Last night I arrived at Council too late to catch the whole debate on the council’s plan to make a £1.2M annual saving by cutting the services it currently provides to Peterborough’s children.
But I was in time for the recorded vote. Our local newspaper has already published this story but has not (so far) provided a list of who voted which way. I suppose this information will eventually be published in the council’s very own minutes, but who ever reads those?
So, since several people have asked for a breakdown, here are my gleanings from the Spectators Gallery:
CON Arculus, Nick ABSTAIN West
CON Casey, Graham ABSTAIN Orton Longueville
CON Lee, Matthew ABSTAIN Fletton
CON Maqbool, Yasmeen ABSTAIN West
CON Simons, George ABSTAIN Paston
CON Sanders, David name heard but unable to hear response Eye & Thorney
CON Allen, Sue name not heard Orton Waterville
CON Cereste Marco name not heard Stanground Central
CON McKean, Dale name not heard Eye & Thorney
CON Walsh, Irene name not heard Stanground Central
CON Dalton, Matthew NOT VOTING West
CON Day, Sue NOT VOTING Paston
CON Elsey, Gavin NOT VOTING Orton Waterville
CON Fitzgerald, Wayne NOT VOTING Bretton North
CON Goodwin, Janet NOT VOTING Orton Longueville
CON Harper, Chris NOT VOTING Stanground East
CON Hiller, Peter NOT VOTING Northborough
CON Holdich, John (OBE) NOT VOTING Ghinton & Wittering
CON Kreling, Pam NOT VOTING Park
CON Lamb, Diane NOT VOTING Glinton & Wittering
CON Nadeem, Mohammed NOT VOTING Central
CON Nawaz, Gul NOT VOTING Ravensthorpe
CON North, Nigel NOT VOTING Orton with Hampton
CON Peach, John NOT VOTING Park
CON Rush, Brian NOT VOTING Stanground Central
CON Scott, Sheila NOT VOTING Orton with Hampton
CON Seaton, David NOT VOTING Orton with Hampton
CON Serluca, Lucia NOT VOTING Fletton
CON Stokes, June NOT VOTING Orton Waterville
CON Thacker, Paula NOT VOTING Werrington South
CON Todd, Marion NOT VOTING East
CON Over, David NOT VOTING Barnack
LAB Forbes, Lisa FOR Orton Longueville
LAB Jamil, Mohammed FOR Central
LAB Johnson, Jo FOR East
LAB Khan, Nazim (MBE) FOR Central
LAB Knowles, John FOR Paston
LAB Martin, Stuart FOR Bretton North
LAB Shabbir, Nabil FOR East
LAB Shearman, John FOR Park
LAB Thulbourn, Nick FOR Fletton & Woodston
LAB Murphy, Ed FOR Ravensthorpe
LAB Sylvester, Ann FOR Bretton North
LD Fower, Darren FOR Werrington South
LD Sandford, Nick FOR Walton
LD Shaheed, Asif FOR Walton
LD Davidson, Julia name heard but unable to hear response Werrington South
PIF Miners, Adrian declared interest, so unable to vote Dogsthorpe
PIF Ash, Christopher FOR Dogsthorpe PIF Fletcher, Michael FOR Bretton South
PIF Fox, John FOR Werrington North
PIF Fox, Judith FOR Werrington North
PIF Harrington, David FOR Newborough
PIF Saltmarsh, Christabel FOR Dogsthorpe
PIF Sharp, Keith FOR North
PIF Swift, Charles (OBE) FOR “but confused” North
PIF Lane, Stephen name not heard Werrington North
I found it very difficult indeed to pick up the voices of the Conservative councillors last night. It was a very muffled vote. I was unaware that “NOT VOTING” was an available option. I wonder whether or not the Conservatives on the council understand what “ABSTAIN” means? If they do, then why did they choose to say “NOT VOTING”? The Chair announced that 23 people voted FOR and that 29 people abstained and that nobody voted against the motion.
I haven’t caught everyone’s response so I know there are errors and some omissions in this list. Please feel free to correct or explain these if you can (comments are open). The sound system available to councillors is so bad that many struggle to make it work properly. People in a meeting may feel confident to signal their vote to the chair, especially if their views are already very well known.
According to the newspaper “a motion to defer closing the centres so that alternative proposals can be considered was carried following a vote and the issue will now be decided at the next meeting of the council’s cabinet.” But the motion, as I understand it, was proposed by Cllr John Shearman (LAB) and he made a point, immediately prior to the vote, that the motion was to “recommend that Cabinet defer any decision until alternative proposals are proposed, considered and consulted on.”
Well done Peterborough’s opposition. Last night “spectators” had the pleasure of witnessing over a quarter of Peterborough’s councillors actually holding the executive to account. I have never seen this before.
This is what it looked like to another observer: http://parkfarmneighbourhoodwatch.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/childrens-centres-first-for.html
Here is a photo of the opposition standing up to demand a recorded vote: http://terry-harris.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Full-Council-Childrens-Centre-Closures/G0000xzhmtuMp.a4/I0000UNVajRUjfiU
But the big question now is will Cabinet pay any attention at all to the wishes of Council when it meets on Monday at 10am?
Fiona Radić 