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.

Southampton City Council Wants You To "Celebrate" The Demise of City Reds Buses - And Nobody Wants To Mention The "M" Word

Southampton City Council
Facebook Page

"We have no current plans to increase fares but we must be mindful of the increase in our own costs due to the current high level of inflation" say Bluestar

by Andrew D Pope, 21st February 2023

Southern Daily Echo
"Fares will not be increased"

UPDATE (25/2/23): Neither Councillor Eamonn Keogh, nor Conservative Group of councillors, nor Liberal Democrat councillor, nor Bluestar have responded to our request for comment. We did ask.

The Labour-run Southampton City Council has asked members of the public to celebrate a "new dawn", in the almost Maoist China sense, of a monopoly in buses in Southampton, by going along for a photo opportunity at the Bargate. Yes, that's right, Southampton now has a monopoly for buses with City Reds going under.

Just a day before this "celebration", Labour Councillor Eamonn Keogh who is the Cabinet Member responsible for transport in Southampton, spoke on the Council's Youtube channel from Vincents Walk, near to the Bargate. Councillor Keogh that it was a "sad day" that City Reds had gone, but "fortunately" Bluestar would help bring "innovative" buses to the City. Opposition councillors from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have been asked to comment. Councillor Keogh has also been asked for a response. There are currently no independent councillors.

What is a Monopoly and Why Should I Care?

A monopoly is when one company is the only one providing a product or service. In the UK, monopolies are supposed to be regulated and prevented by the Competition and Markets Authority. But not it seems, when it comes to Southampton's buses. Perhaps buses are exempt from competition? But not according the records of the CMA because previous investigations have been undertaken in other parts of England. And various Government guidance has been issued, for example here.

Monopolies are regulated because according to economists who believe in economic theory, and they would say that significant evidence supports the theory, monopolies can abuse their position. Customers can suffer, suppliers can suffer, prices can go up. Nobody can go to a competitor, simply because there are none. Whether this will happen with Southampton's buses remains to be seen. What is the difference between centralised state control, for example in China or the Soviet Union, and a monopoly run by an exclusive company?

Contrary to what many people believe, Southampton City Council does not own or run Southampton's buses. As I discovered when as a City Councillor I ran an Inquiry, and produced a City Council report, into buses and sustainable transport at Southampton General Hospital, the Council subsidises some routes ran by commercial bus operators with public money. Buses used to be run by councils, but that was a long time ago before they were privatised by the Conservative Government.

Now there is no market for buses. Passengers cannot choose between competing bus providers. It is now a monopoly. So what are the differences between public ownership in a monopoly and private ownership in a monopoly? Southampton passengers are about to find out.

City Reds Is Dead and Bluestar Is Now The Only Southampton Bus Company 

Yet despite its new dawn of a monopoly, Bluestar has not commented on the monopoly position that they now enjoy, despite being asked directly by me. Bluestar's parent company Go South Coast have also taken over other bus services in the South and West of England, when competitors have gone bust. 

When it became clear that City Reds was going to disappear, in January 2023 I contacted Go South Coast's Managing Director Andrew Wickham, whom I had observed praising Southampton City Council and other Council's policies on Twitter. This is strange behaviour for the managing director of a bus company. Mr Wickham has also backed the very unpopular Portswood Broadway closure being promoted by the Labour-run Council, in an email response to Southampton Independents.

Are Local Media Asking The Right Questions?

Nobody seemed to be asking the questions that concern consumers in a monopoly - and in this case let's call them passengers. If local media were asking, the answers did not seem to be being covered in a big way by local media outlets. Of course, any advertising revenue received from Bluestar would not tarnish the editorial or journalistic decisions by those outlets. Surely, those media outlets would always provide impartial and clear information for Southampton residents, regardless of the advertising revenue. 

The demise of City Reds has been covered, but the new monopoly has not. The word monopoly was not used in the above article in the Daily Echo (see top of article). Neither does another recent Echo article. And this BBC article, despite the BBC not being a commercial news organisation does not mention the "M" word either! So much for journalism in Southampton? According to the Press Gazette, a recent BBC review of economics coverage found a lack of knowledge and impartiality, so perhaps it is not surprising.

The Bluestar media release to local media outlets may have been caused by the questions that I asked them and not by any questions raised by the Daily Echo.  Indeed, the article above reads like a press release. I have asked Bluestar's PR agency.

Will Prices Go Up and Will Services Be Cut?

I asked Mr Wickham about Bluestar's new monopoly position in Southampton, with the question:

"What would your company say to passengers and citizens of our City to assuage any concerns that Bluestar might abuse its monopoly position?"

You may notice in his response below that Mr Wickham does not really answer my question on the monopoly. He does not even mention the monopoly but he does mention the demise of City Reds (First Bus). And he does not rule out price rises. You can draw your own conclusions from his response. 

"My team has worked hard to ensure people living and working in the area will continue to enjoy comprehensive bus services here from Sunday 19 February. We are also offering employment to existing Southampton First Bus drivers - with improved pay and conditions - to minimise the impact this decision could have on their livelihoods.

Our investment in a fleet of low emissions buses in the city means those who travel with us enjoy comfortable, convenient, journeys across Southampton - and we are looking forward to welcoming new customers over the coming months. I can assure local people that we will continue to look for ways to improve our offering here. 

We have no current plans to increase fares but we must be mindful of the increase in our own costs due to the current high level of inflation, so we will be monitoring this situation continuously and will react accordingly."

Bluestar has been receiving Government subsidies for fares. This will end. Will prices go up then? Will services be cut? Time will tell, especially when the City Council's celebration at the Bargate fades into irrelevance.

What do you think? Get in touch and tell us.

Southampton Football Club Doubles Commitment to Women's and Girls' Football

 

St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton
England versus Wales

Owners Sport Republic confirm long-term support for female football at Saints

by Andrew D Pope

Fans of the Southampton Football Club Women’s Team will be relieved to hear that Sport Republic, the owners of Saints (“The Club”), have re-affirmed their commitment to the girls’ and women’s programme at Saints.

A source close to The Club, who asked not to be named, told me:

“the club is investing over £2m into the programme annually.”

This reassurance and the doubling of funding from 2019 follows fans’ concerns over the men’s team struggling at the bottom of the Premier League, that there might be “a little bit of history repeating”, as Dame Shirley Bassey once sang.

Under previous owners in 2005, when the men’s team struggled, the women’s team was dropped and redundancies followed, including the sacking of Southampton women’s football legend Sue Lopez. Lopez was head of women’s football at Saints at the time.

Fans of the new Saints women’s team, which was started in 2017, did not seem to know of Sport Republic’s ongoing commitment and were fearful of the future, despite promising signs and progress up the leagues since the team rose, phoenix-like and twelve years on from the ashes of the scrapped 2005 team.

So as a fan myself and upon learning this, I did some research and found that unlike other football clubs in the Barclay’s Women’s Super League (WSL) and Barclay’s Womens’ Championship, the finances of the Saints womens’ programme were not transparent, at least according to the records at Companies House.

Records at Companies House submitted by the owners of The Club showed that while there was a separate company for girls’ and women’s football, it was a dormant company. Therefore it was not possible to see the finances of Saints women’s programme separate to the men’s team and the parent companies of The Club.

In other words, female football was completely financially dependent on male football.

The approach of Saints to their football company structures was in contrast to other football clubs in the WSL or Championship, who had already submitted separate accounts and returns for their women’s teams, with those returns being for separate companies for womens’ football. More information about female football can be gleaned from those clubs’ returns, but not for Saints.

There was a lack of transparency for Saints because the finances for the women’s team were not shown separately from the records at Companies House. Instead, they were bundled under the parent company or group of companies. Opacity instead of transparency.

The Club’s accounts at Companies House stated an intention to transfer the girls’ and women’s programme to the dormant company, at some unspecified future time.

That time has now come, my investigations have now discovered and as confirmed directly to me by The Club.

To get a reassurance for fans under this veil of opacity, I approached The Club for comment, to see if they could help. They were helpful.

A spokesperson for The Club, who asked not to be named but who agreed to be quoted, told me:

"Thanks for your message and interest in the women’s teams.

We have indeed transferred the women’s and girls’ programme to a separate legal entity as required by the FA, with this season (22/23) being the first season in that structure. 

Up to season 21/22 the revenues and costs were included in the Southampton Football Club Ltd results.  I’m afraid I’m not able to provide any detailed financial information on the women’s and girls’ programme other than to say the club is investing over £2m into the programme annually.

You are correct that the women’s first team was only recently restarted but the closure of the team pre-dates my time here I’m afraid and I don’t believe there is anyone at the club now who was involved with the women’s team at that time."

The Saints women’s team is relatively new. It was formed in 2017 and won Division 1 of the Hampshire County women’s league in its first season. In 2019, it was reported that The Club would invest £1 million annually to reach the WSL, according to Managing Director Toby Steele.

So not only has Sport Republic’s commitment remained. Spending has also now doubled from that time, I have confirmed directly with The Club.

Saints have risen dramatically since being formed in 2017. They are now in the second tier of women’s football, in the Women’s Championship.

In addition to the doubling of funding, Saints Women now play their matches at St. Mary’s Stadium in Northam, Southampton. St. Mary’s is the home of the men’s team too. In the 2021/22 season, the women played at AFC Totton’s ground on Salisbury Road in Totton, just over the River Test from the West of the City of Southampton.

During the 2022/23 season, attendances at St. Mary’s have boomed. Interest in women’s football has increased massively since the England team’s success at the Women’s European Championships. The Coach of Saints Women, Marianne Spacey-Cale, commented positively on “the boost” shortly after the win in July 2022.

Southampton FC are capitalising on the boom. I attended my first Saints Women’s match at St. Mary’s Stadium in 2022 and I am one of many new season ticket holders.

Thousands of other fans now enjoy the home matches and crowds are continuing to increase and to get louder at St. Mary’s.

New songs are being invented for the women’s team to add to the traditional “When the Saints go marching in!”, which is played by the Saints Brass band and sung at every match.

Some of the new songs are being invented by a dedicated supporters group that has grown substantially during the 2022 season.

Jude from the Southampton FC Women’s supporters group, which is affiliated to the Football Supporters Association (FSA), asked the owners at the recent Saints Fans Forum about their commitment to the women’s team.

And in their response to Jude’s passion for the women’s team and their success, the owners represented by Martin Semmens and Toby Steele, confirmed their commitment once again to the girls and women’s programme.

This commitment to the women’s team comes regardless of what happens with the men’s team.

So things are looking very bright for Saints Women, with them in third position in the Championship and firm commitments from Sport Republic to the future of the women’s teams and the future of the girls’ programme. And the supporters are being rewarded for their commitment to the women’s team with an increased media profile for female football, a voice for fans, matches at the same stadium as the men and trials of coaches to away matches.

It seems that there will not be a little bit of history repeating under the ownership of Sport Republic, at least when it comes to female football.

*Article reproduced with permission from Andrew D Pope's exclusive article on his Substack Blog. 

OPINION: LABOUR COUNCIL GIVING PUBLIC LAND AWAY TO HOUSING DEVELOPERS AT BARGAIN PRICES AT CHRISTMAS WITH SPECIAL DEALS DONE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

Yet ANOTHER Labour Robbery of Public Assets

 

  ... AND THE TORY COUNCILLORS APPLAUD LABOUR FOR FOLLOWING TORY POLICIES ON HOUSING! 

by Andrew Pope - Independent

Former Independent Councillor Andrew Pope

This is a really interesting timing of the Council's announcement, just before Christmas, that the Labour-run Council will be giving away public land to developers at bargain prices, including below the market rate. This is confirmed in the report that went to the Labour-run Cabinet of councillors on 20th December 2022. 

In the report approved by Labour's Cabinet, the option to sell all land at best market value was not recommended in the report. And the details are to be dealt with under what is called "exempt matters" which means that the public will not be able to see the details.

We have offered Southampton City Council the opportunity to comment on the proposals and answer our questions.

Why did they release this press release just before Christmas (copied below this article in case they decide to delete it*)? 

 

Labour's Withering Rose
in Southampton

It's almost like the PR lackeys at the Council, under the instruction of Council Leader Labour Councillor Satvir Kaur didn't want the public to know about giving land away to developers and not delivering value for council tax payers and local residents, which councils are required to do by law - and for good reasons. 

So it is interesting timing that they put the press releases out just before Christmas, hoping that nobody would notice. 

Residents have noticed and they are not happy about it.

Sweet deals for developers is what former Tory Housing Spokesperson Cllr Peter Baillie advocated for years, but Labour are doing it and carrying on Tory policies.

It's like residents say back to me now - Labour or Tory, same old story. 

Labour have broken their own promises. How do I know? Because I was in the Labour Party for ten years, including as a Labour councillor before I decided to become an Independent and quit Labour.

In the 2012 Labour Manifesto for the Council, and in public statement after public statement, Labour councillors including the Cabinet Member for Housing Councillor Warwick Payne pledged for council-owned homes, not giving the land to developers. 

But the Labour Council, which has controlled the Council for nine of the ten years since 2012 - and approaching ten years now, has failed to deliver those  council-owned homes over ten years and broke their pledges over housing. Now I have the stats to prove it, obtained directly from Southampton City Council. 

Not only did Labour fail miserably on council-owned homes. They also failed to live up to the 2012 Manifesto pledges which already used weasel words to deceive the public into voting Labour. 

How do I know? You can't see their pledges on the Labour Party's website because they have removed them. They do not want to be held to account for their failed promises. 

But fear not. I have copies. Why? Because I was a Labour councillor and I co-ordinated the 2014 Labour Manifesto. The first part of this process was auditing the delivery or not of the pledges from 2012. 

When I was doing this, I went to the Leader of the Council Simon Letts and told him that Cabinet members did not know their portfolios and did not know what the Council was spending millions of pounds of public money on. 

And those Cabinet members certainly did not want accountability for failing to meet the 2012 pledges. I suggested to those Cabinet members that they be sent to scrutiny to account for the pledges. They did not want that at all. I'm sure that you can work out why not, because they knew that they had not met many of the pledges.

One of the many reasons that I left Labour in 2015 and became an Independent councillor was Labour's failure to deliver the council homes that they promised. 

And even when I was a Labour councillor, I spoke up in the Council Chamber at Scrutiny meetings to criticise Councillor Warwick Payne as Cabinet Member for Housing, and that he did not have a grip on his officers to provide leadership to them. That was because I put residents first, not party loyalties.

Councillor Payne was eventually removed as Cabinet Member for Housing and replaced with none-other than the current Leader of the Council Councillor Satvir Kaur. Worryingly, Councillor Kaur is now Labour's preferred candidate to succeed Alan Whitehead as the Labour MP for Southampton Test, which is the constituency in the West of the City.

Let's not forget that it was Councillor Kaur who could not answer my questions in the Council Chamber about the millions of pounds of public money that she spent on the Arts Complex, instead of on essential public services. That's why we used the Labour Highwayman graphic on our leaflets. 

The Internal Audit Report
on the Arts Complex
That I Gave to the Echo

 

The graphic would just as easily apply to the Tory councillors too, because the only councillor opposed to the Arts Complex / Studio 144 millions was me. The Tories supported the profligate millions. 

I was the one councillor of forty-eight City councillors who challenged the Audit Committee and the Chief Financial Officer. I was the one councillor who took the information in the Internal Audit Report (see extract above) to the Daily Echo who put it on the front page, quoting the former Leader of the Council Simon Letts saying that he did not care why the Arts Complex was over-time and over-budget.

Councillor Kaur could not answer my questions about the millions. But Councillor Kaur did not replace Councillor Payne as Housing Cabinet Member until after he was the same Councillor who said that residents of tower blocks did not want sprinklers. I had it in writing and Cllr Payne's false claims are still on this website. 

Daily Echo April 2017
During Our Sprinklers Campaign

I said in early 2017, before the Grenfell disaster, that sprinklers save lives and it was a campaign that I led across Southampton to have them installed, exposing the failings of the Council to protect residents on fire safety - in the Daily Echo, on Wave 105 FM, BBC Radio Solent, ITV Meridian News and BBC Radio 5 Live. Sprinklers have saved lives and property in Southampton, including in Millbrook Towers in the ward where I used to be a councillor. 

New figures that I have obtained on what was actually delivered on fire safety by the Council and what is still to be delivered MANY YEARS after Shirley Towers and Redbridge Towers fires are however very concerning and we have published on that already, with more to come.

Now - thanks to figures obtained directly from officers of the Council - I have a whole lot more evidence on the Council's failures on housing - FOR TEN YEARS OF FAILURE ON HOUSING, by Councillor Payne and Councillor Kaur.

It really is just another case of Labour or Tory, same old story. Meanwhile, Southampton Independents will continue to stand up for residents and businesses in Southampton.

* Council press release, 20th December 2022

Southampton City Council approves first Affordable Housing Framework sites

Today (Tuesday 20 December) Southampton City Council approved the first set of council-owned sites to be transferred to Affordable Housing Providers as part of the new Affordable Housing Framework which was approved at Cabinet earlier this year

20/12/2022

This is one of the tools the council will use to ensure more affordable homes in the city which includes continuing to work towards the direct delivery of council homes.

The framework will allow the council to use its own land to address the significant need for affordable housing in Southampton and will provide the opportunity for development of social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership properties which will help people get onto the housing ladder and own a share in their home.

The first set of council-owned sites are either vacant sites, empty buildings or have an approved decommissioning plan in place meaning that delivery of the much-needed new homes can be achieved quicker. The first set of sites will provide an estimated total of up to 300 homes.

The council anticipates that several providers will be appointed and the framework ready to move forward early in 2023.

As of October 2022, there were a total of 7,508 households on the housing register with wait times ranging from 1 year and 4 months up to over 11 years. The council has set a target to increase the supply of affordable housing by 8,000 homes by 2040 which will help to reduce the wait times for those on the housing register.

Councillor Lisa Mitchell, Cabinet Member for Housing and the Green Environment, said: 

“We know that poor quality housing has a significant impact on residents’ health and wellbeing, which is why it is so important that we provide good quality affordable housing so our residents can achieve a high-quality life and we enable people to live independently for longer by supporting their mental and physical wellbeing.

“The new affordable housing framework will accelerate the delivery of new homes and help us work towards our commitment to providing at least 8,000 affordable homes by 2040.

“We will work with Affordable Housing Providers to build new homes and work in collaboration with partners to provide more affordable housing and build better, stronger and more resilient neighbourhoods that foster city pride”.

UPDATE (9/1/23): PETITION AGAINST LABOUR-RUN COUNCIL'S CRAZY PROPOSALS ON PORTSWOOD HIGH STREET (BROADWAY)

One of our emblems

UPDATE (9/1/23)

Our Andrew Pope appears in the Daily Echo. We said that we would listen to residents and act on their concerns. The full article appears below (without the image used by the Daily Echo):

 

Former Councillor Andrew Pope
on BBC South Today

 

"‘Are you prepared to stand for council in May?’

This is the question being asked by Southampton Independents, a campaign group run by ex-independent councillor, Andrew Pope.

In his letter, which was hand-delivered to households in the city, Mr Pope called on people to ‘act’, in response to what he calls a ‘crazy’ road scheme in Portswood.

The letter reads: “Is enough enough? Will you act? Are you prepared to stand for council in May? Southampton needs Independent councillors. Will you join residents to stand up?”

Southampton City Council’s Portswood Broadway plans have attracted huge interest over the last three months, including petitions, council representations and media coverage.

Southampton Independents, who signed the now closed ‘SAY NO’ petition, claim that the petition’s 821 signatures only represented part of the total number of those who disagree with the plans.

Mr Pope said: “Southampton Independents have listened to residents and businesses. Their concerns must be listened to and the Council’s proposals for Portswood Broadway by the Labour-run Council must be abandoned.

“Because the vast majority of residents are opposed to the plans to close off part of the main road, causing chaos in the area, Southampton Independents

have listened and acted. We have signed the e-petition on the Council website.

“We have expressed the concerns of residents to councillors that you had to ‘sign up’ on the website first and that this put people off signing. Despite this

barrier, 821 people signed it before it closed on December 31.”

Councillor Eamonn Keogh, cabinet member for transport and district regeneration, said that the recent public consultation will ‘ultimately help shape’ the Portswood Corridor scheme.

He said: “As a council, we want to work with all interested parties to agree a scheme that can be supported and progressed.

“We are currently compiling a report which includes the results of the public consultation. The report, which will be made available in February, will outline key concerns and areas of support raised by the public and will include an officer recommendation on how to address these concerns.”

---

Southampton Independents have listened to residents and businesses. Their concerns must be listened to and the Council's proposals for Portswood Broadway by the Labour-run Council and Labour Councilor Eamonn Keogh, must be abandoned.

 

We have signed the petition on the Council's e-Petition site.

 

We recommend that you also sign the petition. You only have to register a name and email address. So far, there are 812 signatures. 

 

Another e-petition in support of these damaging proposals for residents and businesses has achieved only one quarter of the number.

 

The petition against the proposals reads:

 

"We the undersigned petition the council to abandon the current proposal to close part of Portswood Broadway to through traffic.

The limited benefits of the proposed scheme will be far outweighed by significant and unacceptable adverse impact to local businesses and residential neighbourhoods which includes 3 Conservation Areas. There is already a traffic problem in the surrounding areas without potentially another 12,000 cars a day adding to the congestion and pollution. We all want a greener environment but shifting one problem and creating another i.e. traffic from an A road (a major road intended to provide large scale transport links within or between areas) to a residential area is NOT the answer."

Contact us to tell us what you think about these proposals and why the Labour-run is hammering motorists across the City.

Women’s Football versus Men’s Football - What Did Saints Fans Say?

England versus Wales
at St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton
Photo: Andrew Pope

by Andrew Pope, 28/12/22

Do you agree that the five issues below are the most important for Saints Women’s fans now, when compared with men's football?

Or do you think there are other issues that are more important? 

If so, what are they and why do you think they are more important?

You can comment below - comments are moderated - or you can get in contact at sotonindies@gmail.com or on the Facebook page at Southampton Independents (@SotonIndies).

Southampton Women’s Football Team plays in the second tier of English womens’ football, called the Barclays Womens’ Championship. This article discusses the most commonly-raised issues from fans from the Southampton FC Women’s Supporters Group. The Group is not affiliated with Southampton Football Club (“Saints”), but is registered with the Football Supporters Association (FSA) as a supporters club.

In November 2022, I asked these fans, via their moderated Facebook group the following question: 

“The women's game is developing. What do you want to see brought over from the men's game and what do you not want to see brought over?”

There were 33 comments from the 22 fans who responded*. Whilst this gathering of data is not scientific or academic, it is purely qualitative and time-specific. It does not reach the magic 100 for surveys of public views and is not necessarily representative of the views of all fans of the Saints Women’s team.

However, the issues that emerged were as follows. It is, at the least, a starting point in airing the views of fans of the women’s team versus the men’s team and the fan culture from men’s football that fans would and would not like to see brought over to women’s football.

The most common issues raised by fans during the discussion were:
    • professional referees were needed in the Barclay’s Womens’ Championship because the perceived standard during the first few months of the season was too low
    • play-acting, cheating or diving should not be brought into women’s football
    • criticism of the food and drink at St. Mary’s Stadium
    • the desire for a family-friendly atmosphere with more singing and chanting but not violence, drunken behaviour, swearing or other “agro” as in the men’s game
    • player pay was mentioned by some fans. There was not agreement between about whether women should be paid the same as men, or how or whether that would be realistically achieved.

Other issues were raised, but none of these were raised by more than one fan.

Data was gathered in November 2022, analysis was done and this report was written by Andrew Pope, who is a former Independent Southampton City Councillor and NCTJ-trained journalist of Southampton Independents. Andrew is also a Saints Women’s football season-ticket holder. Andrew was also the lead campaigner for the successful Southampton Independents campaign for Safe Standing at St. Mary's Stadium (see photo below and other articles on this website).

Andrew Pope at the rail seats demo
during the Safe Standing campaign
for St. Mary's Stadium

Royal Mail Strikes and Disruption: Open Letter From Local Branch of the Royal Mail Union, the CWU

 

Striking Workers On Southampton Picket Line
Photo: Rob Hayhurst, used with permission

 

The above photo shows striking Royal Mail workers on the picket line in Shirley, Southampton. On one of the strike days, 14th December 2022, our investigator Andrew Pope who is a business owner and former postman, went to speak with them, to listen to their views about the dispute and to reassure them that the dispute would be reported fairly by Southampton Independents. 

At the picket line, Andrew met Rob Hayhurst from the Wessex South Central branch of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) and asked for a statement.

On the eve of more strikes on the 23rd and 24th December 2022, an open letter has now been received from Mr Hayhurst. 

It is offered unedited and in full. And here is the header from the letter "An open letter from your postie and their union":

Header of Open Letter from CWU

"

• We have successfully delivered Christmas for over 500 years and we want to continue to do so.

• We deliver 6 days a week, with Posties doing on average a half marathon every day in all weather conditions!

• As keyworkers we delivered to our customers every day whilst the country was in lockdown.

• Posties don’t want to strike, but the CEO is looking to asset strip and wreck your postal service! He’s served the company for less than 2 years and does not care about the customer, the staff or the industry!

• He wants to close this customer service point.

• He claims we’re losing 1 million a day! We’re not and this will be bourne out in financial figures that come out in April. It may also help if they hadn’t of given over half a billion pound to shareholders during a massive cost of living crisis!

• They have not offered 9% not even close and what they have proposed for our terms and conditions means nobody would want to do this job anymore. We can’t keep staff as it is! We may as well go work for Amazon, same conditions, same pay, much easier work ie not walking a half marathon everyday.

• Bringing in new recruits on significantly inferior terms and conditions, how does that benefit the economy or young people who want to make a life for themselves, maybe get a mortgage.

• The CEO claims we are turning into a parcels company! If that’s the case why is our Royal Mail fleet in the worst state our RM mechanics have seen in 40 years, Why are our Personnel Digital Assistant(the things you sign when you get a parcel) the worst in the industry.

• Our union isn’t frightened of change, we embrace change! But modernisation is not gig economy employment!

• WE ARE HARD WORKING DECENT CONTIENTIOUS WORKING PEOPLE WHO TAKE PRIDE IN THE SERVICE WE PROVIDE! IF WE HAD ANY OTHER CHOICE, WE WOULD DO IT! BUT WE DON’T

#StandByYourPost"

 

 

UPDATED (22/12/22) - OPINION: Why Is Privately-Educated Rishi Sunak's Conservative Government Causing Chaos Across The Nation?

 

Rishi Sunak
(Source: HM Treasury)

UPDATE (22/12/22): Today's Mirror and Telegraph front pages have quite different headlines. 

Mirror 22nd Dec 2022
(Source: BBC News)

Telegraph 22nd Dec 2022
(Source: BBC News)

Having repeatedly said it is nothing to do with them and done by the supposedly "Independent" pay board, the Government appears to be offering a deal, according to the Tory-friendly Telegraph. Whereas the Labour-friendly Mirror front page tells quite a different story. 

Both have their own editorial narrative, which could be construed as misinformation or even (deliberate) disinformation or "fake news", depending on your point-of-view and the level of sourcing they provide to evidence their headlines. Neither of them are headlined - OPINION, though!

---

by Andrew Pope, Master of Social Sciences (Global Politics and International Relations, Southampton University, 2010), small business owner, former postman, union representative and Labour and Independent Councillor and Parliamentary Candidate

 

Southampton Independents has investigated the claims of the Prime Minister and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak about his connections with Southampton, and with Southampton Football Club ("Saints"). 

We have published some of the results of those investigations. National media outlets have conducted investigations too and in a democracy worth anything, so they should be.

A Meteoric Rise of An Out-of-Touch Prime Minister in A Failed Government

Why have we done these investigations? Because it is relevant to Southampton, it is relevant to our democracy and because in Government, whether Chancellor or PM, Mr Sunak regularly mentions his family and his background in Southampton, including in attempted defences of his performance and of the Government. 

In a democracy, Member of Parliament (MPs), Ministers and Governments must be held to account. They are public figures that deserve some privacy. But where the line is drawn is an open question and the actions of the public figures themselves can drag the private into the public realm.

Mr Sunak tries to make out that he is in touch with the common man and the common woman, and has regularly used examples from Southampton. He is clearly not in touch, based on his actions and inaction, and it is more of the image-cleansing that we have already commented on. His rise has been described as meteoric. How and why that was requires examination, especially in the light of the image-cleansing that has accompanied his rise.

The revelations about Mr Sunak's wife's wealth and tax status prompted Mr Sunak to complain that his family was being unfairly targeted. Perhaps he had a point, if he himself did not drag matters out of the dark and into the light.

Yet Mr Sunak himself was quoted in the Daily Echo using his parents as a defence when under attack by the Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. Sunak said:

"Whenever he attacks me about where I went to school, he attacks the hard-working aspirations of millions of people in this country. He's attacking people like my parents."

 

Daily Echo, 1st Dec 2022

So Mr Sunak himself has politicised his own family. The personal has become the political by his own hand.

When a politician exercises rank hypocrisy like this, they are rightly open to criticism and to being derided, whether by public figures or the public at large.

And it has very real consequences for the citizens of our country.

Demagoguery and Damage

Saints legend Matt Le Tissier has derided Mr Sunak's claims that "Le Tiss" was his favourite player. Le Tissier said that he didn't care about it when interviewed (apparently) in Southampton on GB News by Nigel Farage. The Leader of the Conservative Group on Southampton City Council, Councillor Daniel Fitzhenry, appeared on the same programme. Cllr Fitzhenry got a hard time from Farage. 

Despite his own ill-advised public comments, the Saints legend Le Tissier received an ingratiating love-in from arch-demagogue Farage. You can draw your own conclusions as to why a populist like Farage would do this. And you can probably work out why the damage to Cllr Fitzhenry and "Local Conservatives" was engineered by Farage, even if it might be deserved.

Whomever in the local Conservative association thought that Fitzhenry's appearance was wise, might reconsider that decision. Perhaps it was Fitzhenry himself, having recently become Leader of the Conservatives again after being ousted by Marley Guthrie.

Out Of Touch With Working People

Mr Sunak attended private education. And he was filmed in the Southampton home of his parents saying that he had "no working class" friends. It does not take a genius to work out why, when he only attended private education, ending up at Winchester College after private schools, as reported by the Daily Echo. Michael (Lord) Ashcroft's book describes this.

An out-of-touch education leads to out-of-touch decisions. This has been the case throughout successive Labour or Conservative governments, going back decades in the case of the former and centuries for the latter.

Why is Mr Sunak's education and his lack of contact with the majority of the population of our country relevant? Because he makes decisions that are out-of-touch. I contend that it has been educated into him. And he has had a privileged upbringing and education that was ironically funded, at least in part, by the taxpayer via the NHS as both parents received NHS payments as GP and Pharmacist.

And the litany of industrial disputes facing our country show how out-of-touch he is with working people.

The chaos caused by the Conservatives is so bad that "advent calendars" of strikes have been produced for the entire month of December.

 

Royal Mail Strikes

Should the public sector workers, whether posties, nurses, railway staff or paramedics be blamed for wanting a fair pay settlement under sustained high inflation? 

No, when it is Rishi Sunak's actions and inaction that have caused the chaos in public services and the rampant inflation and cost-of-living crisis that workers face.

Mr Sunak is responsible, whether as Chancellor, as a member of the Government and now as Prime Minister.

And still Mr Sunak and his Government refuse to intervene, despite being the chief causes of the economic crash and resultant disputes over pay and conditions.

Why? How?

It is elected representatives that have to be held to account. That is what should happen. Indeed, if the United Kingdom is a democracy worth anything, that is what must happen.

Labour or Tory, Same Old Story

Like they did in the 1970s under Edward Heath, the Conservative Government will probably lose out due to these disputes. And they will lose the next General Election.

It is probably only a question of how much they will lose, not whether they will lose.

And that is what their failure deserves.

Whether a Labour Government will be any better...well, perhaps we should look at the 1970s again and the disastrous mismanagement of the economy by the last Labour Government under Gordon Brown. That is what led to the Tories gaining power.

And in the not-too-distant-future, a crackdown on workers' rights will result, whether under a Labour or Tory Government, making working people even worse off than they are already.

Labour or Tory, same old story...

UPDATED (22/12/22): CWU Responds and Small Business Responds - Royal Mail Dispute and Strikes: CEO Writes Open Letter To Customers

 

Royal Mail Industrial Dispute

UPDATE (22/12/22): We have now received a response from the CWU, "An open letter". It is on a new page, here.

---

UPDATE (21/12/22): Despite repeated attempts to get a response, including repeated contact by phone and email, and having spoken to them on the picket line in Southampton, neither the Communication Workers Union national media or the local Wessex South Central branch of the CWU have provided a written statement regarding the dispute. We were promised, by the CWU rep on the picket line, a full copy of the below statement that was posted on the Delivery Office. Sadly, as more strikes loom prior to Christmas, the statement has not been received.

CWU Strikes at Royal Mail

Strike Day at Shirley Delivery Office, Southampton

---

UPDATE (13/12/22): Royal Mail will be going on strike again tomorrow. At the beginning of last week, we asked the Federation of Small Businesses *FSB) to respond to the disruption and the strikes. Here is their official response, given exclusively to Andrew Pope by the FSB. Tina McKenzie, Policy and Advocacy Chair, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said:

“We urge both sides to do their best to find a landing zone for compromise, in order to allow for a reliable postal service that small firms across the country rely on to serve their customers.

“It’s no secret that small businesses are facing difficult trading conditions, with consumer confidence near a current record low, and with many facing higher energy bills even once Government support has been factored in, as well as elevated costs in other areas.

“Disruption to postal services being added to the mix is not something that will be welcomed by small firms, especially during the festive period, when both receiving and sending out goods and products is crucial to margins.

“Small businesses would be well advised to plan ahead, to see if alternative methods of sending and receiving can be found. Customer communication will also be key – letting customers know as far in advance as possible when they should order by to avoid disappointment.”

Southampton Independents has still not received any response from the local branch of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) or the national media officer of the CWU. We have chased.

---

UPDATE (9/12/22): Contacting the local CWU branch to offer them a Right of Reply was very difficult, as the contact details that they gave for multiple forms of contact were wrong. The email was wrong and their contact link was wrong, leading to a "404 error". Nevertheless, we have contacted the phone number they give out and left a message offering them a Right of Reply. To date, we have had no response from the Wessex South Central branch. Neither have we had a response from the national contact of the CWU.

ITV News is reporting that there will be a rally at Parliament today. They write:

"Royal Mail workers will stage a rally on Friday in their thousands, to mark another strike in the increasingly bitter dispute over jobs, pay and conditions."

---

(8/12/22): The CEO of Royal Mail has written an open letter to residential customers and businesses. It is copied below, in full.

Southampton Independents acts for residents and businesses, while everybody else dithers and apportions blame, especially Labour and the Tories.

The Daily Echo has reported that Southampton Royal staff had been "told to prioritise parcels over letters", although the veracity of the claims made in the article, including the source of the photos, have been disputed. 

However, postal staff have confirmed to Southampton Independents that parcel services are being prioritised, and eBay have been telling their sellers that the Tracked 48 and Tracked 24 services are being prioritised during strike action.

eBay Royal Mail Postage Service

We have contacted the Federation of Small Businesses and asked them what they are doing to get resolution in the dispute. At the time of writing, we are still waiting for a response.

We have also contacted the Communications Workers Union locally and nationally to offer them a Right of Reply to the CEO's letter. While we wait for their reply, follow this link here to read what the union says on its website about the dispute.

The CWU confirm their strike dates on their website as:

"Friday 9^th December
Sunday 11^th December
Wednesday 14^th December
Thursday 15^th December
Friday 23^rd December
Saturday 24^th December"

And they have a set of Q & As on their site, for example:

"Why is the CWU in dispute with Royal Mail over pay?

Our Royal Mail members have had an unagreed 2 per cent pay deal imposed on them.

This is at a time when RPI inflation is currently running at 11.8 per cent and when Royal Mail has announced Group profits of £758 million and when the company is paying out many millions to private shareholders.

In a national strike ballot over pay, our Royal Mail members voted by a 97.6 per cent majority to take action."

Southampton Independents investigator, former postman and activist for the CWU, Andrew Pope, says:

"There are two sides in every industrial dispute. But enough is enough. This dispute must end now. Both sides must resolve the dispute. The Government must act to protect the economy. Members of Parliament must act to protect their constituents."

---

From Royal Mail:

"An open letter to our customers
 

    
Dear <customer or business>,
 
At Royal Mail, we know this is the time of year when you rely on us most.

So we deeply regret that the Communication Workers Union (CWU) is planning further strikes on 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24 December 2022.

Last week we delivered around 700,000 parcels during strike days and recovered service quickly. I want to thank personally more than 11,000 of our employees who came back to work during that last strike.

But the task gets more challenging as Christmas nears. So we’re asking customers to send Second Class mail by 12 December and First Class by 16 December 2022.

We’ll do everything we can to respond. And we're doing everything we can to settle this dispute.

Eight months of talks with the union. A pay offer of up to 9% over 18 months. But even before the strikes we were losing £1m a day. So we can only afford that offer if the union stops resisting the changes needed to deliver what you, our customers, ask for today.

You’re sending 60% fewer letters than you used to, and the number keeps on falling. You’re sending more parcels, which you want delivered quickly, including at weekends.

We’ve also listened carefully to our employees. Existing employees who aren’t required to work Sundays won’t be required to do so. And we’re introducing family-friendly options to help with our need for more afternoon working.

We are bringing in new recruits on different contracts, but their terms, conditions and pensions will still be the best in the industry. This is not the gig economy. We have a generous voluntary redundancy scheme and are NOT making compulsory redundancies.

We are the only people who deliver a universal one-price-goes-anywhere service to the whole United Kingdom, and we know how much you need us.

We urge the CWU to call off these damaging strikes. And we’ll do everything we can to deliver Christmas.

For everybody.
 
Yours sincerely,

Simon Thompson
CEO, Royal Mail"