Councillor Lesley Rollings last column in the Gainsborough Standard as Mayor was published on March 20th. She writes:_ Last week BBC Radio Lincolnshire and Look North ran a story covering the running of Gainsborough Town Council in the years up to May 2011. Former councillors claim they were innocent of any impropriety, they just relied on the officers. Well for some years prior May 2011 a small group of councillors had tried to raise concerns but they were ignored by both the officers and their fellow councillors who controlled the council. These dissenting councillors were dismissed as trouble makers and at one point they were barred from attending council meetings, something that could not legally be done. However the voters of Gainsborough elected a new council in 2011. By the time I was elected mayor in 2012 it was clear that a full assessment of the council was badly needed. As a West Lindsey Councillor with a good relationship with senior officers, I was able to turn to them for support. They advised me to call in Audit Lincolnshire and ask for a ‘health check’ on the state of the council’s finances. The report from Audit Lincolnshire made 72 recommendations covering all aspects of the council’s work that needed to be changed. It also projected an end of year deficit of £100,000. I am pleased to report as my two years as Chairman and Mayor draws to a close, 70 of these recommendations are now completed, with two underway - the Town Plan and a re-structure of the grounds maintenance team. We also avoided that projected deficit and are now able to replenish the council’s reserves that had fallen from £72,000 in 2008 to just £9,000 by 2012. What lessons have we learned from this experience? First, it is important that councillors are trained so they fully understand how effective councils function and their role as councillors. Spending tax payers hard earned money requires councillors to take their responsibility seriously. Secondly the Council needs to be in contact with the Gainsborough community and act an enabling body that can help make our town a thriving and fun place in which to live, study and work. The third lesson is that working in partnership with others and creating effective teams produces results far greater than working independently.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 21:03:31 +0000