Nan Tewari, who first raised the issue of the behaviour of Brent Council Human Resources on this blog LINK wrote the following comment on the post below about Brent Council settling the Rosemarie Clarke case 'out of court'. I think her comment deserves more prominence.
What stands out in this sorry saga is the power of one individual's tenacious struggle to expose the truth and how that struggle carried out in the public domain, i.e. Wembley Matters, bolstered its effects to ensure a massive degree of success.
Philip Grant's relentless pursuit of matters of fact in this case, together with Martin Francis shining a light on that pursuit, has had the powerful effect of seeing off Cara Davani, Andrew Potts and Christine Gilbert.
After stringing out the Chief Exective 'interim' role for 3 years, Brent Council and Gilbert would have been quite comfortable for her to throw her hat into the ring for the permanent position and for her to have been appointed based on her sterling record of failure to follow basic procedures and nurturing conflicts of interest.
Andrew Potts, business and personal partner of Davani, emerged as a beneficiary of the legal department restructure that had been conducted by Davani and signed (nodded?) off by Gilbert.
Davani herself was secure enough to work on adding such unlikely strings to her bow as taking on responsibility for equality and diversity as well as wanting the acclaim of a Business in the Community award to trumpet the Council's equality achievements as a means of countering the public disgrace at the Watford Tribunal and the public disrepute she brought the council into, for blatant race discrimination.
And Philip's efforts have also exposed for all to see (the video of the council meeting would probably warrant an 18 certificate in the scheme of these things!!) the underlying ill manners and discourtesy of Cllr Butt and Cllr Dr Helen Carr BA (Hons); M Phil (Oxon); Cert TEFL; Dip; DPil who appear singularly unable to understand the balanced deportment required of public figures.
So at a time when it appears that we the public are powerless against those in power, Philip Grant has led the way in showing that we can put the frighteners on public institutions whatever they may choose to admit or however much they may attempt to conceal.
Philip, we salute you.
What stands out in this sorry saga is the power of one individual's tenacious struggle to expose the truth and how that struggle carried out in the public domain, i.e. Wembley Matters, bolstered its effects to ensure a massive degree of success.
Philip Grant's relentless pursuit of matters of fact in this case, together with Martin Francis shining a light on that pursuit, has had the powerful effect of seeing off Cara Davani, Andrew Potts and Christine Gilbert.
After stringing out the Chief Exective 'interim' role for 3 years, Brent Council and Gilbert would have been quite comfortable for her to throw her hat into the ring for the permanent position and for her to have been appointed based on her sterling record of failure to follow basic procedures and nurturing conflicts of interest.
Andrew Potts, business and personal partner of Davani, emerged as a beneficiary of the legal department restructure that had been conducted by Davani and signed (nodded?) off by Gilbert.
Davani herself was secure enough to work on adding such unlikely strings to her bow as taking on responsibility for equality and diversity as well as wanting the acclaim of a Business in the Community award to trumpet the Council's equality achievements as a means of countering the public disgrace at the Watford Tribunal and the public disrepute she brought the council into, for blatant race discrimination.
And Philip's efforts have also exposed for all to see (the video of the council meeting would probably warrant an 18 certificate in the scheme of these things!!) the underlying ill manners and discourtesy of Cllr Butt and Cllr Dr Helen Carr BA (Hons); M Phil (Oxon); Cert TEFL; Dip; DPil who appear singularly unable to understand the balanced deportment required of public figures.
So at a time when it appears that we the public are powerless against those in power, Philip Grant has led the way in showing that we can put the frighteners on public institutions whatever they may choose to admit or however much they may attempt to conceal.
Philip, we salute you.
Spot on, Nan. Brilliant work, Philip, and all conducted in a cool, straightforward, honest and meticulous manner with none of the bad feeling or rancour which Ms Carr, in an epic error of judgement, attempted to accuse you of. Well done, and thank you.
ReplyDeleteMike Hine
Ms Carr would do well to remember what Jonathan Woss said about rancour: 'it takes one to know one'.
DeleteJust when you think it's all over...I understand Mildred Phillips is now the Director of HR....did anyone see that job advertised and/or when did a members panel interview take place?....not to mention she was a key player in the Clarke case and she is still at Brent Council. Contrary to what everyone thinks...they all haven't gone...or they haven't gone too far!
DeleteNow it has always been my opinion that the puppet doesn't work without the puppet master ....so one can only assume that Davani is still close to hand.....and that's all under the new chief exec ...nothing changes!
She's updated her LinkedIn page with HR DIrector. Didn't see that one coming! When was that job advertised? What are her qualifications again?.....must've missed that interview?....feels like Davani all over agin!
DeleteHer title is now HR Director.
ReplyDeleteIt's not what you know but who you know...they're all still a joke...but the joke is on us the Brent public cos they're laughing at us! Brent continues to be Bent under a new chief exec. We all had such high hopes....
Well said Nan and yes, Mike, Philip conducts himself in an exemplary fashion which many could learn from. As to senior appointments, the way Brent goes about these has long been laughable. I can't think of any commercial organisation I've ever worked for that would have done anything like. The members interview panels are mere ciphers.
ReplyDeleteNobody cares
ReplyDeleteThat's Labour for you.
DeleteAll I can say is, THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteI have done my best to challenge what I considered was wrong, and could not have done so without the support of Martin and his excellent "Wembley Matters" blog, and the support of, and information provided by, its readers. Best wishes,
Philip.
Thank you Phillip Grant
ReplyDeleteHas Mr Grant changed his picture to an image of a lion because Brent Scrutiny Committee is the lion that has failed to roar?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to disappoint you, Anonymous at 16:55, but the British Empire Exhibition lion has been my Google image since early 2014, when I was heavily involved in local history activities to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the BEE being held at Wembley.
DeleteI don't use it very often for comments, as my IT skills are not especially good, and I find it safer to post them using the "Anonymous" button, although I always add my name at the end.
As for Scrutiny Committee, no comment on this occasion. Perhaps Standards Committee?
Philip.
REPLYING TO MYSELF: 'Perhaps Standards Committee?'
DeletePerhaps Not! Another story of cover up at Brent Council is about to unfold.
Philip.
Here here. As I keep saying we the residents are not powerless. We need to show our power through our votes, why we expected things to change at Bent when the new Chief is picked by Butt?
ReplyDelete