Tuesday November 17th

Hip Hip Hurray! Three cheers for the super, soaraway, success story of Southwest One.

The Society Of Procurement Officers seems to have awarded Somerset County Council and SouthWest One a prestigious honour - namely their "Outstanding Achievement Award".

Indeed my pal Cllr Sam Crabb is quoted as saying in an official press release:

Councillor Sam Crabb, Somerset County Council's Portfolio Holder of Strategic Resources and Finance, said: "We are really delighted that this groundbreaking change in our operating procedures has been recognised so quickly. The achievements of Southwest One are really good news for Somerset and the council tax payers"

Unfortunately Mr Crabb's enthusiasm is entirely misplaced. The Society of Procurement Officers did NOT award Somerset anything of any lasting value. The real winner of their prestigious honour is the county of Worcestershire.

Somerset and SouthWestOne were shortlisted - along with Exeter City and Swindon Borough - but only in the SouthWest  category. Needless to say Exeter and Swindon kept honestly and sensibly quiet. But Somerset couldn't help blowing its entirely fictitious trumpet. In the real word we call this a LIE.

(but that's what you get for shelling out £70k+ per annum on a BBC local radio hack to run the county's PR operation!)

Thursday November 13th

Why not pop along to Taunton Deane Council this evening where the big cheeses of SouthWest One will be attempting to explain away their lack of customers and the vast cost of setting the whole thing up. My recent postings about SAP (the troubled software system favoured by IBM) were - it seems - rather too optimistic. It seems that the installation of SAP is going so slowly the work will extend well into April 2009 and beyond. That means those jolly IBM consultants will be spending even more time at the four star (excellent ) Castle Hotel. Nice work if you can get it, and its all part of the deal until February.....after that every consultant and every Castle bedroom gets charged to Taunton Deane and Somerset County Council. No doubt they get a concessionary rate but it still wont be cheap. Click on the symbol and start doing the sums. 100 consultants at £1000 a day plus hotel bills......

Thursday November 6th

It will soon be national Anti-Bullying Week. A senior Councillor I have never met has just sent me a threatening letter inviting me to support the campaign. Bully for him. Read our exchanges in full:

A NASTY DOSE OF THE CRABBS 

And now for something completely different.

To adapt an old saying....

"Harwich for the Continent....Taunton, for the incontinent!"

What's it all about?  

Follow theSOUTHWEST ONE PAPER CHASE

Meanwhile, after last week's revelations about SAP ,we hear ugly rumours that things are not running smoothly with the installation. Could SAP be delayed for two months or more? And how much would it cost? £1 million a month? £5 million?

More of your money may go up in smoke.

We also have news of a vital local government event that all involved in SAP/SouthWest One will want to attend. IBM have helpfully supplied a map:

(just ask Alan nicely for a couple of days off !)

Plus.....yet more from Meic or is it this Meic

Dear Mr Liddell-Granger
 
It was again handsome of you to plead guilty to putting inaccurate material on your blog and publishing my corrections to your mistakes. I understand from the Local Government Chronicle that I am not the only person who feels obliged to notify you when you publish incorrect information. My offer to vet your material before you publish it still stands if you want to take advantage of my knowledge and experience. I am not sure why you found my corrections bizarre - you do not seem to have challenged any of them. You seem to have a problem with the length of my correction - I too was sorry to have to write at such length but the number of your mistakes was the reason for that! I think that there is only one glaring error in your latest blog entry - Cllr Mrs Shortland was not found "guilty" by the Assessment Review Sub-Committee. Such sub-committees have no power to decide guilt or innocence - this is clear from the legislation (the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 - Section 185, if you missed it when it was in the House). Parliament required Standards Committees to undertake an assessment whether any action needed to be taken on complaints and if so whether they needed to be investigated by either the Standards Board for England or by the Council's Monitoring Officer. That is what has occurred in Cllr Mrs Shortland's case. No further action apart from provision of advice has been required.
 You have cavilled at my chiding of your conclusion that Cllr Buchanan had been cleared by the Standards Board: "Meic Sullivan Gould may play semantic football with the precise wording used, but the fact of the matter is that Cllr Buchanan has not been punished for anything. This suggests to most reasonable human beings that there was nothing for which he deserved punishment." Does not your argument apply equally to Cllr Mrs Shortland's position?  It is of course a matter for you whether you want to apply a consistent standard to these things but are you not risking your reputation by publishing material which is not only inaccurate but could be interpreted as hypocritical?
 
Meic Sullivan-Gould
Locum County Solicitor

I realise this is very hard to read. But the blessed man has the verbal runs. We had to shrink his latest rant to save valuable space. In the interests of sanity this correspondence is now at an end.

HALLOWEEN!!!!

SouthWest One. Trick or Treat? You decide.

And more bizarre correspondence from the County's Legal guru - he gets paid to write this stuff:

 Subject: Further Corrections Please
 Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:35:03 +0100
 From: MSGould@somerset.gov.uk
 To: ianliddellgrainger@hotmail.co.uk
 
I was sorry to note that having already had to publicly acknowledge that your knowledge of local government legal matters is incomplete, you have compounded the position in your latest blog entry.  There are errors of law and fact which I feel that you should have the opportunity to correct:
 
 1. It may not bother you that inaccurate recitation of the facts devalues the impact of your message but you really ought to know by now that the County Council does not have its own "Standards Board": it has, as required by legislation, a Standards Committee. This is evident from the minutes for which you have provided a link.

2. It ought not have surprised you that the Assessment Sub-Committees (Review or otherwise) do not post their case summaries on the website. A decision to that effect was made by the Standards Committee at its meeting in May this year - the minutes of which you have evident access to. If you go to minute 114 and note the position agreed under Item 17 you will see that there was an interim decision then to only publish summaries in paper form. I have no authority to ignore such a decision.
 
 3. You should equally not be surprised that there is a difference between what the Standards Board's policy is on publication of case summaries and what local authorities do - the 2007 Act relocalised the initial assessment of complaints against Members (it having been nationalised under the 2000 Act) so each local authority has made a decision based on its local circumstances. Somerset County Council is not the only authority to refrain from publishing case summaries on its website - Sedgemoor District Council and many other authorities have a similar practice.
 
 4. It is not strictly accurate to say that Cllr Buchanan was "cleared" by the Standards Board following their latest report. An earlier report had found no breach of the Code of Conduct by Cllr Buchanan which could properly be regarded as clearing him in respect of those allegations but the latest Board findings included an admission by Cllr Buchanan that he had treated staff intemperately, rudely and inappropriately - behaviour that Cllr Buchanan had apologised for. Accordingly, it was not open to the Standards Board to find "no breach" in those cases; instead, in view of the apology, they decided "no further action". That is not the same as being cleared of the allegation! As you will know, the Standards Board has referred other complaints to the Adjudication Panel for England to decide whether there was a breach of the code in those cases and, if so, to decide whether to apply sanctions to Cllr Buchanan. There are still further complaints outstanding with the Standards Board on which no decision has yet been made by them.
 
5. There was no allegation by Mr Nowlan and no evidence to the effect that Cllr Shortland had denied that the Tour of Britain had been paid by the Council to bring the event to Somerset. There was a disagreement between Mr Nowlan and Cllr Shortland as to whether the payment was a "gift", as Mr Nowlan had it, or, as is the case, a contractual arrangement that secured the staging of a nationally important sporting event within the county. This is not an unusual transaction these days. I believe that Buckinghamshire County Council amongst many others did a similar deal for the Tour of Britain this year.

6. You are not correct that the Minutes of the May Standards Committee meeting are the "latest published document" of the Committee. The Standards Committee has had three meetings since May and the Agendas and Reports for all those meetings are on the website - the Minutes of the meetings in July and September are there of course and those for the October meeting will be published as soon as approved by the Committee at its next meeting.

I have already offered you a meeting so that I can help you better understand the legal powers and constraints that Parliament has created for local government. That offer still stands. Equally, I'd be happy to vet any future comments that you want to make about local government legal matters - it would avoid you making more howlers in your blog - unless it was your cat who needs the training of course - I have no experience of teaching felines.
 
I hope that helps.
 

 Meic Sullivan-Gould
 Locum County Solicitor
 Legal Services, Somerset County Council, County Hall, Taunton.
Tel: 01823 356220 Fax: 01823 355039

E-mail: msgould@somerset.gov.uk

 

 

Alas poor Meic, locked up in County Hall with only the tale of Rex v the Carbolic Smokeball Company to keep him occupied. This bizarre missive runs to almost 800 words. But apparantly the man is paid by the day, not the word....and (by his own admission) not paid sufficiently to finance his splendid, but unfinished, new garage.

 

So to shut him up I now plead guilty to the following offences:

 

I called the County Standards Committee a "board" - mea culpa! I failed to navigate the Sargasso sea of Somerset's website in order to find obscure references to the Committee - off with my head!

But Mrs Shortcake remains guilty. And Sullivan-Gould's nit-pickery is way over the top. Meic needs to get out more.

 

Meeaiow!

Thursday October 23rd

Congratulations to the Assessment Review Sub Committee of Somerset County Council's Standards Board who have found against Mrs Jill Shortland in a case you can only read about here. So much for open government!

DOUBLE STANDARDS

Meanwhile......distressing news reaches me about recent events in Belfast.

This is Bob Neill MP.

He is one of the Conservative Team specialising in local government.

He was attending the annual SOLACE Conference (for Chief Executives)

Suddenly a short, bald, wild-eyed man started mouthing all manner of complaints about the MP for Bridgwater.

The fellow was, apparantly, incandescent. He claimed to be Alan Jones. But could this be a case of mistaken identity? 

After all Alan swears by his good temper!

Thursday October 16th

Mr Sullivan Gould, the acting County Solicitor, has written to me asking for a clarification which it is now my pleasure to give.

We have no doubt at all of your legal training, abilities and knowledge of the subject in all its complex particulars. And we are delighted to point this out!

But we are also distressed to learn that you have thus far been unable to pursue part time amateur dramatics. It may be that the forthcoming Bridgwater Carnival has a vacancy for a Guy. Would you be interested?

Thursday October 9th

I am deeply suspicious of men who choose to wear funny hats.

This man has a very funny hat indeed. And a not-so funny part-time job - the "independent chairman" of SouthWest One. Meet Sir James Tidmarsh

Fancy a trip to sunny Wolverhampton next week?

Alan Jones does.

His extra mural moonlighting is now a matter of mirth at County Hall.

He is the absentee Chief Executive

You can catch him next Tuesday morning at the Ramada Park Hotel giving a lecture entitled "Beyond excellence" (This is a lecture he gives quite regularly. He can probably do it in his sleep - which will give him something in common with his audience. But they have shelled out £120 each plus VAT for the privelege. So what about our Alan?)

Is Mr Jones being paid for this lecture?

Is there any real value for the people of Somerset in his trip?

Who picks up the bill for his travel?

These are legitimate questions that ought to be answered in the Register of Declarations (a bit like the MPs register of interests) But Alan and his legal implant Meic (actual name) have come up with a ruling that forbids anyone - even elected councillors - from viewing the register.

Here is a direct quote from Meic Sullivan-Gould's missive:

“There is no similarity between the MPs Register of Interests and the registers of declarations being held by the Council .  The Members' Register is required by statute and is required to be publicly available - this is an exception to the Data Protection principle that personal information should be kept secret.  There is no similar requirement for the registers of declarations by officers to be made public and those declarations are protected by the secrecy provisions.  Officers of Councils are not under the same obligation to be open with their personal interests and gifts as are elected councillors or Members"

which means........."our officers can do what they like and never have to tell anyone anything".

MEANWHILE CONGATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER

I am reliably informed that Cllr Paul Buchanan who was accused of all manner of heinous crimes by Anal Jones has now been cleared of every single serious charge (Read the background) The Standards Board still have a tiny handful of absurd additional allegations made by Jones against Buchanan but have taken the courageous decision to refer these to the Adjudication Panel - a higher judicial body.

This avoids the normal process of sending such cases back to the local authority for comment. In other words they have stopped Jones deliberately interfering yet again. Cllr Buchanan has every reason to celebrate and to tell the Adjudication Panel in gory detail the complete unexpurgated truth about Alan Jones. It will make fascinating listening. Meantime enjoy some fascinating reading....but please do not click the link until Friday!

PS. The Adjudication Panel will hear Paul Buchanan's evidence in public very soon. Get your tickets now!

Finally read the latest incompetent twist to the SouthWest One saga - the Chief Constable may be on the board but his coppers could soon be losing their shirts.

Thursday October 2nd

This week three important issues in the continuing saga of SouthWest One

Item 1:

The Audit Commission has, at last, produced a report which appears to give the whole deal a squeaky clean bill of health. However the Audit Commission's work is woefully out of date. By all means read the blessed thing in full. It still talks of projected savings of £200 million over 10 years.

Funny that, because  just a few days ago the Audit and Resources Committee of SCC was being told that the projected savings had fallen to £150 million.

To lose one million quid is downright careless. But fifty? Come off it boys.

Item 2:

This matter deserves a page all its own because, yet again, SouthWest One is breaking the spirit of another important law - this time they are trying to freeze out the trade unions.

Item 3.

Mogg and his master learn that Mrs Jones has now joined Mr Jones in seeking to complain about this website. Let me make a few things quite clear. Mr Jones is an unelected Chief Executive who has driven through an extraordinary joint venture by dubious means. He hired the Chief Constable's wife without consulting anyone. Her predecessor left the employment of the council in suspicious and expensive circumstances. He reported a leading Councillor to the Standards Board on fifty different counts - most of which have now been totally rejected. And he continues to preside over an authority which claims "excellence" and behaves secretively. My abiding concern is the governance of the county. It is perfectly obvious that the elected majority party isn't running the shop at all. It is Mr Jones pulling the strings. He has strayed over the line between being just a public servant and become a pint-sized potentate with aspirations way above his station. As such he has invited himself into the political arena where life is rough. And that, Mrs J, is why Alan continues to command my critical attention.

Friday September 26th

SouthWest One is at it again - cheating local business and blatently flouting the law

Mogg supplies the proof

Thursday September 18th

Normally I would not bother you with the kind of tittle-tattle contained in other blogs, but today Anal's mad musings seem to be correct.

Somerset is, apparantly, about to get a new brief. I thought it must have been a Guardianesque typographical error when I read his first name: "Meic" (a bit like Anal?) but there was worse to come. "Meic " has posed for his own website publicity shot in a ghastly style reminiscent of the Third Man.

(Followers of the original film will recall that Orson Welles portrayed an evil drugs crook)

"Meic", by contrast, only gets involved in Council scandals

The great man appears to have been booted out of Hackney in odd circumstances.

I see he has earned a new surname/nickname whilst there: "Gullivers-Travels"

Welcome to Lilliput, Meic!

Friday September 12th

I'm back. Relaxed, refreshed and ready to take on the grubby little mice who masquerade as mighty men under the skirting boards at Somerset County Council.

(Big Al has every reason to twitch)

The deal with IBM to form SouthWest One was an excercise in corporate masochism  that has emasculated all democratic control of this secretive outfit and given the power to a global giant. Thanks to the law of disclosure imposed on companies we can now prove it.

Read the facts right here

Monday August 18th

At last it is time for Mogg to go on holiday (Catmandu this year) But before I draw my claws please take a look at the latest revelations about the Chief Executive who seems to follow my every word. There is something of the night about him....something of the moonlight.....

Alan by Moonlight 

See you all in a week or so!!!

Monday August 11th

Roger Kershaw and Alan Jones have, once again, conspired to prevent me seeing the relevant parts of the SouthWest One contract. But this time Kershaw was stupid enough to send written proof of the cover-up.

(Click Roger's weapon-of-choice and read the evidence in full)

SOME GOOD NEWS JUST IN. I HAVE RECEIVED A VERY LONG AND HELPFUL LETTER FROM THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT MINISTER WHICH OVERTLY CRITICISES SOMERSET COUNTY COUNCIL IN ITS ACTIONS. Read it: THE GOVERNMENT GETS INVOLVED

Meanwhile ...............Somerset County Council has called in the cops

 The formidable Mrs Shor........tland) was overheard talking to Cllr Sam Crabb (ex bank manager and purveyor of ski chalets) about "grassing me up" for the dreadful offence of driving without using my hands! She may have forgotten the conversation. If so I am happy to supply the exact date, time and place.

This "crime", incidentally, lasted for precisely 0.18 seconds.

I am, as always, happy to help Colin Port (and maybe his missus) with their inquiries

Meanwhile.........some chap from Local Government Chronicle has been calling me

Apparantly Anal has been bending their ears with extraordinary tales about illicit blog sites.

LGC rang my butler (I was away at the annual Alley Cat Convention) and suggested to him that I might be responsible.

My man (quite rightly) said the allegations were arrant nonsense. I would put it more bluntly.

If Mr Jones thinks that I have the time to create fictitious material about a man who's real life is far dafter than any fiction he must need medical help.

Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery.

So who on earth would want to mimic

Alan Jones

Jill Shortland

Roger Kershaw

Sam Crabb

 Jenny Hastings

not to mention something that calls itself "Beyond Excellence"

Thursday July 31st

JONES QUITS SOMERSET SHOCK

(honest!)

 

Monday July 21st

Meet Alan Jones favourite lawyer

The very lovely Anja Proops has come a long way since law school.

"Rex-versus-the Carbolic Smokeball Company" is just distant history now.

These days she specialises in giving councils all manner of clever advice.

In 2006 she gave Alan Jones a great deal of expensive advice about to how to get round the Freedom of Information Act and the Local Government Act and stop people asking legitimate questions about Somerset County Council's books.

If a Chief Executive sought to hide a large monetary payment made to a disgruntled member of staff (with whom he had previously been - for the sake of hypothesis - extremely "friendly") Anja would be the ideal person to consult.

Her legal experience was also ideal for giving hints on how to conceal any important  financial information and dodge the public's right to know. 

In other words Anja was paid to help Jones and his cronies bury the details about South West One - and  very much else besides.

READ ANJA's LEGAL BRIEFING IN FULL

 

 

 

Thursday July 16th

Harry Houdini claimed he could escape from anything.

Roger Kershaw is now trying to escape from his promises.

He has written to say he is taking "counsel's opinion" and will get back to me "as soon as possible" before releasing SouthWest One contract documents.

Make it very quick Roger. We already know where the bodies are buried.

(your fingerprints are all over the spade)

Meanwhile those who have already had sight of these secret contractual documents are amazed at the paucity of detail. There is no breakdown of how Somerset County Council can produce the huge savings promised. And there is no explanation of the extraordinary price Somerset paid to sign up IBM. Of all three bidders IBM was the most costly....£25million more costly!

In this climate of half-truths could it be perfect timing for the final report of those toothless wathdogs the Audit Commission?

Will they garland Somerset with yet more praise?

If they do ,you read it here first.

Monday July 14th

Remember: YES PLEASE, I WANT TO SEE THE CONTRACT

Well today that 'nice' Mr Kershaw allowed me a peep (he didn't have any option....the law allows anyone to look ) He has also promised (after thumb-screws were applied) to send me the whole thing and all related papers for detailed scrutiny within five days. I intend to hold him to it.

But from what I have seen so far the contract is a complete .....

There are so many gaping holes it is no wonder that IBM threatened to sue Somerset County Council if they dared show it to Liddell-Grainger or his Mogg. Well now I have seen it, so see you all in court!

Meanwhile.......

                    .......G uess who's got the decorators in today?

Alan "Magnolia" Jones - that's who! The overall gang arrived to move the sink in his office ( presumably to clean up the bloodstains? ) and then to brush several delicate coats of his favourite shade on the surrounding walls. The sad thing is that not even Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen could smarten up his tarnished image now.

BUT WE WILL ALL HAVE TO PAY FOR IT.

Thursday 10th July

Roger Kershaw, Resources Director of Somerset County Council, still hasn't responded to my letter: YES PLEASE, I WANT TO SEE THE CONTRACT

His snail's pace makes First Great Western look like Lewis Hamilton.

But next Monday, BY LAW, Somerset County Council is obliged to open its books for public inspection. Perhaps Mr K is far too busy sweeping awkward facts about SouthWest One (or the lack of them) under the County Hall carpets right now.

Or is he moonlighting?

(ps : Alan  J desperately needs a relaxing break too)

 

And an important date for his television diary (and yours)

July 24th 7.30pm ITV

PUBLIC MONEY, PRIVATE GAIN

 

Monday July 7th

This map shows you how to get to IBM's centre in the historic town of Warwick:

The much vaunted job opportunities for Somerset - promised by SouthWest One - are actually migrating to the Midlands. It is a fresh scandal in this sick story.

Read the facts: SOMERSET DATA HEADS NORTH

More than three weeks ago I accepted an invitation from  Roger Kershaw to view the SouthWest One contract: YES PLEASE, I WANT TO SEE THE CONTRACT 

I'm still waiting. And waiting. The silence is eerie.

Others who have been made similar offers are also growing impatient.

But Kershaw's clock rotates with no result....except more excuses:

Mr Kershaw should take careful note of the following report:

"A local council has been ordered to make public details of a contract with a commercial partner after the Information Commissioner’s Office dismissed claims that releasing the contract might prejudice the commercial interests of the council or the contractor.

Mid Suffolk District Council will now have to publish the contract, including the financial details, relating to repairs and maintenance work at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre. The Council has 35 days to release the information. It had originally provided an edited version of the contract but told the person asking for the information that it was unwilling to release the financial details. The council put forward several reasons for this, including that disclosure would breach confidentiality and set a precedent as well as possibly preventing it from obtaining the best possible prices for future work or projects. But in her ruling, the Assistant Commissioner, Anne Jones, refused to accept disclosure would be likely to lead to any change in the tendering process or undermine the council’s ability to achieve best value for money in future. The contract in question dated back to 2004, she said, and she refused to accept the council’s view that disclosure would deter organisations from entering into business with public authorities because council contracts were a lucrative source of business for commercial organisations.

Anne Jones also criticised the council for taking several months to deal with the complainant’s request for an internal review and for what she called, “unacceptable delays in providing additional information and explanations throughout the investigation.” The ICO said the council had repeatedly refused to provide material in a timely manner and it has now been formally reminded of its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act. "

 

Got the message yet, Roger?

 

Thursday June 26th

Word reaches me that Mrs Jill Shortland, the alleged leader of Somerset County Council, is planning to silence the MP for Bridgwater. Apparantly the deluded lady believes that public money is being spent on Mr Liddell-Grainger's campaign against Alan Jones. Mogg is happy to confirm her suspicions.

Currently a team of 299  operatives are fully engaged in the campaign. They meet in a vast war-room and have access to a bank of IBM computers to monitor the activities of Mr Jones. No public expense is spared. Mr Liddell-Grainger himself travels everywhere by Lear jet and all his team have blackberries, strawberries and banana splits.

Exclusive pictures of the Campaign AJ War-room are available at £2.99 each

(postage and packing extra - state matt or glossy with your order)

 

PS: Mrs Shortland you really must be desperate.

Seriously though......

I have now accepted TWO offers from County Hall to inspect the contract - see my acceptance letter: YES PLEASE, I WANT TO SEE THE CONTRACT

And I have also consulted top Ministers: THE GOVERNMENT GETS INVOLVED 

 

 

Tuesday June 24th

Make sure you get hold of the annual report and accounts that Somerset County is obliged by law to publish. This information SHOULD be available on the council's website. But it isn't. Maybe they hope we inquisitive pussies will simply slink off and not bother. Silly them.

We already have a copy. It is short of detail about South West One, but contains a number of interesting bits....including a fat pay rise for A Jones:

He's now in the salary band of £140 - £149k.

Presumably that's one of the reasons why he needs to sack so many people

 

Thursday June 19th

I hear that Alan Jones has been getting his leg over again.

The famous four-wheel totty magnet was missing from its designated place in County Hall's car park on Tuesday. A keen-eyed BBC man spotted the gap. But our Al claimed he was nevertheless "on the job" and had got into work by pushbike.

The mere thought of that four-star-fool decked out in lycra was more than enough to put this moggy off her whiskas. But Jones was actually telling porkies again.

His office insist the "Great Man" took the day off!

EXCELLENT NEWS 1

We have a new blogging pal out there - well worth a bookmark

Click the picture

EXCELLENT NEWS 2

Mrs Alan - oops I meant Colin - Port (see June 11th below) has turned up at last - project managing Buckinghamshire County Council's scheme to streamline services.

(click the bird to read the facts)

Will Bucks be knocking on Jones' door soon?

And will Jones still have a door at County Hall with his name on it?

After this week's antics we wonder.

Read the full transcript of Liddell-Grainger's latest speech in the House:

SOUTHWEST ONE - THE SCANDAL DEEPENS

AND READ WHAT THE WESTERN DAILY PRESS HAD TO SAY  "JOBCUT" JONES 

PS:  This week Mr Jones was described as Judas in the House of Commons, castigated by the Western Daily Press, made to look a twit by the BBC and mercilessly grilled by ITV who are compiling a documentary about the SouthWest One fiasco. He is now as short of friends in the media as he is of supporters in the County. But you can't keep a small man down. Today he pulled himself up to his full height and started leaking juicy titbits about the contents of this column to.......wait for it.......the Municipal Journal:

.....this solid organ of reportage is strictly for anoraks  -  the equivalent of Gerbil-Breeders weekly (if you happen to be a gerbil)  

If he really wants effective counter-publicity to save his sinking reputation may I recommend one of these:

I suggest he writes one word on the board in great big letters:

"HELP"

Wednesday June 11th

Meet one of the architects of SouthWest One:

 

.......and SouthWest One's new director   

They make a lovely couple, don't they.

 ANYONE SEEN MR JONES? 

And as for poor Mr Kershaw. He is, apparantly, very worried that his indecipherable signature is now on this website. (where do you think we got, Roger?....from Somerset's own website of course!) But I am more than happy to muddy the waters a little for such a fine, upstanding, long-suffering, contract page-shredding, Section 151 Officer.

So here is Roger's new signature:

or, if he has one, could it be his pulse?

AND ANOTHER THING...........

Mogg would like to offer a heartfelt apology to Mr Jones, Mr Kershaw, Mr Corry and all other regular insultees. It seems that some of them may have been missing the illuminating new ingredients about SouthWest One in this website.

HAVE YOU SEEN HIM YET?

THE GREAT JOBS LIE

BLACKBERRY FOOL 

COWBOYS EXTRA

WOULD YOU DO BUSINESS WITH THESE COWBOYS?

THE CONTRACT COVER-UP

THE BUSINESS PLAN 

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

The moment we add a new one, Mogg promises to put in a link

Thursday June 5th

 I feel a personal promotion coming on. I reckon Indiana could do with me at the helm, pushing out the press releases and schmoozing it with the tabloids - they need an expert:

Job: Head of Communications, Somerset County Council

·       Employer: Somerset County Council

·       Reference: 2015JLB

·       Contact: Jane Brown

·       Location: Somerset

·       Contract: Permanent

·       Hours: Full Time

·       Position: Head of Communications

·       Salary: Up to £67,500

Taking communications beyond excellence in Somerset.

Often described as “the gateway to the west country”, Somerset is a county of great contrast, beautiful countryside and a diverse and successful economy. Its County Council is also rightly proud of being awarded the maximum four-star grading as an excellent Council by the Audit Commission. Our reputation as one of the best councils nationwide is built on our commitment to excellence in everything we do, and our focus on innovation and continuous improvement. How we communicate and truly engage with our community, all our stakeholders and, not least, internally, is critically important. We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate the necessary ambition to successfully lead a communications function. We are looking for a track record of operational delivery and strategic grasp. We'll expect the post holder to challenge current thinking, offer creative solutions and develop the talents of a team of fourteen media and campaigns staff. If you are able to deliver better outcomes for the community through proactive communication we'd be delighted to hear from you.   

Ok Jonesy, I'm putting my pawprint on your application form!

Friday May 30th

 

Nice to see "Zoom-Zoom-Zoom" spending so much time on the job........

Maybe he's been helping his old chum Roger Kershaw with a spot of extra work. Mr K, it seems, is not only Resources Director of Somerset County Council (and, thus, in charge of finances)  but also the County's "Section 151 Officer" in formal charge of probity!

There is, of course, absolutely no conflict of interest in these dual roles despite what Roger's professional organisation, CIPFA has to say:

"The holding of the position of Section 151 officer and [director of finance] is of great importance, both to the community which the officer serves, and for the reputation and standing of CIPFA itself.

The more serious the situation facing a local authority the more likely that failure to take appropriate action by a CIPFA member would reflect badly not only on the member but also on his professional body and his employer.

CIPFA guides are there to prevent failures and encourage good behaviour.

It is also important to appreciate that the Section 151 officer is the person to whom other CIPFA members in that member’s office would look to set the tone when pressure was applied. [The member’s] duties were owed not only to the council and his colleagues but also to the community as a whole."

 

 

..........but busy Roger now has an extra responsibility.......

He's had his locks changed to stop EXACT DETAILS of

any future secret meetings leaking out. Best to keep the cleaners out and DIY, Roger!

 

Friday May 23rd.

Rather a lot to report. From what I can gather the senior inmates of County Hall are still scuttling about like this chap - but minus their heads!

(Poor wee chucks!)

And all because ILG spilled the beans about what they've been trying to hide: 

The SouthWest One Contract. All 3000 pages of it.

Today we reveal more facts about the cover-up.

 

Wednesday May 21st

Read the bizarre letter from Jill Shortland (written by A.J?).....and my acid reply!

while you're at it have a click at this:

and what are you doing on June 5th?

 

Wednesday May 14th

And greetings to all our faithful viewers at County Hall.

Your favourite pussy is somewhat distressed to learn that Mrs Shortland failed to give voice to her bizarre criticism of Ian L-G at today's full council meeting. She had certainly planned to say some cruel things - see: MRS SHORTLAND LOSES THE PLOT

Maybe the presence of ITV put her off? (You can get away with looking a wally in the Council Chamber, but not on telly!)

Incidentally we have reworked the entire website. You may care to glance at some other articles of interest: SOUTH WEST ONE not to mention: IBM STRONG ARM TACTICS and: ROTTEN STANDARDS

And make a date with us next week. We will be breaking a very big story.

Monday May 12th

You may have noticed our complete absence from the web for the past three days. This was not caused by a change of heart about SouthWest One. The real explanation is only known to a small bald man with Napoleonic habits................

But normal service has now been resumed! Thanks for your patience.

Tuesday May 6th

Bonjour Monsieur Jones!.....nous faisons confiance que vous avez apprécié des vacances agréables.

Mais nous souhaitons que vous ne disiez pas des mensonges

Thursday April 25th

 

        LIRE ?                LYRE ?               LIAR ?

Today Mogg reveals who's been telling   porkies   

 

 

The Chief Executive of Somerset County Council is guilty of lying.

He has lied repeatedly about the status of a private consultancy

called Maana:

 

Somerset County Council paid this consultancy in excess of £15,000

for two days work last year. The consultancy was hired in preference

to the FREE evaluatons offered by the Government-approved   experts 4ps

 

 

 

We are not dealing with a trivial error.