Norfolk local government is set for a shakeup with plans for unitary authorities or a single super council to be set up for the whole county. The problem is, nobody seems to have told South Norfolk Council or Breckland.
Breckland Council are determined to farm out some departments to outside companies (presumably meaning the staff getting farmed out would not be guaranteed an equal chance of getting jobs in the new super councils, after all only existing council staff will be considered for jobs). What utter chaos this will cause if some parts of Norfolk have farmed out their services to private companies when all the services have to be merged together.
Then there is South Norfolk, who are advertising a £100,000 a year vacancy for chief executive when the council may not exist in a few months time. Presumably South Norfolk Tories who run the council feel that allowing to the council to have an acting chief exec is not the way to go. South Norfolk electors who will have to pay the £100,000 salary (and redundancy pay presumably if the merger of the councils goes ahead) would probably disagree.
4 comments:
Nich, much as I love Norfolk, this post horrifies me. Why is it that local government attracts the sort of idiots that I would refuse to employ?
A few months' time is a bit strong, surely? Recommendations in September for Blears' decision in December. I think that's aspiring to elect the new Council in June 2009, though I suspect that will start to look a slightly optimistic timescale by December.
It is worrying that Breckland are attempting to effectively lose staff their jobs and exclude them from the possibility of taking jobs at a new unitary council.
Privatising planning jobs will mean that council staff will have to move to an outside company, but when a new unitary takes over these staff will not have the same rights to the new planning jobs because they will not be council employees thus making them redundant.
It shows how little Breckland value their staff.
Classic example of Breckland's arrogance! They are so scared about unitary, they are sending the most outrageous press releases saying everyone's council tax in the district would double etc if unitary happened. Also shows their little regard for staff, they already have the worst redundancy package of any district council in Norfolk so staff are naturally concerned that they would be 'got rid of' first if there was any surplus to requirements. TJ
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