Top local government inspector Max Caller’s first report into the shocking state of politics and Leadership at the Tory led and bled Northumberland County Council for the last six years is rolling along and he MAY even get some of his message across to the Morpeth Mob that being secretive, lying, cutting the public off from information and placing great pressure on staff and workers isn’t the right thing to do.
The Tories running the Council have no thoughts at all that they are elected to serve the public, scrutinise decision making by the Councils single party (nasty style) cabinet and in many cases believe they are the Officers of the council who can direct staff as they wish and have their jobs done at the expense of areas who aren't as supportive of their antics.
This NO to opposition input, NO to data sharing, NO to proper scrutiny, NO to acceptance that others may have a different point of view has led Max Caller into his decision that new leadership is required at the Council and that new tough professional officers must be brought in to manage the move from secrecy to openness, then the Council may be able to deliver ‘Best Value’ but our chats with opposition Councillors of all denominations tell us that none of the opposition can accept Mr Caller’s recommendation J.
The lack of trust by opposition Councillors in anything to do with the Tory led Local Government Association acting as mediators at this deplorable Council is huge as the current Leader of Council, Glen Sanderson JP is a leading light of that organisation who has sat back and did very little to attempt to stop the Morpeth Mob’s antics or those of the former now deposed leader of Council, Peter Jackson or his current Deputy Leader, Councillor Wearmouth who after all is the top Tory behind the scenes planner of disruptive antics in the North-East and a regular reporter to the standards board of Councillors whose opinion may differ slightly to his.
The Council meets in its usual disharmonious savagery towards opposition Councillors on Tuesday 21st June 2022 to discuss the Caller Plan but even if armed guards paraded in the room the twisted antics of those who believe they were born to rule will certainly colour the issues surrounding the designed way forward and to find officers tough enough to manage the separation of duties required to deliver the plan and take away the powers that Tory Councillors believe they have and bring back democracy into Northumberland; Officer recruitment must take place among front line military colonels.
The Best Value Plan in Brief
Redraft its Corporate Plan in terms of the administration’s Goals and Objectives, moderated by the capacity of the organisation and the legislative framework,
Ensure the values by which it seeks to operate are lived within the organisation
Use the data it holds, collects, or needs to collect to define priorities and monitor and improve performance in a systematic way and publish the outcomes.
Review and redraft the constitution to ensure that decisions that should be taken at member level, by cabinet, committee, individual member or full council are clearly identified and that the recording and scrutiny of officer decisions, both individually and in aggregate, is unambiguous.
Review and redraft the codes of conduct which regulate member and officer behaviours and working relationships with each other, to make it clear what the expectations of each party should be and how robust challenges can be handled, to ensure proper accountability can be achieved. This needs to recognise the legitimate rights of councillors for information to enable them to do their role and for councillors to recognise that policy is the preserve of the council unless delegated and saying no is a legitimate outcome.
Establish a rationale for the establishment or continuation of any company
established under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011.Establish a specific governance framework by which, for those companies
wholly or partly owned by NCC, their Directors are appointed, reports on performance are presented to a cabinet sub-committee, conflicts of interest are dealt with and risk and how shareholder agreements are ratified, by both the company and NCC.Establish an officer structure which is designed to deliver against earlier recommendations and seek to appoint permanent employees to fulfil those objectives.
Establish a scheme of performance appraisal, starting with the chief executive at member level, in line with the JNC provisions, which cascades throughout the organisation so that every employee is clear about their targets and how they fit into plan delivery. As the chief executive is accountable to the council as a whole for their performance, publish the targets and how they have been achieved as an annual statement to council.
With the help of the Local Government Association, establish a challenge board with appropriate experience at both top officer and elected Member level in unitary authorities to work with NCC, on a cross-party basis, as it addresses these recommendations
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