Southwark Sleaze
Camberwell Cheese | 25.04.2010 11:12 | Analysis
Southwark council officers are attempting to alter policy on how hustings are run in halls which are free for use for hustings.
Even more bizarre is the organisers of the hustings, Peoples Republic of Southwark, are being accused of political bias because they have Republic in their name
Even more bizarre is the organisers of the hustings, Peoples Republic of Southwark, are being accused of political bias because they have Republic in their name
A Governance and Policy Officer, has issued rules for the management of the first hustings to be held in Camberwell for many years.
The advice is as follows:
that as the meeting is being held in the T&RA hall it should be monitored by the T&RA to ensure equality and fairness.
The T&RA must -
- ensure
that they are satisfied that all the prospective candidates, from all
parties and independent, have been invited
- that publicity has gone out as widely as possible within the relevant ward
- that the meeting is chaired fairly and preferably by a T&RA committee member
- that all candidates are given the same amount of time to speak and the same amount of question and answer time
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I hope this clarifies the situation, if you have any further queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.
There is absolutely no requirement for the Tenants & Residents Association to monitor a hustings at all, their only requirement is to make the hall available given prior notice. The T&RA are allowed to charge legitimate expenses, which has been arranged with the organisers, otherwise they are not to charge hall hire.
There is no requirement for the T&RA to ensure the candidates are contacted, it is for the organisers and they need not invite all parties if there is a legitimate reason.
Publicity is of no concern of the T&RA. The organisers may publicise the event (criticism such as this is publicity).
Who chairs the event is absolutely no concern of of a council officer, that is the decision of the organisers.
Time restrictions are, again, not within the remit of a council officer. This is taken from the TV debate involving the party leaders and has nothing to do with hustings.
These restrictions, from the Governance & Policy Officer, do not clarify the situation when the majority of the public are manifestly disenfranchised from the electoral process and have little or no understanding of its workings. It is an act of reprehensible bullying.
It must also be noted that the organisers have not been made aware of these restrictions as they have not been contacted.
More of the evil machinations that are occurring behind the scenes will be brought to you.
Camberwell Hustings
29th April, 7:00 - 9:00 pm. Arrive for 6:30pm for tea'n biccies and to get the meeting started on time
Jessie Duffett Hall
92-94 Wyndham Road
Camberwell SE5 0HB
The advice is as follows:
that as the meeting is being held in the T&RA hall it should be monitored by the T&RA to ensure equality and fairness.
The T&RA must -
- ensure
that they are satisfied that all the prospective candidates, from all
parties and independent, have been invited
- that publicity has gone out as widely as possible within the relevant ward
- that the meeting is chaired fairly and preferably by a T&RA committee member
- that all candidates are given the same amount of time to speak and the same amount of question and answer time
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope this clarifies the situation, if you have any further queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.
There is absolutely no requirement for the Tenants & Residents Association to monitor a hustings at all, their only requirement is to make the hall available given prior notice. The T&RA are allowed to charge legitimate expenses, which has been arranged with the organisers, otherwise they are not to charge hall hire.
There is no requirement for the T&RA to ensure the candidates are contacted, it is for the organisers and they need not invite all parties if there is a legitimate reason.
Publicity is of no concern of the T&RA. The organisers may publicise the event (criticism such as this is publicity).
Who chairs the event is absolutely no concern of of a council officer, that is the decision of the organisers.
Time restrictions are, again, not within the remit of a council officer. This is taken from the TV debate involving the party leaders and has nothing to do with hustings.
These restrictions, from the Governance & Policy Officer, do not clarify the situation when the majority of the public are manifestly disenfranchised from the electoral process and have little or no understanding of its workings. It is an act of reprehensible bullying.
It must also be noted that the organisers have not been made aware of these restrictions as they have not been contacted.
More of the evil machinations that are occurring behind the scenes will be brought to you.
Camberwell Hustings
29th April, 7:00 - 9:00 pm. Arrive for 6:30pm for tea'n biccies and to get the meeting started on time
Jessie Duffett Hall
92-94 Wyndham Road
Camberwell SE5 0HB
Camberwell Cheese
Comments
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response to the council
26.04.2010 10:54
our response is below. it'd be great to hear if anyone else has had similar fun experiences with local council officers?
thanks
Dear
It has come to our attention that, following my telephone conversation with on Friday 23rd April, an email was sent to the Chair of the Tenants & Residents' Association with advice or demands what the TRA should do for the hustings event.
The local elections hustings event on 29th April is organised by People's Republic of Southwark, a local community group. This was re-iterated in the above-mentioned telephone conversation. All the promotion and publicity material clearly states this too. The TRA is in no way involved in the organisation of the event. The venue was chosen from the Council's list of free venues available to election candidates.
We are not sure why there has been no attempt to contact us, as organisers, directly, with any concerns, and I would appreciate it if you would:
- forward us a link to any existing Southwark Council guidelines on organising hustings events as we could not find any on the Council's election pages; we are compliant with the Representation of the People Act 1983 and have been using the Electoral Commission's Hustings Factsheet (March 2010) for guidance.
- forward us a link to any existing Southwark Council guidelines clarifying the role and responsibilities of either the Residents' Involvement Team, or any other Council department, in organisation of hustings events run by community groups;
- forward us a link to any existing Southwark Council guidelines clarifying that the Residents' Involvement Team's role is to relay messages from candidates in the local elections during the pre-election period (as I understand you received a complaint from one local elections candidate regarding the promotion and impartiality of the event). Feedback we have received to date has been only positive, and all of the parties running in the local elections have confirmed attendance.
- provide evidence that the Residents' Involvement Team (or any other Southwark Council department) has conducted same scrutiny or offered the same advice to the organisers of the following hustings events involving Southwark candidates:
22nd March, East Dulwich hustings event at the East Dulwich Community Centre; event was organised by East Dulwich Stop the War
20th April, Eco-hustings event at the Herne Tavern; event was organised by Southwark Friends of the Earth
22nd April, Herne Hill hustings event at the Herne Hill Baptist Hall; event was organised by the Herne Hill Forum
2nd May, Southwark General Election hustings event at the Southwark Cathedral
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
the republican