14 October (Part 1) - The incompetence gets worse
It looked bad when Labour Leader Daniel Francis revealed some of the
problems
caused by Bexley’s money pinching approach to SEN transport. His criticisms
were confirmed by
the Local Government Ombudsman but in reality it was even worse than first thought.
It wasn't just £250 compensation to a couple of families, it added up to more
than £13,000 and if Cabinet Member for Education John Fuller was not told what
was going on as seems likely some management heads definitely need to be rolled.
The Conservatives’ only response was to obfuscate on Twitter.
The Chief Executive Jackie Belton took two and a half months to respond to Councillor Francisְ’ initial enquiry.
The initial estimates were that only 47 people would be
affected and squeezing them would save £18,000; so including administrative
costs that will all be well and truly down the compensation drain, not to mention the reputational cost.
The Labour Group has issued
a Press Release.