Cllr Randall

According to the Greens, Brighton and Hove council taxpayers are beginning to count the true financial cost of the internal reorganisation of the city council's services, as reports emerge that a former director has received a six-figure pay-off though having secured a new job.
 
Green Group Convenor  Bill Randall commented:
“In addition to the £14,000 recruitment and advertising costs for the four new £125,000 a year commissar posts, they now discover that the four outgoing directors are to be paid a combined goodbye payout of 'up to £1 million,' according to a local paper.
 
“We estimate that critical service cuts could have been avoided and about 50 jobs preserved for at least a year, had the reorganisation not been launched.
 
“No blame should be attached to the four departing officers, who had helped B&H achieve four-star status – the highest level achievable – yet who are being forced out. However, there must be something wrong with a system that allows a local government officer to collect a six-figure pay-off despite having already secured a new job with a near-six-figure salary.
 
“The hidden cost of the reorganisation should not be forgotten. Morale at the council has been seriously damaged by the Coalition Government's enthusiastic and excessive public spending cuts. People fearing for their jobs and their futures are facing enormous uncertainty. According to one national body’s predictions, job cuts may well lead to up to 1900 people being made redundant in B&H.
 
“Little evidence exists to support the view that intelligent commissioning will provide better services, hence Green opposition to the reorganisation.
 
“Indeed, the combination of cuts and a profligate reorganisation will only lead to greater hardship for the city's most vulnerable citizens.”

For more information about the Greens view:
www.brightonhovegreens.org