gdj

Many of the public spending cuts have a serious effect - but mostly on individuals receiving worse health, education, housing or social care, or less access to services via public transport. You could drive or walk around most places without the spending cuts really being obvious. Potholes are one of the few very obvious negative affects and so they get a lot of attention. It is a difficult dilemna though, because all those who are invisibly suffering in the recession shouldn't be forgotten. Having said all that, there has got to be an optimum level of maintenance which accepts that you will never remove all potholes but prevents the situation reinforcing itself (HGVs, tractors etc hitting and expanding potholes) so much that the saving by not doing something now is exceeded by the cost of the extra damage caused by not doing it. And that optimum level should be what is in the Balfour Beatty contract - the contract should have a fixed fee for maintaining roads at a certain level of quality, not an amount per call out or tonne of asphalt laid. Make them work efficiently. I like the fact that the HCC highways manager is called `Hall'. Do his mates call him `Pot`? gdj

I see from the HT that there is to be a "Ukrainian evening" in Michaelchurch Ecsley soon. I wish it well - to build bridges between people has got to be a good thing. . I just hope it isn't modelled on the Ukrainian evenings that are going on in Kiev this week. To imagine the residents of Michaelchurch Ecsley confronting West Mercia's finest across barricades of burning John Deere's whilst the evil President Tony Johnson vows to crush the uprising is not a pleasant thought.

Sometimes Ofsted inspections need to be viewed in their political context. It is clear that the school has made great strides forward in a lot of areas despite facing challenges that schools in more affluent areas don't. It is, however, the 'wrong type of academy' for the current government - set up under Labour to turn round a school in difficulties with which the council was struggling -and it did just that. The headteacher and staff deserve a lot of credit. I wonder if someone there has been too honest about current government and Ofsted policies and provoked the inspection. The GCSE goalposts have also moved. The government tells exam boards to award fewer high grades and when that happens they claim it demonstrates that schools are failing. Pete Johnson's posts illustrate a school that is open to communication and doesn't need to feel defensive. I have met a lot of former pupils and they have clearly been the products of a good, hard working school. I hope the staff there can get through this without feeling too much under attack from bigger forces - and that parents and pupils appreciate that not many Ofsted inspectors could actually do a better job than the teachers are doing. gdj

All now clear. When I just went on the HT news website I was treated to a full screen advert for the Robert Owen free school. The editor is fearlessly not asking pertinent questions of an organisation that pays for advertising. Questions could include: how much is the council getting for the building and land that this school is to use, what role did Geoff Huges play, why has is fallen so far short of its target numbers, and why has the principal left after just one term? Or an alternative question could be: "Would you like to pay us for advertising - we promise to delete any inconvenient comments from our website?". gdj

Most people are like me and pay their council tax over 10 months. It seems the law changed so if you notify the council before bills are sent out you can spread it over 12 months. This might help people budget and improve their cash flow month to month. Gdj

I see from last weeks HT (perused in the supermarket, you understand and definitely not purchased) that the Head/Principal has resigned (left by mutual consent). Again no questions asked by the HT as to the state of a project which is costing about £3 million, disrupting normal council operations and which has only recruited one third of its target number of pupils and has now lost its main manager. They even repeat the claim that the school opened in September for 60 pupils. It did not. It opened with about 20. I do wish the HT wouldn't publish such spurious claims. Now these children deserve to have their educational needs met, but to distort educational spending so much surely cannot be justified. On a slightly related note - are any other headteachers in the county mysteriously not at their desks at the moment? If so, it could be a very interesting story...... gdj

Thank you for this It is reassuring to know that someone is doing their best to hold people to account - I appreciate your efforts and the frustration you must experience in getting answers. From what you say it sounds like a decision was made to do this recruitment without proper justification and the buck is being rapidly passed around the cabinet and directors now that there is some degree of questioning. The old argument about "getting the best people" is a red herring - you could pay me £1000 a day to do the job and I still wouldn't be the best person for it (but I could pretend to be for a while until my bank balance filled up and then you would have to quietly let me go rather than acknowledge any mistake). I suppose the other question that should be formally asked before and after any recruitment like this is "how will success be measured and what is the recourse if it isn't achieved?" - that is in addition to my main question as to why they appointed a director who herself didn't have the capability to lead the department through changing times. Any comment on the education job which is on the same high salary as before most secondary and many primary schools detached themselves from the council? So why not redesign the structure to take account of changed requirements rather than doggedly stick to the old structure and all its expenses? Thanks again for the update on your activities Cllr Vaughan - Powell. gdj

I've been reading the debate in various places about the council's `Adult Wellbeing` directorate using an agency to find a couple of people who will accept a mere £500 a day to help them change to meet new challenges This is defended by the director (interim director since September?) Helen Coombes on the HCC website. Bobby 47 and others have already slaughtered the idea on the HT website. Leaving aside the need for savings etc; the question that slowly formed in the depths of my brain was: "What the **** does the (Interim) director do for her money if she doesn't herself have the skills and ability to organise and deliver the changes needed? She was appointed in September at a time when the need for change was obvious - so why did they not appoint someone who could do the job without needing an extra £1000 a day spending on others to tell her what to do? I suspect that the biggest cars in the Brockington car park are owned by people who are highly promoted admistrators, not leaders, and the current challenges are way beyond their competence. Another one I saw on the HCC vacancies was "Head of Learning and Achievement" for £64k plus extras. (again, B47 was please to see that this would at least result in a passionate person in place). This education job is to oversee a team (massively reduced over the last few years) and work with schools (massively reduced numbers due to academisation) - so as Cllr Johnson is always saying people have no suggestions, here are two: Merge this job with the same person in another county - both will have a lot less to do in their own counties: or: get an outside education consultancy in to do the job - there are lots of companies with the ability and capacity to do it. Of course these options will be binned if there is someone already in the building who wants the job. gdj

Thank you all, Flamboyant - there was a story about the free school moving into the council's Blackfriars building. I suggested that the HT should ask questions rather than just printing PR (and maybe that was my crime). Questions like how much money or rent the council will receive for this large building on a prime city centre location? How much is the council spending in moving out its staff (quite a lot I believe) and how much disruption is being caused to the work of those staff members (again, quite a lot as many have no real office to move to). I then asked how many pupils the school has (it announced a target of 60 last year) - Mizza provided the info that there are about 20 - this despite a large recruitment campaign in and beyond Herefordshire. I then asked what role Geoff Hughes had played in the negotiating and scheduling of the council staff moving out, and the school moving in to Blackfriars. I think it is a relevant question as he has a senior position in the Robert Owen foundation and is the director in charge of what is done with council buildings and land. I have since heard that the money the government is giving to the school to refurbish the building is in the millions of pounds - so a massive contrast with what local authority maintained schools are getting, or with the current school transport fiasco. I know that Councillors are members of this site - can I suggest that someone visits the Blackfriars site soon and speaks to a few front line staff. This pretty much sums up my last contribution to the HT website - but I know I am not the first to go too "off message". Thanks again for the welcome.

Hello, Having had my questions about the damage being caused by the new free school deleted by the HT I can no longer log on there. No message of explanation, so I have either offended the HT or Geoff Hughes. So please can I join Biomech on the Naughty Step here? Thanks