 |
| Sir Steve Brokebloke |
At
a point when the public purse is being squeezed ever-tighter,
Lewisham Council’s Mayor sends out an urgent appeal: But could Sir Steve look any closer for the cash than his interims?
TheBigRetort
Recently an appeal was
dispatched to Lewisham residents from none other than Sir SteveBullock himself; to save the local hospital's A&E.
Since nicknamed by us “Sir Steve Brokebloke,” the Mayor of Lewisham
claimed that the government and trust administrators did not have the
power to downgrade the hospital following failings by its Trust elsewhere.
Apparently we ‘the people’
stand a good chance of winning a legal challenge to the (unlawful)
decision so brutally carried out against Lewisham's A&E, and Sir Steve
hopes to 'enable' us by making contributions to his Legal Challenge
Fund.
But
what if Mayor Bullock need look no further than his own council for
the dosh?
First
though, the Wiki definition for interim is... 'a temp'... Curious then is it not
that that in October 2005, the former Director for Regeneration at
Lewisham was replaced by one Malcolm Smith, then in a similar role at
Newham Council. At that time it was stated that (Smith), 'will
replace (the former executive) on an interim basis before a
permanent appointment is made'. [Emphasis added.]
Yet it was not until the following year, in 2006, sitting in secret session -
without press or public oversight - that a panel of councillors and
the Mayor himself decided, (i) that "no appointment be" made
for a "full time" Executive Director for Regeneration; and
(ii), that Smith, in receipt of a pension and redundancy package from Newham
Council, and also employed at Portsmouth, be contracted.
Lewisham then paid to a firm
styled “Interea Consulting Limited” in respect of these
services £240,000 - in 2010/11 alone.
The previous year £204,000 was
paid out.
In 2008/09, £233,000 was coughed up; 2007/08, £189,000 landed at Mr Smith's feet; and 2006/07,
£183,000 was 'doled' out. (Sans VAT and expenses of course.)
The payments are by no means comprehensive; or for full time employment.
In just one month (March 2011) Interea Consulting Limited billed to Lewisham Council almost £44,000 in respect of Mr Smith’s services..? (VAT and expenses not included.)
Mr
Smith did not work in a full time capacity for these payments, as stated above...
From his 2005
appointment, to the termination of his contract in October 2011, an 'interim' (see Wiki) he was actually also a director of Interea
Consulting Limited - 50% of the shares of which were owned by his wife;
described as a 'librarian' on Companies House files.
We wrote to the Mayor about this cosy arrangement; in order that we could establish if Lewisham received best value for what is essentially taxayers' money.
The Mayor's response though was curious, and not what we expected at all...
Usually
open and helpful in all matters Lewisham, 'Steve' did not feel able
to assist - 'on this occasion'.
Neither could the Mayor
'discuss publicly' what was said about individual candidates ‘whether
appointed or not' to the post of Executive for Regeneration.
Individual candidates..? There was only one
candidate: Malcolm John Smith.
Curiously too, despite
evidence to the contrary, the Mayor also claimed that he was 'not
present' when the decision was taken not to employ a full time
executive for the role in regeneration.
MINUTES
of the meeting of the APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE... MONDAY, 17 JULY 2006
at 9.15 a.m.
Present
Councillor Morris
(Chair); Councillor Michel (Vice-Chair); Councillors Alexander,
Klier, Peake and the Mayor (Steve Bullock) [Emphasis
added.]
APPOINTMENT
OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR REGENERATION (Resolved:
that no appointment be made.) [Emphasis
added.]
The above decision by the
Mayor and councillors added to the bills Lewisham would later receive
in respect of this 'interim' position.
Given that Mr Smith by then
appeared to be in the employ of the council, since 2005, the former
Exec for Regeneration having moved on, the meeting to decide the role
would also seem to be somewhat late in the day too.
Later minutes also
record:
MINUTES
of the meeting of the APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE...WEDNESDAY 23 JULY 2008
at 1.30PM.
Present
Councillor Morris
(Chair); Councillors Alexander, Klier, and Russell.
Apologies for absence
were received from the Mayor, Sir Steve Bullock, and Councillor
Michel. [Emphasis added.]
Also
Present Councillor
Best
Exclusion
of the Press and Public
RESOLVED That
under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press
and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of
business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of
exempt information...
The
following is a summary of the items considered in the closed part of
the meeting: Appointment
to the Role of Executive Director for Regeneration. [Emphasis
added.]
Prior
to arriving at the decisions shown above and following 'the Committee were briefed
on the circumstances leading to the previous offers of, firstly, a
three month contract and then a two year fixed term contract.'
---------
"The
Committee reviewed the operation of the contract over the last two
years and carefully considered the options at their disposal
concerning appointment to the post on a fixed term or permanent
basis. The Committee asked for any increases in contract value to be
kept in line with JNC awards.
"Having
received the written views of the Vice-Chair and advice from the Head
of Personnel & Development, the Committee concluded a renewal of
the contract for a further two year period was in the best interests
of the Council, but that this decision was taken on the basis of the
circumstances of the case and was not a precedent to be used for
other positions and gave no guarantee as to any future renewal. [Emphasis added.]
"The above was resolved and the panel made the following recommendation:
That
the contract of Malcolm Smith as Executive Director for Regeneration
be renewed for a fixed term period of two years starting 1 October
2008 and that the Head of Personnel & Development negotiate the
terms of the contract in line with the proposals contained in the
report."
Ignoring the fact that
the above does not mention Interea Consulting Limited - anywhere - and that the
contract was to cease in October 2010 (why then was Mr Smith employed until
October 2011?), the Mayor also informed us that no papers were
retained by members of the panel monitoring the (secretive) selection
process above: But why?
And what were the
'written views' of the Vice Chair (Councillor Michel)?
What too was the big
secret requiring a closed session? Perhaps it was the vehicle by which the
interim was to be paid... Interea. Perhaps?
Unfortunately we shall never know.
To be fair to the Mayor,
though rather forgetful, even though his shoulder has been touched
by The Sword he is usually quite an open and amiable bloke - which is
why he has this publication amongst his fan base - but this does not look at all transparent.
The minutes do record the
Mayor’s presence; a presence that set the interim gravy train in
motion; for a role that redefines the usual definition of 'temp'; and a role that ceased in October 2011 - after our probing - and a
year after it was supposed to cease; following a secretive meeting
which 'gave no guarantee as to any future renewal'...?
What is going on at Lewisham Council one may well ask.
Malcolm Smith it should be
said has done nothing wrong; other than line his pockets from an
available public purse, he was simply being paid huge sums for his remarkable efforts; and for which he was rewarded... handsomely. But an
expertise that apparently saw no other challengers... in the whole of the United Kingdom? Why he is too described both as an ‘Interim’ and a 'local government officer’ may have staff at the Inland revenue scratching heads.
But that aside… back to our proposal. The
former interim’ Exec for Regen used to live in the borough of
Lewisham. Should he or his family have needed it he would have had full
use of Lewisham‘s A&E. May TheBigRetort
respectfully suggest therefore that Mayor Bullock forward his appeal letter to
Dorset - where Mr Smith now resides. One never knows, a
little contribution may be forthcoming.
Malcolm Smith, to give him his due, has been open about his directorship. However, the “interims”
remaining at Lewisham, somewhat less prone to stepping out of
the shadows, do not publish their associate directorships publicly: making
a probe - shall we say - taxing?
Such individuals
negotiating contracts in the dark should be 'publicly outed'.
The Mayor's attendance at the meeting to decide the future role itself is too worthy of further scrutiny.
Meetings
overseen by the Mayor and members of the various panels offering
lucrative financial packages should take place - in public.
If payments to 'tax vehicles' owned by such fortunate individuals are available in Lewisham
accounts and expenditure - why then the need for secret closed
sessions to decide their merits?
The interim/consultant
gravy train may yet get such "passengers” to make a
contribution towards the Mayor’s Challenge - and help save Lewisham
Hospital's A&E.
Failing that, readers
should write to Sir Steve Brokebloke and demand that he halts such
cosy contracts - and the secrecy surrounding them - so that he
does not have to go cap-in-hand to a squeezed and increasingly vexed
public.
Write to Mayor Bullock.
Enable
Sir Steve.
Now, there's a challenge.
