13 February (Part 3) - The accountable and the unaccountable
The Local Government Chronicle is reporting (†) that Croydon Council has taken
action against their senior staff who may have pushed that borough into
bankruptcy. The Labour Party has suspended the Council Leader and the Cabinet
Member for Finance and four over-paid Directors have suffered a similar fate. Croydon Council itself refuses to confirm or deny the story.
It is not something you are likely to see repeated in Bexley where failure is so
frequently rewarded. The previous Chief Executive who achieved nothing except
dividing members of the public from the Council was given
54 years’ worth of Band D Council Tax money to get out of town as quickly as possible.
Not as outrageous as her replacement who was given twice as much for leaving Newham.
Fortunately for the present incumbent
the government has gone against a two year old promise and
allowed
unlimited Golden Goodbyes funded by Council Taxpayers. Unfortunately for the Chief Executive Bexley Council has run out of money but maybe they have a library or two they could close.
On a similar note, if Bexley Council had accepted
Elwyn Bryant’s petition
on salary reductions ten years ago a quick calculation shows that Bexley Council would not have needed £4 million this year to balance the budget -
the Finance Director’s latest estimate. A million would have been enough to bale them out.
† The LGC only allows one free access per month. The solution is to clear
cookies or run a different web browser. Alternatively try
the My London website.