Roads Contract Council Officer Turned Tory Councillor's Loose Words Costs Council More Than £25,000

 

Conservative Councillor Rob Harwood
Photo: Southampton City Council

A former senior Council officer who left his role and in the next year became a Conservative Councillor at the same Council, has now cost Southampton City Council more than £25,000 in costs for an investigation into him.

If Councillor Harwood had been more careful with his words, the Council could have spent this on services instead. 

Rob Harwood's name appeared on reports for decision at the Council by councillors, up to 2017. These included two reports relating to the Council's deal with Balfour Beatty for the Highways Service Partnership. 

One report had his name on it in 2010 when the Tory-controlled Council signed the original deal. And Harwood's name was at the top of another report in 2017 on the same subject.

In 2018, Harwood was elected as a Conservative councillor for Bitterne Park ward.

In 2022, he lost his seat, being defeated by Tony Bunday, who later quit Labour.

And in 2024, he was elected to a different ward, this time Harefield.

Not that you would know from the Council's website. His current Councillor page does not mention that he had been a Councillor before. It must be an oversight.

Not many months after being elected, Councillor Harwood made some loose comments in the Council Chamber and on LinkedIn.

As reported by Local Government Lawyer and the Daily Echo, these resulted in an investigation into him (and another councillor who was exonerated, so is not named publicly).

He was found to have breached the Code of Conduct.

The internal investigation cost £6,703. The external investigation cost another £18,964 and 31 pence.

This is a total cost of £25,667.31 that had to be found from Council reserves.

If Councillor Harwood had been more careful with his words, the Council could have spent this on services instead.

You would think that he would have learned his lesson.

But it seems not.

Because he has been offensive in his response to questions that Southampton Independents sent him about how he managed any potential conflict of interest in relation to the Balfour Beatty deals, bearing in mind he had been an officer first and a councillor in the next year.

He first ignored our questions. Then when pressed again, after we copied in his Group Leader Peter Baillie, he refused again to answer them, and said our questions were "irrelevant", and that Southampton Independents is "irrelevant".

Our questions are very relevant, because the Tories signed the deal and Labour extended it. We hold them to account for their failures.

They did the deal and extended it at taxpayers expense, despite the failures of the deal in the eyes of the Southampton people.

The people of our City constantly complain about the state of our roads.

Yet neither Labour nor Tory councillors have cancelled the deal with Balfour Beatty.

Labour or Tory, same old story.

Southampton Independents has obtained detailed information about the deal, and this includes how decisions were made in secret without the public being able to see. We are not talking about small amounts of money, either. 

We think this lack of transparency is wrong. Do you?

We will be publishing more information when the time is right.  

 

Labour or Tory, same old story. Your money robbed.

Why You Cannot Trust Southampton Labour Party Members To Challenge Councillor Simon Letts

Councillor Simon Letts
Photo: Southampton City Council

 

Our Co-Founder and Member of the Independent Network Andrew Pope says:

 

 

"Southampton Labour Party's own documented meeting minutes from 2017, that I somehow obtained despite quitting Labour in 2015 and kept for years for the right moment, show that Southampton Labour Party members didn't stop Letts. They gave in with barely a whimper. 

There is no evidence in the minutes of challenge, just an explanation of what Letts intended to do. So everybody in the Southampton Labour Party at that meeting, including now Green Party Agent Lisa Fricker who would simply  'communicate' Letts' cruel decision, is complicit in Labour's cruel cuts. 

Labour or Tory, same old story, yet again! Like I said when I quit Labour in 2015, Simon Letts and Southampton Labour cannot be trusted." 

 

Who and What Is Simon Letts? 

Councillor Simon Letts is currently the Cabinet Member for Finance on Southampton City Council. He was brought in because in her short reign, the previous Leader of the Council Satvir Kaur, brought the Council to its financial knees and on the brink of bankruptcy. Kaur is now the MP for Southampton Test and incredibly, a Junior Minister in Keir Starmer's Government. Kaur admitted that she did not understand Council finances, yet somehow occupied these roles.

You would think that Southampton Labour Party and its members would control its councillors and hold them to account. We present here a case study in why you cannot trust them to do so, and why they allow Letts to be out of control and why he cannot be trusted with public money. When it took control of the Council from the Tories in 2012, Labour continued to make cruel cuts. Labour or Tory, same old story? You bet.

We present here the facts and the evidence. You can decide for yourself what type of person Simon Letts is. You can decide whether you think he is fit to be Leader of the Council, or responsible for the public finances in Southampton.

 

Splits and Factions in the Labour Group of Councillors 

As it is nationally with Keir Starmer's Government, Labour is not fit to run the Council, nor the country. And Labour politicians in Westminster or Southampton cannot decide who they want to be Leader. 

We understand from sources inside and outside the Labour Group of councillors that Letts wants to be Leader again, despite his previous failures as Leader and then being voted off the Council completely in 2018. 

Who is his opponent? The current Leader Alex Winning is up for election in May in Shirley, where Labour has lost successive by-elections. 

Southampton Independents was founded because of Labour councillors like Simon Letts and in spite of people like him. When our Co-Founder Andrew Pope quit Labour in 2015, he criticised Letts publicly. It made front page news in the Echo, authored by the respected former political reporter at the Echo, James Franklin.

Andrew Pope when Councillor
Photo: Southampton Independents

Arts Complex Wastes Tens of Millions of Public Money

Simon Letts was voted off the Council in 2018 by his constituents in Bitterne ward, after our campaign to expose his misuse of public funds, with the help of Cabinet Member Satvir Kaur, on the Arts Complex. 

Andrew Pope obtained an internal audit report about the Arts Complex, a report which he had pressured the Chief Financial Officer Mel Creighton into writing. 

Pope provided the report to the Echo, in the public interest. The Echo's reporter Rachel Adams, who Pope had contacted, then rang Letts and Letts went nuts. 

So the Echo put it on the front page, pointing out yet another over-spend by the Arts Complex and that Letts said he did not care why it had over-spent. 

Letts lost his Bitterne seat shortly after at the local elections in 2018, and therefore leadership of the Council. 

Southampton Independents had planned it, and had timed it, forensically. The people of Southampton were rid of Letts for a time on the Council. He went off and tried to be Southampton Itchen MP, but lost to Tory Royston Smith, twice.

Southampton Labour's Bilious Recycled and Re-treaded Councillors

But the Southampton Labour Party recycles failed councillors like Simon Letts. There are other examples of defeated councillors being regurgitated like an unwanted. bile-inducing meal. Their councillors lose elections but somehow end up back on the council. As former Tory Leader of the Council Royston Smith once referred to some of his own recycled councillors as "retreads". And like retreads, are they safe, whether Labour or Tory? No.

Letts Cruelly Closes Kentish Road Respite Centre Despite Massive Opposition

Another factor in Letts' demise was the campaign to try to save Kentish Road respite centre from Letts' cuts as Leader of the Council. Southampton Independents joined the campaign and provided advice to Lisa Stead and Amanda Guest, the latter of whom, much to our disgust and disappointment, later became a Tory councillor. We supported their campaign to save the respite centre.

But Simon Letts closed it in 2017. We can exclusively reveal the Southampton Labour Party machinations that enabled Letts to do this, despite massive public opposition and the punishment of vulnerable adults and their families.

Southampton Labour Party's Feeble Questioning of Letts

We have obtained the minutes of Southampton and Romsey Labour Party Executive Committee from Wednesday 22nd Novermber 2017 during the time that Letts closed the Respite Centre. Here is a very relevant section:

"Kentish Road – Concerns have been raised about the closure of Kentish Road from members and service users and Simon spoke openly on many of the issues that we asked him, including the new buildings at 32b Kentish Road and Weston Court. The CQC report states that the provision requires improvement. It currently costs £212 per person per night to use Kentish Road. There was 72 service users and 62 have currently found new care packages, 8 are looking at their options and 2 want only Kentish Road. The decision to change the use of Kentish Road will save 1⁄4 million pounds and will be used for patients with complex needs who require nurse led care but have delayed discharge from hospital because they are not well enough to yet go home but aren't ill enough to stay in hospital. Mencap and SCA have also expressed an interest in using the building for new headquarters but Simon said they would prefer to keep it linked with social care. It will also cost £30,000 to get 32b Kentish Road ready for use but Weston Court and the other options are ready to use now. Simon has offered the service users to co-design 32b. The final decision will be made next week and Simon will send Lisa (Fricker) a statement to email out to all members."

Andrew Pope says: 

 

Andrew Pope
Photo: Southampton Independents

 

"Their own documented meeting minutes show that Southampton Labour Party didn't stop Letts. They gave in with barely a whimper. There is no evidence in the minutes of challenge, just an explanation of what Letts intended to do. So everybody in the Southampton Labour Party at that meeting, including now Green Party Agent Lisa Fricker who would simply "communicate" the decision, is complicit in the cruel cuts.

It's ironic that Lisa Fricker was recently an election agent with the Green Party in the Shirley ward by-election. The victorious Green Party candidate in Gorton and Denton has been making promises that they cannot keep. All the big parties are the same. They lie to get power and then let everyone down.

When Fricker was on it, her Executive Committee could have decided to admonish Letts. Clearly from the minutes, it didn't. It just gave in to Letts.

Their minutes weakly express "concerns". The public opposition was much, much more than "concerns". It was vital. 

And eventually, after Letts was defeated in the 2018 local elections, the new Labour Leader Christopher Hammond said it was not their "finest hour". That is an understatement, because later in 2019 the Local Government Ombudsman ordered compensation for the victims of Letts' cruel cuts to the respite of vulnerable adults. 

Is Letts repentant? I doubt it. He paid with his seat, but he ensured the suffering of vulnerable adults and families with his heartless decision.

Now, he is responsible for the finances of the Council. How can anybody trust Simon Letts and Southampton Labour to make the right decisions for Southampton and its people?"

Southampton Independents has offered the right of reply to Lisa Fricker, Alex Winning and Simon Letts. Christopher Hammond lost the leadership of the Council to the Tories for one year and then did not stand for re-election. 

If we can find who to contact at Southampton Labour Party, because their website is completely lacking in transparency over who are the officers on the Executive Committee now, we will offer them a right of reply too.

 

Our Emblem

 

EXCLUSIVE: Both Parties Prevent Shirley Voters from Voting - Labour or Tory, Same Old Story AGAIN

 

Southampton Labour Has Robbed People of their Vote

At Thursday's Shirley by-election, voters complained to Independent Network  candidate Andrew Pope that they were prevented from voting.

The by-election was very close, being won by big political party Liberal Democrats by just 21 votes. 

Andrew says: 

 

Andrew Pope in Shirley Towers
Photo: Southampton Independents

"People told me they could not vote by post. And they could not vote in person either. It's a double whammy and an attack on democracy. 

The lift in one block was broken for more than a week, with the Labour-run Council failing to fix it. I asked the housing office to fix it so that people could vote. But they did not fix it, so people could not vote. Why? How? 

In Milner Court, there are two pensioner blocks with some people having mobility problems.

Without the lift, some people cannot get up or down the block, and so they could not get to the polling station. So that's Labour preventing voters from voting, just like I had to make them fix the sprinklers in Shirley Towers by shaming Labour into action.

And the Tories in Government put through the Elections Act 2022 which forced a lapse and timeout on postal votes. So some residents with mobility problems were unable to get their postal votes renewed in time, and then could not get to the polling station.

This was a close election. According to my team's sampling at the count, I did well in some areas and beat or was close to the Tories, Greens and Reform, but I lost votes in Milner Court because of Labour and the Tories failures. I am trying to bring a purer form of democracy back to Southampton.  

Do Labour and the Tories care? No, it's their parties' failures and deliberate attacks on democracy that meant that voters could not vote.

Labour or Tory, same old story.  

I will continue my work with the Independent Network and Southampton Independents to bring democracy back to Southampton."

 

 

Labour To Allow Council Tax To Go Up... Despite Keir Starmer Promising To Freeze It

 

Yet Another Labour Robbery of Your Money

Keir Starmer's Labour Government has confirmed in Parliament this week that it will allow councils to put up council tax. But as recently as last year, it promised to freeze council tax if in Government.

Last year, in March 2023, as reported by the BBC, Keir Starmer promised to freeze council tax if Labour was in Government. It is now in Government.

"In a speech in Swindon, Wiltshire, Sir Keir said freezing council tax was 'a tax cut for the 99% of working people, compared with the tax cut for the richest 1% that we get under the Tories'."

This is yet another lie by Keir Starmer's Labour Government and another robbery of Southampton residents' money.

Let's not forget that as reported by Southampton Independents, the Southampton Labour Council asked Government whether it could put up Southampton council tax by 15%.

And Southampton Labour councillors tried to hide their request to Government from residents.

Former Labour Council Leader Satvir Kaur Resigns As Councillor And Votes at Parliament to Cut Pensioner Winter Warmth

Labour Councillor and MP Satvir Kaur

NEW LABOUR MP SATVIR KAUR VOTES FOR CUTS TO PENSIONER WINTER WARMTH. THE LABOUR-RUN COUNCIL SHE LED, AND THAT SHE HAS NOW LEFT BEHIND, IS BROKE AND LOST YOU MILLIONS.  

 

New Labour Southampton Test MP Resigns and Causes Shirley By-Election

The by-election for Shirley ward on Southampton City Council was caused by the resignation of Satvir Kaur, the Labour Councillor. Kaur was elected the new Labour MP for Southampton Test, as reported by Southampton Independents. One of her first acts has outraged Southampton residents.

As the official Parliamentary record Hansard shows, on Tuesday 10th September, Kaur voted at Parliament for cuts to pensioner winter warmth. At the time of writing, she had not made any comment to the Daily Echo about her vote, despite being asked. The Southampton Itchen MP Darren Paffey has tried to justify his decision to also back the cuts.

Hard-up and cold Pensioners will now have to apply for Winter Fuel Payments on a very long and confusing questionnaire.

The Labour Government plans are very unpopular with the people of Southampton, and with the Unite and PCS unions. Ironically, Winter Fuel Payments were introduced by the last Labour Government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. 

Why Did Satvir Kaur Resign?

Whether Kaur resigned in shame, or to help her political career, residents can decide for themselves. We have reported our investigations into Kaur and published them on this website.

However, as reported by Southampton Independents, Kaur is largely to blame for the City Council's dire financial situation. Satvir Kaur was a Labour Cabinet Member on the Council for over a decade. 

The Cabinet makes key spending decisions, consisting of only ten or fewer Labour councillors. Labour has run the Council since 2012, apart from a brief one year reign of the Conservatives, from 2021-2022.

Southampton Independents has exposed Labour and Tory councillors for spending on the wrong priorities, including tens of millions on the "Arts Complex". Satvir Kaur could not answer our questions on spending when put to her in the Council Chamber by our Councillor Andrew Pope. Now Labour has lost more millions on One Guildhall Square.

When the Tories lost control again, Satvir Kaur became the Leader of the Council from May 2022 to December 2023. Under her leadership, the Council received a Section 114 warning from the Chief Financial Officer, who then resigned. 

Despite denying it as a "lie" (as the former Labour Leader of Croydon did before it too was bankrupt), Kaur led the City Council to near bankruptcy before quitting as Leader, and then resigned. 

The Chief Executive Officer also resigned. 

So Kaur resigned as Leader in December 2023, and has now resigned as a councillor completely, leaving the Council behind and in a real mess.

Labour's Satvir Kaur and her Cabinet has spent millions on pet projects
and has BANKRUPTED the Council

What Mess Has Satvir Kaur Left Behind at the Council?

Southampton City Council remains in financial peril and is broke, selling assets off to pay the daily bills, after being given special permission by the Government to do so. Effectively, it is bankrupt, if it does not balance the books, and the Government has told it that it must do so. If it does not, it will have to serve a Section 114 notice, meaning the Council is bankrupt and cannot pay its bills.

Southampton Labour councillors also tried to secretly ask the Government to put up your council tax by 15%. Their secret became public, as reported by Southampton Independents. They are ashamed of their record, and so they should be.

The Council needs to be sorted out, yet Labour councillors are marking their own homework, with Labour councillors chairing committees that are supposed to check up. 

As the Stranglers once sang, Something Better Change!

 

Southampton City Council (Labour) Asked Government To Increase Council Tax By 15% And Tried To Hide It

Southampton Labour Mismanaging Public Money Again

Last year, Southampton Independents said that Labour's bankrupting of Croydon Council could happen here in Southampton. We were absolutely correct to predict it.

Because it has happened. 

Southampton City Council has been brought to its knees by Southampton Labour. And the Section 114 warning of effective bankruptcy came when Labour Southampton Test Parliamentary Candidate Satvir Kaur was Leader of the Council. Instead of sorting it out, she quit, as did the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Executive Officer.

Southampton City Council lacks leadership, as it has for many years. They are even struggling to collect the bins, the most basic function of a Council in most residents' eyes.

Yet because Rishi Sunak's Conservative Government is so unpopular, Conservative councillors have been reduced to just 10, with Labour somehow - despite the bankruptcy, bin chaos and lack of leadership, emerging as "in control" (as if!) of the City Council from the May local elections. The Liberal Democrats also gained a seat.

Now Southampton Labour councillors have been forced to admit that they asked to increase council tax by 15%. Worse than that, it was revealed during a chaotic Council meeting that Labour, with the help of Council officers it must be noted, tried to hide the request from local residents as a confidential matter, except that it relates to public money which involves residents' council tax and business rates paid by local businesses.

Is This A New Crisis?

No. Early in 2024, it has already been confirmed by the Labour-run Council itself that it could not balance its books without Government assistance.

This followed the warning early last year before last year's Council budget. The Chief Financial Officer warned, that the Council would have to issue a Section 114, effectively declaring banktuptcy of public finances in Southampton. He then resigned. Since then, the Chief Executive Officer Mike Harris has resigned. And the Leader of the Council Councillor Satvir Kaur also resigned.

Who Is The Leader Now?

Labour Councillor Lorna Fielker, who was elected after Satvir Kaur quit, apparently to concentrate on her Parliamentary ambitions. 

How Are They Going To Sort It Out?

There is no guarantee that those who have caused the crisis can be trusted to sort it out. But to balance the books the Council has been allowed, in an apparent once-off, by Government to sell Council assets (yes, they belong to the public, not councillors). And also to borrow more money. 

Has this dealt with the underlying structural deficit in the Council Budget? There is no evidence yet to say that it has. Will Council taxpayers have to foot the bill next year instead? It is very possible.

Whose Money Is It Anyway?

It is public money. It is your money. It is taxpayers' money. It does not belong to councillors. And certainly not to the Labour Party. Yet they treat it is as if it were theirs and manage it poorly. And they have used it regularly for party political, and electoral, gain. But when they fail to manage it correctly, they expect taxpayers to foot the bill. You should not have to.

Shouldn't They Ask Us First?

Yes they should. For many years, a Council has by law had to have a referendum to raise council tax by more than 2.99% plus the social care extra 2$, totalling 4.99%. This was introduced by the Conservative-led Government when Eric Pickles was the Minister for Local Government. 

Prior to this, there was no referendum necessary. Under the last Labour Government, Southampton Labour councillors put up Council tax by a whopping 18%. There was no referendum of the public, despite it being them who pay the council tax. Councillors decided.

So Whose Fault Is It?

Labour has been in control of Southampton City Council since 2012, for all but one year when the Conservatives controlled the Council. During this entire time, the Government has been a Conservative-lead one. It is a fact that Council budgets have been cut centrally by successive Governments, whether Labour or Conservative. Yet some councils have been mismanaged, whilst others have managed their budgets better.

Southampton City Council has been brought to its knees by Southampton Labour. And the Section 114 warning came when Satvir Kaur was Leader of the Council. Instead of sorting it out, she quit, as did the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer.

The previous Council Leader Councillor Satvir Kaur had been in the Cabinet for most of those 12 years, either as a Cabinet Member or as Leader. The Cabinet is the Chief decision-making body of the Council. 

Councillor Satvir Kaur resigned for political reasons and has attempted to use the Council's resources for Labour Party electoral gain to become the Member of Parliament for Southampton Test. But only after bringing the council to its knees and spending your money.

Kaur had previously said that it was a "lie" that the Council was effectively bankrupt. This was despite official advice from the Council's most senior financial officer and the Section 114 warning being widely reported in local media and national media.

As reported here on the Southampton Independents website, Kaur's resignation followed the behaviour of the previous Labour Leader of Croydon Council.

- denial after denial by Councillor Kaur, despite the Chief Financial Officer warning of an imminent Section 114 notice which is Council-speak for effective bankruptcy

- Councillor Kaur accusing local media of reporting these warnings as a "lie" - again despite the warning of her Chief Financial Officer, who then resigned before the 2023/24 budget was approved by Labour councillors

- the Section 114 warning proving to be correct, leading to the Council stating publicly that it could not balance the 2024/25 budget and then only mentioning the borrowing and loan agreement with the Government - the request to raise Council Tax by 15% was not mentioned

How Do We Know About The 15% Raise?

According to the Daily Echo, the request to raise council tax by 15% was hidden in documents that the Council sought to hide from the public at the public meeting, claiming confidentiality.

In effect, it is abuse of the law to protect career politicians like Satvir Kaur.

It is the public that pays the council tax. And pays their taxes.

And who elects councillors to look after their money. So the public has a right to know.

Yet officers and councillors agreed that they would put the requested increase in documents that were hidden from the public under what is called "exempt matters".

Southampton Independents does not dispute that Government and Council should be able to have discussions, before a decision. But once that decision has been made, it should be available for councillors and the public to scrutinise.

Yet the Head of Legal at the Council approved keeping this political decision from the public.

According to the Echo report, the Echo has seen the documents that show the 15% request. And the documents confirm that Labour councillors asked for a 15% increase. But it was turned down by Government.

At the 20th March 2024 Council Meeting ("Extraordinary Budget Meeting") where councillors considered the delayed budget for the Council, the new Labour Leader of the Council Councillor Lorna Fielker revealed that she had asked Government to raise council tax by 14.99% because they could not balance the books. 

Previous reports by the BBC and Daily Echo did not mention this request for a council tax increase. Why? Because the request was hidden in supposedly "confidential" papers, hidden under what are called "exempt matters". 

Councils have repeatedly used "exempt matters" for political (and party political) purposes instead of legitimate and legal reasons. It appears from what has been revealed by the Daily Echo, that this is another such case.

Questions arise...

Why is it one rule for Croydon but another rule for Southampton?

Croydon taxpayers suffered a 20% increase when their Labour-run Council could not manage public money well enough.

Yet Southampton taxpayers are to be spared - for this year at least. When will they get a grip, if ever, of the Council's finances?

Did councils elsewhere make similar requests for council tax increases, but not hide them under "exempt matters". Southampton Independents understands from its contacts elsewhere that other councils were open about it. 

So why did Southampton try to hide it? To cover up the truth for politicians' personal gain and for the Labour Party's damaged reputation.

What happens after the local elections and the General Election? Is this "once off" like the former Post Office Chair Henry Staunton alleged that he was told by civil servants for the Post Office to hobble on until after the Election?

Will taxpayers now be hit with a massive increase to Council Tax after the elections are over?

Will Southampton's council tax rocket? It is still a possibility.

Is it the case that the Conservatie Government is kicking the can down the road, and Southampton Labour councillors are happy that they are able to get away with it for another year?

We shall see. Tell us your thoughts.

 

Labour's New Highway Robbery by Tyrant Sadiq Khan in London - And How It Was Stopped in Southampton

Labour's Highway Robbery in London

 

Desspite resistance from London residents, Labour's tyrannical Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has carried on regardless, and imposed an expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across the whole of Greater London. 

This is despite Labour losing the Uxbridge by-election to the Tories after the resignation of the disgraced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was MP for the Uxbridge constituency. 

The Conservatives have claimed that the ULEZ policy is the main reason for them narrowly winning, in the context of losses in other by-elections and disastrous opinion polling with the Conservatives trailing Labour by over twenty percentage points in some polls. The Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer has distanced himself from the ULEZ policy and called for a debate over the policy.

Commenting, former Southampton Independents councillor Andrew Pope has written to the Daily Echo with the following letter:

Former Councillor Andrew Pope on BBC South
on the defeated Elected Mayor plans

"Campaigning works. I feel sorry for the people of London who have had this measure imposed on them without a Referendum. The people should decide, not a tyrant Mayor of London. That's why I campaigned for a Referendum on similar measures proposed by Labour-controlled Southampton City Council.

The same fate could have befallen Southampton if the Labour-run Southampton City Council had not u-turned on their plans in 2018 after I called for a Referendum, as reported by the Daily Echo. 

I also asked questions in private and public of Council officers and again in public to the former Leader of the Council, Christopher Hammond, who resigned following Labour's defeat in the 2021 City Council elections. Hammond refused to rule out charging.

Over the last few years, including over recent weeks with the expansion of the ULEZ, residents and visitors have thanked me for campaigning against the Labour plans for Southampton. This includes new residents of Southampton who told me that they would not have moved here and contributed their work and businesses if Southampton had vehicle charging.

 

I'm also delighted to have led the campaign in Southampton to stop our City from having an Elected Mayor like Sadiq Khan. Again, as reported by the Daily Echo, I was the only Southampton councillor opposed to it with the Labour and Tory councillors voting for it like the party puppets that they were - and still are - placing their parties over the people once again.

 

I have noted Tory Hampshire County Council Leader Rob Humby calling for support for new devolution and a new split with other councils in the Region. Do these party politicians want an elected mayor? It is unclear, but they need to be honest and tell the people if they are proposing it.

 

Residents do not want another party puppet with too much power and that's what elected mayors are.

 

Sadiq Khan in London, Marvin Rees in Bristol and Joe Anderson in Liverpool are three key examples of why elected mayors are bad for residents. There are many other examples.

 

Labour and the Conservatives support elected mayors and the concentration of power to one individual. They support elected mayors because they want it for the benefit of the parties and not for the people of Southampton, London, Liverpool or Bristol.

Labour or Tory, same old story.

Residents do not support having an elected mayor - that's why Bristol residents voted in a Referendum to scrap Marvin Rees and the role of Mayor and why Liverpool has also rejected having an elected mayor. Councillors in Liverpool made that decision - a Referendum would also have led to the scrapping of an Elected Mayor.

Councillors made that decision to try to quell widespread corruption in Liverpool Labour and Liverpool City Council. Having an elected mayor failed. The damage had been done.

I'm pleased to see the rise of independent councillors in Liverpool and moves by residents  for the same in Bristol. In Croydon, bizarrely after Labour brought the Council to bankruptcy, they now have an Elected Mayor, who is a Tory and is now seeking to impose massive council tax increases on residents, when it was Labour councillors - and a Tory Government's Draconian cuts - that caused the bankruptcy. The residents were not to blame, but they are the ones suffering.

Like Liverpool has had, Croydon has had and Bristol has had, Southampton residents have had a Labour-led Council for too long that has brought the City of Southampton to its knees and to the brink of bankruptcy - something which the current Leader Satvir Kaur denies.

Having an elected mayor in Southampton, Portsmouth and across our Region - with even more concentrated powers - would make things even worse."

 

Conservative Leader Refuses To Comment On Southampton's Near Bankruptcy - Who Represents The People of Southampton and Our Money?

Improving Representation in Southampton

... Labour Council Leader does not respond and Southampton Liberal Democrats also have nothing to say

by Andrew D Pope, 4th March 2023

Former Independent
Councillor Andrew Pope
on BBC South Today

Labour, Lib Dem or Tory, Same Old Story

The Leader of the Conservative Group of councillors on Southampton City Council, Daniel Fitzhenry, has declined to comment on the Council being warned by the departing Chief Financial Officer of the City's near bankruptcy.

Conservative Councillor Daniel Fitzhenry
Photo: Southampton City Council

Councillor Fitzhenry told me:

"I am comfortable with our position on the budget, our approach and the differences between us and Labour, but thank you for the offer of the “right of reply”, which I will decline."

It is perhaps no surprise that he does not want to comment on our revelations, but it is disappointing for the people of Southampton who have a right to representation and who expect a functioning opposition by councillors.

Councillor Fitzhenry was named in our article on the dire financial warnings by John Harrison, who warned councillors at the February 2023 Budget Full Council meeting of a "precarious" financial position with unsustainable spending and reliance on depleted Council reserves.

As reported here, the Chief Executive Officer Mike Harris has also declined to comment.

 

Who is Representing the People of Southampton?

There are currently forty-eight councillors on the City Council, three per ward in the sixteen wards of the Council. Labour has a majority of councillors, with the Conservatives in opposition.

The Leader of the Council, Labour Councillor Satvir Kaur, has not responded to the offer of a right of reply. 

Labour Council Leader Satvir Kaur
Photo: Southampton City Council

Perhaps Councillor Kaur cannot find the words to defend the indefensible of leading the Council to the financial precipice.

Neither have Southampton Liberal Democrats provided any comment, although they have been approached. They have one councillor on the Council. 

There are now no truly independent councillors on the Council. In 2018, there were four, including me. 

 

Councillor Quits Labour... Sort Of...

However, around the time of the February 2023 Budget Full Council, one councillor has resigned from the Labour Party, Councillor Professor Barrie Margetts. Southampton Independents had been in touch with Councillor Margetts months ago. He said that he was considering his position, after being de-selected by Southampton Labour.

Councillor Barrie Margetts
Photo: Southampton City Council

From Cllr Margetts' public comments, he seems unsure whether he is in Labour or not. I would not say his comments make him truly independent at all, especially when he is praising the leadership of the Council as the City faces a financial mess.

 

How Is Southampton City Council Run?

So the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats have nothing to say when approached by Southampton Independents to comment on the financial mess. 

No doubt councillors had plenty to say in the Council Chamber at the Budget meeting, but most of that "hot air" (as many residents view it) goes unreported, apart from a smattering of coverage. Indeed, there was more local and national (here and here) coverage of what the departed Chief Financial Officer wrote in the report to councillors, than reporting of what councillors had to say.

This shows what passes for democracy in Southampton these days, with the Council operating a "Strong Leader and Cabinet" (SLC) model of governance that excludes the vast majority of councillors. 

The SLC model has been retained, instead of bringing in a modern committee system that the people of Bristol voted for in 2022 and also the people of Sheffield in 2021. The MCS is no panacea, but allows local ward councillors more of say than "Strong Leader and Cabinet". 

 

A More Democratic Future For Southampton?

It is interesting that at the point of the Referenda in both Bristol and Sheffield, that both councils were Labour-run under a SLC model.

The MCS is more democratic than a small group of Labour or Tory councillors leading Southampton to the financial precipice.

In May, there will be all-out elections for all fifty-one seats on Southampton City Council in May. 

 

Moving The Boundaries But Keeping the Westminster Parties?

There was a recent review of the boundaries by the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) that found that there was a need for three more councillors and a shuffling of the boundaries of the wards. Of course, there was a "consultation", but this did not seem to alter the decision to add more councillors.

 

Will The Point of Accountability (Elections) Lead To Change, Or More Of The Same?

We will see what the people of Southampton will say when they cast their votes, and whether independent councillors stand for election and if they will be elected instead of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors that have proved they are not up the job of looking after the public money entrusted to them.

Improving Representation for Southampton residents

EXCLUSIVE: Southampton City Council Warned Of Bankruptcy By Chief Financial Officer Who Left Immediately After

And the Council Chief Executive Officer declines to comment...

by Andrew D Pope*, 25th February 2023

Andrew Pope, former Independent Councillor

Southampton City Council is in a financial crisis and the captain has just left the boat after telling everyone that it is sinking. But the rats are still on board.

At its annual Budget meeting on Wednesday 22nd February 2023, Labour-run Southampton City Council was warned that it was near bankruptcy, in a "precarious" financial position and was spending unsustainably. 

The warnings came in the report to elected councillors by the Chief Financial Officer (a.k.a. Executive Director Finance and Commercialisation [S151]) John Harrison, who Southampton Independents can exclusively reveal has now left the Council, just days after signing off the reports that were presented to councillors. Mr Harrison's departure, confirmed by his LinkedIn page, seems to have been immediately after his warnings. Nevertheless, his name appeared at the top of the report to councillors, as shown on the Council's own website. 

So was the ship sinking? Or was it not sinking? Mr Harrison would also have signed off the Section 25 under the Local Government Act 2003, a very grave duty for an Officer of a Council. 

The report to councillors states:

"The Chief Financial Officer is required to make a statement on the adequacy of reserves and the robustness of the budget. This is a statutory duty under Section 25 of the 2003 Local Government Act. This statement is longer than normal, because of the considerable financial risks the authority now faces."

Several pages follow to underline the risks, including warnings of a "precarious" position, consideration of cuts to budgets, a potential serious S114 notice stopping all but essential spending and more.

Ultimately, in a democracy, it is the Leader of the Council Satvir Kaur that has to answer to local residents at the ballot box in May. That is, if residents are aware of this crisis.

We are trying to determine the full reasons for Mr Harrison's departure, but we understand that his departure may have been planned. Without any statement from Mr Harrison or from the Council at budget time, who knows? Mr Harrison cannot be contacted at the Council any longer.

But the timing could not be worse for our City or its finances. Perhaps the Council could have clarified this, but the Council did not mention Mr Harrison's departure in its press release on the Budget. Neither have other local media outlets, at the time of publication of this article.

Southampton Independents reported on the dire inancial warnings earlier this week. The Chief Executive Officer Mike Harris was offered the right of reply, as both he and the Leader of the Council, Labour Councillor Satvir Kaur, were named in the article.

Chief Executive Declines To Comment

In his response, Mr Harris declined to comment. He said:

"Your article is a political blog, and as a politically neutral council officer, I have no comment to make"

Mr Harris would have known about Mr Harrison's departure. He could have commented. But he did not.

At the time of writing, Councillor Kaur has not responded to our request for comment. She would also have known about Mr Harrison's departure and his replacement, Mel Creighton. Ms Creighton was in the same Chief Financial Officer (S151) post before Mr Harrison.

We also contacted the (now former) Chief Financial Officer Mr Harrison by email. An automatic email response was returned (more junior officers have been redacted, because we only name the most senior officers):

"I am now on leave ahead of my final day in post with Southampton City Council on Friday 24th February 2023. .<redacted>.. From Monday 27th February Mel Creighton will take up the post of Executive Director - please redirect any queries to her at Mel.Creighton@southampton.gov.uk after this date, or contact her PA <redacted>"

Labour or Tory, Same Old Story

The usual blame game gibberish has been spouted by Labour Council Leader Satvir Kaur in trying to blame the Tories. As reported by us in our analysis of who has been in power, the Labour Party has been in power in Southampton's Civic Centre for a decade from 2012 to now, except for just one year in 2021/22 when the Conservatives took control. 

And in response the Conservative Spokesman for the Council Budget, Councillor John Hannides has tried to blame Labour. Labour councillors have been the ones making the decisions for almost all of the last eleven years. 

Yet Tory councillors have applauded many of their decisions, with Tory Councillors like Jeremy Moulton even claiming some of the Labour decisions as their own. To put the Council finances in context, the Conservatives have been in power in Westminster since 2010 and as reported by us previously, have savagely cut grant funding to councils, restricted council tax rises and left the country in an economic mess.

As a Former Councillor, I Warned The Council And Residents

In my eight years on the Council, I sat through and spoke at annual Budget meetings, challenging spending and the decisions of whomever was in control of the Council. I was also due to takeover the City's finances as Cabinet Member for Finance. But I declined the opportunity, because I knew that the officers at the council and the other councillors in Cabinet were not up to the job, in the context of the Westminster party system and Leader and Cabinet model of running the Council. 

The current situation proves that I was right. I was not going to go down with the Council under the captaincy of Labour's failed leaders. Instead of joining the Labour Cabinet, in 2015 I quit Labour to become an Independent councillor. And with Southampton Independents and its team, I worked to warn residents and hold the Council's failures to account. I am still doing it, now as a volunteer and reporter - not a councillor. It appears that Mr Harrison has made a similar calculation, after providing the dire warnings officially this week.

Think About The Future Of Southampton

Amid the boring and predictable Labour and Tory bickering, one thing is for sure, as we always say, it's another case of Labour or Tory, same old story. And it's the people of Southampton who will pay the price for the failures of the Westminster parties, their councillors and of Westminster MPs to protect our City.

There will be all-out elections in May for the Council. The people of Southampton could vote a Modern Committee System in later this year, as voted for by the people of  Sheffield and Bristol, if Independent councillors are voted in. Let's see whether that happens or whether Southampton gets more of the same old story.

* Andrew D Pope is one of the co-founders of Southampton Independents and was a councillor between 2011-2019, being Labour between 2011 and 2015 and an Independent between 2015 and 2019. He chose not to stand in 2019.

Southampton City Council Nearing Bankruptcy Warns Chief Financial Officer - Who Has Been In Power?

 

Independent Councillor Andrew Pope*
on BBC South Today opposing an Elected Mayor

Sadly, it's another case of Labour or Tory, same old story.

by Andrew D Pope*, 23rd February 2023

At yesterday's Full Council meeting of Southampton City Council, councillors considered the budget proposed by the Labour-run Authority.

The budget papers presented to councillors contained dire warnings by the Chief Financial Officer John Harrison of a: 

"precarious financial position of the authority, the high level of financial risk currently faced and the lack of adequacy of reserves".

The chief legal officer also felt the need to remind councillors of their duties on behalf of the public and public money. Why did they need reminding? And aspects of the budget were kept secret. Why? It's our money that they are spending.

Reports have even mentioned that Mr Harrison warned that Southampton could face bankruptcy. Reserves of public money have been drained by profligate spending by councillors over many years and many budgets. When I was on the Council*, I raised many objections about spending, doing so behind the scenes, speaking at public meetings and via Southampton Independents campaigns.

Who Is On The City Council?

The majority of councillors are Labour. The Council also has Conservative councillors and one Liberal Democrat. There are no longer independent councillors. I was one of them but in 2019, I had had enough after eight years of serving the public (trust me, if you represent your council area properly and hold those in power to account, it can be very stressful)*.

Is Labour Credible with Our Public Money?

In short, no - not nationally and not locally. And neither are the Tories.

Today, the Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, Labour's Sir Keir Starmer has pledged that if Labour wins the next General Election his aim will be to make the UK the highest growth economy in the G7 group of industrialised nations. Labour has also promised to "give power away" to local councils such as bankrupt Croydon and elected mayors such as the soon-to-be-sacked Marvin Rees in Bristol and Police interviewee Joe Anderson in Liverpool.

Can Starmer's promises be believed? Not really, based on the evidence of Labour's record nationally and locally.

How credible can Starmer's promises be, given Labour's record in national Government and in local government? They are not credible promises. Yet the Tories have also now ruined our economy.

Can we trust Labour in power in our Council chambers? Not if you look at Southampton, or Croydon, or Bristol, or Liverpool and many other Labour-run councils.

Let us not forget that the last Labour Government led by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown bankrupted the nation's finances, with Labour Minister Liam Byrne leaving a note to say that "Sorry, there is no money left" and Labour's economic meltdown allowing the Conservatives to be elected to Government with the Liberal Democrats as their junior Coalition partners.

It is useful to look at the record of Labour in Southampton in managing the City Council's finances, and of the financial context of Government decisions. England has a highly centralised government system, unlike other countries like Germany, the USA and Australia that operate a federal system of government. The vast majority of power lies in Westminster, not in Council chambers.

Nevertheless, councils wield power over public money and large authorities control large budgets of tens or even hundreds of millions of pounds.

Labour councillors have been in power of Southampton City Council for every year since 2012, except for just one year when the Conservatives took control between 2021-22. The Conservatives were in power before Labour in 2012.

Therefore the City Council's budget has been decided by Labour councillors for 10 of the last 11 years.

Spending decisions such as wasting tens of millions on the Arts Complex, as investigated and published by Southampton Independents, were made by Labour councillors. Some of those decisions, including on the Arts Complex, were also backed by Conservative councillors. The current Leader of the Council Satvir Kaur and now Chief Executive Mike Harris were heavily involved in some of these decisions over this time. 

And as a Councillor, as shown in the minutes of Council meetings and on the Southampton Independents website, I questioned these decisions and neither Councillor Kaur nor Mr Harris could not or did not provide adequate answers on many occasions. They will be offered another opportunity in a right of reply to this article.

How Is The Council Funded?

The context for City Council funding is that Council finances depend not only on locally-gathered monies from council tax paid by residents and business rates paid by businesses, but also on Government grants from Westminster.

Who Has Been in National Government? The Tories, Mostly

The Tories have been in power since 2010, and have cut Council funding savagely. Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were in Government between 2010-2015, under the David Cameron and Nick Clegg partnership. Cameron took control briefly between 2015 and 2016 and resigned when he failed to lead the Remain campaign in the EU Referendum. 

Since then, our country's people have suffered serial failed Prime Ministers - Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and now Rishi Sunak.

Tory Government has brought us disaster after disaster including delaying and then bungling Brexit, their disastrous and in my opinion, near treacherous handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis caused at least in part by disastrous economic management by Rishi Sunak as Chancellor, followed by the brief "lettuce" Prime Ministership of Liz Truss with Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.

The Tories deserve to lose the next General Election. They already got battered at last year's local elections, including in Somerset where they lost control of the County Council. It looks like they will be clobbered again in May across England and various sources tell me that the Tories are not optimistic. Let's not forget the above - that Labour's record shows that they are not a better alternative, proven by their failures nationally and locally.

Does The Tory Government Let Off Labour's Failings in Southampton?

No, because the Council decisions over its large budget have also been the wrong decisions with the wrong priorities, and it has not just been the Arts Complex. It is carrying on, right now and in yesterday's Budget. This is why the Officer has issued this warning. It is his duty on behalf of Southampton's people and our public money.

So...Who (Again) Has Been in Power?

Yes, it's Labour or Tory, same old story - with the Liberal Democrats agreeing to cut Council funding when in Coalition with the Tories. Whether nationally or locally, these Westminster parties have let us down.

What Is To Be Done?

If only there was someone or a group of independent campaigners who knew about Council finances from the inside and could sort it out. 

Southampton Independents was originally formed precisely to do this. Our activity was paused between 2019 and 2022, with a watching brief operated by our co-founders on matters in Southampton. What we saw being done by Labour and Conservative councillors was deeply worrying.

There are City Council elections in May where all seats will be available. If you think you could be a Councillor, get in touch with Southampton Independents. We will provide advice and support.

And if that does not happen, it will simply be more of Labour or Tory and the same old story.

Southampton Independents

* For full transparency, Andrew D Pope was a backbench Labour City councillor from 2011-2015 and resigned from Labour to become an Independent councillor for Southampton Independents between 2015-2019. He chose not to stand for election in 2019. Andrew holds a Masters degree in Global Politics and International Relations from Southampton University.