On Thursday, we published the letter that Isle of Wight care worker John Luckett had sent to all IW councillors inviting them to shadow a care worker for a day, so they had first-hand experience of what life is like for them.
Mr Luckett followed this up by making the invitation, through Cllr David Pugh, to all of the Cabinet during last Tuesday’s meeting.
At the end of his invitation, Mr Lucket made a specific appeal to the Conservative ruling group.
“Vote with your hearts and conscience” plea
He said, “I hope when time comes to vote in next year’s budget, that you all vote with your hearts and conscience, not the way that you’re told,” a reference to this council Conservative administration reputation for block voting (each councillor voting the same way).
Pugh: “No one votes how they are told”
Cllr Pugh refuted the claim saying, “We all vote after careful consideration of proposals and no one votes how they are told.
“I can tell you that there are many details to deliberate and you can speculate as much as you like, but that’s how we actually determine and reflect on these decisions.”
Cllr Lumley: “Cllr Pugh was not entirely honest”
Following the Cabinet meeting, Cllr Geoff Lumley got in touch with VB to contest Cllr Pugh’s statement that “no one votes how they are told”.
Cllr Lumley shared a page from the Isle of Wight Conservative Group Rules (see below), that starts with, “Members shall be expected to support decisions taken at Group meeting on all issues other than matters of conscience and matters specific to their ward …”
Cllr Lumley commented, “This document demonstrates that Cllr Pugh was not entirely honest in his denial to Mr Luckett at last week’s Cabinet.”
VB contacted Cllr Pugh on Friday to get his further views on the apparent conflict that Cllr Lumley has highlighted.
“The rules do not reflect the reality”
Cllr Pugh told VentnorBlog, “Our group rules are based on the national template of Conservative Group rules. Whilst they exist, we very rarely refer to or make use of them. They are a guide more than anything else.
“The Conservative Group debates and discusses issues – often at length – before reaching a view, by consensus, as to what policy approach we should take. At no point do I, or any member of the Group, tell another member how to vote. It simply doesn’t work like that, and the rules do not reflect the reality of how we operate locally. For example, we do not have a “whip” as referred to in the rules, and do not operate such a procedure.”
“Work towards a consensus”
He went on to say, “In the Conservative Group, we all have a shared desire to make decisions for the benefit of the Island, in line with our Conservative principles and the manifesto we collectively agreed for the 2009 elections, on which we were elected by a majority. This is what leads us to work towards a consensus, enabling us to put forward proposals which we collectively support.
“I see this as no different, in practice, to how the Independent and Liberal Democrat groups operate. In their groups they collectively develop budget proposals which most, if not all, of their members vote for in the Chamber.
“From time to time, all groups will have individual members that feel unable to support the majority view reached within their groups, and this is reflected in voting patterns. This is a healthy part of the democratic process and we fully expect it to continue across all groups, including ours.”
Leave it to the professionals says Cllr Pugh
If you were wondering how Cllr Pugh responded to the invitation to shadow a care worker for a day, he told Mr Luckett, “I and my colleagues are happy to continue to visiting facilities, as we do frequently, but don’t feel it is our role to seek to emulate the role of professionals across the Island.
“That work is left to the professionals and I don’t think it would be appropriate to try and work alongside them and I will reflect that in my response to them.”
