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News and Comment February 2015

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21 February (Part 1) - Working his passage

ChartersRemember Mark Charters? He was the director of various things in Bexley. Social and Community Services when old ladies and children died and Education when Bexley had fewer outstanding schools than anywhere else in London. He took a £170,000 salary while paying care worker agencies less than any other London borough and last year did a runner to the Isle of Man where he now runs their government’s Department of Health and Social Care.

His departure led to me receiving messages from relieved Bexley staff; “glad to see him go” etc. and I have occasionally searched IOM forums to see if I could pick up similar comments. I did, but one of their newspaper’ websites caught my eye last week. It said that Mark Charters was going on a fact finding tour to establish best practices. So can we expect to see him in Bexley soon? After all, he was here for seven years on a fat salary; did he not achieve something worthwhile here?

Apparently not. Mark Charters is off to New Zealand to see how things are done there.

A little bit of research shows that in recent years New Zealand’s Health Service has not risen above 40th position in the World Health Organisation rankings while the UK manages to be consistently in the teens. So why would Charters choose to go to New Zealand?

Maybe this comment on the IOM Government website offers a clue.
Charters
Yes, he has arranged a free trip home.

Now we know what Mark Charters’ principal success was during his seven years in Bexley. He learned our council’s catalogue of self-serving dirty tricks supremely well.

 

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