Saturday, 7 September 2013

Breckland Council senior staff turnover


My comments to Breckland Council meeting regarding turnover of senior staff on Thursday 5th September 2013:

There are some here today who, upon learning that several senior officers are leaving an authority branded that authority “rudderless”. I speak of course of recent Conservative comments regarding Norfolk County Council. However, if we were to compare the percentage of Breckland officers leaving, or already left, versus that of the county, perhaps we should be mulling the loss here of not just our rudder, but also our steering wheel and sails.
Mr Chairman, I find it troubling that this authority has been left in a position where it is making what are ultimately rushed decisions, due to the fact that another authority now, understandably wants its Chief Executive back. For a temporary arrangement, this has gone on for quite some time with no apparent progress made in the interim. And if progress has been made, we’re certainly not being told about it as a Full Council and I am left to make my own assumptions.
But, Mr Chairman, we’re not just facing the loss our Chief Exec on this occasion, we faced the loss of the previous one not so long ago, and we’ve got the added complication of the second in command going as well. A rather significant loss to this Council given that individuals immense knowledge and experience –(incidentally, this may be perhaps a pertinent time for me to wish him well for the future and congratulate him on his promotion).
But Mr Chairman, further to these two positions, I’m aware of the loss of several very good members of staff during my time on this council in the past two years.
Which leaves me to conclude, isn’t it time Mr Chairman that we undertook as a Council to review the reasons for Brecklands staff turnover? Something’s clearly not right, and if indeed the new Leader wants to move forward on a solid footing, we need to ascertain this information. So I’d like to propose that as an amendment to this recommendation.


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