pooley passed away over the weekend.
John served on the Council from 2004 until 2007; he was a real gentleman who cared deeply about the community he lived in and he will be very badly missed.
My thoughts are with his family and friends.
The online poll for the name for the rebuilt Walkden High School has now closed, and I’m pleased to report that tradition has won out and the school will keep the same name. Thanks to everyone who voted!
I’ve upgraded the site software to the latest version of WordPress (3.0). As usual, please let me know if there are any bugs or glitches. Thanks!
The Desperate State Of The Labour Party
It’s interesting reading the tweets from Labour Party members and activists that appear in my own Twitter newsfeed. There’s a clear pattern emerging – a relentless negativity, no original thought and a complete failure to recognise the catastrophic state in which they left our economy. They really are in a desperate state – sad really as a strong democracy requires a credible opposition party, and there simply isn’t one at the moment.