Falmer another delay!!!

[vulture]

Does any else think that wanker Baker has something to do with this.Saw on the website the other day he was having meetings etc over this.

 

[Dave the OAP]

Dave, I apologise. Replace the words "Norman Baker" with "LDC & FPC" then, and re-read the post, it still applies.

I was only being a perdantic git.

 

[The Wookiee]

Decision now ON OR BEFORE 25 JULY.

Fact. Have just had email from H. Blears's Office.

Just in time for Kerry Mayos testamonial !!!

Party Time

 

[moggy]

i really can't see what all the moaners on here are getting annoyed about.

its not just the falmer planning application on her desk.
there was likely to be in excess of over 300 different applications of all sorts all over the british isles so it would be inconcievable to have been able to rush every application out just as she was leaving office.

it sounds like a lot of the doom mongers envisage HB to enter her new office with a completely empty table and filing cabinet.

 

[The Large One]

i really can't see what all the moaners on here are getting annoyed about.

its not just the falmer planning application on her desk.
there was likely to be in excess of over 300 different applications of all sorts all over the british isles so it would be inconcievable to have been able to rush every application out just as she was leaving office.

it sounds like a lot of the doom mongers envisage HB to enter her new office with a completely empty table and filing cabinet.

Plus they're assuming that this sort of thing only happens under a Labour administration.

It's the way all governments have worked - slowly.

 

[DTES]

I was only being a perdantic git.

You? Really?

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I was only being a perdantic git.

I don't mean to be PICKY, but there's no 'R' in PEDANTIC.

 

[DIFFBROOK]

I work in the Civil Service, so I see at first hand the workings of a major Govt Dept. All new Ministers will be briefed on current issues within their brief. As with everything, there will be priorities. Yes, Falmer is number 1 on ours, but for Hazel Blears it will be a long long way down. She needs time to read it through, digest the facts, probably ask for face to face briefing from the cicil servants responsible. She will then make her decision.

If it was a number 1 priority, then yes maybe 9th July would be possible, but its not. In order not to be accused of a "Political" decision as opposed to a planning decision, she has moved it a few weeks back to the 25th July.

Maybe Ruth Kelly could have cleared it before she went, but she chose not too. Again, maybe because she was clearing things that were higher up her priorities. We are just an unfortunate victim of the reshuffle.

What is clear, is that the same advice that would have been given to Ruth Kelly, will be issued to Hazel Blears, with the addition of the inspectors repsort on the Sussex Downs. That will make it even more water tight.

So dont worry, its a delay not a setback

 

[SI 4 BHA]

Why? It wasn't ready.

It was in the government schedule for 9th July. Where on earth did the idea come from that it would magically be promoted up the government roster by two to three weeks? As I said before, it's only conceited arrogance (or arrogant conceit) that would leave anyone to believe that we are that important enough for that scenario to take place...

So what was going to happen then? I assume you mean they were going to leave it til the last minute to consider Falmer, at 9am on the 9th someone was going to realise nothing had been done about it so they would have a quick chat about it for an hour or so then announce their decision! The useless bastards have had 6 months to sort this out, all the salient facts must already have been given to Kelly, they couldn't really leave it til the last moment to brief her in case she had some additional questions etc that the minnions needed to research which would mean she would need to break her promises, so it is more than likely she had already decided what she was going to do and she should have made her decision before she left office.

The alternative is that because actually the government couldn't give a toss about a tiny little outfit like BHA the problems really hadn't been addressed and it really was going to be dealt with at the last minute, so actually there was nothing to hand over to HB so she had no choice but to delay a decision! Actually this seems the most likely given the general civil servant attitude of why do anything today that can be done tomorrow!

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Reading through the streams of pessimism that persist on this topic despite a couple of INFORMED people who have DIRECT experience of working in the Civil Service (I am not one of them) attempting to explain what actually happens when there's a new Prime Minister and a new Cabinet, I'm left wondering whether some people want the f***ing stadium in the first place or would simply prefer to grizzle for another ten f***ing years.

Couldn't agree more - well said Ros.
It is also clear that DEFRA's announcement this week of the Inspector's conclusions/recommendations on the SD National Park Boundary that this will almost certainly impact the Falmer 'letter'. Hence this has to be reviewed and re-drafted before being presented the the minister for approval. This process would have taken place and I have no doubt a similar delay would have been announced had Ruth Kelly still been there.

 

[Easy 10]

Why? It wasn\'t ready.

It was in the government schedule for 9th July. Where on earth did the idea come from that it would magically be promoted up the government roster by two to three weeks? As I said before, it\'s only conceited arrogance (or arrogant conceit) that would leave anyone to believe that we are that important enough for that scenario to take place...

But its not conceited arrogance, or arrogant conceit, to expect that a Goverment announcement on a deadline for a decision be kept to. It shouldn\'t have needed \"magical promotion\" - we were categorically told last APRIL that the decision would be made \"on or before the 9th July. Whilst they may not have known the precise date, they knew that Blair was going in the summer and would have had a fair idea down to a couple of weeks when that was going to be. Therefore, Ruth Kelly and her department knew full well what sort of timescales they were working towards.

Sorry Al I\'m not having a go at you, but whatever spin is put out on here as to whether this can be perceived as a \"good sign\" or not, the fact remains that this all just amounts to yet another Government FUDGE on this whole f***ing thing. And personally, it drastically undermines my confidence in the civil servants who\'s words and decision we are hanging on.

 

[Parson Henry]

Easy I can see what you are saying there, albeit from an oblique angle.

 

[Scoffers]

But its not conceited arrogance, or arrogant conceit, to expect that a Goverment announcement on a deadline for a decision be kept to. It shouldn\'t have needed \"magical promotion\" - we were categorically told last APRIL that the decision would be made \"on or before the 9th July. Whilst they may not have known the precise date, they knew that Blair was going in the summer and would have had a fair idea down to a couple of weeks when that was going to be. Therefore, Ruth Kelly and her department knew full well what sort of timescales they were working towards.

Sorry Al I\'m not having a go at you, but whatever spin is put out on here as to whether this can be perceived as a \"good sign\" or not, the fact remains that this all just amounts to yet another Government FUDGE on this whole f***ing thing. And personally, it drastically undermines my confidence in the civil servants who\'s words and decision we are hanging on.

 

[The Large One]

No, SI4BHA, I don't mean that at all. Do you mean 'they' or 'she'?

'They' (the civil servants) by the sounds of things have already recommended approval for Falmer. 'She' (Ruth Kelly) hadn't - yet. It was high enough up her agenda to actually do it. Who knows where exactly within the system the Falmer application was? There was nothing to indicate before she left office that Ruth Kelly was not going to miss the July 9th deadline.

From a standing start, Hazel Blears cannot guarantee hitting the July 9th deadline. So she has said it will be on or before July 25th. No-one here knows what else is in her in-tray. Who knows, it could yet even be announced next week...

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

I think it's GREAT news!

Because I will be back in the UK from the 19th for 10 days and will be able to blag my way into the celebrations like I did last time and join in the champagne swilling! May even get my ugly mug on the TV news again. Now where's that video clip I had?

Seriously, it has been obvious since Ruth Kelly's switch that there would be a couple more weeks delay before the announcement.

Yes, it's REALLY important to us, but I'm sorry guys, but I'm here to tell you that this is NOT an important decision in the Government's mind, and certainly not one that they would have even thought of bringing forward to Ruth Kelly's desk before the reshuffle.

They have dozens of them every day, in every department. We have one decision in a lifetime (I hope!)

 

[Lord Bracknell]

does this mean Blears may not agree with Kelly's findings

I doubt if Kelly ever saw the papers relating to this application. The Secretary of State simply doesn't get involved in the process until very close to the end.

 

[Easy 10]

Easy I can see what you are saying there, albeit from an oblique angle.

I am cunningly posting on here from work via a PROXY address that seems to be able to bypass the works Websense. An unfortunate side effect (other than my usual drivel once again contaminating this board during working hours) is that many elements of punctuation seem to induce a few ///\'s for some reason.

Ahhh well.

 

[The Large One]

But its not conceited arrogance, or arrogant conceit, to expect that a Goverment announcement on a deadline for a decision be kept to. It shouldn\'t have needed \"magical promotion\" - we were categorically told last APRIL that the decision would be made \"on or before the 9th July. Whilst they may not have known the precise date, they knew that Blair was going in the summer and would have had a fair idea down to a couple of weeks when that was going to be. Therefore, Ruth Kelly and her department knew full well what sort of timescales they were working towards.

Sorry Al I\'m not having a go at you, but whatever spin is put out on here as to whether this can be perceived as a \"good sign\" or not, the fact remains that this all just amounts to yet another Government FUDGE on this whole f***ing thing. And personally, it drastically undermines my confidence in the civil servants who\'s words and decision we are hanging on.

Blair could have hung on until August, or maybe quit in May. No-one knew. If he had quit even in early June, the deadline would have had a better chance of success. 27 June was probably just about the worst time, and we all knew that a change of boss at the DCLG would probably have had consequences. We knew that. If Ruth Kelly had not been moved in government departments, there would be no issue. As a deadline, July 9th would have been hit.

The point is, a decision cannot be made without the Secretary of State knowing the facts, a Hazel Blears does not know the facts. While the government re-shuffle was going on and everyone was getting used to their jobs, there was effectively a moratorium on governmental decisions.

 

[East Staffs Gull]

Easy I can see what you are saying there, albeit from an oblique angle.

Easy hasn't responded yet. Perhaps he's gone for another slash.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

I doubt if Kelly ever saw the papers relating to this application. The Secretary of State simply doesn't get involved in the process until very close to the end.

And she never had the courtesy to reply to my bloody postcard either