| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Is anyone surprised? | |
| Posted by: | Adam Beamish | |
| Date/Time: | 27/07/18 11:05:00 |
| Totally agree Vanessa, and in 10 years of working in the public sector I always had a good relationship with Councillors, I always felt they understood my perspective and by the same token I understood theirs. But my experience at another LPA was another matter altogether. Effectively headhunted to go there after giving references for 2 ex-colleagues and told that the current Team Leader was winding down to retire and that I'd run the Team. So I go there and it very quickly becomes apparent it's full of 'yes' men and women, and I learn that the Director is only interested in keeping her job by doing whatever the Leader wants, and thereby gets her staff to do the same. I see first hand evidence of cases whereby her Officers haven't done their job in the past and due to the passage of time the Council is now lawfully unable to act, yet Officers are not being truthful to the public and in one case got a couple (who weren't professionally represented by a planning consultant or such like and didn't know the legislation) to go to the time and expense of making both physical alterations to their property and an associated retrospective planning application for a development that had become lawful through the passage of time. I question why we are misleading members of the public, I get told "because it's the best outcome for us". After a mere 9 weeks I tell the Director I'm not doing something she's told me to do on the basis that its unreasonable, and point out examples like the above, she sends me a two line email "you'll do as you're told and not dare to question me"...my response "in that case I'm definitely not doing it". I fail my probation solely on the basis of allegedly "being unwilling to follow a management instruction" yet instead of that being an end to it with me not having a job, I am dragged back in 3 weeks later for an employment hearing. At no stage during that hearing do I ask for a pay-off, yet after 2 hours in one breath I'm told "we're not making your contract permanent" and in the next "here's a five figure cheque" (stressing that I've failed my probation so am not entitled to anything and haven't asked for anything). Now quite frankly it was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'll always praise my deputy who tendered his resignation the very next day out of disgust at how I'd been treated, but said Director is still at this particular Council and was even, laughably, given an MBE afew years ago for her public service. That's why I have such an issue with 'power'. |