Executive Board Meeting
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That’s how I understand it too those voting yes to the amendment are supporting city status. Those that voter against don’t support it.
As for abstaining I don’t think that should be allowed you’re elected to vote not cop out of voting or sit on the fence.
You can tell local elections are coming up with some councillors wanting to make the headlines… Some would call it looking for the popular vote!So did this really change anything? Probably not, the 10 Exec Board will vote for City Status. However, what the amendment did do was, to not allow fellow councillors the chance to debate the motion. I don’t believe this is a healthy situation for our town/city on a simple yes or no vote.
I think the Executive Board’s Dastardly Duo did a number on the Mayor (and the rest of us). The pair combined to expose his lack of experience as Chair of this meeting. You knew the Chair was in trouble when he didn’t understand his authority and was interrupted and ‘advised’ by the Deputy and Leader. I don’t wish to be disrespectful to the Mayor, given his obvious lack of experience in chairing a meeting of this nature, he did the best anyone could have done. And I don’t think the Monitoring Officer did him any favours. She could have fully briefed him before the meeting to ensure that he fully understood his role. She should have helped out by ensuring that Councillor Davies’ amendment to the amendment was brought in at the appropriate moment instead of sitting back watching the opportunity slip by during an embarrassing episode of utter confusion, and leaving both the Councillor and Chair looking a bit foolish and out of their depth. And all this because she was worried the caretaker was about to lock up the Guildhall and lock her in. The whole affair was a stitch-up designed solely to give the Executive Group of Ten the final say and to remove that option from the remaining 42 Councillors. This has shown the Executive Group’s desperate need for power and their desire to impose their will over a full debate of the representation of all of the people of Wrexham County. There is no point now in contacting your local Councillor about the city status bid, as the door’s been slammed shut, and they cannot influence the outcome. Some voters might feel cheated by this, and I hope they will bear this in mind in May.
Back in December 2020 Council Leader Mark Pritchard was asked. Is city status something the council would consider again.
The reported reply was “I believe personally, and this is just my opinion, I think if there was a decision to be made on that there would have to be lots of consultations or discussions with the people of Wrexham because that’s who we represent.”
That’s who we represent
So 42 councillors who are representing people in their wards are not allowed to be represented, whilst those in Executive Board wards will be represented.
Democratic ???
Brief synopsis of all the areas bidding https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/the-uk-towns-competing-for-city-status-in-2022/
In the criteria it states either a town or the entire county could apply — if the Council had looked at the whole County then a different discussion may be taking place — Question who decided the bid would be for the town only and not the county? When did this take place and what criteria was used?
“Applications may only be made by an elected local authority for its entire area
or a distinct area within its boundary.”QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON ENTRY GUIDELINES
Q: Can we involve the public in the compilation of our entry?
A: Yes, by all means, so long as you do not exceed the standard size and format.
To Council — will they involve the public directly in the applicationQ: Can we publish our entry on our website?
A: Yes, local authorities are welcome to publish their entries if they wish to do so.
This will be a miracle if this happens – wonder what level of distortion will be included such as ‘we have all the Council supporting our proposal’ – what they probably mean is the Executive Board are all in support.Q: Will the Government keep our entry confidential?
A: Not necessarily. We will not automatically be publishing applications however you
should be aware that these can be requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
Requests for disclosure will be considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act. If a local authority wishes any part of its application
to remain confidential it is asked to flag this up with a clear indication for us to take
into account in deciding whether the information should be released. Wherever
possible we would then alert the local authority before releasing such information.Q: We cannot afford a glossy booklet/external publishers/research. Is it still
worth our entering?
A: Yes. The Government does not want local authorities to incur any undue expense
entering the competition. It is the quality of the contents of the application, taken as a
whole, that will be assessed, rather than the standards of presentation.Wonder how much Wrexham is spending and which pockets of Town Investment funding is being used..
Q: We do not have data on all the points suggested. Does this matter?
A: No. Please simply provide whatever you have or can readily obtain. The
Government does not want local authorities to incur any undue expense by entering the competition.
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