***SOS*** Working together for the Hatfield Hospital: Lib Dem letter published in 'First' Journal for Councillors

12.33.00am GMT Tue 27th Nov 2007

Cllr Hazel Laming of Hatfield

A letter from our local borough councillors was published in First no 359 (10.11.07), a magazine sent to all borough/district councillors throughout the country. The heading was Party Politics and Consensus. It has not gone unnoticed by the Tory front bench!

The text of the letter is published in full below:

Karen Thornton in her article "Capacity Building" (First 357) seemed surprised that Kirklees Council had secured a 4 star rating from the Audit Commission despite no overall political control. We would suggest that the rating came as a direct result of this situation. When all parties work together it is much easier to engage residents than when each party takes a stance to which they adhere through thick and thin.

As a Councillor on the Town Council, our discussion of issues rarely advanced along party lines. How different things were at Borough level, especially as a minority party.

However, in the last year we have been able to unite all parties in a fight for the proposed Hatfield hospital, which the newly formed PCT claims to be unaffordable. As a minority party it is easier to come up with the unthinkable, so we proposed a motion in Council which led to all parties combining with the local MP, the local press and the local Unison membership. At the end of the consultation a 36,000 signature petition (from about a third of the electorate) asking for the reinstatement of the original plan was handed to the Chief Executive of the PCT. They are still debating the issue, so I cannot say that we have won through, but the opportunity to work together has been very rewarding for all concerned.

As Welwyn Hatfield is a Borough where one party has a very large majority it is much more difficult to achieve consensus, let alone 4 star status. We have a lot to learn from the experience of Councillors from areas like Kirklees.

Cllrs Hazel Laming, Nigel Quinton and Tony Skottowe (LibDem)

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council