Independent councillors call for public apology from the leader of North East Lincolnshire Council
It's over now abandoned plans to close three nurseries in the area
Independent councillors have called for a public apology from the leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, after the independent report into the botched nurseries consultation of last summer.
Scartho Nursery School, Great Coates Village Nursery and Reynolds Day Care, in Cleethorpes, were subject last summer to a consultation on their possible closures. This was shelved on July 14, a month after opening, and amid protests against the plans.
Independents for North East Lincolnshire councillors have demanded again the Conservative council leader, Cllr Philip Jackson, apologises for the consultation debacle. They also suggested the position of the portfolio holder for children and education, Cllr Margaret Cracknell, is untenable.
The independent report states Cllr Cracknell feels she may have misunderstood the word ‘consultation’ and was unaware of its impending nature, when signing it off.
Cllr Cracknell has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she acknowledges in hindsight she made a decision to allow a process to begin which caused uncertainty. She has also apologised.
Council leader Cllr Jackson did not apologise, but said the report vindicated his decision to halt the consultation.
Independent and Freshney Ward Cllrs Lyndsey Downes and Steve Holland were particularly involved during the consultation in challenging its rationale.
“It paints a picture of portfolio holders that don’t necessarily understand the full scope of their role and decision making,” said Cllr Downes of the report, adding it also showed officers not following internal procedure. “It’s kind of a multi-faceted poor show really on every front.”
A children and lifelong learning scrutiny panel on Thursday, March 7, will discuss it. Cllr Holland expected a lot of questions from panel members and the public. “At this moment in time, it’s difficult to see how the position of the portfolio holder for children’s services can remain tenable.”
He added: “There are still more questions to be answered. At the very least, the council leader needs to give a full public apology and if he doesn’t give that apology, then his position is questionable.”
Cllr Downes highlighted the apparent confusion over the word ‘consultation’, and the lack of written decision when it was given the go-ahead. Referring to Cllr Cracknell, she said: “If she’d asked questions, this consultation may never have started. She didn’t actually understand what she was saying yes to, it’s unforgiveable, really,” adding 42 staff had been at risk of redundancy.
The position tenability and public apology call were put to Cllrs Cracknell and Jackson. Cllr Cracknell said: “I have read the Wilkin Chapman report and concur that inadequate communication was a significant part in what turned out to be a flawed consultation process.
“I fully acknowledge in hindsight that I made a decision to allow a process to begin which resulted in uncertainty in the settings. I apologise to the three settings, to the nursery staff, governors and to parents.”
She said it was clear lessons were to be learned about proper communication of officers with cabinet members and ward councillors so such situations did not happen again. Cllr Jackson said: “I think the independent report vindicates my decision, as leader of the council, to halt what was clearly a flawed public consultation.
“I subsequently requested the chief executive to commission the report to determine how this unnecessary and damaging situation arose, and how we can ensure it is never repeated. It is clear from the report that council officers failed to adequately communicate with both the cabinet and ward councillors regarding the challenges associated with the three nursery settings and their proposed course of action, exacerbated by some identified governance weaknesses.
“These issues must and will be resolved,” he said. Most importantly, he added, the cabinet and officers were working closely with the settings to try to ensure their ongoing viability and sustainability.
All three independent councillors have been involved with business plans since for the Great Coates and Scartho settings. “That’s going extremely well,” Cllr Holland said of the business plans, and stated earlier the settings were needed for social mobility.
They still lacked £1.5m repair costs detail, which had been asked for since June. It was difficult to be certain of the nurseries’ futures without this.