Green Issues Newsletter - 29 October 2002
Resignation forces Blair reshuffle
Following the departure of Estelle Morris, two of Labour's political heavyweights
have been given frontline Cabinet posts in the mini-reshuffle.
Labour Party chairman and MP for Norwich South, Charles Clarke, was promoted
to Education Secretary. He, in turn, was replaced as Labour Party chairman
by Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid. The new Labour chairman will have
to deal with the a financial crisis. The party, over £6 million in
the red, was forced to ask the unions for an emergency donation this summer
to help it pay its bills.
The Ulster Secretary's job, with the peace process in crisis, goes to
Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, who served as a junior minister in the province
in the run-up to the Good Friday agreement under Mo Mowlam. He will have
a tough time as serious resuscitation is called for on the peace process
following the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The reshuffle was completed by moving Europe Minister Peter Hain to become
Secretary of State for Wales. His replacement will be MP Dennis McShane.
…As the Lib Dems spring-clean their own line-up
The benches of the Lib Dem opposition also change, with Charles Kennedy performing
his own ‘spring clean’ of spokespeople and using the opportunity
to bring in fresh new faces. The changes included MP David Laws, former head
of trading for US dollar and sterling treasuries at BZW, promoted to number
two in the Liberal Democrat's Treasury team.
The minor movements also saw rising star Edward Davey, MP for Surbiton
and former management consultant made spokesman for the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister. This department is presiding over the planning Green Paper
and subsequent policy expected in the Queen’s Speech. Malcolm Bruce,
the veteran Liberal Democrat MP, has lost his post as Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs spokesman to be replaced by Peter Mandelson’s nemesis
Lewes MP Norman Baker. Andrew George, Fisheries spokesman, takes over the
Rural Affairs and Food part of the portfolio. The moves also saw Romsey MP
Sandra Gidley join the team as spokesperson for women.
The party is struggling to react to Tory claims to have moved onto new
policy ground. Mr Kennedy warned that the party's recent success in opinion
polls, where the gap between the Tories and the Lib Dems has narrowed significantly,
is unlikely to be sustained following what has been seen as a successful
party conference for Iain Duncan Smith.
An opportunity to quiz ODPM’s advisors
Green Issues hosted a dinner at the Atrium Restaurant in the heart of
Westminster in October. The aim of the dinner was to involve a range of development
clients, policy makers and politicians in discussions centring on the proposed
planning White Paper and the implications for community consultation.
A wide range of developers attended, as did a number of guests from ‘think
tanks’ currently working on consultation initiatives including one
of the lead consultants working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
on the public consultation aspects of the Planning White Paper.
Discussions were led by Green Issues MD, Tom Curtin, and there was considerable
debate about the policy paper published by Green Issues in the summer ‘Putting
the Community at the Heart of Development’. The debate focused on the
implications of the Green Paper from both a developer and political point
of view.
For more information about the policy paper and future discussion dinners,
contact www.greenissues.com.
Are you engaged in Constructive Dialogue?
This month the Highways Agency took a giant step forward in the procurement
of a construction contract. It is to award the contact for the £31
million A1 Peterborough to Blyth Grade Separated Junction contract not on
price but on bidder’s quality statements.
The construction firms will have to submit documents detailing their abilities
in staff training, health and safety and environmental awareness. It is this
shift in focus from price to ability which will put more pressure on contractors
to offer the best service for the client.
As part of this shift towards increasing social awareness, we can expect
to see the role of community relations increase dramatically. The impact
of construction often stretches well beyond the site boundary, with noise
and access affecting those communities surrounding such projects. Packages
such as the Considerate Constructors scheme can offer guidance on best practice,
but suggested community contact programmes can be time-consuming and are
not given the resources they need.
For example, are residents kept informed about progress on the site, and
do they have a rough timescale as to when it might be completed? Do residents
have a contact telephone number they can call with any problems? Can update
information be accessed on the internet or are progress reports sent to the
local residents association / parish councils in time for their meetings?
Such initiatives enhance the community’s perception of the development,
calm fears and paint a better picture for the construction industry as a
whole.
Currently steps are being taken to create links with local schools, community
associations and local representatives. These relationships and initiatives
need time and resources – something which those on site have very little
of. These steps should be encouraged across the industry, and with government
guidance they can be. Dealing with neighbours should be an integral part
of the construction as creating useful relationships in the community can
make a bitter pill much more palatable.
For more information about putting this Best Practice into practice, contact
Daniel Hayman on 0118 959 1211.
Green Issues Communications
The Green House
9 Southern Court
South Street
Reading
Berks
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