11 November (Part 1) - It’s all gone pear-shaped
A year ago and right up to the time that our freedoms were first curtailed I
was receiving messages - mostly but not always anonymously - from three boroughs
saying broadly the same thing. If Bexley insisted on recruiting Finance staff
with a track record of failure and then promoted them, Bexley would be on track
for financial meltdown; and so it came to pass although now that Covid has
reared its ugly head the link might be hard to prove. The best I can offer right
now are the words of a Councillor whose career I would not dream of blighting. “I have to wonder if people can count.”
Yesterday the News Shopper came up with the following headline. Click it to read Lachlan Leeming’s report.
Yesterday I
didn’t know where our Aussie friend had got those numbers from because I’d listened to the
recent Audit Committee meeting and Full Council and didn’t hear anything about job losses
although it wasn’t hard to take a guess after hearing how Bexley’s finances had been allowed to go down the pan.
The Council’s auditor said
that with the way things have gone “you will have to make unplanned changes to your service provision.”
Next week’s Cabinet Agenda provided the the information I was looking for…
Job losses loom.
The direction of travel in Bexley is worrying and one of several reasons that make me want to go back to my country bumpkin status of many years ago. Messages sent to me suggest that I am not alone in being worried.
“Job losses are to be discussed at Cabinet. 150 full time staff may well affect
more than 200 people as many work part-time.
The impact on services will be diabolical. Is it due to Covid? Seems not as the Council
has received millions for its Covid losses and it is lobbying for more. It’s more likely linked
to the malaise over the last few years as reserves have shrunk and the financial stewardship
has caused the auditors to question financial resilience. And the debate over the housing losses rumbles
on. The report online shows further pressures of over £2 million. déjà vu.”
For ten years, maybe more, Bexley Conservatives have been telling us how they save money by improving
efficiency but that simply won’t wash any more. There is no way another round of cost savings won’t be
detrimental to services. Can anyone point to services that are improved compared to ten years ago? Off
the top of my head I cannot think of any other than a few obscure examples provided by profit making
companies. Town centre wi-fi. 13 almost useless electric car chargers. Have I forgotten any?
It will be a long time before we see promises like this again.
Note: The email above has been shortened slightly but nothing has been added.