Decision notice. The Bullying of Disabled Council Staff

[bobby47]

GDJ. Brilliant old friend. Truly wonderful to read.

[flamboyant]

This looks encouraging?

 

http://www.localgov.co.uk/Councils-told-to-publish-pay-offs-for-senior-staff/37186

[dippyhippy]

Agreed, Flam!

 

The most encouraging thing I've read in a while....and so very timely!

[Cambo]

I'll drink to that flam if it happens?…which I hope it does!

[Glenda Powell]

Flam, I remember when Marcelle Lloyd-Hayes left the Lib Dems in 2007 stating she was going to be "Independent" she didn't want to be part of any political party, that statement lasted all of two months she then joined the political party who is IOC and 7 years later she still with them

[WirralPC]

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/total_number_of_compromise_agree_2/new

 

I've made a new FoI request for the total number of compromise agreements issued between February 2013 and today.

[WirralPC]

Here's a quote from my post #38 on page 2 of the thread:

 

10. Number of employees in receipt of payment(s).

These figures only appear to include payments made to staff who
brought the grievance. Correct, democratic public oversight demands
to know whether payments have been made to any of the other 6 staff
involved. [this will include the bullies]

 

When you read the original request, it clearly stipulates and includes ALL related payments, but what we've never got in response to this request are the payments made to the senior members of staff who were dishing out the bullying and harassment.  The ICO has glossed over it, lazily quoting 'severance payments' to cover everything, so it's left to us the public to do the digging.

 

Here's an FoI request I made in February 2013:

 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/monetary_totals_attached_to_cot3

 

The council's answer was:

 

A.   Of the cases reported in our response to your previous request (FOI CIU 3105), I am advised that none related to an individual with a salary level of over £150,000.

 

 

Three related to individuals with salary levels over £50,000 as follows:

 

Assistant Director - £42,115.50

 

Head Teacher - £43,450

 

Head Teacher - £45,000

 

 

Of the remaining cases reported on, all fell under a salary range of £50,000.

 

 

The total awards made for these cases amounted to £242,229.

 

 

 

I can also confirm that this information is published annually in Herefordshire Council’s statement of accounts.

 

 

It's not broken down or explained very well, so I'm wondering, what does "these cases" mean?

 

Does it include the total payments for the Assistant Director plus the 2 x head teachers, along with the totals for people on a salary below £50,000, where those on above £50,000 got £130,565.50 and those on below £50,000 got £111,663.50?

 

Or is "these cases" the total for those on below £50,000 alone, in which case the true total would be £242,229 plus £130,565.50

 

= £372,794.50

 

I've made another request to cover the interim period between February 2013 and today:

 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/monetary_totals_attached_to_cot3_2/new

 

So the question is:  Why have they gone all shy with the figures this time around?  Is it because they've gone through the roof, and now they're distancing from themselves with GDJ's 'plausible deniability'?

 

I don't believe they're in a position to not furnish the figures within 20 working days having already responded in full to an identical request previously.

 

But we shall see !

[megilleland]

 

It's not broken down or explained very well, so I'm wondering, what does "these cases" mean?

 

Does it include the total payments for the Assistant Director plus the 2 x head teachers, along with the totals for people on a salary below £50,000, where those on above £50,000 got £130,565.50 and those on below £50,000 got £111,663.50?

 

Or is "these cases" the total for those on below £50,000 alone, in which case the true total would be £242,229 plus £130,565.50

 

= £372,794.50

 

I've made another request to cover the interim period between February 2013 and today:

 

£375,416.66 redacted just a coincidence? See post 72 on this topic.

[WirralPC]

I think you're onto something there Megilleland.

 

It's the 7th largest payment in the whole sheet and the largest REDACTED one.  Also, all the other six figure payments are clear as a bell, with believable Expense Areas.

 

This is the ONLY 'holding codes' one and therefore looks a little bit whiffy.

 

Herefordshire Council should be careful they don't ever conceal payments above £30,000 to ex-employees, and not declare them immediately to the Inland Revenue as the law requires, or this might happen.  Wirral Council got away with it, but how 'mutually beneficial' are Herefordshire Council's relations with HMRC?

 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/allegation_of_tax_evasion_by_wir

[flamboyant]

Paul welcome to Council Math! It's been played on this site before. To date no one has ever figured out how to play Council Math even the Mighty Megilleland is constantly stumped and he's one of the Voices greatest minds! It's particularly hard to play Council Math there are no rules you just make it up as you go along!

[dippyhippy]

Ah Flam!

 

Council Maths! After my tutorial with GDJ, I now understand fully that FIRST you come up with the answer you want, and THEN you try to fit the workings out to suit!!

 

There is no reason why 10 plus 10 shouldn't make 32! There is no reason why 8 subtract 2 shouldn't make 4!! There is no wrong answer....you merely need to find the right solution!!

 

Simple!!

[flamboyant]

Dippy you made that up! Lol

[flamboyant]

Page 72 of the Councils Statement of Accounts shows how much money was paid to the Director of Customer Services for Loss of Office. There are additional figures quoted in the Accounts for Loss of Office which don't seem to be included in the response to the FOI, not sure why that is?

 

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/7233857/2012-13_statement_of_accounts.pdf

[gdj]

Page 72 of the Councils Statement of Accounts shows how much money was paid to the Director of Customer Services for Loss of Office. There are additional figures quoted in the Accounts for Loss of Office which don't seem to be included in the response to the FOI, not sure why that is?

 

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/7233857/2012-13_statement_of_accounts.pdf

 

Thanks for posting this, Flam.  I hadn't come across it before and it makes some interesting reading.

 

I assume that "Compensation for Loss of Office" is the equivalent of lesser mortals having "redundancy" .  And it would seem the calculation of the sum due is also different - rather than statutory payment, or a weeks wages for every year of service, the Assistant Director (Inclusion and Improvement) seems to have received about 9 months salary. (having been employed in Herefordshire for about 3 years).   Clearly to lose one's "office" is far more serious than to lose one's job.

 

Another interesting point is that the Director of Childrens (People) service has her salary reported from January 2012  (a nice round 10 grand a month).  Before that she was an "interim" at about £1000 a day (as reported at the time in the HT).  Surely this should be also reported in the accounts.  If not down as a salary it should be findable in the contracts and purchases spreadsheet under payment to "Jo Davidson Leadership and Management Ltd" - but I haven't found it in those spreadsheets either.  You won't be able to check in that company's accounts either because they were never produced.  Can anyone here say how these "interims" and "consultants" payments are presented in the council accounts?

 

ps - the £1000 a day was another fine example of the hard bargains driven by the council when recruiting people at that level.  

 

Do you continue working in Derby (and to travel there) or do you take a large pay increase to work down the road in Hereford with some of your mates from your previous job.

 

If you have a strong stomach, read this down to the part about the first replacement that Derby recruited to replace a Ms Ros Vahey.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2012871/Derby-council-forks-124k-sacked-childrens-services-boss-Ros-Vahey.html

 

And then for a laugh, read the last paragraph quote from a councillor in Derby.

[flamboyant]

Whist I realise this whole saga is not in the least bit funny! I have just looked on the Councils Facebook Page and saw the following quote, I confess it's the funniest thing I have seen in a while! In response to Stoptober the smoking campaign a witty poster took the opportunity to use the post to highlight bullying by posting the following! I think this should be our mantra!!

 

Stop bullying your most vulnerable employees now. Studies show that you are four times more likely to be able to quit bullying if you sack the Directors and Senior Managers responsible.

 

Harry you're a legend!!

[megilleland]

Monday 22 September 2014 in Hereford Times News by Bill Tanner

Herefordshire Council - compensation payouts for former senior officers revealed

 

Former senior council officers secure nearly £300,000 in compensation payments

 

CASH-strapped Herefordshire Council has paid out more than £286,000 in compensation to senior officers for loss of office since former chief executive Chris Bull left.

 

New figures confirm Mr Bull went in October 2012 with £150,629 in compensation, taking his total remuneration to £281,166 including £23,364 in pension contributions.

 

Six months  later, in April 2013, an assistant director (law, governance & resilience)  left  with £34,952 in compensation taking total remuneration to £38,627.

 

Over 2012-13 the post was worth a £90,000 salary and total remuneration of £109,620 including pension contributions.

 

April last year also saw head of service - adult services  go with £28,506 in compensation taking total remuneration to £32,269 including pension contributions.

 

Over 2012-13 the post was worth £95,285 in total remuneration including pension contributions.

 

Head of special projects left in December last year  with £30,000 in compensation and a total remuneration of £108,741 including pension contributions.

 

Figures also confirm that assistant director, customer services and communications left  with £42,116 in compensation over the 2012-13 financial year, taking total remuneration to £97,699 including a salary of £45,635 and pension contributions of £9,946.

 

The final figure for the total payout was £286,203.

 

Six figure remuneration posts on the council over the past financial year were:

 

Chief Executive - Salary: £143,887. Total Remuneration (including pension contributions): £176,512.

 

Director for Children’s Well-Being - Salary: £111,904. Total Remuneration (including pension contributions): £137,104

 

Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate – Salary: £119,284. Total Remuneration  (including pension contributions): £146,465

 

Assistant director (people, policy and partnerships) – Salary: £82,510. Total remuneration (including pension contributions) £100,287

 

All told, the council had 103 employees on  salaries  between £50,000-£145,000 over 2014-14.

 

In 2012-13, there were 116 employees on salaries between £50,000 and £260,000.

 

Taken from the Council's Statement of Accounts 2013 - 2014

 

[Denise Lloyd]

So that's where all our money has gone - lost for words

[bobby47]

The whole 'bag of rats' is sending me ever loser to the edge. I can't bloody sleep! Radical action is required here. I've gotta bunch of sources within the Council and as good and brave as they are, they ain't higher enough up the pole. I've gotta get higher up and so I've decided that I must sleep with Geoff Hughes. If anyone knows what's really going on, its Geoff and when he drops anchor after sailing around bloody blighty Im going to meet him, seduce him and find out exactly what's going on.

I've no choice! Someone's gotta do it and seeing as Im an adventurous lover and more than happy to talk dirty beneath the duvet, Im going to seek him out, make love to him and get him chatting after he's reached his climax. That's the thing with pillow talk, once exhausted by the whole love making thing, the males of our species can't stop gibbering on. Once my wife has violated me Im forever going on about this, that and the other and ive no reason to believe that Geoffs going to say to me, 'put your grannies frock back on fatso, pay for the room at the Holiday Inn Reception and clear off'. Mind, if he did, I'd say, 'you've used me Geoff. Tell me about the Gagging Payments or Im kissing and telling'!

Yeah! That's the answer. Mind, I refuse to cozy up to Bill Norman. I'll be damned if I stoop that low and if any of you lot start moaning that I won't, I'd say, 'you go sleep with Bill, I'll sleep with Geoff and lets see who can get them to talk first. Put your bloody money where your mouth is instead of attacking me on Hereford Voice'.

[dippyhippy]

Bill Tanner starts naming names over at HT.

 

Chris Chapman, Sara Keetley, Andrew Tector and Richard Bevan-Pearson.

 

All departed with large sums paid as compensation for loss of office.

 

Hopefully someone will provide a handy link...???

 

Great stuff Bill!

[Denise Lloyd]

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11490449.Named___four_former_senior_officers_of_Herefordshire_Council_who_received_compensation_payments_worth_more_than___135_500/?ref=var_0

 

Try this

[dippyhippy]

Thanks for the link Denise.

 

Some interesting comments underneath already.

[WirralPC]

We've forked out £1 million+ on Wirral in exactly the same way.

 

The current council leader, Phil Davies, was chair of the Employment & Appointments Committee - the committee charged with deciding how we should make abusive senior officers accountable.  NOT ONCE did they reach for the disciplinary procedure, preferring to reward the abuse with fat cheques.

 

I placed an FoI to try and pinpoint how he voted to see if I could get a handle on whether he was personally sanctioning these mammoth pay offs, but it didn't get me very far:

 

http://wirralinittogether.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/how-much-of-the-1-million-plus-pay-off-money-did-wirrals-council-leader-sanction/

 

And here's the roll-call of persons moved on...

 

 

CEO Steve Maddocks – paid £157,000

Director of Social Services John Webb – paid £152,000

Deputy CEO Ian Coleman – paid £86,000

Director of Law Bill Norman – paid £146,000

Interim Director of Social Services Howard Cooper CBE – retired with pension

Social Services senior officer Maura Noone – paid £110,000 - (left ONE day before publication of damning Klonowski report)

Social Services senior officer Mike Fowler – paid £110,000 - (left ONE day before publication of damning Klonowski report)

CEO Jim Wilkie - paid £111,054

Director of Technical Services David Green – paid £103,000

Deputy Director of Finance David Taylor Smith – paid £68,000

Chief of Internal Audit David Garry – paid £46,000

Head of Asset Management Ian Brand - paid £68,368

Head of IT Services Geoff Paterson - paid £72,166

Head of Cultural Services Jim Lester - paid £72,166

Head of Regulation Rob Beresford - paid £70,900

 

TOTAL = £1,373,022

 

 

It should be noted that the worse the abuse, the higher the stench rose, the deeper we had to dig, and the MORE we had to pay to "put things right".

 

Have things been put right?  Certainly not...

 

Elected members are now operating a Cabinet system, with executive power in the hands of an inner ring of power abusing members and officers.  These chosen few (who picked each other) have banned other parties from chairing any committees, spiralled down into defensive paranoid behaviour ...and any chance of healthy democratic values e.g. openness, transparency, accountability, scrutiny or proper public oversight breaking out are now a distant pipedream.

 

By the way, this isn't a competition and I'm not trying to trump or beat Herefordshire; I'm just pointing out that this is where you could be headed if you don't get a grip of your abusive councillors and if they don't get a grip of your out of control, beyond all accountability senior officer power abusers.

[megilleland]

Here is some news from Worcestershire County Council which we were paired with in the years before 1998. 

 

22 September 2014 in Worcester News by Tom Edwards, Political Reporter

 

£4.3 million on 'exit packages' for staff at Worcestershire County Council

 

TAXPAYERS have had to fork out £4.3 million on "exit packages" for departing Worcestershire County Council staff over the last year - with the axe falling on hundreds of jobs.

 

Your Worcester News can reveal how the likely bill for slashing 1,500 roles by 2018 is now set to spiral to multi-millions as the authority steadily shrinks in size.

 

New figures the 2013/14 financial year, which ended in March show:

 

- 297 council staff were let go, which included 123 compulsory redundancies

 

- A number of workers were let go for "business efficiency" reasons and given pay-offs, while some others opted to take voluntary redundancy or retire early

 

- The council has issued a fresh warning that a "substantial net reduction" in jobs is on the agenda as more services get handed to outside providers

 

The 297 job cuts cover departments across the council, and took place between April 2013 and March this year.

 

It means the average payout was £14,478, although the figures vary wildly depending on length of service.

 

The findings come as the council prepares to shed 1,500 jobs by 2018 by handing over 85 per cent of services to new providers.

 

Bosses hope the tactic, known as commissioning, results in many departing workers having their employment transferred across to the third party organisations.

 

The council says by scrapping such a large amount of jobs last year it reduced the wage bill by around £7.5 million.

 

But the findings have been branded "very concerning" by opposition politicians, who say they want fresh lobbying to central Government.

 

Councillor Peter McDonald, Labour group leader, said: "We're very concerned about people being forced out because of the sheer costs of it and the impact on the economy.

 

"We're cutting areas across the council, affecting areas like youth centres and care and at the same time stripping away the very people we need to provide services."

 

But the Conservative leadership insists it has "always been clear" about the changes.

 

Councillor John Campion, cabinet member for transformation and change, said: "We have always been clear that the council will be a smaller organisation in the future as we strategically commission services and provide fewer services directly.

 

"We remain committed to minimising compulsory redundancies and are open to all providers to ensure we source the right service, from the right provider at the right price for the taxpayer.

 

"These savings are not insignificant and have contributed, and will continue to contribute, to the council's challenging overall savings targets.

 

"Clearly we have had to fund one-off redundancy costs, but this has been planned for and there is a substantial net reduction going forward.

 

[flamboyant]

It's like a disease! Can you imagine the good uses all that money could have been put towards! These Councils could have provided something truly amazing for their most vulnerable residents! Has anyone any idea of how hard someone on the front line in Adult Social Care works? My wife worked in Adult Social Care for 4 years and the things she saw would make you weep! Some of these people are so lonely, frightened and vulnerable, she spent most of her time crying and the strain on our marriage was enormous! There were occasions when she didn't want to leave the client but had to move onto to the next person on her list! It broke my heart! She earned £16,000 a year and her boss earned four times that amount and staff referred to her as Atilla the Hun and according to rumour she hadn't a clue what she was doing! It was the most physically, exhausting job she'd ever done and she suffered constantly with a bad back and a shoulder injury but we had two young children and couldn't have survived without her salary. She constantly complained she couldn't spend long enough with the clients but was told that there was no money we had one car she needed for work so I cycled 5 miles to my job! This was in the days of the previous IT scandal when they were enjoying trips to god knows were! These people want to join the real world and stop paying these suits stupid amounts of money to facilitate the abuse of your frontline staff!

[WirralPC]

Thanks Megilleland.  Someone needs to lob an FoI grenade into Worcestershire and send a few suits scattering.

 

The article you've linked to reveals a definite "large grey pachyderm lurking in the council boudoir".

 

It would be revealing to see how many leavers were gagged, compromised out, and at what cost.  For example, here on Wirral, I discovered they'd made 800+ voluntary redundancies last year, and gagged every one of them - from senior manager right down to lollipop lady - costing us a cool £62,500.

 

This kind of work is craved and prized by the circling jackals - otherwise known as law firms in the pay of the council - mainly because the photocopier is on all day, and a ream and a half of A4 paper and some astute use of the tippex over signatories' names, suddenly transforms a few hours of your secretary's work (at £7.50 per hour) into a goldmine.

 

As I said in the last post, this hideous attitude on the part of councils is the product of collective, crazed, corporate paranoia, and this is where it takes them - on a mission up every cul-de-sac, covering their tracks.

[WirralPC]

Worcestershire County Council compromise agreements.

 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/57382/response/143360/attach/html/3/Resp.docx.html

 

Totals on the rise....?

 

2007 - 2

2008 - 8

2009 - 6

2010 - 11

2011 - zero (question placed too early in the year for a proper response)

2012 - ??

2013 - ??

2014 - ??

 

"Lobbeth thou thy holy FoI hand-grenade....."

 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/updated_totals_for_compromise_se/new

[megilleland]

Tuesday 23 September 2014 in  Hereford Times News by Bill Tanner

Herefordshire Council's near £4m "single year" spend on agency staff

 

£4 million spent on temporary cover while the council was making full time staff redundant.

 

Herefordshire Council spent nearly £4 million on hiring agency staff over a single financial year.

 

The council has today said the spend reflected its need to “focus resources on priority areas.â€

 

Many of those temporary staff were local to the county and recruited through Hoople, the council’s “arm’s length†company.

 

Eighty council staff were made redundant over 2012/13 at a cost of more than £1 million.

 

The previous year (2011/12) over 200 employees were made redundant, including 130 on a compulsory basis, costing just over £3 million.

 

A further £800,000 was earmarked for redundancy payments in 2013/14, taking the total to around £5 million in three years.

 

The full staff spend of  the council’s Directorates for 2012/13 was £102,033,000.

 

Over same period temporary staff cost the council cost of £3,700,000 or 3.6% of the budget.

 

Responding to the Hereford Times in a statement, the council said a mix of permanent and temporary staff was normal and allowed the authority to focus resources towards priority areas such as children’s services and adult social care. 

 

That statement also refers to the council competing against a national skills shortage in these priority areas, which meant its recruitment system had to be flexible.

 

The council’s policy is not to re-employ redundant staff within six months.  If “exceptional circumstances†meant their re-employment earlier, a pro-rated amount of their redundancy settlement has to be re-paid.

 

A large majority of temporary staff hired were are local to Herefordshire and are recruited through Hoople.

 

Hoople’s own future faces a reckoning with the “arm’s length†company set up to save spending on support services  likely to be split in two, with one entity delivering specific services directly to the council and the other delivering a range of commercial services to the market.

 

Cabinet has already agreed to drawing up a business case and implementation plan with Hoople and its board that allows for the split ahead of the company’s contract with the council ending in 2016.

 

This Council is like a leaking colander.

[WirralPC]

http://www.easyvirtualassistance.co.uk/01%2011%2012%20-%20Private%20Eye%201326%20Wirral.jpg

 

"Norman's Bill"... from an old Private Eye

[bobby47]

Enough! Enough already! No more talk from Cardin! I want to fight him. I must! It's inevitable that he and I will meet and trade blows. And if he turns up at dawn this Sunday on the Castle Green beneath the leafy shadows of the autumnal rich tapestry of leaves that are about to fall off, may fall off or because like all of us they've lost the will to bother falling off, he won't find me lacking in the courage department. I am a stranger to danger. A man who knows no fear and is barely cognisant of pain.

I challenge Bill Norman to a fight. And I know he reads these pages! I know he does and so I say to Billy, meet me down at the aforementioned location, arm yourself with whatever you can grab a hold of, get down here and do your worst.

Yes, Im due a victory and a moment in the sunshine of success. Hitherto, its been drew one, lost three and chickened out of twenty five, but come Sunday Im going to win this bout for all the bewildered and demented folk who diligently recycle their waste, pay their Council tax and refrain from gathering in public spaces shouting, 'Bill Norman you are a stinker'.

I've had enough! And mark my words, I know when I've had enough, may have had enough and haven't had enough because I've no idea what day it is because Im out of my mind on ale and diazepam.

I want to fight Bill Norman. Just he and I. Skin on skin. Man to man. So confident Am I that I'll knock his bloody bonce off, all I'll have adorning my fat bloated body are my Grandmothers old boxing shorts, her heavyweight sixteen ounce gloves and one of her collection of gum shields gathered from the pockets of a thousand lovers.

Im serious. I want to fight Bill Norman and come Sunday morning Im going to be building up a sweat as I await the arrival of Cardin's nemesis. Put your money on me. Mind, if he is the registered owner of a small pocket Derringer capable of being secreted beneath the buttocks of his backside, put your money on Norman especially if you've got information that suggest he has acquired a bullet.

This is my moment and ill be damned if I let is slide from my grasp!

[dippyhippy]

How very exciting!

 

I shall set my alarm, and scurry down to cheer you on!

 

I'll also bring a well stocked first aid kit, defibrillator and a shot of adrenaline......just in case!!