All Hail The New King Of Spin !

We think this is a picture of the guy in question.

Now who remembers the strange story of The Ladies of Hebden Bridge?.

This was a couple of Labour Party advisors who found themselves on the Council’s payroll and held such sway that like the mountain moving to Mohammed would summon leading councillors and council officers to God’s own country where it seems these political gurus would counsel the Council (although it’s never been fully explained what their role was or what the people of Wirral were actually paying for).

Then in the fallout from the scathing widespread public criticism that Wirral Council was a place where the abnormal was normal this bizarre little arrangement came to an end.

We now find out from a Conservative Party press release that a certain Martin Tittylip,sorry Liptrot  has been recruited as an ‘Executive Policy Officer’ on a salary of £45,737″  to ‘provide in-depth support to the Leader of Wirral Council’.

Furthermore we are told that Martin Trotsky ,sorry Liptrot, was the only person interviewed for the role and has, up until recently, been paid by the Labour Group to support political campaigning.

Details of Mr. Gobshite’s sorry Liptrot’s consultancy firm can be found here:  https://98republic.wordpress.com/

On his informative blog he tells us , among other things ,  that “Martin Liptrot is a loyal Labour supporter and Everton Fan. So is Andy Burnham….”

So we can see why he’ll fit in nicely with the powers that be at Wirral Council.Well maybe not the Andy Burnham bit. Frankenfield doesn’t seem too keen on Andy ” Maybe it’s Maybelline” Burnham.

Initial investigation has also established that Mr.Spinalot, sorry Liptrot also worringly describes himself as a “Public Affairs and Reputation Management Consultant”.

However the good news is that PR Week once described him  as an “energetic Wirral native and Wolverhampton Polytechnic graduate”  so at least he is a local lad and has impeccable academic credentials!.

Meanwhile the permanently outraged Tory leader Cllr Jeff “Outrageous” Green surprised no-one here at Leaky Towers by stating : “This is frankly outrageous.”

After raging about his outrage he goes on to say :

“There was no internal advertising, so existing staff could not apply.  There was no consideration given to a secondment role. Instead Cllr. Davies ordered the creation of this role which the net result is a political campaigner moved off the Labour Group’s books and onto the Council’s.

He continued: “I find it incredible that, when Cllr. Davies is continually berating the Government for lack of funding, he can find £45,000 for a political ally on top of the £17,000 per week we now know the Council is currently spending on consultants. When you consider the job description this person effectively is the de facto Leader of the Council. I have to wonder whether this is an admission from Cllr. Davies that he simply isn’t up to the job.”

Although the ruling Labour group are the focus of much of our criticism we are avowedly apolitical here at Leaky Towers.So what we find strange is the sudden interest in opposition parties in actually “opposing” the ruling Labour group. We also hear that there is an interesting development involving the 5 remaining Lib Dem councillors and the 1 Green councillor getting together to raise some important issues about Freedom of Information requests – more details as we get them.    

We have to ask ourselves whether this sudden lurch to effective opposition has been prompted by calls being discussed this evening about reducing councillors from 66 to 44.Our first thoughts were that less councillors means even less scrutiny and accountability but let us be frank , opposition councillors haven’t got a great record in holding the Labour group to account anyway.

This led us to ponder as to whether the appointment of this spin merchant strikes opposition councillors as a desperate measure by council leader Power Boy Pip and smelling blood they think the time is right to finally find their voice?.

Under the circumstances it seems that Mr. Tripsoffthelip ,sorry Liptrot is guaranteed to be the one Wirral Council consultant who’ll definitely be earning their fee!

Ghost Story

“Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that’s what.”

― Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

In trying to maintain it’s increasingly ridiculous Most Improved Council in The World Ever! tag Wirral Council is seeking to kick quite a few compromising Freedom of Information requests into the long grass.However there was one request from August 2014 which seemed destined to be resolved today with the release of a damning report relating to a long-running whistleblowing saga.

No – not that  whistleblowing saga – this particular ghost story doesn’t have the benefit of either Frankenfield’s patronage or an incriminating taped conversation to help find an amicable – if unethical ,immoral and probably illegal – resolution.

No –  this is the long-running BIG etc ; whistleblowing saga and the attempt by the whistleblower Nigel “Highbrow” Hobro to have an internal audit report which he believes holds the key to unravelling a cover up of serious financial mismanagement to finally be disclosed. Unsurprisingly Wirral Council believe the report “should not be in the public domain”.

For those thinking of embarking on the process of trying to get information out of Wirral Council might first be advised to read the tortuous history of this particular Freedom of Information request :

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/original_big_report#outgoing-449549

You will see here that Wirral Council – having resisted every attempt to drag them kicking and screaming into the  promised land of openness and transparency by yelling

” EXEMPTION !”  at every opportunity were forced to bring in the big guns or at least some highly paid barrister writing on behalf of Wirral Council CEO Eric Feeble to try and kick this FOI request into touch (or more accurately out of reach).

The convoluted excuse for refusing disclosure this time was because :  “the  disclosure would prejudice the public authority’s ability to offer an effective public service or to meet its wider objectives or purposes due to the disruption caused by the disclosure or the diversion of resources in managing the impact of disclosure.”

Huh?.Sounds to us like legalese for “can’t be arsed”

However the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) were having none of it and stepped in and gave Wirral Council 35 days to disclose the report.

The 35 days were up today and needless to say Wirral seem to have ignored the ICO ruling.

We now await to see whether Wirral Council will either belatedly release the report or continue to be secretive and obstructive and spend yet more public money on legal fees challenging the ICO decision notice.

Meanwhile it would seem to us that the the corridors of power at Wallasey Town Hall will continue to be haunted by the ghosts of unfinished business……

Postscript – and what do you know the report suddenly appears on What Do They Know website after office hours on the last day before the ICO could take action to force the Council to release the report !.We await expert analysis of the findings – that’s if there isn’t too many redactions!. 

How To Get Ahead In Local Government

This guide is not to be confused with “How to Get Head In Local Government” – although we do realise the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive! .

We’ve been rather distracted by this week’s excitement – which one our readers rather poetically described as “The Last Chime of the Bizarre Love Triangle” .

However we couldn’t let the following excellent exposé in the Wirral Globe go without giving it the Wirral Leaks once over :

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/13775064.EXCLUSIVE__Wirral_Council_freelance_staff_and_consultants_are_costing_taxpayers_millions/

Of course we’ve been banging on Wirral Council’s (mis)use of consultants for some time but we were particularly drawn to the case of one Phillip Ward who was previously involved with drawing up proposals to shut Lyndale School and is now the “interim senior manager of Special Educational Needs” struggling to get by on a weekly pay packet of £3,875. Yes, A WEEK.

Now we admit to not being familiar with Mr.Ward’s work but on that salary we anticipate that every boy and girl with special educational needs on Wirral will have had their lives considerably enhanced because of his well-renumerated expertise.

However sad to say that in our experience that’s not how it usually works.Indeed it seems there’s a constant trail of local government leeches swimming to Wirral to make big money for finding ways to spend less money on people who most need services!.As this new breed of “public servant” have no physical or financial attachment to Wirral  – they are more than happy to take the money and run.

We believe the precedent for Mr.Ward’s appointment was set by a certain Rob Vickers. Wirral Leaks readers may remember that it was Mr.Vickers ,who having taken “early retirement” from St.Helen’s Council could smell the money floating over the Mersey and fancied supplementing his pension  ……on a measly £515 a day!.Somewhat like Mr.Ward – Mr Vickers  “auditioned” for this lucrative gig first and establish that he was a “safe pair of hands” by producing a report which seemed to serve the Council’s purposes.The report by Mr.Ward concerned with the closure by Lyndale School and in Mr.Vickers case a whitewash of a report covering up the obscene 4 -week delay scandal where Department of Adult Social Services (DASS) illegally delayed care packages by at least  4 weeks to save some money and in the hope that the person in need of care died in the meantime.

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/end-of-days-4-week-delays-and-doing-what-pays/

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2013/03/11/forever-delayed/

It’s interesting to note that ex-Wirral Council whistleblower Martin Morton still seems to have a pea in his whistle about Mr.Vickers as one of his Freedom of Information requests revealed that :

Payment made to Artleboot Ltd. for work commissioned from Rob Vickers
(including ‘4 week delay’ case) was £6,624.96
Payment to SWIIS UK Ltd (via Matrix) for position as Interim Head of
Branch up unto March 31st 2014 when Mr. Vickers left was £172,136.92

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/once_we_go_for_a_reimbursement_t#outgoing-406815

That’s nearly £180,000 of public money for 19 months work and again we’d love to how the people of Wirral benefited from Vickers “expertise”.Indeed Morton seems to suggest that Vickers may have been involved in another cover up by DASS .Nice work if you can get it – and you can get it if you prove useful to the powers that be !.

This is what Super Duper Director Joe Blott must mean when he says :”The consultants we have appointed work alongside our current management team.They were appointed following due process as best people for the job in their areas of expertise.”

And I think we all know what Blott means when he answers questions about Ward’s current post and the eyewatering fees he is charging Wirral Council when he says: “The post is still vacant because despite advertising, we have been unable to appoint due to a lack of suitable candidates”.

I think we all know what he means by “suitable candidates” don’t we folks?.

We REALLY Do Need To Talk About Kevin

Correction : Now Not Playing

So as we hinted at before we were briefly sideblinded it is finally farewell then to Kevin Addled (aka Utterly Butterly) Wirral Council’s Super-Duper Director of Something or Other.

The man described by Private Eye magazine as the “the council’s chief fantasist” whilst posing the question: “Is this Britain’s most credulous man?”.

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/afrowirral/

Here Private Eye were of course referring to what Foulkesy would no doubt call Addled’s “bible -like devotion” to the Stella Shiu/Wirral Waters fantasy .

However with his sudden departure comes the inevitable nice big wad of public money. So what’s so unusual about that you ask?.Well can we suggest you try turning into work today and saying : “I’ve had enough of this crap – can I have a some dosh so I can get out and mess up elsewhere? ” and see what reaction you get.

Can I have a pile of cash about this big?

Meanwhile on Planet Wirral (where the abnormal is still very much the norm) a town hall representative is reported to have said : “The offer of a severance payment is open to all employees who have two years or more continuous service.All payments made are in line with our agreed and published voluntary redundancy scheme.Details of all severance payments are a matter between the council and the individual.”

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/13775971.Updated__Wirral_regeneration_chief_leaves_the_council_under_voluntary_severance/

And so because a deal is done behind closed doors and although it’s our money apparently we’re not allowed to know how big the bung is – well not for now anyway.Let’s be honest –  life’s too short for Freedom of Information requests so it’ll only be a matter of time before the information is leaked.

But then what do Wirral Council expect when much put upon staff witness special dispensation meted out to those-in-the-know and/or those-in-the-shit?.Any shred of loyalty there is to the council goes out of the window and the next thing you know there’s yet another entry in our bulging inbox.

However as we – and some in public office who have shamefully known for some time – there’s much more to this case and we think that in the public interest we really do need to talk about Kevin…….. particularly alongside 2 other former Wirral Council luminaries.

A proper adult conversation about the standards of behaviour that councillors tolerate, council staff endure and the public fund.

Indeed there may those currently checking out Wirral Leaks from sunny Portugal who may want to join in the forthcoming conversation……

Hidden Agenda -Update

The plot thickens.Apologies we are receiving conflicting information on this one.Let’s hope Wirral Council will be able to clarify the situation as soon as possible .But then this is what happens when they’re not open and transparent in the first place!.

Wirral Council Employment and Appointments Committee

Monday, 21st September 2015 5.00 pm

5.

Exempt Information – Exclusion of Members of the Public The public may be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information. RECOMMENDED – That in accordance with section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to that Act. The public interest test has been applied and favours exclusion.

6.

Voluntary Severance / Early Voluntary Requirement (sic) Explanation of Reasons By Virtue of Paragraph 1Information relating to any individual. Condition: Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Pie Chart in The Sky

Power Boy Pip : “People of Wirral – look at these lovely pie charts and all the pretty colours and tell me which colour should I paint the bar in Wallasey Town Hall?”

Thanks to the Wirral Globe for the pretty picture above and the accompanying story about the Wirral Council’s pledges attached to their 20/20 vision which is described as an “extraordinary step (that) has been taken in the battle against Government austerity with leaders of Wirral’s major public services agreeing to pool their budgets to form a massive £2bn fund.It is believed to be the first time in the UK that such a move has been attempted.The unusual proposal will have to overcome potential legal hurdles – and it is estimated it could take up to five years to complete.”

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/13766115.Wirral_public_sector_services_set_to_pool_their_budgets_to_create_massive___2bn_fund/?action=success#comment_14630436

Five years?.We think there is about as much chance of this happening as Stella Shiu flying in from Reno on a prize winning pumpkin to open an underwater golf resort on Wirral Waters !.

“There may be some legalities and rules we will have to get around, but I am confident it can be done.” pipes up Council “leader” Power Boy Pip Davies.

Oh we bet you are Pip – let’s face it Wirral Council have had plenty of practice getting round legalities and rules!.And anyway if this is about public services agreeing to pool their budgets what is Paula Basnett the CEO from Wirral Chamber of Horrors , sorry Chamber of Commerce doing there and what exactly did she bring to the party?.

Pip helpfully explains : ” …the plan is not entirely focused on funding and for it to be successful public and private sector bodies need to “come out of their silos” to work together for the common good”

We presume that in Wirral Council’s case that’ll be one of those “silos” filled with farmyard slurry.But back to Ms.Basnett – someone who has still has questions to answer about the Wirral Biz debacle and who’s organisation is increasingly being brought to our attention – and not in a good way!.Indeed former Wirral Council employee Ms.Basnett seems to be creating a mini-Wirral Council all of her own – right down to the nepotism.Indeed it has been suggested to us that the Wirral Chamber of Commerce seems to have been recruited from Paula’s “Friends & Family” list on her BT telephone bill – “ Hi Shazza it’s me Paula – do you fancy a job?”.

Reports from disgruntled people at Egerton House , which is now under the auspices of the Wirral Chamber of Commerce , are becoming louder and more frequent.Wirral Leaks readers will no doubt remember the start of the empire building which led to the Chamber of Commerce acquiring the Pacific Road venue at a peppercorn rent :

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/to-have-and-have-not/

Talking of empire building we are also being asked how on earth did Chamber of Commerce chair Asif Hamid get planning permission for a contact call centre in a prime position at the back of Egerton House?.

Search us ! – perhaps it was part of the ongoing charade that something was actually happening with Wirral Waters.

And talking of prime position the Wirral Chamber of Commerce will no doubt be the grateful recipient of Labour -controlled Wirral Council’s largesse as it continues to enthusiastically outsource and privatise public services.

There is nothing that infuriates us more at Leaky Towers than to listen to the continual self-righteous bleating about government cuts from Pip & co when it is they who so enthusiastically embrace Tory policy and ideology.Of which Wirral Council’s approach to the dreaded Bedroom Tax is perhaps the most heinous and shameful example.

Moreover it is no secret that Wirral Council have long wanted to outsource as much of their public services to private companies as they can.

And no wonder! –  it sounds like a Wirral Council wet dream.Just think – no troublesome staff whistleblowing and no pesky members of the public making Freedom of Information requests .It can only be a matter of time before Wirral Council becomes “Eric Feeble’s Commissioning (EFC) Hub” consisting of CEO Stressed Eric choosing essential services for the people of Wirral from a drop down menu on his laptop!.

But then they do say that part of Wirral Council’s problem that it has long been run by an EFC Hub !.

Room at the Top

Comrade Burgesski laughs in the face of austerity…..

Following on from our report about the further adventures of ex-Council legal boss Bill Norman we bring you news of another prominent former Wirral Council officer doing rather well for himself hitching a ride aboard the public service gravy train.

We’re talking about none other than the former head honcho himself ex-Wirral Council CEO Graham Burgess (aka Comrade Burgesski) as it would seem that the sly old silver fox has gone back to Blackburn. A place he describes as being “close to his heart” – somewhat like his bulging wallet.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/13754337.Ex_council_boss_to_take_on_leading_health_role_in_Blackburn/?ref=twtrec

We were surprised to see no mention of his appointment that followed directly on from his so called “retirement” from Wirral Council . As we reported in November 2014 :

“And so to the surprise of absolutely nobody we hear that outgoing  Wirral Council chief executive G-man Burgesski – has with indecent haste after announcing his alleged “retirement” – revealed he’s got a lucrative new gig as chairman of a newly-formed Northwest housing group called Torus. SEE HERE  

Burgesski cheekily says :“The size, scale and vision of what I have seen so far are really impressive.”

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/sindy-says/

Was this a case of Torus – the bullshit ? – or is greedy serial retiree Burgess job sharing?

However Burgess was and remains a puzzle to us at Leaky Towers. Sources have always insisted that his tenure as Wirral council’s CEO was a put up job by central government via the Local Government Association (with the initial approval of Birkenhead MP Frank Field) .This is supported by the fact that in quick succession Burgess went from being a specially invited guest from Blackburn on the Wirral Council/LGA Improvement Board which was set up the circumvent local government commissioners being sent in to run the show to acting CEO and within the blink of an eye to permanent CEO of Wirral Council.And just to square the circle he ends up back at Blackburn !.

For the life of us we can’t identify what Burgess brought to the party other than some useful contacts and his only lasting legacy will surely be the tarting up of Wallasey Town Hall.

Of course his days were numbered when ,how can we put this delicately? , certain  “distractions” got in the way and he was also proving to be an obstacle to Frankenfield’s plans to box off the Wirralgate scandal.

However if nothing else old Comrade Burgesski proves once again that there is always room at the top for those with the right connections.

Norman Conquests

We like to keep up with Wirral Council alumni who have moved on to pastures new and as we know there has been a steady stream of council officers leaving since Wirral Council’s Annus Horribilis of 2012 .They’ve usually left clutching a large cheque to a) keep them quiet b) reward them for abject failure or c) they’d served their purpose and were becoming a liability – and sometimes all three.

Some have gone on to sit on Trustee Boards or become Directors elsewhere – trying to put all that “unpleasantness” at Wirral Council behind them and pretending it had nothing to do with them.

One of the more fascinating Wirral wanderers who we’ve reported on is former council legal boss Bill Norman.Thankfully the long suffering folk of Hereford were quick to get in touch after they inherited this model of the modern day public servant.

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/picking-up-the-bill/

Now it would seem that with “immediate effect” Norman has relinquished his position at Hereford Council asking for and getting a third redundancy package following his lucrative stints at Torbay and Wirral.

http://m.herefordtimes.com/news/13714172.Changes_at_council_department/

The fact that Norman went with indecent haste suggests he either couldn’t wait to get out or Hereford Council couldn’t wait to get rid of him.This is also very reminiscent of his departure from Wirral Council – where there was always the puzzle as as to how a local authority can make someone who holds the statutory post of Monitoring Officer “redundant”.

The answer is that you simply can’t – but that doesn’t stop councils concocting a cover story to prevent the prying eyes of the public wanting to know how their money is being (mis)spent.

Needless to say the full story of Bill Norman’s debacle of a departure from Wirral Council has never been told but from what we know it is a salutary lesson in how leading councillors conduct themselves when it comes to backstabbing.

We’re particularly (though not exclusively) referring to Cllr Phil Davies relying on others to do his dirty work – a modus operandi which continues to this day and which highlights his weakness as a so-called “leader”.

As Bill Norman might have said:

Et tu Power Boy Pip  ?..…….

Of course now that Bill Norman is free of the encumbrances of public office and  – after 3 big pay-offs – we presume financially secure , he could perhaps contact us at wirralleaks@gmail.com and in the public interest divulge exactly what went on behind the scenes at Wallasey Town Hall as we believe that what went on then still influences a massive cover up that is going on now.

Troubled,Muddled & Puddled

We were casually observing the crowning of Jeremy Corbyn as the new Labour Party leader yesterday and looking out for our 4 local Labour MPs.

We saw Wallasey MP Angela Eagle mingling forlornly in the background looking like a lost sheep with a bad dye job after losing the Deputy Leader vote and Wirral South MP Ali Mac in her best funeral outfit angling for a post in the Shadow Cabinet despite backing Liz Kendall in the leadership contest.

We didn’t spot Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood who we think is just happy to be an anonymous MP and is well suited to the role.However whilst we didn’t clock Birkenhead MP Frankenfield we anticipated that he’d be delighted at Corbyn’s success especially as he’d made a song and dance about nominating him for the Labour leadership.

Or perhaps not!

As ever – nothing is as it seems with Our Frankie as despite nominating Corbyn he said he wasn’t going to vote for him in the leadership contest – as he explained back in July :

“My disappointment is what I hoped in getting Jeremy into the race is it would begin a debate. Jeremy is Jeremy and none of the others are prepared to challenge the impossibility of his programme.

However, Frank Field said if Corbyn were to win it would turn the party into a “political sect” and likely put Labour out of power for years.

“If he wins it brings a crisis point the Labour party is going to face. Is it going to be a party that serves the activists and develops as effectively a pressure group, becomes a sect in British politics, or is it actually going to be a party that is going to regain power? And there is no way we’re going to regain power with Jeremy’s programme.”

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/birkenhead-mp-frank-field-defends-9712490

So not exactly a ringing endorsement of the new Labour leader from Frankenfield then !.

But is anyone out there buying Frankenfield’s muddled thinking that his nomination for Corbyn was to spark “debate” rather than split the vote to prevent a Blairite (and especially Andy Burnham ) from getting the leadership nod?.Birkenhead’s MP has further stated that Corbyn’s success was a damning indictment of the failures of the other three candidates. As he spouted forth on this morning’s Sky News Corbyn’s  rivals : “offered nothing but thin Blair gruel” and in what seemed to us like an allusion to the current refugee crisis engulfing Europe he also stated that “Corbyn will direct the Labour ship to waters where the voters are not…..” 

No wonder Frankenfield is the Daily Mail’s Labour rent-a-gob.He now seems to be so out of touch with grass roots Labour supporters and their new found optimism that he truly does seem to be mutating into the vintage Steve Bell cartoon above (apologies for the poor reproduction) which presciently suggested even in 1997 that Frankenfield was the mutant lovechild of late Tory tyro “Mad Monk” Sir Keith Joseph with their jointly held right wing ideology of a behaviourally induced underclass which is not supported by research evidence and  “Mad” Frankie Fraser with his ruthless gang mentality where the East End of London is substituted by the North End of Birkenhead.

Of course we are particularly gleeful at Leaky Towers that the amateur hour Machiavellian plan has blown up in Frankenfield’s face as we are hoping that something similar will happen with the shady shenanigans that he has been involved with on the local political scene and which finally suggest to us that “The Unthinkable Frankie Field” is not only troubled and muddled – he’s utterly puddled.

For The Love Of Blogs

News reaches Leaky Towers that the local Labour group are getting a bit twitchy about this particular blog.

An inside source tells us : ” I know you were on the agenda for the last exec meeting , you’re worrying them – ha ! …..”

For the life of us we can’t think why !!! – however this did get us thinking about the proliferation of local blogs which seem to laugh in the face of the ridiculous claim that Wirral Council is the most improved local authority in the land.

This is also reflected in a story emanating from mainstream media sources such as the Wirral Globe and the Liverpool Echo  who have both reported this week on the unsurprising revelation that council staff absenteeism due to sickness is on the rise

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/13650839.Wirral_Council_sickness_levels_continue_to_rise_despite_management_crackdown/

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/wirral-council-sickness-levels-up-10008508#ICID=sharebar_facebook

Indeed from the information we receive we find it hard to disagree with a comment made by the appropriately named “Joe Blogger” on the Liverpool Echo website :

“Wirral Council. What a joke. No wonder staff are going off sick. The place is run by morons. The Social Services management team are a shambles and bullying is rife. Put that lot together and it’s a recipe for disaster.”

So much for lessons of history being learned!. We note that not only are sickness levels rising but it is reported that there is an almost total lack of staff appraisals being carried out by managers  – which suggests that council managers are both failing in their responsibilities and failing their staff by not wanting to listen to what they have to tell them.

We can only wonder whether council “leader” Power Boy Pip Davies shared this sorry state of affairs when he was schmoozing his peers at that increasingly ridiculous looking awards ceremony which led to Wirral Council being declared the Most Improved Council.

Perhaps one day we will be in  a position to share the shady shenanigans that we know went on behind the scenes which led to this wholly unwarranted accolade.

However Power Boy Pip seems to us to be a man who is increasingly uncomfortable in his own skin and well he might be!.

Whilst he may be able to blag the likes of the Local Government Association, the Local Government Chronicle and the endless parade of management consultants who after cashing the fat cheque head for some leafy enclave far from the badlands of Birkenhead , there seems to be a rising tide of dissenters and commentators joining us in realising that there’s something rotten in the state of Wirral Council.

So here’s a Wirral Leaks cut out and keep guide to those social media outlets which cut through the smoke and mirrors and reflect the true picture of how Wirral Council operates:

Wirral – the People Fight Back –  A Facebook campaign group raising awareness by compiling the horror stories that lie behind the local headlines.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Disillusioned-of-Wirral/1637227719856809?fref=ts

Brand New Brighton Rocks On – Another Facebook group who successfully led a campaign to challenge car park charges in New Brighton and who clearly have an understanding of how Wirral Council operates.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brand-New-Brighton-Rocks-On/101238503553982?fref=ts

John Brace – A blog about Wirral Councillors & Officers – a collection of video nasties ( filmed council meetings) and a forensic eye for detail that frequently puts council officers and councillors to shame.

http://johnbrace.com/

Wirral In it Together  – Indomitable Freedom of Information campaigner Paul Cardin and his eviscerating commentary on Wirral Council have featured in the national press and in a government report by the National Audit Office.

https://wirralinittogether.wordpress.com/

The Morton Distortions  – Former Wirral Council whistleblower Martin Morton currently telling tales previously untold and a particularly good source on the Wirralgate saga.

https://malcontentx.wordpress.com/about/

It is a sobering thought that without these blogs the people of Wirral would be unaware of the litany of sin committed in Wirral Council’s name.Accordingly we would ask the powers that be at Wirral Council to consider two things:

Firstly – instead of pushing the responsibility for “stress management” back on to your staff how about looking at the poisonous culture that you’ve created –  an anti-Darwinian primordial swamp where it is not the survival of the fittest it is the survival of the slimiest.

Secondly – if you don’t listen to your staff they will find other outlets for their grievances.For example have you ever considered why your staff , acting in the public interest , frequently leak stories to this particular blog?.

Talking of which we’ve got some spectacular leaks in our in-box just waiting the thumbs up from our sources. Believe us Power Boy Pip and co have very good reason to feel uneasy – so on reflection perhaps it is no wonder that Wirral Leaks is an agenda item.

Therefore all that is left to say to the people of Wirral is to keep on reading those blogs……….