Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Following the New Cost Saving of joining Several boroughs together to Save Cost

Do you believe that Haringey will go along the same Route as others

Could be very interesting and Save Rate payers a Fortune

By loosing duplicated layers of Top Management

Especially how close some boroughs work already with Haringey

We was Told that We need multi management Set up's in each Borugh

In the Name of Democracy -

Rather a Joke these day's when So few bother to Vote in Local Elections

As a Ex Haringey Employee - aware of the possible large savings possible

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Bob, you may or may not know it but the Project is already far advanced - so Camarade Citoyen, Bienvenue a la République Populaire de Nouvelle-Har'ackney.

Hackney has of course always been Haringey's twin and natural bedfellow. Mind you, we're not talking here any of your mere 'operational streamlining and merging', sharing an underworked Chief Exec here and there a la Westminster/K&C/H&F and one or two other Tory linkups. In Har'ackney we go for full joint sovereignty and then some.

We now know why Haringey did not embrace the Executive Mayor & Cabinet option a while back. Apparently, Joe Goldberg has been doing some fancy footwork behind his Leader's back over there in Seven Sisters ever since January'09. It seems his excursion to tangle with Cameron in Witney back in May was just a blind to throw Kober off the scent. That's what comes of living in Muesli Hill - eye off the ball on Hackney borders while Joe has been plotting with Jules Pipe, thrice Exec Mayor of Hackney and, like Joe, with a keen eye to a larger empire.

Devil's in the detail as always but the main lines are clear and indeed any Goldberg-watcher worth their salt would have been alerted by Joe's utterances over recent months. "In these days of austerity, as a Council we have to look very closely at every penny that's spent." And more recently: "The depth and speed of the cuts . . . will have far-reaching consequences across the Borough." Yes, indeed.

Briefly then, from start of next fiscal year Jules Pipe takes over as Executive Mayor of the Joint-Borough with Joe Goldberg as his local Shadow (some shadow!) & Understudy. Ms Kober assumes decorative and ceremonial former-mayoral duties for both N & S Har'ackney.

Chief Executive and Managers of Haringey bow out in favour of Team Hackney.
All Hackney's lower ranking officers, backroom boys and girls hand over to Haringey's best and brightest.

Haringey's 19 Wards are twinned with Hackney's 19 - wealthy with more deprived - existing 114 Councillors work across the old borough borders in the interests of Har'ackney cohesion.

After the pilot year, Borough Elections in May 2012 will change the furniture and reduce council clutter by returning just 38 New Councillors, one per Ward, each with a brief to work across their twinned wards, North and South.

While efficiency rather than savings are key to the new Borough's Council, reduction of basic councillor allowances alone will save Har'ackney council taxpayers at least £800K per annum, with a further £600-900K pa approx from the halving of Cabinet posts and shedding of several ranks of ex-mayoral and "special responsibility" nixers. The existing 13 Neighbourhood Management Area Teams will reduce to six.

Shared resources across Education, for example, will offer greater efficiency and savings. Current Hackney Academy Heads will serve dual or multiple roles as Executive SuperHeads across existing Haringey schools. These and other efficiencies will be among the earliest benefits of Haringey's long hoped-for status as an Inner London Borough. Another obvious spinoff will be the guilt-free experience of waving inner-London refugees further northwards through Edmonton with a cheery, "Keep going, you're still in Inner London, mate."

As you'll doubtless notice, Bob, this Pipe-Goldberg coup would have been more difficult even six months ago. With Hackney Labour's rise to 50 seats in May (squeezing Tories back to 4, leaving L/D on 3 and dispatching a solitary Green) coupled with local Labour recovery to 34, Joe Goldberg - Brand Consultant extraordinaire - comes into his own. With a rebranded Har'ackney, Joe & Jules co-presiding, from their new Manor House Palace, over 84 seats out of 114, the future may indeed be a golden pipe dream. Best symbolised by the replacement of the bi-mensual Haringey People with the brighter fortnightly (formerly Hackney Today) Har'ackney People Today.

Only problem: can they persuade the Lib Dems of the seven western wards not to secede or declare UDI? Harringay, too, is on the cusp. Will we learn to love Joe & Jules' new brand?
THE possible thinning out of the top-heavy bureaucracy at LBH may become known as de-lamination, a term I learnt of only yesterday. The most-remunerated at LBH include a few strange-sounding job-titles, not all of which I can decipher. Many of these functions are clearly skilled, important and necessary. In descending order of remuneration, the top 100 are:

Director of The Children & Young People
Chief Executive
Director of Corporate Resources
Director of Urban Environment
Director of Adult, Culture & Community
Deputy Director Children & Families
Assistant Chief Executive (People & OD)
Asst Director, Planning, Regen & Economy
Head of Legal Services
Head of Corporate Finance
Deputy Director
Assistant Director - S & CHS
Deputy Director Children's Networks
Asst Director - Adults & Older People
Assist.Director Commissioning & Strategy
Head of Communication & Consultation
Head of Information Technology
Head of Corporate Property Services
Transformation Stream Lead
Head of Safer & Stronger Communities
Assistant Director
Head of Procurement
Head of Haringey Forward
Assistant Head Social Care
Asst Director of Recreation
Interim Chief Information Officer
Head of Benefits & Local Taxation
Head of Op Com, Contracts & Bus Mgmt
Head of Audit & Risk Management
Prog. Director, CYPS Capital Prog.
AD - Adult Learning, Libraries & Culture
Programme Director
Head of Performance & Policy
Chief Technology Officer
Head of Human Resources
Assistant Head Litigation & Corporate
Assistant Head Commercial
Head of Parks & Bereavement Services
SEN Strategy Manager
Assistant Director
Head of Finance -Children's Services
Head of Finance - Accounting & Control
Head of Finance - UE
Head of Workforce Development
Head of Environmental Resources
Director of NLSA
Operations Manager
Head Of Sustainable Transport
Head of Primary & Special Standards
Super Project Manager
Head of Finance - Projects
Head of Workforce Development
Head of Children's Network (North)
Children's Bill Development Manager
Attendance & Welfare Manager
Head of Children's Network West
Head of News
Head of Finance - ACCS
Head of Housing Strategy Dev&Part
Head of Finance-Cap, Budget & Fin Plan
Head of Learning Disabilities
Head of ICT
Head of Supplies & Services Procurement
Head of Housing Needs & Lettings
Head of Service
Corporate Head of OD
Head of Finance - Central Services
LCE Change Manager-Energy Transformation
Head of Parking
Service Manager (Physical Disabilities)
Head of Finance
Head of Service
Project Delivery Manager
Applications Solution Group Manager
Group Manager - Strategy & Development
Head of Service
Head of Housing Support & Options
Service Manager
YOS Strategic Manager
Head of Provider Services
Head of Alternative Provision
Quality & Inclusion Team Manager
School Imp Mngr: Inclusion
School Imp Mngr: Teaching & Learning
SIP Manager
National Strategies Manager
Head of Pupil Support Centre
Principal Lawyer (Senior Legal Officer)
Corporate Landlord Manager
Management Information/Research Officer
Head of HR Shared Services
Head of Housing Finance
Commissioning & Contracts Manager
Corporate Applications Programme Manager
Head of Sports and Leisure Services
Highways Asset Group Manager
Transport Policy & Projects Grp Manager
Head of Schools Personnel
Deputy Director (Economic Development)
Head of Commissioning
Head of Local Democracy

At the top a Special Scale salary obtains, thought to be north of £200k and at the bottom the scale is "SM1", which lies in a range between £51,002 and £68,396 (FoI data; applicable 2010/11).

.
Should certainly be able to save us £xxmillions from that little lot. Delamination suggests sloughing off several very superficial and unnecessary skins.
OAE: the total bill for the top 100 is not less than £6,834,719 and not more than £8,863,614. The average – and closest approximation to the figure – is about £7,850,000.
Can I again suggest, Clive, that it's often useful if Freedom of Information requests are sent though the website WhatDoTheyKnow. And also if the answers are posted there as well.
This can complement a public posting on HoL.

Plainly, some people want to take potshots at their local council and scoff at whatever information is provided. But if councils round the country genuinely want people to be involved in decisions about their budgets, there needs to be accurate and hard information available. It's an essential part of building the deliberative democracy we touched on a few months ago.

I don't doubt that local councils - including Haringey - will make cuts by removing layers of management. But I want to see judgements about posts being "superficial and unnecessary" based on factual evidence about what people actually do. With that in mind, I'd like the public to have easy access to organisational charts with some basic explanations about the range of responsibilities covered. As you suggest, job titles aren't always helpful.

I'd like this information to be publicly available about consultants employed. And for organisations to which the Council gives grants; and/or from which it commissions (buys) services.

Tottenham Hale ward councillor
Alan, my "superficial and unnecessary" remark was of course itself a superficial response to Clive's 'delamination'.
I do wonder, though, how many of those postholders could well operate across two boroughs with little or no need for salary increase.
Bob and OAE, good to see you both on the ball.
"The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday — but never jam to-day."
"It must come sometimes to 'jam to-day," Alice objected.
"No, it can't," said the Queen.
Not a nursery rhyme, Mr Hoyle, but a quotation from one of the classic books of English literature. And though ostensibly for children, full of perceptive observation and comment.
I read something yesterday on the Barnet issue. The problem that article addressed was the costs involved in finding savings is tough to justify. I'm afraid it was on my Google reader and I didn't star the item, but you cd probably Google it if interested.
"I can't believe that!" said Alice.

"Can't you?" the Queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes."

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."

"I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
"I'm all in favour of de-laminating and merging and having gains from scale" said Alice. "I think that even if it costs money in the short term, there are likely to be big gains for all in the longer term" she said.

The queen's brows furrowed. "Ah but you do realise that it isn't just a money cost? The very group who are expected to implement your scheme can also be expected to resist it" said the Queen.

"It's a pity it wasn't begun five years ago" said Alice, turning on her heels.

(with apologies to Lewis Carrol)

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