Budget: ‘Re-organisation a step too far’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cllr Paul Godwin also raised the Labour Group’s serious concerns about the Council’s new structure.  The Council is being re-organised, and will have only two directorates.  This model of working is only found in three other councils, and there is the belief that this will lead to loss of control and expertise, and therefore poorer services.
It was also noted that the re-organisation allows pay increases for the Assistant Directors and Directors of several thousand pounds each.  At the same time, the Council is outsourcing the home care of older people leading to a major pay cut for care workers.
Cllr Godwin said,
“We have now had at least five major reorganisations since the Tories took over, and yet services have not improved and neither has the CPA score.  The Tories seem to think that a reorganisation is a magic pill that will improve the Council’s performance, when the evidence points in the other direction.  All this does is waste time and money, and unsettles staff.”
“This latest reorganisation is a step too far.  It was obvious that the old Community Services Directorate had too many services and was unmanageable, and needed to be broken up.  However, the Tories have decided instead to create two super directorates, which will exacerbate these problems further.  I cannot see how this will possibly improve the way the Council works, and am sure that service delivery will suffer.”
“The Tories agreed to outsource careworkers, which will mean that those people who care for vulnerable adults and pensioners in their homes will get a massive pay cut, and far worse conditions.  They have already made many other low-paid workers redundant.  Therefore to agree pay increases, worth thousands of pounds to the highest paid Directors and Assistant Directors is shameful.”