Sally Allen: 'Bring back robust debate and hard work'

Life is a game of snakes and ladders.

One minute you are up the ladder and the next you are, once again, down the snake! So it is, in your personal life and certainly in life at the Torbay Council.

Highs and lows over the last couple of weeks struggle for the prime spot. A middling high I thought, was the presentation to the public by Council Leader, David Thomas and Matthew Fairclough-Kay, Director of Corporate Services at the Princess Theatre informing the public of the options regarding the proposed local government reorganisation. Cllr Thomas did his best and made a decent enough fist of going through what he believes are the four options open to Torbay Council. 

The Government's reorganisation programme, aims to end ‘two-tier’ local government, replacing 185 county and district councils with new unitary authorities in 21 areas. 

“The Government proposals align with ministerial guidance which says that new unitary councils should have minimum populations of 500,000 people each and align with existing district council boundaries.” A tough ask, particularly as our local population only amounts to around 140,000 people. The Council has to put forward a working proposal by November and then the Government will decide our fate.

The Devolution White Paper comes from on high, the Red Queen herself, Angela Rayner.  Cynically I think it is likely that the decision on how to carve up the country has already been made and that the ‘invitation of proposals’ from local councils is merely window dressing. One guarantee which is sadly already cast in stone is that it is going to cost us all much, much more of our hard-earned cash. 

The high on the horizon, is possibly the unveiling of the long-awaited statue of Agatha Christie on Saturday April 12. I am delighted that Torbay’s most famous daughter will at last have a life size statue in a prominent place to celebrate her amazing life. 

The bronze statue of her sitting on a bench with her dog at her feet will no doubt become a focal point for tourists and locals alike. She was and is an incredible inspiration to all women on an international level. Added to this, it can only enhance and bring interest to the current desert of stone that is the ‘newly created public realm space’.

The biggest low for me, is the on-going and deeply unedifying spectacle of the treatment of Cllr Katya Maddison by her peers. 

I don’t think I need to repeat the whole story here, as it has been told relentlessly in the media, but in precis and to quote Cllr Maddision, “I think it very telling that the cabinet decided toexceed the recommendations of the Standards committee regarding my punishment... and that's after the Standards committee had already chosen to exceed the recommendations of the Independent Investigator”. 

The bottom line is that Katya is ‘ordered to make an unequivocal apology’ but every time she stands up at the relevant meeting to explain her thoughts and why she will not apologise, she is told to sit down and is not allowed to be heard. 

Shame on all of you for not hearing her response. We are supposed to be living in a democracy after all.

To me this restrictive and high-handed attitude of the Council hierarchy strikes at the very heart of what is wrong with society these days. 

It is important to remember the Nolan Principles, also known as the Seven Principles of Public Life, which are a set of ethical guidelines for those in public office, developed by the Committee on Standards in Public Life chaired by Lord Nolan, and include: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty, and Leadership. 

So just for starters, where is the ‘objectivity or openness’ when you refuse to listen to someone else’s response or explanation? 

Fundamentally I do think that this is where we go wrong in public life and often in private life. Everyone should be entitled to their own opinion, and the protection of free speech is why millions and millions of people have died over the years defending that right. If we all agreed on everything it would be a very dull and one-dimensional society. 

Debate stimulates progress, innovation, business – pretty much everything. The exchange of different viewpoints is essential to development. 

The Council would be much stronger if it could accept differing views and debate them fully, but I feel that they are not sufficiently confident in their decisions and arguments to allow disagreement, and so immediately close down any potential opponent or debate without considering all sides of the argument. All rather sad. This ensures that any organisation becomes weaker not stronger.

Now a mix of high and low. I applaud anyone investing in our area as it is the lifeblood of our community. However, I know how difficult it is. 

When I moved back here around 13 years ago, I also moved my business, which was a very successful e-commerce fashion business. I opened a type of warehouse for my stock and the fulfilment of the internet orders in Babbacombe Business Park. I then had numerous people popping in asking what I was doing and wanting to buy my products; so, I thought I would open it up to the public and so took over the unit next door to expand into a shop. 

So far so good. I then tried to recruit staff. Try being the important word here! Having had a business in London for over 30 years I had never been short of employees and even had numerous students ask for unpaid work so that they could gain valuable work experience. 

Well Torbay was something very different. I would offer fulltime jobs to young people, naturally expecting a five-day week of work in return. The feedback was extraordinary to me – “I can only work three days a week or I will lose my benefits”. I was staggered. No ambition, no work ethic. 

I have worked all my life since I was 16 years of age and have never taken a benefit or handout, even though sometimes it would have been very welcome. 

It does seem that the wheels have come off our culture. Hard work doesn’t kill you and it does have its rewards, and they can be substantial. Maybe that deserves some debate too.