In which Labour councillor for Rochester West Alex Paterson examines what might be going wrong with the Castle Concerts.
I’d like to think that I’m not a frustrated anything.
By that I mean that, unlike so many in the current Tory administration, I’m not a frustrated businessman looking for a bigger budget to play with. I’m not a frustrated teacher who thinks they can show local heads a thing or two about running a school. And I’m not a frustrated impresario trying to put on a show.
I’ve always been suspicious of those people. Which is, I think, always a good starting point.
Of course, life experience is a vital part of being a councillor, but only in so far as it informs the scrutiny you are able to put the officers (whose job it is to actually do these things) under.
Whether it’s because of my background in newspapers or just a knack, one thing in life that I’ve found I’m particularly good at is asking questions. More importantly, I’ll listen to what I’m being told and, if it doesn’t address the question, I’ll ask another until I get an answer.
It sounds simple enough. But if it’s so simple, why do so few Tories on our Overview and Scrutiny committees ever do it?
Continue reading “Labouring against costly concerts”