Why is a Labour council eliminating the role of councillors in hearing appeals when council officers are facing the sack or demotion? No other Lancashire council has gone down this route.
The role of councillors is an important check and balance in staff relations and boy do we need it at West Lancashire council. In October it was reported that a very significant 26% of council staff are unable to say that West Lancs council is a good organisation to work for.
I’ve sensed this. For
example, two staff ‘whistleblowed’ to me in 2021/22 when none had done so in the
previous 20 plus years. One of these
cases involved the lack of controls when procuring refurbishments at the
Derby Street offices which led to strong
formal criticism from the external auditors and a hefty price tag of c. £900,000.
Officers raising legitimate concerns about the operation of
the council need to have channels to raise those concerns with councillors. This inexplicable change narrows that further
and puts West Lancashire in a class of its own in the way it (mis)treats its
officers. That 26% dissatisfaction figure
looks likely to increase further.
