New Brent HR Director must ensure equalities are upheld as more job losses loom

Yesterday was the deadline for applications to be the Director of Brent Council Human Relations. The post was of course extremely controversial when held by Cara Davani with the Employment Tribunal judgment finding that the Council racially discriminated against against a member of staff,  victimised her and constructivelyly dismissed her. LINK

Cara Davani later left the Council's employment and attempts to find out the amount of her pay off were unsuccessful.

The new Director will be managing further reductions in Council  staffing  which will have equality implications as this extract from the budget report  LINK shows:
 

.        8.8.  Driving Organisational Efficiency is proposed to save £4.8m. Transformation of the design and delivery of Early Help will streamline Early Help, focusing on a one family, one worker approach to help build resilience and independence, saving £0.9m. Reviewing staff structures and spans of control across Community Services will save £2.3m. Reviewing support service costs: HR, legal, IT, business support and finance for greater efficiency will save £1m. Other savings totalling £0.6m are shown in Appendix D(iii). Service user and staff consultation will of course be essential to shape the detailed plans of how to achieve these savings, but the current expectation is that they will not impact significantly on the delivery of front-line services. 


.        8.9.  Many of the proposals will have an impact on staff, especially where the majority of the saving proposals are made up of staffing costs. Given the scale of staffing reductions, there is potential for these proposals to have a significant impact on the workforce, particularly in Community Services and Resources. The majority of the workforce is from ethnic minority groups (broadly reflecting the ethnic profile of the Borough); there are also some services that due to their nature consist of predominantly female or male members of staff, and it is important that changes are not disproportionate in terms of their impact. Brent’s Managing Change Policy and Procedure provides a framework to be followed during times of organisational change to minimise the risk of a negative impact on any equality groups. The Managing Change Policy requires that staffing changes undergo EA to ensure that the restructure process is conducted in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. 


This is the advertisement on PM Jobs for the HR post:

--> HR Director

LB Brent • to £122k

Right now, there’s no more exciting place to be than Brent. Recent years have seen an unprecedented transformation in what we do, how we do it, and even (with the completion of our remarkable new Civic Centre) where it’s done. This sustained infusion of energy and collaboration has resulted in a singularly ambitious strategic vision, making Brent Just Better: Better Locally, a Better Place, and Better Lives. With strong growth projections for the borough over the years to come, our resource position is stronger than most; and we believe there’s the potential to do more here than at any other council.

Our ambition for the HR service is similarly stretching, and we’re determined that the department will play an increasingly important part in the success of the whole organisation. The role covers the full operational and strategic gamut, and there will be some absorbingly complex issues (such as delivery models and structures) on your desk from day one. We’re open-minded about the options, and are committed to thinking differently – but sound evidence, a full business case, and total alignment with our strategic objectives must underpin everything you do.

Candidates will have been consistently outstanding in their career to date, with excellent practical and conceptual abilities, and a strong grasp of the complexities inherent in our operating environment. You should be intellectually strong, with good communication skills and the ability to forge positive working relationships with everyone from elected members to trade unions; a particular strength in communicating and embedding strategic HR priorities will be a definite advantage. Issues such as traded and shared services, culture change, leadership development and workforce planning will all come into sharp focus over the next 12-18 months, and applicants should be able to bring a demonstrable understanding of these and many other aspects.

Fiona Ledden has left Brent Council

I have had confirmation that Fiona Ledden, Director of Legal and Procurement at Brent Council,  decided to take redundancy over Christmas and left the Council at the end of December 2014.

Ledden's post was recommended for deletion in the proposed restructuring of the senior management of Brent Council. A new post of Chief Legal Officer is proposed to be  ring-fenced to three Hay graded lawyers, which includes Head of Human Resources, Cara Davani's partner, Andy Potts.

Fiona Ledden was mentioned in the Judgment of the Employment Tribunal where Brent Council was the  first respondent and Cara Davani the second. The Judgment found that Rosemarie Clarke had been racially discrimination against, victimised and constructively dismissed.

Controversially Brent Council decided to appeal against the Judgment and last month a Judge at Employment Tribunal Appeals found that Brent Council had no grounds for appeal.

Deputy Leader of the Counci, Michael Pavey, has almost completed his internal review of Human Resources which has a remit limited to procedures and policies. It will be tabled at General Purposes Committee on January 29th.

Cara Davani continues in post.

This is an extract from the Employment Tribunal Judgment:

With regards to the decision being taken to pursue disciplinary action against the claimant,[Rosemarie Clarke] following the termination of her employment, the respondents [Brent Council and Cara Davani] have been unable to state by whom or when that decision was made. Indeed, by the evidence before the tribunal a decision was taken following a meeting between Ms Cleary [a Brent HR Manager] and Ms Ledden [Brent’s Legal Director]. In her oral evidence, Ms Ledden confirmed that Ms Cleary’s role at the meeting was an advisory one only, but also that she, Ms Ledden, had not made the decision either. Ms Ledden could not identify who had made the decision

Brent Council: 'Key financials' for Gilbert and Davani private companies

The use of private companies by local authorities to pay senior staff has been a sourc eof considerable controversy within the Labour Party nationally.

In Brent the revelation that Christine Gilbert, Acting Chief Executive,  had her salary paid into her private company was the subject of debate in a full Council meeting. Her current salary is listed as £187,044 with more for additional duties as Returning Officer during elections. LINK

  Her company website, http://www.cgilbertassociates.com/ is currently unavailable.

These are the latest figures I could find on her company. It is due to report again in 2015.

Cara Davani also has her own Human Resources company but her website www.caradavani.com  is also unavailable.

She was paid £700 per day by Brent Council when she started as Acting Director of Human Resources

She is also an associate (but not a director) of the HR Lounge whose website IS available:http://thehrlounge.co.uk/cara-davani


Below you can find the key financial data from Cara Davani Limited which is due to report again in two months time.

 Both companies are exempt from audit due to their small size.

HR Lounge key financial data:

Fiona Ledden, Brent Chief Legal Officer and Head of Procurement and Democratic Services, has no website available but a Fiona Margarent Ledden is listed as Company Secretary and Director of Ledden Associates Ltd, registred at 4 Belmont Road, Wallington, Surrey which was dissolved in 2009. She is also listed as Director and Company Secretary of Sutton Regeneration Partenership  Ltd dissolved in 2003 and as a Director of Potters Field Management Trust, dissolved 2009. She has no current active directorships.