Anyone watching the Ladywood district committee online this week could have been forgiven for thinking they had accidentally tuned into an episode of Yes Minister or the Thick of It.

Discussions over the district budget, specifically the proposal to close the historic Spring Hill Library, seemed to be couched in all sorts of innuendo and euphemism.

Committee chairwoman councillor Yvonne Mosquito (Nechells) might as well have tipped a wink to the camera as she outlined why due process would have to be followed before they could confirm that the library, renovated as recently as 2010, is to be kept open.

She went to great lengths to avoid saying anything which might amount to a decision or point of view. “We understand and we have heard. We are mindful and very sensitive to the needs of our constituents,” she said.

In reality a deal has been done and funding earmarked to ensure the survival of the library, but because there is an official period of consultation the politicians are not allowing themselves to announce anything. Other libraries in the district remain under threat of being closed or moved so they don’t want to tread on other’s toes.

Coun Mosquito’s colleagues Chaman Lal (Soho) and Carl Rice (Ladywood) want to scream that fact it is not closing from the rooftops, especially as local voters want assurances and political opponents have whipped up a protest campaign.

Coun Rice said: “I will not rest until we have safeguarded Spring Hill Library forever.”

But the word ‘consultation’ seems to scare some of our political leaders into silence on an issue.

It can also be used as a careful sidestep to an awkward question. Cabinet member for transport and development Tahir Ali is very fond of saying ‘this is currently out for consultation so it would be inappropriate for me to prejudge that or comment’, or words to that effect when challenged over contentious issues like building on the green belt.

Residents frequently get the wrong end of the stick over consultation – there are assumptions made that consultation is a completely unbiased process to gauge the will of the people.

More often than not a position has been agreed and the only purpose of the consultation is either to sort out details of implementation of the policy or to ensure there are no unforeseen glaring mistakes or legal snags.

Birmingham’s Labour leadership has used this type of consultation after agreeing that it will introduce wheelie bins, and there was much outcry that it ‘isn’t proper consultation because they haven’t asked if we want them or not’.

And the council had voted as long ago as November 2012 for a city wide 20mph speed limit. The consultation was more about how, where and when the roll out begins.

The trouble is an unscientific website survey found almost 60 per cent were opposed to 20mph limits allowing opponents to shout that the council is steamrollering this through against the will of the people.

In this case the will of the people has been measured on a self-selecting sample visiting the council’s website and protesters always shout louder than supporters, skewing any result.

Instead, the city council has used the response to find those areas where support is most vocal or opposition weakest and will start the roll out there.

It seems that the word consultation has become one of the most abused in political circles, whether by those making grand claims over democratic accountability or those trying to avoid taking a stand on an issue. It also seems to scare some into unnecessary silence.

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The traffic gridlock which hit Birmingham when the M6 closed on Tuesday evening makes an excellent case for those clamouring for the M6 Toll to be nationalised.

With a collision between two lorries and a car closing the motorway near Spaghetti Junction for several hours, tens of thousands of cars were diverted onto the local road network. Journeys of three or four miles took over an hour.

As a short term measure surely the toll could have been lifted to divert many of those vehicles going north away from the centre of Birmingham.

The M6 Toll was initially called the Birmingham North Relief Road, but as long as there is a charge for it, it is doing precious little to bring relief to the motorists of Birmingham.

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LOCAL Government has a reputation for abandoning plain English at every opportunity. And another case has sprung up at the housing department. Lib Dem councillor Mike Ward has contacted the housing department to point out that “a new email address has been created, containing the word ‘Improvement’, but the recipients don’t deal with improvements, just repairs”.

He adds that emails regarding housing applications are sent to the Homeless Team, even though the application probably isn’t homeless.

“Does anyone think these things through?” he asks.