Town Council meeting minutes: TOP JAW-DROPPING moments (part 2)

June 23, 2020

2 minutes read

2020 is crazy for sure but I decided to dive into craziness even deeper: I read through all minutes from STC meetings. In the first article about it, I wrote about an odd property “deal” between STC and DUWC. ALL Labour Party councillors ignored my questions about it and I’m waiting for a reply for my Freedom of Information Act request from STC (I got an answer today; an article on the subject will be published in a few days).

Meanwhile, I dug in further into minutes. To my surprise, I found new traces of strange arrangements between Labour Party-led Council and DUWC. Before I go further you need to know that DUWC is EU and Lottery Fund funded organisation. They received hundreds of thousands of pounds in grants.

Let there be no doubt- Shirebrook is broke and in debt. DUWC is well funded, so why the hell STC doing that:
c. TO CONSIDER AND DECIDE APPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

i. DERBYSHIRE UNEMPLOYED WORKERS CENTRE

Approved payment of £500.00

RESOLVED: That the approved section 137 payment/s be authorised.

At this point, I have to hold myself from writing what I found out about this Patchwork Row deal but I also think that I can write that in my opinion there is something corrupted in the relationship between DUWC and STC/BDC. I went through all minutes- no one ever received so much from STC. Oh, wait! Residents got 10% tax rise… but it’s for our good, right? Labour always claim that they will raise taxes only on wealthy people when they get power- maybe we are wealthy and we just don’t know about it??? Well- there is something else that Labour-led STC doing for us…

FOR THE PUBLIC!!!
I think everyone can agree that the transparency of people in power is one of the basic conditions for healthy functioning of democracy. Minutes are published not only to satisfy bureaucrats but also for residents to keep in touch with what is going on. Shirebrook is a small town, that’s why I was shocked when I discovered how often STC force the public and members of the press out of the chamber to discuss “secret” issues.

I went through all ordinary meetings minutes. I found something like that on several occasions. This one is taken from the June 2019 meeting.
19/055 EXEMPT ITEM/S

Exclusion of public
Due to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted it is advisable, in the public interest, that the public and press be instructed to withdraw from the meeting

Wait! What? For public interest, the public is forced out of the room??? Who wrote that? Stalin???

What is so important that few times in year Labour Party hides behind closed doors to talk about it? Are they planning to “hand out” another building to yet another left-leaning organisation? Are they planning to plunge town deeper in debt? Maybe they talk about the next tax rise and they worry that “public” would suffer depression and anxiety hearing about that? What is so scary that we, residents, can’t know about it for “our own good”?

STC is 100% Labour. There is no scrutiny, no opposition to what they doing. This is not healthy. This must change.