today that "Redundancy packages for two executives at the centre of
council mergers will cost taxpayers almost £1million. Nine local
authorities in Dorset will combine to form just two in April.
Senior staff losing their jobs are being handed payouts which vastly
exceed a cap on the public sector’s so-called ‘golden parachutes’. Jane
Portman, the managing director of Bournemouth Borough Council, is to
receive a pay and pension redundancy package of £473,000, it was
announced yesterday. Debbie Ward, chief executive of Dorset County
Council, has been awarded the same amount after leaving her post in
November".
These sums of themselves are offensive in that nobody in local exceed a cap on the public sector’s so-called ‘golden parachutes’. Jane
Portman, the managing director of Bournemouth Borough Council, is to
receive a pay and pension redundancy package of £473,000, it was
announced yesterday. Debbie Ward, chief executive of Dorset County
Council, has been awarded the same amount after leaving her post in
November".
You would think this would be bigger news, but it's not big news because
this is run of the mill. I've been keeping an eye on this exact sort of
story for more than ten years now and this is only newsworthy by way of
the figures involved being marginally higher than usual. It
occasionally makes the news but generally doesn't make it past above
local coverage. As offensive as it is, nobody has lifted a finger to do
anything about it.
this is run of the mill. I've been keeping an eye on this exact sort of
story for more than ten years now and this is only newsworthy by way of
the figures involved being marginally higher than usual. It
occasionally makes the news but generally doesn't make it past above
local coverage. As offensive as it is, nobody has lifted a finger to do
anything about it.
government management is worth that much and especially not for
midranking authorities in the rural shires. But when you account for the
fact that council at the bottom end is still more than £1000, that's
hundreds of households threatened with bailiffs and imprisonment if they
don't cough up to finance these parasites.
Some 2.2 million
people were visited by bailiffs in the last two years. Citizens Advice
have found that one in three people have seen bailiffs breaking the
rules, 40 per cent have suffered intimidation and there has been a 24
per cent increase in problems since the Government’s reforms were
introduced in 2014. The reforms themselves did nothing to address the
problem of bailiffs being self-regulating and accountable to nobody,
further entrenching the rip off fee system.
What's interesting in respect of these grotesque payouts is the circumstances
where Parliament, without seeking local consent, has passed legislation
for Dorset's nine councils to merge into two unitary authorities. Under
the plans, due to come into effect in April, Bournemouth, Poole and
Christchurch would merge. A second council would be formed from Dorset
County Council, East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, Weymouth &
Portland and West Dorset. Why council mergers go anywhere near
Westminster for approval escapes me.
legal challenge but in a joint statement, the leaders of the other eight
councils described the passing of the legislation as "an historic day
for local government" in the county. "These two new councils will have a
stronger, co-ordinated voice when bidding for government funding and
investment for things like road improvements, housing, schools and
economic regeneration; the things that benefit an area for all those
living within it".
More - Pete North Politics Blog: Britain's sham democracy
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