28 March - So what exactly does Will Tuckley do for his £200k. plus perks?
It’s long been a mystery to me what Bexley’s Chief Executive actually does.
In the Summer of 2012 someone had the bright idea of asking for a copy of Will Tuckley’s office diary for June using the Freedom of Information Act. Bexley
council refused the request but the Information Commissioner jumped on them and when
a typed list, alleged to be a copy of the diary,
eventually showed up it listed 45 hours of meetings, phone calls and visits during that month.
It didn’t seem a lot for someone on £1,000 a day. (An
amended version was supplied almost a year after it was requested.)
Will Tuckley’s direct responsibilities are few; try naming a service which has not been
farmed out. Recycling, street cleaning, park maintenance, parking services, tax
collection, cemeteries, housing, care services, registrars; they’ve all gone. So
that leaves planning and libraries right?
No not really. Two libraries are already independently run and what’s left is
a joint
operation with Bromley council which put 35 people out of work - and even that arrangement may not be for much longer.
Bexley
council already has plans that could lead to the closure of four libraries but
it is toying with the idea of placing the remaining six in private hands too. They
wish to “identify external providers who have an interest in running both
[Bexley and Bromley’s] services”.
It sounds rather ambitious when nobody is queuing up to run the libraries Bexley wants to close. Bexley council has
published some answers for those who might be tempted to throw their hat into the ring.
Absolutely nothing is safe from the programme of cuts.