Whistle blowing within the Council.

[bobby47]

I've many friends who are employed in the public service sector. They know how I see things. I value all the wonderful things that the public servants provide me and my family but, after the tenure of New Labour and the massive national public service job creation excercise they implemented, the ethos of public service somehow or other became lost on the hirearchy that now dominate the corridors of power.

These people are not like you and I. They are very different. They see a wonderful institution like our Council as a vehicle to create for themselves, power, influence, contacts, personal wealth and the opportunity to 'climb'. Climb the ladder of success and create for themselves a huge pension pot that we will never, ever be able to realise and enjoy.

They are now our ruling elite and we are their host body. We're little more than worker ants destined to work, pay and be directed by those who, before the emergence of the liar Blair, were our servants who's role it was to put in place things that made our lives easier and enable us to work in the private sector and help create the wealth.

In many ways this was the covenant between us and them. They provided our much cherished front line services and we paid happy in the knowledge that our roads were maintained, our grass was cut the rubbish was collected and removed and the vulnerable amongst us were cared for and treated with dignity and respect.

That covenant between us and them has been broken and we didn't do the breaking. They've become an arrogant, fat and bloated clique of people who've attached themselves to us and they treat our funds as though its their money. Whenever people become to powerful, no matter the circumstances and no matter what their role in life, the outcome is often much the same. A loss of any sense of right and wrong and a deluded notion of self entitlement that sees them doing whatever they like and not giving the consequences of their behaviour any self critical examination.

We collectively passed the tipping point the night Mr Jarvis demanded five hundred thousand pounds to keep Stanhope happy and senior Council Officers began rewarding oneanother Gagging Payments, or as they like to describe them, Compromise Agreements, as they move from County to County feeding off another host who willingly sit back accepting of the mantra, 'I am passionate about public service and I will not eat, sleep or drink until I've fulfilled my unquenchable desire to deliver a positive outcome to the service users of this fair County'.

Believe me, these people are incompetent bungling idiots who've no grasp on reality and despite the fact that we are near to fiscal ruin, still it has no impact upon them and the gimmicks and the rubbish they serve up to us on a daily basis.

Now, more than ever before, we are now reliant upon those who work within the public sector to find a way of reporting wrongdoing and become a whistleblower. It's no easy step to take. It's not easy at all. In fact, for those who work within the public sector, where often they are surrounded by bullying, a constant fear of redundancy and a design within to do as your told and don't rock the boat, its nigh on impossible to make up ones mind, take that first step, and report any wrongdoing.

I have sources within the Council and I also know that many, many staff read these pages because they've become horrified by the culture that the senior Management have created. They don't visit pages like this to simply report back to their masters. They read these things because it brings them comfort and reassurance that they are right to feel that things are wrong within the Council.

I'd say to any employee who is unfortunate enough to be working for one of these idiots, to take heart, take a step forward and report your concerns to someone you can trust and do all you can to erode the power that these people have created for themselves. Remember, if you don't think it's right it doesn't feel right and it doesn't look right then invariably its not right. It's wrong and becoming a Whisteblower about wrongdoing is a brave and honourable step to take.

Me? I admire any of our public servants who conclude, 'this is all very wrong' and they then decide to do the right thing, which is, to become a Whistleblower.

I'd urge any Council employee who is in turmoil because of what's happening around them and above them to do something. Anything that will bring back the days when we knew that those at the top of the public service tree had walked in our shoes and they were able to know what was right and what was wrong.

Don't be afraid of these people. There's nothing to be afraid of. Don't let them frighten you. Take a leap of faith. Take luck and good fortune by the hand and report your concerns and in doing so you might just inspire others around you to conclude 'I ain't staying silent any longer'. Don't be bullied into remaining silent.

My warmest regards to you.

[Guest smartieno1]

Good morning Bobby,

I agree with what you are saying but do not think the issue is with the employees...the problem is the Councillors.  

We need to remember that it is the Councillors who employ, retain and fire every single member of the Senior Management Team.  If every Councillor did their job properly and fought tooth and nail for the rights of the Citizens of Herefordshire then we would not be in this mess.

How the hell you can have Councillor's sitting on panels or boards of other organisations, or sitting on a Town and Parish Council as well as holding the position of District Councillor, I will never know.  Do these people not have enough to do being a District Councillor?  Of course they do and it is this lack of concentration on the job in hand that has led us down this dark, depressing hole of Common Purpose and the belief that the Officers must know best.  

We need strong, independent Councillors who know the difference between 'RIGHT' and 'WRONG' and are not afraid to say it publicly ...any Councillor who moves in the murky world of the Grey area ....where indifference, dishonesty and nepotism hold court.....is part of the problem and not the solution

And to any employee wanting to blow the whistle I would urge you to contact me in the first instance and I will help you blow the whistle because together we stand the best chance of making a difference....but if you are to afraid I will do it for you   


 

[flamboyant]

Bobby fantastic piece well said! 

 

Smartieno 1 The Councillors and the Cabinet are fed lies and they swallow those lies. The blame lies in the archaic way Cabinet is run. I have read papers submitted to cabinet that are riddled with lies, misdirection and manipulated to self serve and preserve the job and position of the person who wrote it. Cabinet read that report and believing it to be fact they vote it through! You can sit in the public gallery in silence and listen and watch them swallow those lies and there's nothing you can do about it! I once saw someone removed for shouting out! It's absolute torture to witness! Hundreds of good people have lost their jobs because managers tell Cabinet there's a saving to be made, they never fully explain the impact of what they are doing. The redesign always leads to an increase in someone's salary!  On the other hand these Councillors don't really want to know the truth if you tell them what's happening they listen but they won't do anything, they will only don these pages if there's something in it for them or their party or to refute a comment such as this. Don't take my word for that the evidence is contained in these pages. 

 

Now I've opened myself up for an attack as in the case of the whistleblower I've dared to comment and I've been critical! Councillors will read my comments and they will take it personally and everyone who doesn't agree with me will attack! I will retreat and question what in God's name was I thinking! I will stay away lick my wounds and when I feel strong enough I will return and start again. 

[Ubique]

Bobby ,a very well written article . It's to the point and true - thank you.

 

I do also agree that a high proportion of the blame initially lies with the Senior Officers of this Council of course the Council Cabinet must take their share of responsibility , they give the impression that they treat the other Cllrs like growing mushrooms . Theses Cllrs must become more demanding.

[stupidfrustration]

Bobby - you have expressed my thoughts so much better than I can.

 

Very well written and I agree with every word you say.

[Cambo]

Bobby you are like a marvel superhero!!

Personally I think that the root cause is a combination of bad management from senior managers & the ineptitude of the council cabinet all feeding off the cash cow that is local government? The foot soldiers of the council doing the frontline work are all saints for having to put up with the idiots @ the top day in & day out with no light @ the end of the tunnel but they need to help us help them?

So like bobby I agree they've got to start blowing those whistles!!!!

[dippyhippy]

Well said Bobby - I absolutely agree with everything you have said so eloquently.

 

Flam, it just takes one person to decide they no longer have anything to lose, and the pack of cards will fall.

 

One day mate, it will happen.