Two members of the IW Council, Cllr Geoff Brodie (Independent Labour) and Cllr Michael Lilley (Independent Green) – aka ‘The 1957 Group’ – have submitted a call to July’s Full Council for the Chief Executive to reconsider his controversial £400kpa senior management restructure.
“Misguided restructure”
The Motion reads,
“Council notes the decision of the Chief Executive to commit nearly £400k every year on a senior management re-structure. A re-structure that whilst deleting two existing posts, creates two Director level posts and two other senior posts, and gives significant salary boosts to a number of other existing senior officers.
“Council reflects that many of its services have seen significant cuts and indeed curtailment over the last seven years, with hundreds of staff losing their often lowly paid jobs.
“Council urges the Chief Executive to reconsider this misguided restructure as it is evidently entirely inappropriate in these times of continuing service cutbacks despite the recent large Council Tax increases.”
Debate in the chamber
Although they anticipate the ruling Tory group at County Hall will seek to have no debate on the proposal, as is often the case with controversial opposition proposals, the two councillors were determined to publicise their opposition to the restructuring, which seems to have passed other opposition groups by.
Cllr Brodie said,
“This restructure is an insult to all Islanders who have lost vital services in recent years and to all those former staff members who were made redundant, many of them very low paid.
“We cannot understand how the Chief Executive can justify this or why the allegedly ruling Conservatives are allowing it to happen. In our discussions Michael and I have agreed that we will not take our place on the Appointments Committee for an Assistant Chief Executive.”
Brodie: “Convened with unseemly haste”
He added,
“This has been convened with unseemly haste for 2 July, after the Chief Executive’s unaccountable decision just two weeks beforehand.
“It should be postponed until Full Council has had the opportunity to consider the restructure.”
Lilley: “No logic to this change”
Cllr Lilley said,
“I feel this restructure has not gone through proper scrutiny at a time the IW Council is faced with further cuts in 2019-20. It also divides the housing service over three departments and gives none of the new senior roles clear leadership for strategic housing development when the Isle of Wight has a housing crisis with over 2,000 on our housing waiting list.
“There is no logic to this change and £400,000 spend and wage rises for the bosses. It is utter madness.”
Full Council takes place on Wednesday 18 July.
Article by Geoff Brodie on behalf of himself and Michael Lilley. Ed
