A major new report criticising ‘dysfunctionality’ at the Isle of Wight Council arose out of concerns flagged by statutory officers, it has been confirmed.
As previously reported by Island Echo, Richard Penn’s 31-page document on County Hall’s governance said issues falling ‘broadly’ under ‘organisational culture’ were previously raised by the head of paid service, deputy monitoring officer and s151 officer, with support from the senior governance adviser.
Responsibilities of statutory officers include ensuring the legality and fairness of a council’s decision-making process and the proper administration of its finances, according to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Actions taken by the officers to improve matters included holding initial meetings with councillors to voice their disquiet. Although Mr Penn’s report said meetings with group leaders had gone well and there were ‘some’ behaviour improvements, there was still cause for concern.
This prompted the officers to commission ‘specialist governance support’ as part of ongoing work to ameliorate the council’s culture and governance.
Mr Penn, a former Commissioner for Standards at the Welsh Assembly and chief executive of Bradford City Council, was instructed to lead the work.
His report said:
“The statutory officers have, through their own experiences and through staff feedback, identified member behaviours which are of concern.
Article continues below this advertisement “The statutory officers are also aware from direct staff feedback of the concerns from officers about various aspects of member behaviour which could be construed as bullying/harassment behaviours, and which are causing stress for some staff, and which are impacting negatively on the culture of the organisation.
“This includes comments made by some councillors about members of the council’s staff in the local press and on social media. There are examples of some councillors openly calling for officers to be disciplined and a call for ‘formal investigations’ of staff.
“This impacts very negatively on the culture of the organisation, staff morale and further opens the council to legal risks of employment tribunal/personal injury claims.”
Other concerns included the ‘frustration’ of ‘formal decision-making processes’ and a general ‘lack of respect, understanding and adherence’ to councillor and officer protocols in the local authority’s constitution.
Like most things on the island – dysfunctional
Roll on devolution!