Decision made on Werrington Fields but will it stick?
Last week we saw another chapter in the saga surrounding the Werrington Fields and Ken Stimpson Academy. Having had the previous meeting regarding this matter pulled at the last minute following another letter from DfE, we hoped a solution was in sight and the administration would find the compromise Werrington residents were calling for.
Sadly what we saw return to Full Council was a compromise of sorts that sought to reduce the perimeter by a mere 15 metres on three sides. It also wasn’t a definitive deal but sought to empower council officers to negotiate the deal and no clear indication of the Council’s contribution towards the fencing cost.
Working with the Werrington councillors we tabled an amendment that specified the amount of land (roughly 63% of the original space but still enough for four full-size football pitches) and limited the council’s contribution to 50% of the cost.
We also saw the cabinet make a decision regarding Peterborough Limited, the council’s wholly owned trading company, which seeks to cancel the Aragon contract - Waste, Street Cleaning, Trees and Parks, Home-to-School Transport, Vehicle Workshop and Property Services and bring them into the council.
The cost of doing so will run into the £millions, mainly due to enhanced employment terms for the staff, which in itself is a laudable thing but begs a number of questions. Firstly where is the money coming from to fund this new pressure on the council’s budget, but also what about the remaining staff from the council’s leisure, libraries and heritage areas are they not worthy of the same consideration on pay?
The report recommending this change spells out clearly that there are significant gaps in the data, which effectively means the amount of around £3m is only a guess and there has been little analysis of the effect this will have on the costs of the remaining elements, also. We strongly urge the administration to rethink this decision until proper costings and alternatives have been fully explored. Carrying on with this policy will only put further council services at risk and see a further deterioration of what this council does for our residents against an ever-increasing council tax bill.
Thankfully this amendment was passed when it was approved by 29 councillors to 19 against. We can hope that 4C’s Academy Trust and more importantly their board of governors will see that opinion is against them and they should graciously throw the towel in and accept this offer. After all, having good relations with the surrounding community should be high on the list for any school.
This isn’t quite finished yet and we may see this item back at full council if an agreement can’t be reached - watch this space.
We also saw the cabinet make a decision regarding Peterborough Limited, the council’s wholly owned trading company, which seeks to cancel the Aragon contract - Waste, Street Cleaning, Trees and Parks, Home-to-School Transport, Vehicle Workshop and Property Services and bring them into the council.
The cost of doing so will run into the £millions, mainly due to enhanced employment terms for the staff, which in itself is a laudable thing but begs a number of questions. Firstly where is the money coming from to fund this new pressure on the council’s budget, but also what about the remaining staff from the council’s leisure, libraries and heritage areas are they not worthy of the same consideration on pay?
The report recommending this change spells out clearly that there are significant gaps in the data, which effectively means the amount of around £3m is only a guess and there has been little analysis of the effect this will have on the costs of the remaining elements, also. We strongly urge the administration to rethink this decision until proper costings and alternatives have been fully explored. Carrying on with this policy will only put further council services at risk and see a further deterioration of what this council does for our residents against an ever-increasing council tax bill.