Year's End

Things have certainly quietened down over the last two/three weeks, and although I have had some meetings they haven’t been quite so ‘wall-to-wall’ of late.  That having said I’ve still be chasing up on some casework issues, some that have been dragging on for ages.  Tempting fate of course but hopefully this time next week a couple of them will have been sorted at long last.  Fingers crossed!

One event of interest was when I went up to Seaview school to be interviewed by a couple of year 6 pupils, Joshua & Daniel.  One asked the questions whilst the other ‘filmed’ me using an Ipad.  I’m very grateful they gave me a copy of the questions before I went as I would have been floored by some of them, but in the end it passed off OK (I think!)  And I have to say that the older I get the more amazed I am at how adept children can be.  These Ipads are making such a big difference to their levels of confidence.

And the other meeting to mention is the working group I’ve joined to look at what the council itself could be doing about payday loan companies.  As I’ve mentioned before now I am very involved in the Swansea Bay Fair Credit group.  Whilst there has been some recent success, such as the government finally agreeing to set a cap on interest rates, there is still much to do. 

Well that’s it for now, signing off for Christmas,  
and here's wishing you a great festive season.

Cheers all!

Les

Local & National

Two real things of note worth mentioning this blog…

Firstly, along with various officers and one of my fellow ward councillors, I undertook a very interesting, useful and positive ‘walkabout’ around Mayhill.  You may recall in my last blog I said all three of us had been looking to get some street improvements carried out.  This walkabout followed on from those discussions and in doing so I was able to see for myself some of the environmental issues in the area.  As we went round we all pretty much agreed on a number of actions which would help enhance the area – not major work so not too costly but enough to make a difference and show that we were bothering.  The next step is some form of consultation with residents, to make sure we have their support in the main.  And for someone like me who spends most of my day in a sedentary position, an added bonus of the exercise was just that – the exercise!

The second?  Well apart from the usual plethora of meetings there was full council on Tuesday.  And for me yet another first even after 18 months, my maiden speech.  I’ve always said that I’m not bothering to waste my time and everyone elses by just talking for talkings sake - there are plenty who do that already!  So I’ve bided my time until now.  I spoke on a motion about payday lenders and other legal loan sharks, and how to curtail their activities – I feel very strongly that they are parasites, making money off people who haven't got it.  Apparently recent stats have them raking in £1 million a week!  After the proposer did his bit, it was then seconded by the Leader who in turn very graciously passed on to me to give my speech.  Must have been OK as I was applauded!!  And I'm very pleased that I’m pretty sure everyone present, including the opposition, voted for it anyway. 

Many of us are out tomorrow afternoon in the city centre, asking Jo & Jill Public what they think.  There was a very good item on TV last night highlighting the issue.  It included the amazing mums from Bonymaen.  They had who kicked all this off in the first place by realising they were being ripped off, decided they'd had enough of it, and were going to fight back.  It’s been a privilege fighting the cause alongside them.

Les

Quieter on the council front

A quieter fortnight on the council front thank goodness!  But some very useful meetings nonetheless, staring with a recent scrutiny group I have joined.  We intend to assess how we can best engage with the public, and after taking time to decide on the scope of the inquiry we are now in a position to get to work.  To the outsider it might appear that the process is a bit cumbersome to begin with as it takes a couple of meetings to get to this point.  But it’s really important to make sure we all understand & agree the issue from the outset, so in my view it’s time well spent.

I managed to get to the PACT meeting in TOPIC House.  I’ve probably said before that this venue is the Older People’s Information Centre and that these meetings are open to residents from the whole of Swansea.  But there are regulars who come from the ward itself, and of course it’s useful to keep in touch with those who run centres like this.  And they do a cracking range of cakes, (for which Jeff is very grateful!)

This last week has concentrated very much on the ward.  As local councillors all three of us have put forward various ideas for street scene improvements as we all feel even minor ones can definitely make a difference to residents.  But of course, as you probably all well know, the council is a big lumbering organisation and the wheels can grind very (and frustratingly!) slowly.  However we’ve had a double whammy of help, from another cabinet member and a director, so some of our suggestions might finally come to fruition in the not so distant future.

Outside direct council meetings I’ve also been to my once termly Finance subcommittee up in Seaview Community School.  It always surprises me how much I get from my involvement with the school as I would never have put me down as school governor material.  But then years back I would never have dreamt of being a councillor!

Les

A week is a long time in politics – a fortnight is even longer!

It’s been an interesting but very heavy going fortnight.  We attended not one but two full council meetings this week, with the extra one dedicated to the difficult issue of where to have a second council maintained gypsy traveller site.  Many of you will know that this is still unresolved as it was genuinely felt that none
of those proposed fitted the bill.  So we begin again but not from scratch, and in any case this is far too important a decision to be made in haste but get it wrong.

And there are more clouds on the political horizon with the news confirming that the budget would need substantial cuts next year.  The cabinet members have been wrestling with the figures to see how this can be achieved with the least impact, and as a council we have opened up the debate to staff and the public.  It’s still not going to be easy but maybe with their involvement we can at least work on this together instead of giving everyone affected a fait a complis.

It was good to end on a high note by attending a training session Friday morning on what being a Corporate Parent is all about.  What was very encouraging is the obvious dedication of the professionals who came to explain their roles in helping ‘looked after’ children.  It was clear to me that there was, almost without exception, the right balance of caring & expertise, to give children in care the best possible opportunity to develop their potential just like any other.

Les

Past, Present & Future

Causeway to Lindisfarne, Northumberland

Put off blog entry from last week as had a well earned (well, I think so!) long weekend away –  bit of a trek all the way to Northumberland but had a lovely 2 days there.

It’s good when something positive happens in your ward, whether or not you had any hand in it.  Cabinet Member Mitch Theaker managed to get a half-pipe skateboard run installed at the top off Gors Park which been very popular from the outset.  You may have already had the fortune (or mis!) to see my mugshot in the local paper recently, alongside Mitch, amongst others, watching kids truly excelling themselves – very uplifting.

After this photo op, as well as those which are becoming regulars, such as Equalities, Democratic Services & Planning, over the past couple of weeks or so, I've even had the chance of going to three meetings at the same time!  But as I’m not quite that flexible it meant, of course, choosing the one most relevant at that time.  It’s rather strange but whenever this has happened it’s never been that difficult deciding which one’s best.

Mingled with doing business, today I've been catching up on casework - a mix of phone calls & e-mails, some new enquiries and some where chasing up existing ones.  Amazing how long it takes!

Just to tease you I’ll finish by saying that my next blog will include what happened at what is probably going to be quite a contentious meeting, but you’ll just have to wait!

Les

Fighting the Good Fight

Now just what have I been doing over the last three weeks?  Yes, I know it’s three, and no I’m not a week late – some time ago I decided to try and stop spreading myself too thin, so with that in mind I’d keep this to just twice a month. But never fear, for those of you who need more (really?!) there’s always my political blog onto which I have just posted an item entitled HOGGOF.  You’ll have to go and look at it - lesleywaltonpolitics@blogspot.com - to see what this awfully corny heading means!!!!!

Les at Campaign Launch Sat 31st August 2013

Back to what I’ve been up to …  As I reported in my last blog I am now on a group that is campaigning against payday and other such legal loan sharks, including the methods they use to lure unsuspecting people into a downward spiral of debt.  It’s true that some people do take out a payday loan literally to bridge the money gap up to payday, and if it suits them, fine.  But even then it still doesn’t remotely justify the interest rates being charged, or the way some of these companies will not easily let you pay off a loan, but keep offering more & more, hence the debt gets worse & worse.  Continuing on my soapbox (on a roll now, sorry!) and possibly stating the obvious, but not everyone is naturally good with money – just think how many people say Maths when asked what was their worst subject at school!  And these are the people who are going to be very vulnerable when it comes to persuasive advertising for ‘easy money’, and people knocking on your door who wont take no for an answer.
So I’m sure you will agree that there are a lot of challenges around this issue.  However both from our meeting this week, and from the campaign launch the other Saturday – went really well, lots of people there, good item in the press – we have amassed some great suggestions as to what we can do in fighting this campaign.  Really quite exciting!

Other than this I’ve had the usual smattering of meetings, including one looking at how we are going to scrutinise Public Engagement.  This is I think will get to be quite a hot topic, as the council is going to be opening up discussions on the budget for 14-15.  Interesting times ahead.

Les

Mainly Ward Matters - it certainly does!

Yet another first, and this after well over a year as a councillor.  I went to a meeting of the Audit Committee – very roughly described as ‘auditing the audits’.  I suspect this sounds as dry as dust to most people but I actually found it interesting, which surprised myself, and that I was able to contribute then & there.  (After this 2+hours meeting I went straight on to another, this time wearing my business hat, and finally getting home after 10pm.  Thank goodness this doesn’t happen every week!)

Also over the last couple of weeks I have been involved in looking at some interesting ward issues, ranging from trees to credit unions.  And my regular monthly surgery proved very useful as I managed to touch base with a number of people to progress some of these matters.  I have also just joined the group who are jointly behind organising the Pay Day Loan Big Action Day on Saturday 31st August, in the Ocean Room, National Waterfront Museum, from 12 til 2pm – for latest Evening Post article click here.  The other driving force is a group of mums from Bonymaen who have been caught up in the payday debt spiral – see their story here – and they will have some strong messages to give on the subject.

To finish, a salutory tale …  As a rule I prefer e-mails & texts to phoning because you can do them in your time, and decide on exactly what you want to say.  However I’ve been reminded how easy it is to send one which you think says what you want it to say but in fact gives totally the wrong impression!  And of course this is where a phone conversation can make all the difference – the person can hear the tone of your voice and respond accordingly, and more often than not it leads to a discussion where each can have their say.  So from now on I will ask myself “phone call and/or e-mail?”

In fact I’ll make one right now – just need to decide what toppings I want on that pizza …

Les

Out & About

Student Liaison felt a bit deja vuish – these meetings are not that frequent so I suppose it’s understandable that they go over the same ground to a certain extent.  And it’s quite a big group so not easy to make practical decisions, so I found it heartening that we formed a subgroup to do just that.  I am sure this is the best way forward.
 
Went to a very successful community event in Paradise Park – Teddy Bear’s Picnic – with lots of helpful & interesting stands & activities aimed at families.  Without a doubt one of the highlights was a police car where kids could have a go at activating the siren – the PCSO must have been deaf by the end of the day!  I was there particularly to support the anti-food waste stand, which was doing a great job handing out loads of kitchen waste boxes.  

They were also promoting the Real Nappy campaign 
where families can get £100 worth for free.  (Do get in touch if you want to know more – e-mail me at lesley.walton@swansea.gov.uk.)  Gone are the days when you had to boil them, now you can just put them in the wash with everything else!  Not only that, they no longer just come in white but all colours and designs.  And no, I’m not being paid to say this!!

Equalities Wednesday and what could have been the driest meeting of all which was actually quite interesting – an overview of the 2011 census data.  Makes you realise just how much councils up & down the country must depend on this information in order to use their resources as effectively as possible.

Unfortunately later that same evening Jeff & I were mugged which put a slight dampener on things.  However we think ourselves every lucky that we weren’t badly hurt, and they didn’t get away with my handbag – it always amazes me how instinctively stubborn (possibly foolish as well) I can be, but there was no way they were having it!

Most of this week I have been following up casework with just the one meeting – another scrutiny panel that I’m relatively new to, basically looking at the effectiveness of various council services, something which I feel is going to be increasingly important in the years to come.

Les

Everything's quiet, well quieter!

Well, it has slackened off a bit over two last weeks on the council front, mainly through me having a not too serious hospital procedure which had me out of action for a few days.  The outcome was fortunately reassuring so you’re stuck with me yet awhile!

Did my usual monthly surgery, meeting up with a couple of residents, after which I had a mini meeting with parents, both ex-governors, to start looking at how to set up a credit union collection point in one of the local junior schools.  I expect some of you will have noticed the following irony – at the same time as payday loan companies are on the increase, who prey on those in financial difficulties to persuade them they need a loan fast which gets them into more debt than they were before, yet finally credit unions are getting the press coverage they need & deserve.  Even the Archbishop of Canterbury has been promoting them (although this was a tad spoilt by the revelation that some of the Church’s money is invested in Wonga!)

In this last week, after my recuperation, I have slowly got back into the swing of things by attending a few meetings.  One of these, on Wednesday, was concerning a scrutiny panel that I am on – Wellbeing & Attainment of Children & Young People.  We are nearing the end of this process, which is yet again a first for me.  Over the months we have done a lot of work to assess how well educational establishments are ensuring the wellbeing of their pupils & students, how this relates to attainment, gathering of a large amount of information & evidence, and consulting with many relevant professionals along the way.  So at that meeting we made a good start on deciding what recommendations we are going make as the way forward.  These will eventually go to cabinet with the aim that they then get actioned.

Finished off with something else new.  Yesterday saw the first Uplands Street Market, supported by all the local councillors, and it appeared to be very successful indeed.  Great variety of stalls, from craft to food, also giving visitors the chance to fraternise the shops as well, which in these difficult times must have been a welcome boost.  Hopefully as a market one of many more.

Les

Ups & Downs

As you all know I’ve been a councillor for over a year now but I’m sure most of you will understand when I say there’s still lots to learn – indeed I’m sure you never stop!  And sometimes you might move to another committee covering an area of the council’s remit which you haven’t done before.  And so it is with me, with yet another new learning curve for me to get to grips with, and with which I may need some help.  As it happens one of the meetings I was at last week included looking at specific training requests from councillors, so we could decide how these are to be met.  I am certainly very pleased that the authority takes this seriously, clearly understanding the importance of enabling us to effectively carry out our roles.  
 
Of course even at those meetings & events where I feel confident in myself, that is I have gained a good understanding and can ‘feel’ the purpose of meeting hence can contribute to its goals, this still requires a high level of commitment on my part.  So it’s always good to have a bit of light relief such as an event in the ward last week, where I turned up too early to draw the raffle so went away again.  And even better, there was the meeting later the same day in a community centre, where we ended up holding it in the kitchen (don't ask!) whilst being blasted from both sides by loud music!

And fortunately the rest of life has its bright spots – a lovely long weekend away, great weather for our annual BBQ chez nous, the Lions winning the rugby test series, and at last a British Men’s Tennis Champion at Wimbledon.  (After 77 of years of waiting I really don’t think I could have faced another year of the TV commentators going on, and on, and on … )

Les

Still some new firsts!

It’s over a year but through Scrutiny there are always new committees that you can join.  As it happens I finally managed to get to one that I had expressed interest in before Christmas!  Called Service Improvement & Finance, this group does 'what it says on the tin' in that it looks at services the council offers in the aim of suggesting improvements where possible.  Although I say I managed to get to it, typically I had another meeting with clashed with it so was only there for about half an hour.  But even in that short time I felt I could identify with its aims.  With a bit of luck I’ll do the whole meeting next time!

There are a number of initiatives being tried on the Hill to help those people living there, particularly when it comes to money & budgeting, something even some of the most intelligent & cleverest people can be known to struggle with.  I went up to a drop in session in Phoenix Library to find out more about one such scheme, and also visited Gors Community Centre one afternoon for an advice open day, with CAB, LASA credit Union, Age Cymru and so on.  The worry I have, and probably all likeminded people, is that despite leaflets, flyers, social media, it can be very difficult to get people to come along to these.  But not only because they don’t get to know about it but for all sorts of other reasons, like embarrassment, feeling stupid, don’t want to ask for help etc etc.  Added to this the number who are needing this help is surely going to escalate. 

I’ve also been to Area 1 planning meeting for the first time – I swapped from Area 2 as I felt I wanted to be able to hear about issues affecting neighbouring wards even if the planning applications for Townhill itself were rare.  And I’ve had a double dose of Governors – the Finance Sub-Committee & the final full Governors meeting for the academic year. 

Last but not least I chose to go on a day & a half Summer School looking at Credit unions.  It turn out to be the ‘curate’s egg’ – good in parts, but bad in others!  However I probably benefitted from it more than it felt like at the time.

Les

Give a little, get back a lot

In May I managed to remember to go to the LASA Board meeting (somehow I didn’t put the date in my diary for April so not surprisingly I didn’t get there!)  It’s been quite a learning curve even though I have been involved in both this, and other credit unions, in the past. There is just so much going on, and I’m having to learn about it all at the same time as brushing up on policies & procedures.  I’ve probably mentioned this before but for me the priority is to promote LASA as the right alternative to all the hundreds of legal loan sharks out there, who as I see it are making money by legally ‘stealing’ from the poorest in society.  I read an interesting article recently which pointed out that many people in desperate straights just don’t bother to think about how they will pay the money back, which is why it’s so easy for these companies to get away with it.

In the last fortnight have also been to Trustees meeting which isn’t held very often. This is usually quite rewarding as we are able to give small grants to various social enterprises and so far we have rarely had to say no to anyone. 

And the last council meeting was one of the lighter ones I’ve been to.  It included a very interesting presentation on the Penllergare Trust who are doing excellent reclamation work on the woods in that area of Swansea.  A Welsh speaking councillor was critical of the spelling but as it happens although not strictly correct it is in keeping with the way the word was spelt at the time the house existed, and those grounds laid out.
 
In the same meeting we also enjoyed an excellent answer from the deputy leader to a question about what will replace the members’ coffee machine. You may have seen the article on the front page on the local paper.  They made it look like for years the council has been squandering loads of taxpayers money on tea & coffee!  The point is we realise that it’s a waste so not only are we getting rid of an expensive ‘toy’ but we all agreed we would now pay for this from now on.  The paper, of course, failed to mention that!  Anyway, she inferred that because of the changes we would definitely require a drinks monitor, and fortunately her intended ‘target’ laughed as loud as the rest of us!

And to end on a nice note, I was invited to the launch of the first smoke free playground in Swansea, opposite the Phoenix Centre.  There’s always a feelgood factor when you are able to do something that will benefit kids, giving them a better future.

Les

A Time of Two Halves

In the end I didn’t get to the ceremonial council this year but it must have been very strange.  Some of you will be aware that the Lord Mayor Denis James had just died so it would have been one of the few times, if ever, where the incumbent would not be able to pass on to the new Lord Mayor.  I was however able to go to the funeral, where I was privileged to hear about Denis’ life, especially through his son.

Other than that it’s been half & half over the last two weeks – 3 ‘indoors’ and 3 ‘outdoors’.

‘Indoors’ I went to a very useful & interesting session on Child Protection, which was held in Seaview Community School so it meant I also met up again with parents, teachers and other governors.  This week I went to the Well-being & Attainment ‘round table’ where all the relevant professionals gathered to give their input, and this will help us make the best recommendations to go to Cabinet.  And finally Democratic Services.  This is one committee I get a lot out of as it looks at the organisation that backs the work of councillors, and as such it’s more practical so I feel I can get my teeth into it more.

‘Outdoors’ I’ve had my usual council surgery, attended the first Mobile Police Station – this is where a highly visible police van parks in the community so people can come to get help & advice from the police and anyone else there such as councillors.  And finally a very useful meeting looking at an ongoing car park issue which I feel certainly went a long way towards resolving it – amazing what you can do when people come together!

Les

A Whole Year!

Where has the time gone? It does seem quite incredible that I have now been on the council for 12 months.

Last night we had the AGM of full council, so I now know what committees I will be on for the coming municipal year, the same as before plus the Audit Committee.  (I have a role description for this but you can never really get to grips with the purpose of a particular committee until you start going – so watch this space!)  I’m still waiting to hear if I will be the local authority representative on any other organisations that have links with the council – neither of those I was on last year panned out.

In the meantime I have also joined another scrutiny panel Corporate Improvement Budget Performance (what a mouthful!)  Whilst the words have meaning it will be interesting to see what we will be specifically looking at.  Again, I’ll keep you posted.

Now for an exciting Friday afternoon task to finish the working week – enter dates in my diary!

Les

Easter Time

Bit of a lull over Easter, but since I last blogged I attended an extra Council meeting solely to appoint Head of Corporate Sevices.  This was quite interesting, especially being on an ‘interview panel’ potentially 72 strong!

Some years back I was very involved in LASA, 

139 Walter Road Swansea SA1 5RQ.
Telephone: 01792 643632
Email: query@lasacreditunion.org.uk

the local credit union, and recently felt that the time was right to renew my aquaintance.  Hence I have gone back on the board, and since then attended the AGM and my first board meeting.  I do feel both very desperate and very angry about people being conned by firms like Wonga – personally I think their TV adverts should be banned!  So I’m hoping that by being involved again I can actually do something practical to help.  Tackling payday loan companies is definitely top of my list.

Also went to the shortest council meeting on record, for me at least – unavoidably late but only by a couple of minutes and they had already got to AOB!!!

Les

Strange Times

It’s been a strange old fortnight (and yes, by some miracle it’s only been two weeks since I last did my blog, and no, I don’t understand it either!)  In that time I’ve actually been able to fit in a bit more ‘life’ yet still been to, or done, ten council related events.

One of these was an informal meeting to look at issues which were raised at my first ever Community Centre meeting - yes, yet another first even after being on the council since last May.  I believe there is the will from the council to give support to help develop the activities put on in these centres.  Unfortunately the centre management committees spend a lot of their time on building related problems, so my aim is to give help on that front.  Then they can concentrate instead on what is far more worthwhile, making best use of the centre.

I mentioned the Wellbeing & Attainment scrutiny panel in my last blog, and this week have done the last school visit, to a special unit. The children, whose ages range from 3 to 19, all have some degree of physical and/or mental disability.  They are all different so the approach of the school is to recognise that fact by developing an individual education programme for every one.  The staff without exception were all friendly and welcoming, and their obvious patience showed in the way they worked with every child.  An amazing and quite humbling experience.

Les

Planning for the Future

Scrutiny has played quite a big part in my diary over the last couple of weeks.  I’ve been attending some school visits as part of the Wellbeing & Attainment panel.  It’s been very encouraging to see the length & depth of the strategies in place to support pupils, both to get the most out of school and prepare them for the future.  There seems to be much more of a culture of two-way respect than I seem to remember from school life in ‘my day’.

As quite a contrast I have also been to one scrutiny meeting of the Allotments working party.  This turned out to be much broader than the term suggests, looking not only at standard allotments but also other forms of community growing.  All present agreed that there was scope for more meetings to follow up the initial positive discussions.

As well as other regular meetings we had the ‘full’ planning meeting last Thursday ie where all councillors are expected to attend.  In addition to the usual planning applications that had been defered to this meeting, there was a very interesting presentation on a proposal to have a Tidal Lagoon in Swansea.  This would be quite a long term strategy aiming for 2017, and would be finally decided upon by central government.  So it was just a chance for us to ask questions with no decisions involved, but personally I certainly think it is not only a very exciting project, but would also bring much needed jobs and many other benefits to Swansea.

Les

It's been a long day - twice!

I know, its been a month (again!) since the last one but I’ve got loads of reasons – honest!

In that time I’ve endured a grotty cold – typically the worst of it was over a weekend! – and have had a couple of weekends away.  I’ve still managed to do my famous juggling act between business, council (and life!) and in the last fortnight have attended the two longest meetings so far at 4 & 5 hours.  Just imagine the delight of spending Valentines night discussing the council budget!!

The four hour extra planning meeting was mainly to discuss a specific wind farm application.  This is quite an emotive subject, raising questions about the possible environmental damage that might be done, and whether wind turbines are perceived a blot or a beauty on the landscape.  For me this issue is made worse by the often too biaised and inadequate information provided on both sides of the argument.  What a minefield, and not an easy decision for me to make.

I think it’s fair to say that thursday night’s ‘Valentine’ budget debate’s biggest concern was over the level of council tax increase to be imposed.  This is another issue which isn’t remotely easy to resolve – keep it low but then have to cut services or retain them but have to charge residents more?

I’ll leave it there for you all to ponder …

Les

And we’re off – again!

Boy, did I need that break over Christmas! 

Anyone else who runs their own business will know just how disciplined you must be to take time off.  For once I managed to pencil in two weeks when the office was closed which meant I could try and clear the decks a bit, both work and council, and have a few days off.

Back to the grindstone on the 7th, with council work kicking off proper at Tuesday evening’s  PACT meeting.  (These meetings are the ideal place to raise a community issue, with amongst others both councillors & community police present, but unfortunately they aren’t well attended.  Still trying to come up with a good ‘out of the box’ idea to get them to be ‘used’ more so any suggestions most welcome.)  A couple more meetings (plus casework) during the rest of the week but thankfully not too hectic a start for me.

Without taking on too much more I have booked myself on some of the governor training courses, and in this past week I’ve been to one on Finance & Budgets.  As it happens I got there about half way through as it overlapped with Equalities.  I think somebody must have been looking after me as I decided to stay at the meeting.  And when I got to the training they had almost finished going through a long spreadsheet looking at funding, line by line.  Now as an ex trainer even I concede that there’s not much you can do to make these exciting!  Fortunately the second hour was more general, and proactive, and what with the notes handed out I feel it was worthwhile going.

Last meeting for me this week was full council last night – shortest on record surely, finishing in well under an hour.  Home by 6pm which was just as well as spent the next couple of hours wading through and actioning e-mails.  After all that a can of lager never tasted so good!

Les