Taunton BID are “pulling the wool over our eyes” by saying consultation is now open “to consider having” a BID.
Often public money is given to the BID Consultants to produce feasibility studies and develop BID’s (for Taunton £45,000 from SWT), which leads to starting systematic and sustained YES campaign’s under the guise of “consultation process”, when the only purpose of the consultation really is to determine what to spend the BID money on as part of the YES campaign. This has been seen with BID’s developed across the UK, and clearly Taunton is no different.
Following the official BID launch on 16th July 2019, the public perception Taunton BID now seems to be portraying is that we are now in the “consultation phase” to decide if Taunton wants a BID, after all, at the time of writing their Twitter profile says:
“Consultation is now open to consider having a Business Improvement (BID) in #Taunton”.
But truth of the matter is, it’s not about considering whether to have a BID; like so many BID’s before it the decision appears to have already been made by the BID proposers with the support of a minority of businesses to push on with a full BID proposal and business plan for ballot. Should they change their mind and not go to ballot that would of course be welcomed, but no indication of that so far. In June 2019 Taunton BID even took a £20,000 grant from SWT Council on the basis that it’s for the final stages of BID development and a ballot in January 2020, so clearly they’ve already decided themselves to go to ballot and when no matter what. See our article Council funding scrutiny: Are Taunton BID deceiving the Council & businesses?
So for Taunton BID, it’s clear to see that the consultation phase is only what to include in the BID business plan they will be pushing forwards with, as opposed to “consider having”. Besides what they told the Council in June, further proof of this is out there in Taunton BID’s own literature, the following quote is from the launch invite;
“After the launch we will be carrying out a formal consultation. We want to hear your views on what you would like to see delivered by Taunton BID, and ask what are the priorities for a BID.”
And the FAQs on their website also reinforce the same aim of the consultation period:
“An extensive consultation will be held with businesses in the BID area. Ideas, suggestions and priorities for taking Taunton forward will be logged and the detailed BID Business Plan will be produced and published following this consultation.”
As you can see, there’s no open invitation to take seriously people’s objections, discuss how much should be charged, who should be exempt, present boths the pro’s and con’s of the scheme, let alone ask whether businesses even want a BID; the focus is clearly on determining what is to be delivered in the business plan, in order to give the BID proposers the best chance of a YES vote. This is very much the start of their vote YES campaign, as part of a biased and undemocratic process.
“The is no worse tyranny than to force man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it will be good for him.”
Did you know that there’s even been a BID Working Group in place since May 2019? Formed a couple months before most Taunton businsses even knew BID might be back on the horizon, and this core group of about 15-20 are there to campaign now starting with the consultation phase, for what they think is best for the other c400 businesses. In actual fact, if those 20 were the only ones to vote in the BID ballot, voting YES as they surely would, then BID legistlation as it is with no minimum turnout required would allow the BID to be voted on for all 400+ businesses. How crazy does that sound?
Interestingly if a Taunton business has expressed their NO opinion already, we’ve learnt that members of the BID working group have been quick to get around to that business, and by trying to turn, not respect the decision made already by the business. Surely this amounts to a basic form of pressure and intimidation to change ones mind for a YES vote, but at the end of the day each business leader is more than capable of making up their own mind on what is right for their business.
The BID working group were even briefed that it’s the “information gathering stage” (note not called a consultation stage to themselves as the public perception is), and they were also told the following:
“the working party members would be in charge of putting together the BID Proposal document: deciding what the £ should be spent on and in what proportion”.
It’s just so clear that the primary aim of the consultation stage for Taunton BID is for the few to decide what to put in the BID business plan in order to build the momentum for YES votes, nothing more. The working group have even discussed the plans through to ballot and past that on winning, minuting that the BID consultant “will be liaising with the local authority to set up all the relevant and necessary legal documents.” Surely jumping ahead of themselves if Taunton is only considering whether to have a BID?!
Q&A reply with Taunton BID 12th September 2019 saying they’re in a Consultation period do decide whether we have a BID at all, which contrasts with what they’ve told the Council and other messaging.
Hopefully you can now also see that the word ‘consultation’ was a bit of a misnomer, the plans and momentum towards a Taunton BID were very well developed already, without needing to consult all the 400+ businesses. BID consultations are really the start of full-on YES campaign’s, but the real danger is that not every business will even be aware the ‘consultation’ is happening or be directly consulted with. We heard of instances where not all businesses on a street have personally received invitations to the Consultation meeting being held for their area. Businesses are easily sidelined or otherwise kept in the dark, or left with the misconception that it doesn’t affect them, and all that reduces the turnout of NO votes, leaving the field clearer for a YES to be delivered by a relatively small proportion of businesses. Let’s wise up to what is happening here in Taunton with the drive by a minority towards a BID, and not have “the wool pulled over our eyes” by use of the term “consultation”. Clearly we just can’t believe everything Taunton BID are telling us and they’re certainly showing similar reputational problems to our previous failed BID team, so why on earth do we want to risk voting in a BID again?!
There is even evidence that they even went into the “consultation phase” with some pre-determined ideas about what will be in the final BID proposal.
Even after the “formal” consultation phase ended, Taunton BID’s lack of willingness to consult with businesses was shown as they finalised and launched their Business Plan.
A precis of the Taunton BID business plan was delivered in the January Taunton BID newsletter, and they provided a bit more detail at the business plan launch on 22nd January, but they still haven’t released the full business plan to businesses which is disappointing. They said at the business plan launch it would be sent out in early February 2020, so just 2 weeks before the ballot opens, and this is 2 months after they shared it with SWT Council! You have to question why BID aren’t willing to share even a draft copy with businesses any sooner (apart from their “inner circle” of YES businesses of course). In December or early January they could have easily emailed it to everyone to start digesting and even feedback on, so you have to ask what are they so scared of, and why not be so transparent with their voting business as soon as they can?
By getting it out to businesses soonest they could help “tweak” it, but by not doing so clearly BID don’t really want any meaningful feedback, input or scrutiny from businesses. Unfortunately we’ve had reports that the BID Steering Committee have not been very pro-active engaging with businesses throughout their “Consultation” period. Consequently it seems a relatively small proportion of businesses have developed the proposal, but now with a Business Plan there has been a great opportunity to engage all those businesses that haven’t yet had input into it. The response articles we’ve written are based on information made available in the January newsletter precis and at the business launch, so we will review and amend as appropriate as the final printed Business Plan is released to businesses, as there may be some changes in the final copy released.
