The following is a summary of the sorts of things that I do:
CASEWORK
These are the issues raised by constituents and or community groups, which I do my best to resolve.
Many of the issues raised are brought to my attention by members of the community and also by community groups. I do my best to resolve the same; methods of communication are; at community meetings, phone, text, WhatsApp, email, meeting on the street, on the roads or lanes, while out running, walking or cycling……. Just by being local!
The following is the list of various things that have come up this week. I won’t be going into any detail because [of course] some of the issues are confidential.
- School Transport – buses / taxis
- Play park – Hutcheson Drive Darvel
- Planning
- Planning Enforcement
- Housing
- Private lets
- Recruitment of EA temporary staff
- Bins / litter / leaves
- LDP2 Follow up consultation
- Antisocial Behaviour – youth and ‘grown up’
- Absence – East Ayrshire Council
- Christmas Trees
- Christmas Lights
- Cracked Pavements
- Potholes
COMMUNITY GROUPS / MEETINGS
I do my best to attend as many community meetings within each of the three communities as I can. These are the Community Council meetings from each of the three communities, plus some of the trust meetings. From time to time, I get to the parent council meetings.
COMMITTEE WORK
All councils have a huge amount of committee work. By the same token, councillors are invited / expected to sit on various committees. The following describes the scheme of delegation – this is the regulatory framework under which East Ayrshire functions, then follows the committees which I am or have been involved in.
Scheme of delegation:
This is the main framework under which East Ayrshire Council functions. It details the decision-making structure and operational requirements of the Council. It lists all Council committees; which councillors are members of the committees; what subjects the committees discuss and what powers they have. It also details the powers delegated to the Council’s departmental directors.
Cabinet:
This is the main decision-making committee within East Ayrshire Council. It has a membership of 10 councillors from across East Ayrshire, with meetings chaired by the Leader or Deputy Leader of the council. Cabinet is responsible for taking key strategic and service delivery decisions, implementing policy frameworks, and developing community planning. This committee leads on service issues and reports. Sadly, Ward 6 is not represented on this committee but is included in this section because of its influence.
Governance and Scrutiny G & S :
EAC established this committee to hold Cabinet to account. By which I mean to scrutinise decisions; review policies; monitor performance; and oversee external scrutiny. The committee is also responsible for reviewing services and also to gather topics of concerns to review. This committee holds a membership of 11 councillors. This committee is deemed to be able to hold cabinet to account. Councillors are not permitted to sit on both cabinet and G & S.
I have been a member of this committee since 2017. I am currently the vice chair. The committee meets about 10 times per year.
We have – very importantly – just selected a number of subject areas that we are going to scrutinise for the council. These include… Absence; Violence in Schools; increased demand for Additional Support Needs (ASN).
Full council:
This is a committe e comprising all council Elected Members. who are responsible for all decisions. They are required to publish details of when key decisions will be taken; papers of meetings; and minutes of meetings.
All Elected Members attend Full Council.
Other Committees – past and present
- Armed Forces Representative
- Climate Change
- Greener Communities (litter / fly tipping / etc)
- Paperlite
- Gambling Harms
THE ICING ON THE CAKE
Is to attend Community Fares, Christmas Fares, Anything at Schools, Dumfries House – this has included meeting the King! Kilmarnock Bus Station, Football matches, Representing the council at for example Veterans Events. Laying the Wreath on behalf of East Ayrshire Council on remembrance Sunday.
Additionally, the Cessnock Estates Team have taken responsibility for the War Memorial in Galston.
MY INITIATIVES
LITTER
My focus has always been addressing litter etc within our communities. From the outset, my view is that we need to Engage with everyone, then Educate and then Enforce. It really should be very simple.
In my first term as an Elected Member, I initiated the Litter in Schools programme. Which, when rolled out effectively makes a huge difference. This programme has been updated and is now requiring some ‘tactical persuasion’ from me to ensure it is implemented.
I have done my absolute best to work within the framework of our regulatory system to bring about change – but the framework doesn’t work. I have been involved in Scottish Government (SG) consultations, and worked with Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) and a plethora of other groups to make progress. I think they’re all USELESS. It’s a form of Institutional Incompetence.
Successive UK governments have consistently greenwashed failed public policy by ineffective delegation of anti- littering ‘initiatives’ to incompetent charities. The failure of these recipient charities such as KSB and its southern counterpart Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) is evidenced by the the appallingly littered mess that is ‘The Sates of our Nation’.
I could go on, and will …… A few Days in the life of CLLR Sally Cogley
