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thehighcliffeguy Profile picture
@AdamHighcliffe
Jul 13 • 7 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X
BCP Council news:
More woes for controversial Conservative cllr Phil Broadhead.
The ex-leader was in the news last month, after admitting he'd been caught wrongly claiming Council Tax discounts.
But new revelations could return him to the spotlight...
🧵 Image
Image
Info released under FOI, and shared with me, reveals that Broadhead began to claim a 25% single person's CT discount in July 2022.
He had notice from BCP Council in Feb 2025, after an investigation, but didn't pay off the debt till 9th June 2025.
Why are these details key?
⬇️
1. Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 prevents a cllr from voting on the Council’s budget if they have over 2 months' council tax debt.
PB voted on the 2023, 2024 & 2025 budgets while in debt, and set 1 of them as Dep Leader.
Did he commit a criminal offence?
⬇️
2. In his letter to @Bournemouthecho on 6th June, and press statements the following week, Broadhead led residents to believe he repaid the debt "immediately", but in fact it took him nearly 4 months, and was still unresolved at the time of his letter.
⬇️
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…Image
Image
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The case arose after a council review of CT payments. Broadhead's debt (estimated at £1,100) was part of a £600k find.
What differs here is that noone else was a serving cllr, voted illegally on BCP budgets, or misled the public, as is implied here:
⬇️
bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/25235281.…
Broadhead is no stranger to controversy, after a crisis-strewn term in leadership from 2020-23, when he was forced to debate a public petition calling for his removal, and whose administration drew criticism from Govt, and almost bankrupted the council.
⬇️
bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23115550.…
It remains to be seen whether this latest Broadhead controversy will see further action.
But with council tax administration due to be discussed at a BCP committee meeting next week, there may still be questions to answer... Image

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More from @AdamHighcliffe

thehighcliffeguy Profile picture
Jul 12
The English education system.
The UK economy.

Both struck by the same ideology.
Both in need of reform.
And for the same reason.

Behind the curated stats, behind PISA scores & GDP, more & more people are being left behind.
Something is wired into both systems.

Inequality.
🧵 Image
The UK economy is said to be the world's 6th largest, yet there's 15m people living in poverty.
English schools claim improved PISA scores in maths, reading, science, yet have rising exclusions, suspensions, absences & school dissatisfaction.

How is this all possible?
⬇️
This isn't a bug of the system.
It's a feature.
In the UK economy, the tax burden on high-earners has steadily reduced, billionaire wealth has soared, while public services & welfare state have been slashed by austerity.
These aren't separate actions, but part of one thing.
⬇️
Read 12 tweets
thehighcliffeguy Profile picture
Jul 6
One of the red flags in the defence of hyper-controlled schools is the straw-man of order vs chaos.
The idea that there can only be utter control or utter chaos.
That kids are either controlled or unsafe.
But in reality there are many, many types of control.
A short 🧵
Some rules in schools aren't necessary for education or even to keep order. The rigid enforcement of them won't achieve dignity for children or make them safer.
It just extends the control of the adult over kids, to include clothing, eye movement, body posture, even downtime.
2/6
What's most cruel is when kids are then punished: for forgetting a pen, wearing wrong shade of socks, not standing in a precise line, whispering in the corridor, looking at their hands, fidgeting, being unable to complete homework, or even being poor.
3/6
Read 6 tweets
thehighcliffeguy Profile picture
Jun 1
A curriculum for everyone?

Reading this blog, I was struck at how there's always a straw man close to any use of the neoconservative phrase 'soft bigotry of low expectations'.
And in this piece it comes right at the start.

A short 🧵. Image
There are three critical points to be made in favour of adjustments in the English schools curriculum.
None of them are about refusing to challenge working-class kids.
What's needed, what's been demanded so consistently across England for years, is something else.
⬇️ Image
First, it's a fact that SEND kids suffer nationally from a deficit of reasonable adjustments & support in schools. In some cases some of that should be curriculum-based.
Mono-focusing on 'standards' won't alter the fact that these kids need bridges built, not ladders pulled.
⬇️
Read 8 tweets
thehighcliffeguy Profile picture
May 10
A shockingly misleading & dangerous piece from @matthewhood on @SchoolsWeek, lobbying for an end to EHCPs.
With Matt Hood's Oak Academy enjoying influence over @educationgovuk thinking, this should worry all parents & teachers.
And worst of all, the piece is just plain wrong.
🧵 Image
The misdirection begins at once, describing "the EHCP approach" as "the primary cause of the SEND crisis".
But as every parent & school knows, the crisis isn't caused by a child's individual needs, or the attempts to support them.
It's caused by lack of resources & commitment.
⬇️ Image
The SEND crisis, like most public-sector crises, is about under-delivery caused by under-funding & under-planning.
SEND is a system born & raised by Austerity, and has never been given wings.
Yes, kids have been let down relentlessly, but not by EHCPs.
⬇️
Read 14 tweets
thehighcliffeguy Profile picture
May 3
Do councillors really run councils?

The answer may surprise you.
The reality will certainly be a shock for Reform, now holding 10 English councils.
And it might also offer a lifebelt to Labour... if it can actually grab it...
🧵 Image
The key influence over councils isn't councillors, but central govt.
First, funding.
From 2010-20, real-terms funding of councils by govt was cut by 55%. This led councils to cut staff & services by around £25bn in just 12 years.
Less money coming in = less services going out.
⬇️ Image
The funding collapse meant that almost all councils used tax increases to plug some of the gap.
Since the 2% adult social care precept was launched in 2016, councils have been able to increase CT by 4.99% every year.
More CT revenue = more spending.
⬇️ Image
Read 15 tweets
thehighcliffeguy Profile picture
Apr 19
Ofsted's Big Listen.
Did the parent survey show clear parental support for the proposed Report Card grading system?

Short answer? No.
Long answer? 🧵 Image
The claim is based on this finding in the parent feedback (see link & chart).
Ofsted says this shows that 76% of parents wanted separate grades for each inspection area.
But... does it really?
Um, nope.
⬇️
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66d06d7f…Image
Firstly, the question tested attitudes to a limited range of alternatives to single-word judgements for schools.
Every alternative is more popular than single-word judgements.
But all this shows is a preference for ANY alternative over the dysfunctional status quo.
⬇️ Image
Read 8 tweets

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