Old Boy’s Network – No Girls Allowed

Rotheram’s lot = Not a lot of ladies!

We note Liverpool Echo are late to the party yet again – as they suddenly raise questions about the newly announced male dominated Metro Mayor cabinet.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/who-metro-mayor-steve-rotherams-13110884

Not only was this picked up elsewhere beforehand

http://www.ybnews.co.uk/regional-development/metro-mayors-men-women/

but Wirral Leaks picked up that it was testosterone-a-go-go when it comes to Liverpool City Region politics a long time ago. November 2015 to be precise. Clearly the newly installed Metro Mayor Steve ‘The Brickie’ Rotheram thinks that ‘Diversity’ is a dance troupe from Britain’s Got Talent.

Northern Outhouse

However we had to laugh that Rotheram has confirmed that Wirral Council ‘leader’ Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies will be his cabinet member for ‘Economic Development and Culture’.

Although Pip seems incapable and/or unwilling to tackle the toxic culture afflicting Wirral  Council no doubt the appointment will help Pip in his attempt to box off the Hoylake Golf Resort scheme!

Needless to say a place was found in the Cabinet for  (M)Asif Hamid, who is the chair of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) . So that’s at least one diversity box ticked !…..

Bank Holiday Bonus

A much valued Wirral resident has sent us the following message. We’d like to think the bank holiday bonus tale they’ve been told is bogus – but then again this is Wirral Council and as everyone knows they’d pay anything to shovel up their shite!

‘I was talking to a bin crew today who tell me that for every bank holiday they work they get 7x normal pay per day.  And as we know there are a quite few bank holidays each year…..I was almost 100% SURE that the guys were telling me the truth…FFS who on earth would agree to that ! Talk about money to burn….
On a separate note Blue Flag inspectors are looking at parks next week hence every green space in Hoylake, West Kirby has had all the crews thrown at them to make them look good!
You might also investigate that over £125,000 has been spent on Dee Lane toilets in last 3 months!! But now they are considering selling the lot! What a f waste of our money!
Am sure FOI will confirm.
Enjoy.’

We’d like to enjoy but we can’t…..mainly because we’re paying for it! And we leave FOI requests to others – as life is far too short to wait for Wirral Council to respond in a timely manner!

However we’d appreciate any spotters who witnessed the Blue Flag inspectors in motion! Or indeed anyone who’s been hanging round the Dee Lane toilets!

Election Selection : Week 6

Understandably, considering this week’s atrocities in Manchester , politics and the general election in particular has been put firmly in its place. That place being a self-serving sideshow – most usually played out in the gutter.

Et Tu, Frankie?

Talking of which we note this week that Birkenhead MP Frank Field took some time out from writing for his usual safe havens  ( The S*n, The Daily Mail) to get a letter printed on enemy territory in The Grauniad  (aka The Guardian).

https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/21/how-might-labour-get-a-fair-hearing-for-its-popular-policies

Note how Frankenfield stabs the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn  , ever so politely, in the back:

‘In the event of a defeat on 8 June, Jeremy’s manifesto must be the point from which a new PLP alone chooses a parliamentary leader who is able to build trust and legitimacy with the electorate. For the new parliamentary leader not to start from here, and to revert to Blairism, would miss the point of just how much Jeremy has changed centre-left politics. The test which must be passed in the new parliament is to combine a popular programme with a leader who possesses prime ministerial qualities.’

So basically, having apparently already conceded defeat , the bitter and twisted poverty tourist says he likes Jezza’s policies but he thinks his main failing is that he lacks the gravitas of his late heroine, Margaret Thatcher . With the narrowing gap in the opinion polls we’re left wondering whether Frankenfield has made a very rare political mis-step or is he just being spectacularly disloyal and duplicitous as usual?

Manifesto Fun

Quite rightly ,one of last week’s commentators took us to task about  whether we’d actually read each political parties manifestos for the forthcoming general election. To which we could only reply – ain’t nobody got time for that!

So following on from our commentary about the Resolution Foundation’s analysis of the manifestos of the two major political parties and the similarity between their welfare policies we move on to expert opinion on the manifesto pledges dealing with finance and crime ( is there a difference we hear you cry !).

Financial think tank, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) , tells us that neither the Conservative or Labour Party party’s general election manifestos sets out an honest set of choices :

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/26/conservative-labour-tax-spending-plans-ifs-general-election-manifesto

And so it would appear that you pays your money and you’re stuffed either way you vote!

Meanwhile the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies published their assessment of the key manifesto pledges by the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats.

With the appalling events which took place in Manchester this week their analysis takes on greater significance. Interestingly they reject the notion that , given the lack of strong evidence that more police cut crime, a policy to increase police numbers is not desirable. This points to a broader challenge, as Will McMahon argues in a comment piece on the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies website in May 2017

Click to access UKJPR%20Focus%2C%20Assessing%20the%20Manifestos%2C%20May%202017.pdf

 The resourcing of mental health workers and social workers to manage demand presently met by police officers should be a high priority. This would necessarily mean an overall shift in government budgets away from policing and towards the training and employment of social work and mental health professionals. This approach could lead to a radically downsized and less publicly visible police force, shorn of its social work responsibilities and instead, focusing on the estimated 16 per cent of incoming calls to command and control centres that are actually about law-breaking.

As we’ve said before – the information is out there to make your electoral choice. All we ask is that you make it an informed one!

Another Blank Halliday

Lord Leaky’s Bullshit Detector is fully engaged.

Wirral Council workers must be breathing a huge sigh of relief as the second long weekend of May beckons. Shame it’s going to piss down tomorrow . But hey folks ! – at least you’re not in work on Monday.

We thought we’d leave this story for this weekend as it neatly book-ends the first May bank holiday story we ran and because that’s how we roll at Leaky Towers !

Blank Halliday

Accordingly this follow up is prompted by indomitable Wirral citizen Charles Nunn who’s still on the Stewart Halliday case. A Freedom of Information request about who exactly has the power to sign off a £188,000 employment contract whilst leaving the background checks to a recruitment agency  Matrix , who it would seem believe everything that’s written on a CV but don’t know how the interweb thingy works. This means they didn’t spot that the transformation guru had a chequered past with his previous employer – City of York Council (CYC) –  before hotfooting over the Pennines for a high chequed future in the desperado haven that is Wirral Council.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/who_authorised_the_appointment_o?nocache=incoming-980522#incoming-980522

Needless to say Wirral Council rather sneakily failed to answer Charles’ seemingly simple question . He asked who ‘authorised’ the shameful Halliday appointment. However they answered who had ‘overseen’ the appointment and , of course, failed to provide a name. Because we can’t upset Wirral council most senior snowflakes – after all we’re just here to pay their wages!

Consequently Charles asked us if we knew who could be the ‘ Council’s Senior Manager Transformation & Resources’  , but to be honest there are so many blighters with ‘Transformation’ in the title it could be any number of them. They’re like the ‘Transformers’ movie franchise but without the benefit of Megan Fox astride a motorbike. Children’s Services may not be able to recruit and retain staff but the ‘Transformers’ are everywhere.

We’d pin our money someone called Michele Duerden being Halliday’s authorisee as she is described as ‘Senior Manager Transformation and Improvement’ but we could be wrong . It could easily be Stephen Butterworth or Alan Evans . However we do note that Ms Duerden has just finished recruiting for a ‘Programme Manager ‘ ,  a post which is described thus:

This is an exciting new opportunity for an experienced programme manager to play a central role in delivering Transformation within Wirral Council. We have committed to the modernisation of services, and the delivery of improved operational efficiency and effectiveness. We are investing in digital infrastructure and capability to support business transformation as well as establishing a new change and business improvement capability.

The post-holder will be accountable for the management and development of programmes ensuring agreed outputs and outcomes are delivered. The role will ensure quality levels of delivery in line with the standards developed by the Programme Management Office (PMO).

As a PRINCE2 Practitioner you will drive an integrated, consolidated and consistent Council-wide approach to programme management, supported by the appropriate governance arrangements, processes and stakeholder engagement.

https://ww3.wirral.gov.uk/jobs/jobdetail.asp?VacancyID=7794&Other=

After reading that BS we’re no clearer as to what a Transformation ‘ Programme Manager’ actually does. Just as our friend Charles is none the wiser who’s signing the cheques for this latest expensive exercise in Emperor’s New Clothes. But hey ! – let’s not forget it keeps a lot of middle class no marks in gainful employment ……..and yet at the same time it’s everything that’s wrong with local government!

 

Political Manoeuvres In The Dark

We don’t know whether you’ve been playing close attention to forthcoming Council meetings –  we have. But before we go into detail we first need to remind everyone of the furore that surrounded the Wirral Council delegation that jetted off to the MIPIM event in Cannes earlier this year in pursuit of international investment.

That Riviera Touch

Appropriately enough the French Riviera has long been known as a ‘sunny place for shady people’ and accordingly we were promised an update from Wirral Council’s wannabe Billionaire Boy’s Club about all the millions,billions and zillions that would be flowing into Wirral, and particularly Birkenhead , as a result of  Wirral Council’s ‘offer’ at a planned Cabinet meeting to be held earlier today. Needless to say we were breathless with anticipation at Leaky Towers at the announcement,  as with Martin Liptrot’s spin, Eric Robinson’s charisma and  Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies’ power of persuasion – what could possibly go wrong?

But lo and behold and as you can see – the meeting was cancelled . First of all we thought it could be because of purdah but then we saw that there was a Cabinet meeting arranged for June 5th – which as you know is before the General Election to be held on June 8th . That means that it couldn’t be purdah that caused the meeting to be cancelled. Therefore we can only hope and pray that Pip and his ever growing team of highly paid ‘transformers’ have a special surprise for us all at the re-arranged meeting, as we don’t think we can go through another Wirral Waters and the extended series of false dawns we experienced courtesy of  Sam Wa and their special emissary, Stella Shiu.

Having said all that , what we couldn’t  find on the Wirral Council website of forthcoming attractions is a Standards Panel which apparently will discuss an investigation report covering 3 complaints against a certain councillor from 3 different complainants. 

Once again we have an overwhelming sense of deja vu as Wirral Council’s ruling Labour group desperately attempt to cover up the dark,dark heart at the centre of their administration. Lest we forget it’s almost a year since the last attempted cover up of alleged elected member misconduct :

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2016/06/28/the-gaslighters-silent-but-deadly/

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2016/06/29/behind-closed-doors/

However rest assured dear readers we will be shining a light on their shady shenanigans no matter how much they wish to keep us all in the dark !

Election Selection : Week 5

Storm the barricades: Power Boy Pip in his ‘The North Face’ windcheater doesn’t know whether to laugh at Cllr Brian Kenny in a hi-viz jacket or cry that he could have been the MP for Wirral West

Corbyn’s Tour of Wirral

As we have previously highlighted, the Wirral West constituency is the only local point of interest for us in the forthcoming General Election as it promises to be a closely contested marginal seat . Hence the presence of Jezza himself yesterday on West Kirby beach in support of current Labour MP, Margaret Greenwood. Let’s face it – in terms of profile it’s an improvement on ‘Lord’ Prescott and Labour Deputy John McDonnell who turned up to do the good cop/bad cop routine last time around.

Nevertheless our sources tell us it was much like the weather –  despite the numbers it was a bit of a damp squib. Organisers couldn’t quite co-ordinate the Corbyn motorcade with The Velvelettes classic  ‘He Was Really Sayin’ Somethin’ booming out on the PA – but full marks (or should that be Marx) for trying.

Corbyn turned up later as the support act for The Libertines at Prenton Park at the ‘Wirral Live’ concerts taking place over the weekend – although we’re not sure it’s exactly ethical that people turning up for a pop concert should be involuntarily treated to a party political broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party. Having said that we couldn’t name a Libertines tune between us here at Leaky Towers. But we suspect that lead singer Pete Doherty would most definitely feel at home round here and would have no doubt provided a boost to the local economy. Just sayin’

Working Hard For Frankenfield

Some of you lucky people have received Birkenhead MP Frank Field’s campaign leaflet published by his political agent Cllr George Davies. We know this as we’ve been forwarded a copy. First thing to say is why did Gorgeous George bother wasting Labour party funds on publishing such a pointless item when we all know that all Frankenfield needs to do to get elected is NOT support a corrupt local regime complicit in the abuse of vulnerable people. Oh………..

The leaflet is most curious as Frankenfield seems to concede that the forthcoming General Election is a foregone conclusion.

He says he’s going to:

• Push the new government to negotiate a Brexit settlement that makes our country fairer and more prosperous while enabling us to control our own borders ,our own laws and our own taxpayer’ money
• Build pressure on the new government to protect and strengthen the NHS and social care
• Encourage the new government to place every household automatically onto the cheapest available tariff for their gas and electricity

So is he saying – the Conservative Party is a shoo-in or that he will be challenging his own party? Modern politics can be so confusing! As far as we’re concerned there appears to be a hare’s breath between all of the political parties after your vote. Not least when you consider Theresa May’s Tory Smorgasbord of policies nicked from left,right and centre.

For example did you know that analysis of party manifestos by Resolution Foundation shows Jeremy Corbyn would go ahead with most of former Tory chancellor George Osborne’s planned benefits cuts. This includes at least a £7bn slash to welfare even if Labour wins power. Apparently three-quarters of the huge package of benefit cuts announced by the former chancellor in 2015 are yet to be implemented, including a major reduction in support given to the low-paid, and limiting payments to families with more than two children. Did Jezza mention any of this during his rousing speeches over the weekend?  Just askin’ .

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/20/labour-manifesto-keep-planned-tory-benefit-cuts-resolution-foundation?CMP=share_btn_tw

Finally – we just need to reiterate our apolitical credentials. We do not intend to exert any political influence over our readers. All we ask is that you question everything, especially when ongoing political campaigns seem to confirm the old adage that politics is showbiz for ugly people!

 

Where’s Wally?

Hopefully readers will be pleased to hear that Dr Robert B Smith is still on Wirral Council’s case. This time he’s trying to elicit a response from their CEO Eric ‘Feeble’ Robinson to queries he made via email over 6 months ago. Dr Smith has contacted all 66 councillors in asking whether Stressed Eric’s conduct was a) acceptable or b) unacceptable.

As far as we know the only councillor to respond was Cllr Walter Smith. We’ll leave you to read his email and Dr Smith’s meticulously researched riposte. However we would comment that as far as we’re concerned it’s a case of  ‘Walter by name , Wally by nature’. Indeed Cllr Smith has recently been observed on the campaign trail wearing a red fleece with his name printed on the back. Presumably to help him remember who he is if he get’s lost.  However if we were ever asked the question –  ‘Where’s Wally ?’ we’d have to say  : ‘In denial’……..

Dear Dr Smith,

I presume that there must be a reason for a failure to respond to your request. I suggest that you involve your local councillor. By the way WBC has never been better run than it is today. The officers do a good job, and we councillors have received the award of ‘The Most Improved Council’.

Kind regards,

Walter Smith.

Dear Cllr Walter Smith

It was my intention to circulate all Wirral Councillors with the results of my earlier survey, and reply  to you individually. I only asked for ‘unacceptable’ or ‘acceptable’ as a response. However, given your more expansive response to me, it would seem apposite to circulate my response more broadly.

Firstly, given your response, and the fact that you are a collective employer, why don’t you ask Mr Robinson what is his ‘reason for a failure to respond’? My assessment would be that he is unable to put anything in writing that would not seriously compromise his position.

Shall we take the latest development in the appalling situation regarding the Wirral Safeguarding Board, as a starting point?

The Government’s intervention by installing Eleanor Brazil to endeavour to address the numerous failings, speaks volumes regarding capability. As does Mr Robinson’s claim in the Wirral Globe given his background;

Eric Robinson, chief executive, said: “We have made some changes in terms of social care and I will now work with Julia Hassall”.
“My background is in Children’s Services so I will oversee the work”. (Wirral Globe 20 Sep 2016)

The press coverage of the sentencing of Brothers Vinothan and Ilavarasan Rajenthiram, jailed for 40 years for grooming and sexual exploitation of vulnerable young girls in Wirral, included the following comment – “Over a five-year campaign Ilavarasan and Vinothan Rajenthiram groomed and sexually abused vulnerable young girls from Wirral, all known to Wirral Council”. That would go back to 2012 and doesn’t support the assertion of your 3^rd sentence. Actually, it also blows a considerable hole ‘, in the claims made in your 4^th sentence as well as in the credibility of the fantasy ‘The Most Improved Council 2015′ award.

Now, with regard to ‘The Most Improved Council’ award. I have discussed this award, and its credibility with Dr Gill Taylor of the Local Government Association (LGA). You will remember her from the ‘LGA Improvement Board’. I have also corresponded with the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) and Government Ministers. It was actually a Local Government Chronicle Award, one of a range of local government awards given by a local government subscription periodical. This ‘Most Improved’ award was apparently never awarded prior to 2015, and it has never been awarded since – too many burned sponsors fingers, I suspect.

You may remember Graham Burgess? Yes, he who breezed into the ‘Improvement Board’ in 2012/13 as a peer reviewer (at the request of the LGA and Michael Frater). At the time Graham Burgess was CEO of Blackburn & Darwen Council (which incidentally had won the LGC ‘Council of the Year’ award in 2011).

The recruitment of Graham Burgess as ‘interim’ CEO of Wirral Council was an ‘interesting’ process. And as for the permanent position – 8 applications…1 successful interviewee?

Quite like self-proclaimed Labour activist Mr Liptrot and his published email thread to Cllr Phil Davies. Not to mention Mr Liptrot’s numerous conflicts of interest. It was fortunate that Mr Tour felt absolutely compelled to ‘remind him about’ occupying a ‘politically restricted’ post whilst it was reported he had several contracts across Merseyside. With Wirral Council’s plummeting reputation, and no Joe Anderson metro-mayor bandwagon to ride on, it appears that a side-step to promote unattainable investment ‘opportunities’ matches a mythical skillset. So we witness a frenetic appointment ‘crucial’ before the Cannes visit to MIPIM. Expedience which truly stretches credulity.
But back to Graham Burgess.
Wirral Council’s own press release described him as a ‘leading light’ of the LGA. He was also a regular contributor to, and endorser of the LGC. For the 2015 ‘Most Improved’ award, the ‘live panel’ presentation was made by Graham Burgess and Cllr Phil Davies to assessors comprising mainly LGA member Chief Executives. (Doncaster Council, the 2015 award runner-up is an interesting study. Even more so if you add WBC, LGA, SOLACE, ex-WBC staff and very low interest loans into the mix.)

It is a shallow exercise in massaging political egos, and self-promotion for the LGA (and the LGC) to promote the ‘LGA Sector-led Improvement programme’ and the ‘peer review’ mechanism. If you achieve some supposed ‘improvement’, by some supposed ‘measure’ or ‘other’ and provide the tea and biscuits, the LGA will bask in the glory, and parade an individual (in Wirral’s case Cllr Phil Davies) around the country, as a ludicrous example, of a ‘success story’.

It is evident that aspiring to mediocrity underpins the peer review process, and serial under-achievement is the benchmark of ‘improvement’. This is displayed in pyrotechnic fashion in Wirral Council, where documents by both the LGA and Anna Klonowski quote wording proclaiming ‘…in her report, of 2012 Ms Klonowski highlights how at Wirral Council “the abnormal has become the norm”.’

That is 5 years ago. The ‘LGA Improvement Board’ covered the period March 2012 until November 2013 and then, its job done, disbanded. The LGA produced a glossy brochure detailing Wirral’s ‘improvement journey’. The summary introducing the document makes interesting reading and includes this claim.

Eighteen months after Wirral developed and implemented their action plan with the LGA, the Improvement Board that provided advice and oversight of Wirral’s improvement journey reported that sector-led improvement had “transformed” the Council to one that was “stable, well-led, open and far more inclusive.” If you don’t recognise that description, and I certainly don’t, here is the link. http://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/wirral-councils-sector-le-40f.pdf

An interesting comment in the Liverpool Echo published 8^th May 2013 from Cllr Harney at the time of establishing the ‘LGA Improvement Board’ Cllr Harney said the council needs “a great deal more openness and much more rigorous performance management”.
He added: “People, councillors, senior managers and the public, have not been aware of what has been going on.”

One aspect of the withdrawal agreement with the Improvement Board, was that Opposition Councillors would occupy the Chairs of Scrutiny Committees. Is that still the case Cllr Smith? No of course it isn’t. All scrutiny committee chairs were taken by Labour councillors in 2014. That casting vote, as required to achieve the prescribed outcome, is crucial to driving unopposed decision-making, but also negates independent scrutiny, accountability and transparency.

Coupled with other constitutional changes giving sweeping new powers to Cabinet members, and a forthcoming fallow year for elections in 2017, any prescribed outcome is attainable. Add to that heady mix the ruling group en-bloc voting and abstention regimes, and what results? Mythical resident’s surveys aside, and resident ‘information deficit’, party-political voting which mostly ignores constituents’ wishes e.g. Girtrell Court and Lyndale School thrives. As you will know, these deliberate changes effectively create the situation where power rests solely with Cllr Phil Davies. How would you describe that model of administration?

Graham Burgess’ apparently effortless ‘soft-shoe shuffle’ into Wirral’s CEO position preceded the 2015 LGC ‘Award’. The Guardian newspaper published, on 10 Apr 2014, the 3^rd in the series ‘Public Service Tango’ – Headlined ‘One leader, one chief executive – and a joint vision for their council’s future’ – a far from enlightening piece by Graham Burgess and Cllr Phil Davies. A good journalist would normally extract a ‘riveting quote’, or an ‘earth-shattering insight’ from the article to draw the reader into this revelatory discourse.

This must be the best available. “Wirral council’s leader and chief executive attend each other’s meetings and welcome ideas from all employees”. An absolutely breath-taking insight you must agree – but does it actually matter? Well yes, and, no.

Actually it doesn’t in this specific case as one learns nothing, but of more interest is this extract from a paragraph beneath the published article.
Phil Davies is leader of Wirral council; Graham Burgess is the council’s chief executive. This collection of articles on the relationship between public managers and politicians is supported by SOLACE and is running on the Guardian Public Leaders Network from March to June 2014.

I know that you will be on the edge of your seat by now, Cllr Smith, but what happens next? You will take solace from what happens next.

The very, very low-key publishing of the November 2015 ‘peer review’ follow-up, of Wirral Council, by the LGA. You may not know the then-Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council, but you should. His name is Mark Rogers – http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birmingham-city-council-chief-executive-12625426

Mark Rogers was the CEO of Birmingham City Council, a member of the LGA and SOLACE, which if you don’t know is the Society Of Local Authority Chief Executives. It is most likely that Eric Robinson (from neighbouring Staffordshire) and Graham Burgess, and Cllr Phil Davies would know him. Not only was he a member of SOLACE (supporting the Guardian article), but he was its President until October 2016.

Birmingham CEO Mark Rogers (LGA member and SOLACE President) was one of the ‘experts’ who undertook the ‘peer review’ of 2015 which unlike the ‘sector-led improvement journey’, and the farcical ‘Most Improved Council 2015’ award, was unleashed on an unwitting public without fanfare and illustrates regression, not improvement. I would imagine that even Mark Rogers would struggle signing that review off, with his background in children’s social care?

Does that look familiar, given Eric Robinson’s previous employment?
At this point, the question for me is where do I stop ‘joining the dots’?
I have only scratched the surface of the machinations of Wirral Council above, but you will get a flavour of why I have some difficulty taking your response seriously.

Wirral Council ruling administration is in serious trouble, and using great swathes of public money to defend the indefensible, is actually indefensible.

I look forward to receiving your response,
Your sincerely

Dr Robert B Smith FCMI

ps I would be making these observations and comments whatever the political colour of any Council administration conducting itself in this manner.

Bernie The Bruiser Plays The Blame Game

Bernie’s glare makes grown men weep.

The latest instalment in the scandalous Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) case which is mainly being played out by press release to the Liverpool Echo involves the new Cabinet lead for Children’ Services and also the new- frighteningly – Deputy Leader of the Council, Bernie Mooney.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/warning-more-heads-roll-wirral-13054956

Anyway Bernie the Bruiser has gone all gung ho on us and told us that she ” will leave no stone unturned” in finding out how opportunities were missed to protect young girls from abuse and “if that means heads will roll ,so be it”

Oh give over,love, we all know that’s never going to happen with Wirral Council’s senior managers . As we can see from the ‘resignation’ of  Director of Children’s Services, Julia Hassall . Now in the real world ,if someone resigns , they resign and go on to ‘greater challenges’, ‘spend time with their long suffering family’ or take up gardening/golf/alcoholism  and that’s the end of it. Not with Wirral  Council . Oh no – ‘resignees’  get a pay off to make sure that none of the culpability for myriad failures can lead back to the self serving power elite. Somewhat like a slug trail. Yes, best put the stone back in place and keep the slugs out of the glare of the sun. Has anyone noticed that after all the high profile departures in the officer ranks these past few years (and at our expense) that the same old incompetent,dishonest and corrupt councillors are still running the show?

And as for the claim that ‘heads will roll’  – that caused our eyes to roll.  Because if Bernie the Bruiser was true to her word she’d have her Labour colleague Cllr Moira McLaughlin’s head on the chopping block for starters. We have to await the publication of the forthcoming Serious Case Review into the CSE horror story to find out where agencies and which particular personnel let abused girls down.

However we know already that there has undoubtedly been a failure of scrutiny by Wirral Council. We also know that the Serious Case Review goes back to a time when their governance arrangements were found to be wanting  and which contributed to a series of damning reports involving Adult Social Services. So what did subsequent administrations decide? – give the scrutiny of BOTH Adult Social Services and Children’s Social Services to the political lead previously responsible for failing vulnerable adults. Step forward Matron McLaughlin! You really couldn’t make this shit up!

Told You So

Accordingly might we suggest that Bernie the Bruiser needs to go easy with the threats for now because if she’s  prepared to  batter already battered staff into submission and play the blame game she needs to ensure that the stone she’s unturning doesn’t get chucked back at her.

Basket Case Review

Even gormless Wirral Council ‘leader’ Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies must know he’s in big trouble when the usually lazy and compliant  Wirral edition of the Liverpool Echo runs the front splash – Wirral Council boss ‘must resign’  followed by a double page spread headlined  ‘Five Years of Shame : How Wirral Social Services Failed Its Most Vulnerable’ and ‘Leader Under Pressure To Quit Over Child Abuse Failings’.

It comes to something when the most complicit agent of Wirral Council’s armoury of reputation management realises that artist’s impressions of the International Trade Centre on Wirral Waters just doesn’t cut it when a couple of miles away young girls are being groomed and abused in a tawdry cornershop.

And as for the mantra ‘ lessons have been learned’. Just cut it out. We don’t care if it’s Pip, new Cabinet member for Children’s Services Bernie Mooney ( Gawd’elp us) or the new Chair of Wirral’s Children’s Safeguarding Board – Dr Maggie Atkinson who use the dreaded phrase . Dr Atkinson in particular needs to realise the people of Wirral have been here many times before and we’ve had enough of the platitudes and the cliches and the soundbites.

How we remember another so-called Doctor  – Dr Gill Taylor from the Local Government Association (LGA) who breezed in the last time Wirral needed an Improvement Board and then breezed out with plaudits and pay cheques for the LGA  and abolutely nothing for the people as she declared ,yes you guessed it, lessons have been learned.

I suppose we have to wait for the publication of the Serious Case Review in the summer before we can FULLY judge the failings of Wirral Council and other statutory agencies involved in the appalling Rajenthiram brother’s depraved exploitation of our most vulnerable.

Although we have to say a Serious Case Review (SCR) is a step in the right direction. The last time an Improvement Board was set up they’re wasn’t even a  SCR to consider when a vulnerable adult had been found dead after 13 hours after repeated warnings that his placement with an abusive organisation linked to drugs money laundering was putting him at grave risk.

Finally can we say – fuck what Ipsos MORI tell us – the most disempowered members of our community, young vulnerable girls, do not need their ‘information deficit’ met by Wirral View .They need protection and support from the agencies that get paid handsomely to do their jobs.  Not much to ask is it?

ps  can we just hope you’re all tuning into ‘Three Girls’ right now  on BBC1

 

You Can’t Go Wrong

Wirral Globe followed up the announcement of the resignation of  Julia Hassall -Wirral Council’s Director of Children’s Services –  by publishing a leaked email which was sent to Wirral’s teachers.

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/15287600.Leaked_email_reveals_no_regrets_for_Wirral_Council_s_departing_child_safeguarding_chief/

Inevitably it was also leaked to us (and is published in full below) . Even more inevitably we feel the need to deconstruct Julia’s touching message for Wirral Leaks readers.

We’ve also received further leaks that suggest that morale in Children’s Services is at an all time low. As we’ve said before this is THE most difficult work and the biggest responsibility any council worker could ever have. The personal safety and future life chances of other people’s children are entirely dependent on them. So why do Wirral Council ask staff to work in the most toxic and dysfunctional environment you could ever imagine?

Might we suggest that what doesn’t help the situation is receiving the following  leak: ‘Keep an eye on newly appointed senior manager Simone White. She was a lack lustre team manager at Wirral Council children’s services for many years until joining OFSTED as a senior inspector.  Conflict of interest ??’

Or just another opportunist on the local government gravy train. Somewhat like dear Julia herself. In her farewell letter she inevitably tells us about the ‘improvement journey’ . Presumably this journey involved an improvement to her bank balance , as no doubt she will be another recipient of a tidy severance package as yet another reward for failure paid for by us.

On Wirral it seems ‘you can’t go wrong’ even when you go wrong !- but only if you’re a senior manager and a) you know too much and b) you’re prepared to take the fall

No wonder Julia ‘No ‘ Hassall tells us she’s ‘fine’ . Because that’s all that matters. As long as Julia’s ‘fine’ what does it matter about working class kids?

We also have to tell you that the news of her resignation doesn’t come as a ‘shock’ .  A senior Wirral Council manager not getting sacked and not receiving a big fat cheque – now that would really be a shock!

Dear Colleagues

I am writing to make sure you are aware that I have sadly decided to resign from the council. 

I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved together, and I am grateful to you all for your dedication and hard work.

It has been challenging, demanding work and I know we have made progress, particularly since September last year as part of the improvement journey. We are clearly on the road to delivering the improvements which are required and this has been recognised by colleagues at Ofsted and the DfE.

I feel that now the new senior team is in place and there is a clear vision for the future that now is the right time for me to seek new challenges elsewhere. As you know I have been dedicated to improving outcomes for Wirral’s children, young people and families and I know you will continue this work.

To ensure stability, Deborah Gornik will be recommended to Council this week to assume the role of DCS on an interim basis, in advance of a recruitment process to arrange a permanent replacement for me.

I appreciate this news will have come as a shock to you. I want to assure you that I am fine, and I will continue to work in Hamilton Building this week to ensure a proper handover.

I am confident that the changes you are making will be the right ones to secure the best outcomes for children now and in the future.

Regards

Julia