Taunton Deane charged £15k for 'widespread' accounting failures relating to SW One

BBC Somerset are reporting that Taunton Deane have been charged an additional £15k by the Audit Commission for widespread failures relating to the Southwest One contract.  SCC are also due to receive a "charge" for the same reason; the fee has yet to be decided.  I've included the main body of the report below the break along with some thoughts on Southwest One. 

Strangely familiar

As much as I was attempting to follow our new leader's speech intently I kept finding my eyes strangely drawn to a spot just above his shoulder.

Well done to Rob for finding the best position in the hall to maximise his exposure!  Not sure about the view from that spot but I think I could live with an hour of looking at the back of Ed's head.  I hope Rob enjoyed it; he certainly seemed to be nodding/clapping etc at the appropriate moments

Brenda Weston re-elected to National Policy Forum

Congratulations to Brenda Weston on her re-election to the National Policy Forum (NPF)!  Brenda is a long standing (and sometimes suffering) member of Taunton CLP and has in the past been both a County and District councillor as well as until recently the CLP Secretary.  This is a fantastic result for both Brenda and indirectly the Taunton CLP and we wish her much success in developing a new policy platform going forward.

Our Youth Officer, Rob Thompson, also took part in the ballot for the NPF Regional Youth Rep but was unfortunately unsuccesful on this attempt.  Despite the result we're sure this has been a useful experience for Rob on his path to greater things.  

The full result for the South West ballot is as follows:

SOUTH WEST
Results
BLACK, Vicki	2,004
DHILLON, Keir	3,126	Elected
FORD, Glyn	4,310	Elected
JARVIS, Daniel	1,261
MACKENZIE, Charlotte	1,937
MOODY, Clare	3,071	Elected
NAYSMITH, Doug	2,704
PHILLIPS, Ann	1,595
STOKES, David	1,516
WESTON, Brenda	2,779	Elected
NPF Regional Youth Representative
Results
ANDERSON, Tom	1,957
BAKER, Gus	2,931	Elected
THOMPSON, Rob	1,549

Labour's new Training Academy

The national party has recently launched the Training Academy to provide training to Labour Party activists throughout the country in effective campaigning.  It can be accessed through membersnet, and consists of both distance learning packages and day courses:

Labour's most valuable resource is you, our members. Our campaigns are made many thousand times stronger by you adding your voice in support.  We want to help you harness your passion and skills so that Labour can win.  Only Labour can beat the Conservative- Lib Dem coalition and stop their unfair cuts agenda decimating our country. And we can only do this with you adding your voice and skills to Labour's campaign.

Train to Win  - by training our members to be expert campaigners we can win back Labour representatives at every level of government and challenge the coalition's plans

Training for you - You can play a crucial role in your local campaign, and build up skills and experiences that translate not only to helping Labour win but also into wider personal development.

The Training academy can be found here on membersnet.

Of note to Taunton CLP members there are two training days coming up in Taunton on the 2nd and 30th of November.

Modules covered on the 2nd November are - Community organising; Membership and capacity building.
Modules covered on the 30th November are - Beating the Lib Dems; Brand, message and pledges; Leadership
Both training days will be held a Unison House on The Crescent between 10.30 - 4.30.  This training will cost £10 including lunch. Please book a place via membersnet and send your cheque to Labour South West or pay cash on the day.

Welcome to the Taunton Deane CLP rolling blog and newsletter

Welcome to Points Left - The Taunton Deane Constituency Labour Party (CLP) public blog and newsletter.  Points Left forms part of a renewed effort by Taunton CLP to create an open online presence that is accessible to both members and the wider public within the constituency.  It will be used to provide up-to-date information on the activities of the CLP, such as upcoming meetings and campaigning as we build up to the local elections in May 2011.  It will also contain posts on events and debate within the wider Labour movement.

Under Construction

This site is currently under construction.  Please check back soon for updates.