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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Barnet boss takes on Haringey top job

 

Barnet Council chief executive Nick Walkley has been hired to take on the top post at Haringey Council.

Mr Walkley takes on the post following the sudden departure of predecessor Kevin Crompton in July. Prior to his role in Barnet, he gained extensive experience at the Department for Communities and Local Government and at the Improvement and Development Agency.

The appointment is subject to ratification by full council, which will meet on Tuesday, October 16. The remuneration package is yet to be announced, but his salary is expected to be similar to Mr Crompton's, which was in excess of £175,000.

Earlier this week it emerged that auditors in Haringey only signed off the council accounts at the eleventh hour, following the discovery of multi-million pound errors on the books.

Tags for Forum Posts: haringey chief executive, nick walkley

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 5, 2012 at 13:15

Barnet Blogger Mrs Angry reported widespread grief and dismay:

"staff were openly weeping at their desks, inconsolable at the thought of losing the man who has done so much to facilitate the introduction of the One Barnet programme"

Although Mr Mustard another regular Blogger on Barnet Council matters was a little less heartbroken.

Mr Reasonable suggested why Nick might be leaving. While Citizen Barnet seemed in two minds.

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)

00xac4z9hp0tjPermalink Reply by 00xac4z9hp0tj on October 5, 2012 at 21:33

 

Permalink Reply by Gordon Curtis on October 5, 2012 at 13:18

Is this the chap who famously based his spending strategy at Barnet on the low-cost airlines model?

Permalink Reply by pamish on October 5, 2012 at 18:36

Yes, he is Mr easyBarnet.  His One Barnet project is incomplete. If the citizens of Barnet are celebrating, should we be trembling?

As he wasn't imposed on Haringey by Eric Pickles, I am confused about what we have done to deserve him.  Can the cross-party (!!!) panel which appointed him give us the run-down?

Permalink Reply by pamish on October 5, 2012 at 13:35

This looks very very odd.  LBH have appointed a chief exec whose practice at Barnet, if this account is true, was to privatise or axe as many council services as he could get away with. Is this because the LBH Labour cabal wants a tough hatchet man to hide behind?????  WTF is going on?  Is there any chance this won't go through?

00xac4z9hp0tjPermalink Reply by 00xac4z9hp0tj on October 5, 2012 at 21:19

Oh my Goodness - this is indeed very bad news.

Also, on this blog - please note carefully.

" 5th October 2012

Hypocrite Update : Matthew Offord MP berates BBC for same tax dodge he ignores at Barnet Council

Today MP Matthew Offord has criticised the BBC on Twitter for allowing employees to be employed as consultants on contracts to avoid tax and NI. Offord said
HendonMP: 25,000 contracts at BBC allow employees to avoid tax and NI. The new DG should eradicate the whole culture of nepotism and cronyism there.
This is crass hypocrisy from Offord who has said nothing at all about the practice in in the London Borough of Barnet, where he used to be the Deputy Leader and which is run by his cronies in the Barnet Conservative party.

According to a GLA representative speaking before the Parliamentary select committee, there are more people in Barnet Council taking advantage of these loopholes than there are officially registered in the whole country !

The Barnet Eye calls on Mr Offord to state his views in relation to Barnet Council, who's taxpayers he is paid a large salary to represent. "
 
This means, that they want most of the jobs to become 'Consultant' jobs, so that these Council appointed 'Consultants' can avoid paying pay tax through putting their monthly cheque through via their Company. This in turn will mean that the short fall of the tax, will fall on Council Tax payers to pay a higher Council Tax bill as well as suffer deeper cuts in local public amenities ... 
 
I see big, big trouble ahead. Labour/LibDem Council definitely appointed the Tory, ex Chief Executive of Barnet,Nick Walkley,to do their dirty work. Or is their rationale, that the cuts are from the Tory/LibDem coalition, then it's one of them that will do the dirty work!
 
C MacA
Permalink Reply by pamish on October 6, 2012 at 1:56

Council Budget committee chair and MP; deadly duo in Barnet = was Walkley the third corner of a deadly trio?

Some history of political power-struggles and mass privatisation of...

Did he flee because these other two are extra-nasty bastids? Or because the easyBarnet scheme was falling apart?

After selling Parking to NSL, Barnet plan to outsource the rest of the council services to multi national companies like Capita and BT this year. These will be on 10 year contracts with guarantees for revenue for the suppliers.

Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on October 7, 2012 at 1:34

Friends of mine who work and/or live in Barnet have been telling me about this man for 2-3years. EasyCouncil, based on a no frills airline model is not something imposed on him by a Tory Council, its been spearheaded by this man.

Councillors need to be cautious about a mass privatisation model, as in essence it removes their power. It is corporate directors and shareholders who decide disciplinary and capability of delivery staff and if they are underperforming, as we have seen in companies like G4S, leaving Councillors who can complain but not much else. Holding these companies to account via contracts is a costly legal battle and as we have seen with many long running contracts worth millions, its not that "easy".

The other danger of 10-15yr contracts is adaptability, we do require fluid changes in delivery to meet demand and changes in our community. So any contracting of services would need to address this, without additional costs. For us, the community... accountability is a key issue. Private companies are not subject to FOI requests for example.

There is a financial problem with this model, committing yourself to 10-15yr contracts is absurd for any business as you are liable for the contract value. With the cuts to public service budgets, Barnet could have committed itself to contracts it may not be able to afford in 5years time.

At this stage we have no confirmed information that Walkley is "transferring his skills" of Privatisation to Haringey. What makes Barnet odd is many councils are bringing services back in house, so Haringey would be about 5-8 yrs behind if it is considering an outsourcing finance model that many other councils believe has failed and cost more.

Im stunned by this decision, Walkely has one of the worst reputations in public services as any Union Member or public servant would tell you. Barnet Labour have been heavily campaigning against what this guy is doing. What next? Kelvin McKenzie running the council press office? Maybe Bob Diamond running the Finance department?

Permalink Reply by pamish on October 9, 2012 at 15:59

For £200k pa (including on-costs) I would expect a worker to be just a bit dynamic. Or will he be in charge of paperclips? What is the function of a CEO?

Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on October 10, 2012 at 0:22

Sorry I took long to reply, I cant log in over the iPhone as I log on via the net through Twitter and I have no idea of my password!!

Firstly, before I commence Billy, can I just say that I see you got shortlisted for the One Borough One Fund thingy, I hate to admit it but your application just reading the summary was my favourite  - Good Luck, I hope you are successful - simple idea with a huge impact.

Ok, enough of the soppy romantic stuffness, it won't happen again

1). I have a feeling that we don't have the same sort of friends - so the fact that your friends have "have better things to do than whinge about the actions of the councils chief exec" does not surprise me in the slightest. However, my friends like me care deeply about public services and therefore the actions of their Chief Exec is a top priority :) 

2). Which "wild accusations" would you like me to prove? Have you not got Google? Do you not read the papers? I've made statements and you seem to be in defence of him, so why don't you prove me wrong?

3). In regards to what Cllrs can do if they dont like what the CEO does - I think you need to speak to your colleagues in Barnet, its not a Labour issues, many Tory Councillors have not endorsed nor supported his actions.

You appeared to have taken my very factual statements and made them personal... I suggest you re-read and do your research.

Still love you loads Little Willy and sincerely hope you get the OBOF bid :)

Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on October 10, 2012 at 10:32

Huh?

As my post also complemented you, I can see why you thought it was incorrect

Seriously, I wish to discuss this issue, but I feel like you are more interested in attacking me, rather than offer anything in response to the points Im raising.

All very odd, if I am honest...

Look forward to you giving me something to respond to, if not... its been great as always, you little old romantic

 

Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on October 10, 2012 at 11:31

Hold on, what is what you posted any different to what I have posted?

If you think my post is pointless.... DONT READ IT / DONT RESPOND TO IT #Simples

Thanks for those links thou, it had information in it thats made me even more concerned!

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