This week's headline in the Isle of Thanet Gazette, "Cost-cutters wield axe on council's top jobs" gives the impression of tough hard nosed cost control within in the bloated organisation of Thanet council (700 strong what are they all doing?). But surely is this not, just the usual juggling of council officers that happens every few years.
Call me a cynic but I cannot help form the view, that this is just the cyclical process, in which senior officers decide to cash in thier chips, and walk away from the drudgery, cushioned by a pension that money can't buy subsidised by us taxpayers.
Not quite the slash and burn, that long suffering residents might fantasize, I can't imagine that Clive Hart's gang having the attitude or determination to shake up the cosy laid back oasis local government immune from commerce and the real world.
I doubt that I'm alone in wishing, all those time served public sector bods that make up the management could be cleared out, particularly the current chief executive Dr Sue Mcgonigal who presumably oversaw the loss of three million pounds to the foreign company TransEuropa Ferries, still on a personal note I was rather shocked that Mcgonigal was unable to reply to a complaint I made after being forced to leave a public meeting (not for the first time) by officious security bod, whom was by the councils own admission over-zealous and not properly trained.
Even without the hostile attitude of council officers toward democracy Thanet council is without a doubt a perceived as a shambles and you cannot just blame the officers, apparently when the council's independent standards board recently wrote a damming report about the conduct of the council, Clive Hart's and his Labour cohorts decided to reject the report because they didn't like it, as a consequence the board had no choice but to resign.
Finally until councils recruit from the commercial world for senior management posts, local government will be blighted by those, who've been taught to use newspeak, groomed and moulded into the weird mindset of arrogance, self-importance.
*Deliberately ambiguous and contradictory language use to mislead and manipulate the public
Yes Tony I admit I can't see how the sums add up. To save £150,000 you lay off ten senior chaps who are on salaries of about 73 grand ?
ReplyDeleteI see someone is taking the mickey via Gazette comments.
Slightly off the point having bumped into Ian Driver I understand that citizens will have the right to film council meetings soon irrespective of slippery councillors and or officers. I since understand this is the result of pressure from the tax payers alliance. Well done all those no thanks to much of Thanet council
ReplyDeleteWhat joy no longer will the labours council chairman and chief executive allow residents to be thrown out of meetings.
Tony Simon Moores blog today may have merit. He is admitting to surprise at the truths delivered by a Police Inspector. And it is pretty grim reading.
ReplyDeleteWhich part of the commercial world, or private sector, should the new senior staff come from, I wonder.
ReplyDeleteThe banks, perhaps, with their record of mismanagement and fraud? No. The utilities which attract legions of complaints about poor public service, even when it comes to telephone service? Perhaps not. Mobile phone companies, to whom one can never get through and are criticised daily for poor customer service? Hmm. What about the supermarkets and the food supply industry, with their mis-selling (horsemeat), price fixing and cartels? Perhaps not.
Sorry, running out of options here…
Oh, hang on, what about the rail industry? Hmmm, angry customers across the country complaining about massive fare hikes against a backdrop of poor performance, trains that break down, engineering works that overrun, poor management, poor customer communications… Nope, not there either.
ReplyDeleteAnd why are there no trains between Faversham and Ramsgate tomorrow? Can't you lot repair / service smaller sections at a time, or do you enjoy making things as difficult as possible?
ReplyDeleteI have looked and followed the sleazy trails of TDC over the years, all originate from mr Pattersons office, from not enforcing the lease art arlington house, to pleasarama to Ramsgate 3.4 million fiasco & why was he " sacked" halfway through the Dreamland CPO and replaced by someone else, where is the grant money given to the "businessmen" who were going to do up the old chocolate factory in Margate Seafronr, re The hotels opposite the Turner, and then disappeared with the Grant money, who wrote the leases, who nodded through the grant money, all the rds lead to Patterson!!
ReplyDelete... and breath! Don't you know what full-stops are for?
DeleteTDC is not lone in reorganising top jobs. KCC is still at it but this time they are spending £322,358. on external consultants to tell them how to do it. KCC leader Paul Carter often claims that KCC have to pay huge salaries to attract the best staff but yet again these staff are found wanting when all that is asked of them is to come up with reorganisation plans. How much can KCC waste this year? having just wasted thousands on the recent report linking welfare cuts to a range of social problems from food poverty to violent crime that Cllr Carter had rewritten.
ReplyDeleteWell said 16:16 we are paying huge wages for idiots. And then more money to coverup/payoff/excuse their failures. And nothing gets done. Why are the councillors and MP's so feeble? Where is the investigative journalism?
ReplyDeleteInvestigative journalism from the Gazette??? Brilliant concept! Tom Brown just seems intent on reporting what his friend Will and Iris tell him! The whole place is rotten!
DeleteSounds like a tory councilor worried about Labour bias and the corruption,,,
DeleteIt does doesn't it. They've all gone very quiet on removing the Manston monitors and fines and Thor pollution.
DeleteThe civil servants hang on as long as possible for another paycheck and pension and possibly payoff. The problem is councillors failing in oversight of them. Then covering it up with them to not look stupid. Then looking really stupid when it eventually comes out. Publishing contracts and staffing levels by department would be useful.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26014387
ReplyDeleteBBC report on corruption in Europe: UK sort of middling - much worse if Kent included? Chibnagate etc?
I spoke to an officer who was got rid of in the last cull. In his case, it wasn't a case of redundancy OR early retirement; he got both. Needless to say, he's a very happy man. The taxpayer is paying for him to enjoy an extended retirement with a nice fat lump sum thrown in. Meanwhile, the job he used to do still has to be done and so, we have to pay for a replacement as well. I think councillors should not be allowed to stand if they don't understand basic economics. If you spend £1 million laying off staff who then have to be replaced, you are never going to make that money back again.
ReplyDeleteKCC is already restructuring even before the consultants have reported, Why pay them so much and allow the £96k a year communication director to leave already? KCC say his post has been scrapped in which case what has he been doing for the last few years?
ReplyDeleteNo doubt the size of his pay off will leak out at some time..
No councillor should be elected if they do not insist on pay and staffing levels published. They simply don't know and are too lazy or fearful to find out. Mcgonigal doesn't even give TDC councillors the accounts.
ReplyDeleteBarnes introducing mobile police stations (cars to you and me) that noone visits and putting up tax for 100k clerks . Is she an idiot?
ReplyDeleteMoores and the Police - only for 0% fraud 15:57
ReplyDeletePolice attacked by a Romanian with a samurai sword in KM. How are those legal? Swords not Romanians? And where are the 27M Romanians KCC warned us of?
ReplyDeletePolice tax increasing by 1.99% almost four times inflation. Good value?
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to building 500 houses at Discovery Park? And 800 at Manston Green?
ReplyDelete