Brent Green Party issued the following statement this morning:
Brent Green Party is deeply concerned about recent revelations concerning the Corporate Management Team at Brent Council. We call on for an independent investigation of:
1. Corporate Management Team officers being paid through their private companies rather than normal pay roll
2. The contractual arrangements for CMT officers and interim appointments
3. Previous employment and business connections between senior offices appointed by Brent Council on an interim basis
4. The working culture of the Human Resources department
5. Brent Council's Whistle Blowing Policy to ensure that it adequately protects whistle-blowers from harassment and retribution
We further call on Council election candidates to pledge to press for this investigation if elected on Thursday.
Link1
Link2
Brent Green Party is deeply concerned about recent revelations concerning the Corporate Management Team at Brent Council. We call on for an independent investigation of:
1. Corporate Management Team officers being paid through their private companies rather than normal pay roll
2. The contractual arrangements for CMT officers and interim appointments
3. Previous employment and business connections between senior offices appointed by Brent Council on an interim basis
4. The working culture of the Human Resources department
5. Brent Council's Whistle Blowing Policy to ensure that it adequately protects whistle-blowers from harassment and retribution
We further call on Council election candidates to pledge to press for this investigation if elected on Thursday.
Link1
Link2
80 comments:
Seconded.
And I would add to the list:
instances of council policies, procedures, standing orders, scheme of delegation etc, being circumvented.
Fully support the Greens on this issue.
Not normally a Green person, but they are doing what the Lib Dems should be doing and are not doing.
Paul Lorber and Lib Dems are past their sell by date.
It appears from a senior ex Brent Executive source in contact this morning that Cara Davani's power base can be traced back to the aftermath of the change of leadership when Ann John was deposed by Muhammed Butt. It is alleged that Butt brought Davani in to manage the departure of Chief Executive Gareth Daniel and other senior staff. This would explain why Butt hasn't taken action.
Another supporter here. Not expecting Martin to be in Downing St next year, but Labour (and Lib Dems) are too compromised to deserve anyone's vote. This Davani/Gilbert case demonstrates just how much the current arrangements, (and the people involved in them), stink.
Mike Hine
Thought as much !
Question is can Butt remain leader even after the election ?
He has not shown particularly good leadership skills on this one and many other issues including Kensal Rise library EmailGate.
The only thing he seems good at is loving having his Photo being splashed about.
Where is Paul Lorber ?
Has he disappeared ?
He probably can't face the fact Lib Dems are going to be trounced on Thursday.
So far I have not met anyone with a good word to say about Lib Dems.
Perhaps if he started to act like an opposition to Brent Labour people might actually vote Lib Dem on local issues.
Explain, but clearly not justify nor excuse. If Butt is originally responsible for the presence of Toxic Cara then he needs to admit his mistake and do something about putting it right.
Or confess to a massive misjudgement made for temporary convenience; and resign.
What amazes me is that Brent are now re-hiring posts they deleted at very high cost to Brent residence and what is now even more upsetting Councillor Butt is totally responsible for this whole MESS.
Either Butt goes or Davani goes!!!
Your choice Councillor Butt!
If Councillor Butt does not start calling the shots by suspending Ms Davani it clear demonstrates who actually is running the show at Brent !
Councillor BUTT restore our fath in elected Councillors being the ones who ultimately call the shots and not Civil Servants who are not even civil servants working via private companies!
How ridiculous situation when Ms Davani is not even a civil servant, but can hold power over Councillor BUTT and he is powerless to do anything about it.
There are whispers from a few Labour supportors that not everyone is happy with Ms Gilbert's performance.
Since being appointed she has been "Minding the Shop," rather than actually getting things done.
In particular reference urgently needed new school places, it was expected Ms Gilbert would have set as a priority.
We have just had 2 broken promises with 2 proposed secondary Free Schools not opening as expected. Surely she should have called on DFE to confirm opening of these schools prior to placement offers ?
Being paid such a huge amount via her private company and letting down families when she could have easily pressured DFE for an announcement months ago is unacceptable and probably incompetent on her part.
Not really sure what Labour stand for anymore.
Particularly with today's revelation that Ben Spinks has been hand picked due to his skills in "Mutualizing the Local Authority."
Anyone would think this is some conspiracy with Tory infiltrators, Gilbert, Davani, Spinks and others at Brent exec level disguised as Labour sympathisers !
It sure looks that way.
There is no either or..
ALL have to be called to account and ALL have to go. That includes all directors and senior managers who sat around, for what I don't know and did nothing...
I don't pay them, and they are not elected to be bystanders, passengers, hit men or women.
Wheels on the apple cart are slowly falling apart.
Apple's dropping now, but wait until the crash.
There will be excitement and mayhem to come.
In my comment of 14 May 2014 01:19, under the Tuesday, 13 May 2014 story -
Brent not commenting on Tewari allegations as Wembley Matters refuses to pull Audit Report
I said that:
"During the period of her interim appointment, I had drawn to the leader of the council's attention, Davani's destructive and bullying tendencies. Then again, it was those very tendencies that had so effectively rid council leader of troublesome former CEO....."
Former Chief Executive Gareth Daniel was not best pleased that his good mate Ann John had been replaced by Cllr Butt. At the time, Daniel was openly warning staff in a management meeting that they should refer all information requests from Cllr Butt to him and that they should not deal directly with Cllr Butt.
Clive Heaphy thus became Cllr Butt's confidant.
Heaphy and Daniel had different ideas of how to review budgets, of long range financial planning and of how to make savings (or cuts, in plain language - if you are going to save money, you need to make a cut somewhere first).
Heaphy also wanted Legal to cease being a trading entity which annoyed Ledden who was in the process of conducting her own review of the service.
Heaphy recollects Davani with her solid track record of ignoring procedures and doing things her own way (she calmly attested to this being her modus operandi at the Watford Employment Tribunal). Heaphy brings Davani in on a verbal agreement to pay her loadsamoney for 8 months.
Davani, quick to spot an opportunity, immediately susses that good ship Brent Council is taking in water. If Davani can plug the hole she will be the heroine of the piece. Davani recollects that nice Christine Gilbert who she has previously worked with. But Daniel is still in post, so heigh ho, need to knuckle down and pour oil on troubled waters, organise a spot of mediation etc. etc. Only, instead of going for the container marked 'oil' somehow the one marked 'potassium' is used instead, and the rest is history.
So with Daniel out of the way, Ledden takes charge as interim Chief Exec. She is still smarting from Heaphy's "subtle as a brick" approach to restructuring her department where she had felt that Heaphy had "his tanks on her lawn".
Before long, Ledden has presided over a CMT meeting that concluded Heaphy was up to no good and had to go.
Daniel gone, Heaphy gone, it's now time for Davani to put her plan into action and bring in Gilbert.
Davani then announces a hit list of senior managers earmarked for the chop including Ledden (this was reported in the local press at the time). All the other managers have long gone except Ledden.
The district auditor could be forgiven for having thought the suspicions of staff fanciful in having ascribed what amounts to a complex plot by Davani to position herself at the head of the council power-base. Obviously staff were not suffering from flights of imagination, quite the opposite, in view of the information now emerging daily - see the post of my letter to the district auditor of 15 May 2014 0114, under the Wednesday, 14 May 2014 story -
Revisiting Christine Gilbert's appointment extension.
.
Davani has now replaced Heaphy as THE confidante of the leader.
Ledden now knows where too many of he bodies are buried.
Cllr Butt sees that these ruthless and unprincipled people have not only survived, they are going from strength to strength, so if you can't beat them ........
Anon 19 May 2014 1018 above has summarised the position very neatly.
You have hit it spot on.
Councillor Butt must also be co-conspirator given that he is fully responsible for Davani's elevated position and in turn Ms Gilberts position.
Sent to me by a public spirited person.
Cara Davani was involved in Book called
"That Bitch: Protect Yourself Against Women with Malicious Intent" by Roy Sheppard and Mary T Cleary
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/9353
Not exactly sure on her contribution but to be acknowledged by the author seems to suggest she was closely involved.
Further detail on Book can be found
http://www.royspeaks.com/N-ThatBitch.html
Given her type of behaviour, association with such a book could be very embarrassing at the very least.
Sent to me by a public spirited person.
Cara Davani was involved in Book called
"That Bitch: Protect Yourself Against Women with Malicious Intent"
by Roy Sheppard and Mary T Cleary
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/9353
Not exactly sure on her contribution but to be acknowledged by the author seems to suggest she was closely involved.
Further detail on Book can be found
http://www.royspeaks.com/N-ThatBitch.html
Given her type of behaviour, association with such a book could be very embarrassing at the very least.
The cats out of the Bag
Davani really is a ........
Wow not even a choice Butt
You have to go.
Labour coup dead ahead.
All makes sense why Ledden did not get the chop.
This is despite appearing totally incompetent, leading Brent into very expensive legal challenges, case in point Library Judicial Review, that could have been much better handled and might not have even led to Judicial Review.
Fiona Ledden has always appeared confrontational and this again fits with her building legal up as trading entity ie winning cases in Lawyer speak.
Ledden's refusal to be tough on EmailGate, suggests that she has been protecting the truth, as it is very embarrassing for certain people.
Furthermore it is very plausible in Davies v Copland, Ledden has been protecting Christine Gilbert as Gilbert became head of Ofsted in October 2006 and would have known exactly what was going on at Copland. It would also explain why the deal was not what everyone wanted and expected as it would likely damage the reputation of Christine Gilbert.
Furthermore it also explains why Brent Council have refused to meet the demands of Copland teachers in order to draw a line under Copland's past.
Pesky lot the Copland teachers, but they also uncovered the truth.
It gets a 5 star rating on Amazon from a reviewer who begins '....I have a friend who contacted Fathers for Justice for help in dealing with his ex wife...' so you get the drift. However, mustn't pre-judge. If enough people send me 20p within 24 hours I'm prepared, in a spirit of self-sacrifice, to buy it, read it and report back more fully.
Alternatively I could just go and lie down in a bathfull of hyena droppings for a few hours.
Follow up to my post of 1603 above.
Herewith the Author acknowledgment link with an extract from the - .
Thank you department
"The men and women who were consulted and interviewed for this book have requested anonymity. We have respected their wishes. All the stories and case studies in this book are true. However, some details have been amended to protect the identities of those involved. You all know who you are. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences. Let us all hope that by helping to bring these issues to a much wider audience, others can learn from what you have been forced to endure, at the hands of dangerous and vindictive women.
Thank you to all the men who have contacted Amen since we began in 1997 and to all of the staff and volunteers who helped them.
After each draft of the book manuscript was completed, a team of intelligent, open-minded and articulate men and women volunteered to read through it for us. We are incredibly grateful for every one of your insights and comments. Thank you. Your contributions have been invaluable.
In particular, thank you to Peggy Williams, Sophie Kenos, Fiona David and Rosie Tomkins. Rosie was the first person to recognise this book is about healing. A special thanks to Dr. Moosajee Bhamjee. Thank you to Cara Davani and her husband Professor Dave Muller. And, as ever, thanks to Sallie and Geoff Burch for their encouragement and friendship.
Previous Page Next Page which gives a "special Thank you from Author to Cara Davani and her husband Professor Dave Muller."
https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/9353/2/that-bitch-protect-yourself-against-women-with-malicious-intent
Given the speed things are happening looks like it could be a short career for the golden boy, Ben Spinks, if we finally get changes at the top.
Oh well he can always find another gullible Borough to privatize local assets.
Not in Brent, hands off !!!
I can hear the loud bang of fireworks in the distance, as this whole matter starts exploding before our eyes.
Prisoners Dilemma coming up.
For refresh on Prisoners Dilemma
Two members of a criminal gang are arrested and imprisoned. Each prisoner is in solitary confinement with no means of speaking to or exchanging messages with the other. The police admit they don't have enough evidence to convict the pair on the principal charge. They plan to sentence both to a year in prison on a lesser charge. Simultaneously, the police offer each prisoner a Faustian bargain. Each prisoner is given the opportunity either to betray the other, by testifying that the other committed the crime, or to cooperate with the other by remaining silent. Here's how it goes: If A and B both betray the other, each of them serves 2 years in prison
If A betrays B but B remains silent, A will be set free and B will serve 3 years in prison (and vice versa)
If A and B both remain silent, both of them will only serve 1 year in prison (on the lesser charge)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma
So Christine Gilbert was head of Ofsted when Ofsted gave Copland a clean bill of health on management, administration, finance etc at the time that Brent Council had simultaneously been forced by union activity into suspending Davies and his crew for 'financial mismanagement'. Yes, Ofsted came in and said it was all financially kosher while Davies was at home suspended for lining his pockets. (Ofsted's inspection in fact started the same day that the Brent heavies raided Davies's office. A little late, unfortunately, as staff had been watching files being loaded into the shipping-container-of-no-return for several days).
More info please, anyone who can help.
How convenient for Gilbert to assume a position as interim CEO of Brent, where tracks can be covered and loose ends tide up with Copland.
We are all supposed to accept a behind closed doors deal with Davies.
To add insult to injury as Interim CEO, Gilbert waves through a deal done by her partner in crime none other than Baroness Morgan to hand Copland over to Ark Academy no questions asked.
The plot gets even darker as the story unravels.
Until next episode.
Stay tuned
Here we have it the icing on the cake....priceless!
Given the long delay from 2008 until "Little Miss Helpful" or should we say "Miss Tidy Up" was in place in Brent Council in 2012 that charges were then brought against Sir Alan Davies in May 2012.
Very convenient with the ability to then ensure the Copland situation could then be controlled from within with very few questions asked, particularly once Ms Gilbert was conveniently in place.
The end result, Sir Alan Davies admits fraud, avoids jail and charges are dropped and Brent is down several million with a school in crisis and teachers revolting.
Job done. Nice work
The dynamic duo of Gil & Dav get to fight another day.
That's All Folks
Given the long delay from 2008 until "Little Miss Helpful" or should we say "Miss Tidy Up" was in place in Brent Council in 2012 that charges were then soon brought against Sir Alan Davies in May 2012.
Very convenient with the ability to then ensure the Copland situation could then be controlled from within with very few questions asked, particularly once Ms Gilbert was conveniently in place.
The end result, Sir Alan Davies admits fraud, avoids jail and charges are dropped and Brent is down several million with a school in crisis and teachers revolting.
Job done. Nice work
The dynamic duo of Gil & Dav get to fight another day.
That's All Folks
It seems that, regardless of the particular seriousness of this topic, many contributors have found it liberating to have found in Wembley Matters a medium to express their ideas and opinions on aspects of their working experience. The cumulative effect is fantastically potent. Could everyone reading this spread the word through workplaces, unions, social groupings etc that there is a way of using their experience to put pressure on for change and to demand higher standards in public life. It's the antidote to UKIP despair!
Spread the word about Wembley Matters!
In the morning will everyone be able to maintain a straight face at Brent Council ?
I bet the sniggers will not be able to be maintained behind the water cooler !
Bloomsbury Resourcing and candidate Bernard Collier
It could be argued that recruitment with any association with Bloomsbury Resources is a sensitive post.
The test for sensitive post is
a sensitive post which meets one or both of the following duties-related criteria:
I. giving advice on a regular basis to the authority (including committees, sub-committees and joint committees on which the authority is represented)
A candidate holding a sensitive post could therefore potentially influence the type of people who are recruited into the Council and or the types of communication messages sent from the Council. In this instance as Bloomsbury Resourcing are acting as agent for Brent Council to recruit Head of Communications http://www.bloomsburyresourcing.co.uk/downloads/Brent%20Head%20of%20Communications.pdf Such a position is described as "Sensitive Post" a Court might very well accept that if Bernard Collier is in anyway currently connected to Brent Council via the recruitment process of a sensitive post, he could very well be in breach of Local Council election rules.
Given that Mr Bernard Collier has been publically warned via this blog. It is suggest he immediately consider his options in standing. Seeking immediate legal advice might be worthwhile has he might need it, if there is a challenge after the election.
Chaper 6
KA-POW
Heavy weight fighter "Fi the Led" lands a knock out blow. Gil and Dav were plotting to capture and send her packing with a P45 and banish her from Brent City
"Fi the Led" holds Gil and Dav hostage over Copland / Davies deal. "Fi the Led knows the intimate deals and can't be sent packing, otherwise she will spill the beans and egg on a few faces.
Brent City is saved from the evil clutches of the common people.
It is now the Dynamic Trio ready to fight another day.
Stayed Tuned to the next episode
Will the evil common people revolt against Brent City ?
scheduled for showing on 22 May 2014.
I certainly can't and I was just walking down the road after reading it.
Well done Wembley Matters for finally uncovering the truth.
Despite Ms Ledden's recent attempts at trying to cover it all up.
What I would like to know from Ms Gilbert is where is Brent's money that was stolen from Copland?
Yet another cover up, but this time in a Court of Law with an admission of FRAUD and yet Ms Gilbert as head of Brent Council decides for all charges to be dropped against Sir Alan Davies and no request to recover what was stolen.
Very convenient for Ms Gilbert to sacrifice Sir Alan Davies with a very lenient agreement.
The senior management are having a laugh at our expense.
The endimic fraud and corruption at Top of Brent Council is beyond belief.
Looks like Copland / Davies deal was to protect a few senior people and not to protect the interest of Brent people as taxpayers.
And they say Brent has no money and let the thieves Go Free pocketing the loot ?
They are no different to the bankers, covering their own behinds, while the rest of us have to do without.
We are all suppose sit quietly and Do without libraries, schools, hospitals, affordable homes, street cleaning and the rest !
Thank you for the link to the recruitment paperwork for Brent's Head of Communications post.
It was fascinating to see the Assistant Chief Executive's Service Structure at page 10. With all those different sections working under the Assistant Chief Executive, (who is Ben Spinks, and how did he get the job?) it is difficult to see how the Chief Executive can justify annual remuneration of £185k.
I note that the Corporate Policy & Scrutiny section includes a Complaints Service with a Manager, three Principal Officers, one Senior Officer and two "ordinary" Complaints Service Officers. If Brent was being run well, surely it should not need so many staff in its central complaints service, and this is on top of the separate Complaints staff in other departments. I am aware that Environment & Neighbourhoods was advertising for a Complaints Officer about six months ago, on a salary of around £30k - 'must be able to deal with large volumes of correspondence' (I wonder why?).
As for the Head of Communications post itself - a salary of between £71k and £87k, for a job with 32 days paid holiday plus bank holidays, and heading a department with three Managers to look after the actual day-to-day work. I thought that Brent had restructured its staff to make efficiency savings! Not only does this post head up an over-large team (well OK, they have got to manage Brent's image), but the Head of Communications also has 'overall responsibility for commissioning freelancers on an ad hoc basis'. What is the annual budget for "Communications"?
All right, so I have never had to manage a large organisation, but I have been involved in management during my working life, and to me the set-up a Brent Council looks a mess. Who is responsible for creating that mess, and what needs to be done about sorting it out? Suggested answers can be passed on to whoever is Leader of the Council after Thursday's local elections, although whether he or she will take any notice of them is doubtful, based on past experience.
Philip Grant.
Hers's what Jeremy Corbyn, Islington North (Labour) MP, thinks about the use of personal companies:
‘Anyone working directly for the public sector in any capacity should be employed by, and accountable to, the public sector. There should be utter transparency about their employment, and we should not have these ludicrous schemes that are probably to do with tax avoidance and lack of accountability’.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that some 200 agency staff working for Islington Council were paid via these off-the-payroll 'limited' (Ltd) companies -
http://www.islingtontribune.com/news/2014/mar/union-stunned-revelation-200-agency-staff-islington-town-hall-exploit-tax-loophole.
Following last week's revelation that the 600+ agency/consultant staff currently employed by the council are costing the borough's council-taxpayers £22 million a year, a further FOI request has been submitted to confirm the latest numbers of off-payroll officers.
As an alternative to the use of expensive agency staff, Islington has a plan which Brent's elected members might also like to consider, namely the setting up of a council in-house employment agency which would recruit local residents -
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?PBID=2f9afebe-4a00-40aa-9192-95b0e13806d6 (p.8) -
Unlike in Islington where it's allegedly the specialist IT staff that are principally paid via personal companies, in Brent it seems from the recent blogs that this was par for the course amongst newly employed senior officers, particularly after the change of council leadership. There must be no shortage of local residents who could competently fill these posts.
Meantime, Brent Greens are to be congratulated in their call for an independent inquiry. The clear grounds they cite are apparent from any reading of the recent Wembley Matters blogs. Some of the comments have been shocking. Though whistle-blowing is point 5 on their list, this minute from the 7 Nov 2013 General Purposes committee discussion of Brent's policy on same stands out, for this reader at least:
“The committee also queried the appropriate response of members should they be approached by employees of the council with a disclosure. Cara Davani advised that staff were not permitted to approach councillors in this respect and this action could be classed as misconduct. Staff should be referred to the Whistleblowing policies and procedures if they wished to make a disclosure. The Members’ Code of Conduct, set out in the council’s Constitution, detailed required standards of behaviour from Members.” (Nan Tewari, Wembley Matters Link1 above,14 May 23.27).
That leaves employees little option but to opt for media exposure of what they consider wrong-doing, while the top-down autocratic control the minute reveals makes for disturbing reading. [1/2]
[2/2]
The 'Kensal Rise EmailGate' affair has been mentioned a couple of times in comments on the previous blogs (Links 1 and 2, above). It would be interesting to know precisely how the fake online support of the original planning application for change-of-use of Kensal Rise Library was initially handled. Was all available evidence passed to the police from the off, or were officers more concerned with limiting the damage to the council's reputation and individuals' jobs when it emerged what a dodgy IT system Brent was using? As a computer specialist said at the time: 'It's not very clever of Brent to collect comments via a system that is this easy to spoof. Thy could easily take a few precautions, this kind of thing will only become more frequent'. It's certainly the case that it was only in February this year that a specific complaint about the fraudulent use of one Kensal Rise resident's address was passed to the police. Until then, the resident hadn't even received an acknowledgement from the council (or the police), five months after she alerted both to the theft of her business name and address.
A high salary seems to by silence with those on big salaries seeming to think they can do as they please.
Such a high salary to recently adertised post of Communications head is probably justified by those from a top, as it normally keeps a lid on the fraud and corruption that goes on at the Top. Keeping the general public ignorant with spin, lies and deception.
Thanks to Wembley Matters the public are starting to uncover the truth and why we are all being asked to take austerity measures while the public purse is raided.
Thank you Green Party you have my full support on this. With your efforts and Nan's there is light at the end of which has been a very dark and long tunnel.
That good ship Brent Council is now The Titanic.
Mmmm perhaps all of Davani's victims should write a sequel. Any ideas what the title should be?
Great idea in house recruitment.
It would also stop the excessive fees charged by recruitment agencies.
Re open libraries as a learning resource for people to apply for council jobs could easily subsidise cost of operating library section.
Problem solved in one swoop.
Do you think Labour wants to re open libraries ?
Thought not
They would rather the money go into private hands of greedy recruitment agencies.
Cara Davani is responsible for this complete mess as it is all her idea of a restructure authorized by Gilbert
One associated with Labour candidate Bernard Collier.
I can't attest to the accuracy of this, but I have heard two separate rumours that the Labour group (predicted to win on Thursday) is even now positioning itself for a change of leadership. Procedurally, I imagine this would mean either that The Men in Suits tell Cllr Butt he needs to step down, or the group passes a vote of no confidence in Cllr Butt.
If you get into bed with rattlesnakes, you can hardly be surprised if you get bitten.
Fiona Ledden seems to have instigated burying EmailGate just like Davies / Copland
There is a real pattern emerging how Brent Council operates with tactical delays so eventually most people forget about things and problem solved with perhaps a final report that it would be a waste of time and money pursuing further.
Both Copland / Davies and EmailGate need real answers.
We obviously will not get those answers, if Labour retain control of Brent Council, as those in a position of power will not have to reveal the true secrets.
It will be back to normal practice in a few days if something urgently is not done.
Oh poor diddums.
It could not have happened to a nicer guy.
Serves him right, he was warned to choose between outing Gilbert and Co or he would face the chop instead
Gilbert and Co should also go.
You don't need to have worked in a large organisation Mr Grant, what is needed is plain, unadorned, common sense. Common sense says that if you put more of the money into front line posts and if you stop bullyiing staff, the work would be done better and therefore there would be fewer complaints.
Now managing Brent's image, in another age that would definitely have qualified as one of the ten labours of Hercules .......
This Modus Operandi was used in Davies / Copland case.
Delay Delay Delay to protect those involved.
Just goes to show how endemic fraud is at Brent Council
Seems like Ben Spinks is building his own army
He is now recruiting
Head of Business Intelligence
Assistant Chief Executive’s Service
Salary range: £60,039 - £70,410 p.a. inc
Being recruited by none other than Bloomsbury Resourcing
http://www.bloomsburyresourcing.co.uk/downloads/Brent%20Head%20of%20Business%20Intelligence.pdf
FOI
Requesting info about Bloomsbury
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/recruitment_agencies_independent
Apart from Head of Communications via Bloomsbury
Brent are also currently recruiting
Corporate Communications Officer
Salary: £32934 - £35772
Media Officer
Salary: £32934 - £35772
plus few other management posts
http://www.jobsgopublic.com/employers/791-brent-council
Is there actually any need for a communications officer at Brent ? Surely some form of shared communication officer across a few Boroughs would suffice and or there are loads of young graduates eager to take on paid internships at less than 1/2 the salary. These 3 advertised posts alone will be costing close to £200,000 per annum ! At a time when actual public services are being forced to close.
The Human Resource function at Brent is turning Brent into a corporate machine,
I bet the Dynamic Trio have been asked to cover up EmailGate!!!
After they successfully covered up Davies / Copland
Well it certain appears that way.
Such nonsense from FKRL that have to do the deal or else !
Just another example of the fraud that has permeated Brent Council.
Surprise ! Surprise!!
I have just realized Christine Gilbert is the partner of Tony McNulty, who got caught in the Expenses Scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_McNulty
Figures
I suppose to spy on everyone now.
What is Brent becoming ?
Drop the Life Boats
Brent City is sinking !!!
Rather rapidly!!!
Can the Dynamic Trio save the day or will they be caught by the evil clutches of the common people ?
As the net tightens they scheme and hatch a plan to quickly shred documents, but the digital trail is causing problems. It is near impossible to erase all trace of their work as chiefs of staff at Brent City.
The concluding parts .....
Find Out Very Soon !!!
What
Brent needs and Emergency Budget soon after the election !!
What rubbish
So much for a Brent calculator to show what money can be spent on.
Who approved spending nearly £200,000 on 3 new posts for communication and they are just being recruited now ?
Here's the Linkedin page for Ben Spinks, Assistant Chief Executive since October 2013. As someone said on a previous blog, you can only weep on reading this managerial mumbo-jumbo
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ben-spinks/18/761/776
What a joke the online budget calculator.
Gives a result Brent should spend £200,000 on recruiting 3 communication officers.
Who does thé new Golden Boy, Ben Spinks, assistant to CEO think hé is kidding ?
Well you have for another thing viking hé don't when bref communications if jobs dont properly as you would not have to keep spinning rubbish to Brent résidents.
STOP PRESS
From Islington Tribune - merging of legal departments of nine London boroughs, including Islington and Brent:
'...secret discussions...have taken place between nine London boroughs, including Camden and Islington, about effectively "privatising" the Town Hall's legal department.
'Tens of thousands of pounds have so far been spent on consultants looking into the proposals - and will "cost far more" if it goes ahead.
'According to leaked documents obtained by the Tribune the plans would be presented to new councillors as a "fait accompli" after tomorrow's local elections.
'Under the plans Islington, Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, the City of London, Harrow, Hounslow, Brent and Waltham Forest, would merge their legal teams with each authority specialising in one area'
But
'Breaking up legal services would dilute the quality of work already achieved... there will be major data protection and IT compatibility issues...much money and time has been spent on the project to date and much more will be spent in the future - £150,000 so far to Kennedy Cater solicitors who are acting as consultants...the joint services plan has already been approved so that members are presented with a fait accompli after the election'.
http://www.islingtontribune.com/news/2014/may/revealed-secret-plans-merge-town-hall-services-camden-after-election
Another reason for Fiona Ledden to stick around
I bet Ben Spinks had his hand in privatizing.
It is probably why Ben Spinks is beefing up his department with loads of secret intelligence.
Anonymous 21 May 2014 09:15 - do you know for certain that this is taking place?
If so, the staff in IT will have to be really careful that they are not targetted by the Davani/Gilbert/Ledden trio.
I have already taken the precaution of storing the material in my possession at a location away from my home!
Well spot the above and also what Ben Spinks has been up to.
Get rid of the lot of them.
They can't be trusted
Seems like the Communications Mangers are being recruited as they realize there will be huge outcry after the elections.
I bet this is the tip of the iceberg.
Before we know it the Whole Council will be privatized !!!
Be worth doing a separate blog on this issue, so people don't miss it.
Well spotted the hatched plan to delete files etc
Get them all store before they are deleted by the powers that be
All the named characters should be sacked without no payment being made to them. It's disgusting and out of order. Employees who work hard are made redundant, and those who are lazy and don't do any work are being promoted for what. Hopefully, RC wins her case.
Councillor Butt was quoted in the Brent & Kilburn Times on 4 February 2014 as saying:
'When the future of the building affects hundreds of Brent residents and the entire Kensal Rise community, any issue of alleged fraud must surely be a priority in order to maintain the trust of local people'.
I say to Councillor Butt, and I am sure that many others will agree with me:
'When the future of our borough affects hundreds of thousands of Brent residents and our entire community, any issue of alleged fraud must surely be a priority in order to maintain the trust of local people.'
What do you say, Councillor Butt? The silence so far has been deafening.
Philip Grant.
From looking at the recruitment package, the "Business Intelligence" section looks like another huge waste of money by the Assistant Chief Executive's Department, money that could be better spent on protecting front line service jobs at Brent Council. As well as the Head of this section at £60-70k, the service structure diagram show two Team Leaders (probably around £45-50k each), 5 Senior Officers (around £40k each) and 5 Officers (say £30k each). That's half a million pounds a year in salaries alone, and for what?
The key responsibility in the Head of Business Intelligence job description is to 'Support the Assistant Chief Executive, Chief Executive, Corporate Management Team, the Leader and Executive in their drive for continuous improvement and transformational change across all the Council's activities.' In other words, to come up with ideas for those in charge to mess around with Council activities, in order to justify their high salaries, without doing anything which actually provides any useful service to the people of Brent. At least, that's my no nonsense reading of it, and that is provided FOR FREE.
Philip Grant.
Just spotted on Twitter: 'Brent Council job advert for a Complaints Officer: must be "comfortable with managing high volumes of correspondence every day”!
It is an absolute disgrace these things are going on right under our noses.
Particularly when Brent claims to be SKINT
Lets all hope Voters give it to those who deserve to be voted in.
We all now can see why he keeps stum.
He is up to his neck in fraud by his key officers the Dynamic Trio
A change of leadership is quite possible as a new administration is formed. Possible successors mentioned include James Denselow, astute, good at PR and gets on with people, but hasn't led a major department and Roxanne Mashari, ambitious and seen by some as managing to dilute some of the most toxic elements of the library closures.
Further to Martin's comment above, 19 May 9.56, the following appear to be the dates/order of when the senior officers mentioned across the three blogs came to Brent:
Clive Heaphy - Sep 2010 (until his departure in Jan 2013; see Mildred Phillips, below);
Fiona Ledden 2010 - along with Mr Heaphy, perhaps?
Cara Davani - March 2012- ;
Christine Gilbert - Sep or November 2012- ;
Mildred Phillips - Jan 2013- .
Footnotes:
- Heaphy, Davani and Gilbert had previously all worked for Ofsted.
- Fiona Ledden is 'responsible for promoting high standards of probity and conduct within the council', along with her several specific roles;
- Mildred Phillips' Linkedin profile describes her current job at Brent as 'Interim Payroll, Pensions, Recruitment and HRMI Consultant'. If Ms Phillips is being paid through her personal company, Mildred Phillips Ltd, that would take the whole packet of biscuits - in charge of Brent's payroll while receiving her own pay off-PAYE. The irony-meter would be off the scale;
- Clive Heaphy is now Head of Finance at HS2 Ltd.
James Denselow has blocked me on Twitter. Maybe because I'm not a Labour - or any other - Party - luvvie. I can, of course, still read his tweets and tweet him should I wish to.
Fiona Ledden was I believe social care / child protection lawyer and would therefore have close contact with OFSTED
Typical response from those who feel threatened by the truth
In all of this fiasco, where has our Head of Anti Fraud Dave Verma disappeared to? Investigating not just external but also internal fraud, why has he not picked up on this disgraceful carry on? Fraud allegations on his watch? That really does not say much about Brent Council....
I hear that someone in internal audit is up on disciplinary charges. With everything that has been going on, it would not be at all surprising if this poor individual happens to know too much about what has taken place and must now be disposed of on a trumped up charge.
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