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Recently I was challenged that I might be overly critical of Bradford Council, in particular, its leadership. Criticism is welcome and few of us have anywhere near all the answers in a complex world. That said, I am a born and bred Bradfordian into his seventh decade. Nothing would give me more pleasure to live in a city on the front foot, envied by others; nothing hurts more than our seemingly unstoppable decline over the last few decades. Not all the fault lies with the council leader, Cllr Hinchcliffe, and yet when a football team is in freefall, they don’t usually sack the tea lady. In business life, the buck stops somewhere and is not a game of pass the parcel. Hinchcliffe’s single biggest problem is that she attaches no personal responsibility to Bradford’s problems despite being the leader of the council since 2016. Ever since she came to power she has bleated about the effects of austerity, introduced by George Osborne in 2010, six years before she became leader, surely enough time to form some kind of strategy. However, it is always somebody else's fault suggesting that she is bereft of any ideas of her own. True, councils have been squeezed by central government and many will argue with good reason when you see how they splurge our money; governments do this well too! However, few are anywhere near such a perilous position as Bradford and yet “it wasn’t me!” is the constant wail from the great leader. Well, somebody presided over the collapse of children's services costing tens of millions; somebody went almost three times over budget on Bradford Live; somebody insisted on a pent-up demand for Grade A office space leaving us with a half-empty glass block; somebody went running to the Tory government she so despised for a £220m bailout only to complain recently that it attracted interest; and somebody still cannot give an opening date (or a final cost) for another expensive folly, Darley Street Market. There are many more examples of dreadful decision making, the consequences of which will be felt for years. And, you cannot seek to blame all and sundry when you have overseen the wiping out of some £270m of reserves in little over three years. This year Bradford is UK City of Culture (CoC), an award many locals find ridiculous. It looks like a life raft for the woeful leader, the council itself lumping in £10m of cash they don't have and the city centre getting tarted up whilst the outlying areas continue to see zip. Pinning her down is not easy - witness her ducking and diving on opening night of the CoC year. When she does consent to give her valuable time to the media her appearances are of car crash material. Recently she would only grant the local paper a telephone interview, a sure sign her ego is now running the show. Ambassadorial she is not. So here we are now with her last desperate throw of the dice, a 15% increase in council tax which will only plug some of the gap. Double it and she would blow it. Typically, she attempted to hoodwink us claiming it would only be an extra £8-9 a month; which was true only of the lowest band. In the middle ground the rise is circa £30 a month - see below. Now consider her timing with no local elections this year - a simple coincidence? That she survived a vote of no confidence at the start of the year demonstrated the abject lack of any quality or ambition waiting in the wings. One look at her so-called Executive and you suspect the local comprehensive would have a deeper talent pool. Nationally, apathy and mistrust towards politics has never been higher; on a local level most would rather chew their toenails than read about local politics. However, this is going to cost generations of hard-working people for many years to come and all to preserve the career ambitions of a single hopeless local councillor. There are no miracle cures for Bradford but one thing is certain. If Cllr Hinchcliffe cannot be persuaded to quietly step aside, things are only going to get a lot worse.

New Title

A Tribute To The Late Jeff Potter

Smoke and Wing Mirrors

Our Mission is to increase access to opportunity and to the arts for working-class communities…creating original professional verbatim theatre pieces that explore working-class narratives. www.Bloominbuds.co.uk Chewing the fat with fellow old-Hansonian Mick in his Idle Greetings shop, I chanced upon a promotional leaflet on the counter entitled Idle Is Bloomin’. Deposited a few days earlier, two of the “engagement events” it was advertising had already passed; the next was imminent. You might think that this was along the lines of many villages to enhance their visual appeal during the coming months with a bit of help from Mother Nature; my greenfingers were twitching. Sadly not; the body chosen to deliver this “project” is a theatre company focusing on a term that resonates from the seventies – working-class communities. I felt for my cloth cap. This is from their website: Bloomin Buds is an organisation that encapsulates what it means to be working class while not letting negative stereotypes define you, which is an inspiring ethos. What? If this was to promote the village, I was happy to see if The Trumpit could help so emailed them asking a few simple questions. I also copied in the local hierarchy, the three wise councillors. But first, more waffle: ….we have been commissioned as part of the Spring Back campaign to create some artwork in and around Idle Village…to celebrate what a great place Idle village is…attract more people to come and spend time in the local businesses. We want these designs to be informed by the residents of Idle. I duly replied asking how local people could get involved, reminding our chosen artists that Idle is a conservation area and not one seeking a makeover reflecting a downmarket Bronx? Parts of it may look like Blackpool beach, others are superb. There was an obvious problem; the money had to be spent by the end of March; only now were they “consulting”, a term favoured in local government meaning “ we have not got a clue .” The project is funded by the government £56m Welcome Back Fund; Bradford received £477k announced last August, the same amount it received in August 2020 as part of the £50m Reopening High Streets Safely Fund. The aims of the fund are to boost the look and feel of high streets by investing in street planting, parks, green spaces, and seating areas…to hold events that will boost footfall…supporting local businesses. Install and refresh signage and communications on how people can stay safe. Improve green spaces on high streets and town centres by planting flowers or removing graffiti. The next event was at the Idle Beerhouse, buzzing with locals, albeit not there for the event. I was the only member of the public there – what a saddo! Had I known there would be a lavish publicly funded supper of Boris’s favourite party food, I would not have eaten first and invited the lads too. As people queued in the rain in Bradford centre for food, platefuls would be going in the bin untouched. Square that one? I was seeking simple enough answers to the following: – Who determined the need for this project given the wide remit available? – What was the budget? (An equal share per ward of £477k would be approx. £16k) – What was the selection process re the chosen providers? Nobody could answer, including long-served Cllr Sunderland nor the Labour candidate for the forthcoming local elections. The councillor had sent me her own shopping list which would, at first sight, require most of Bradford’s allocation. The money had to be spent quickly but nothing had been agreed; the main idea - ironically - centred on plastering the village in graffiti. So how could they have conducted a competitive tender as they claimed?  With all due respect to the young kids from Bloomin Buds, what do they know about economic regeneration? Woefully out of their depth, I felt sorry for them but at least they got a free feed. Of the events preceding this, one was at a Wellbeing Cafe, the other at the Idle Bakery. Whoever heard of a hungry artist? The real blame lies with the Council; money that was granted last August is now being chucked around like confetti with a process clouded in secrecy with even elected councillors clueless. How many business people have been consulted? It is not an enormous sum I accept; however, managed well, it could have made a real difference to the village. The problem is those in control simply do not have the skill set. Frittered away in this manner will have no lasting value unless David Hockney turns up with a brush. And what of the near million pounds granted to Bradford since August 2020? It is an opportunity wasted.