flamboyant

Excellent point SteveC welcome to the voice please keep posting, the more people that offer up little gems like that need to keep us informed! You may well hold the piece to the puzzle that is Herefordshire Council administration! I would urge anyone even if it's gossip to let us know please! Someone has the nail and we really need it! There's nothing else these ******* can do to **** up this beautiful County of ours! The more apathy the easier it is to get away with! Please start shouting!

Good point 'Pete Boggs' I'd like to think his reputation precedes him, but there are a lot of unscrupulous characters out there. Keep posting nice to hear from you. Twowheelsgood I looked up 'market force supplement' it means 'sell your soul' which they are all too eager to do!

Hoople We work with partners to deliver a wide range of services from across our portfolio, and some bespoke services to partnership agreements, such as the services outlined here provided to the Council. Revenues and benefits Hoople have been commissioned by Herefordshire Council to deliver the County’s revenues and benefits service. We collect council tax and business rates from every household and business within the county. We also administer housing benefit and the council tax reduction scheme which came into effect on 1st April 2013; determine entitlement to free school meals and deal with the recovery of parking penalty charge notices and the collection of invoiced charges. We are currently supporting our partner HCC in the change to the universal credit system, which will be fully implemented by April 2017. Collection of council tax maintain the council tax records for Herefordshire (circa 82,000 properties) issue council tax accounts to all dwellings in Herefordshire determine and monitor council tax discounts and exemptions instigate recovery action for unpaid council tax accounts, a full service from initial letters to committal or bankruptcy work with and support residents within Herefordshire to help them to pay their council tax work as a seamless partner with HCC frontline customer services, providing training, appropriate scripts, briefings on legislation changes Collection of business rates maintain the business rates records for Herefordshire issue rates accounts to all non-domestic premises in Herefordshire (circa 7k) determine exemptions and rate reliefs for business ratepayers instigate recovery action for unpaid rate accounts, a full service from initial letters to committal or insolvency. Administration of housing benefit keep up to date and be aware of future changes to housing benefit legislation to ensure the correct amounts are paid to people on low income manage the claims process to determine benefit entitlement within statutory timescales pay housing benefit to claimants and landlords identify and process changes in circumstances to ensure benefit granted is accurate ensure that Herefordshire Council receives the appropriate Benefit Subsidy from the Department for Work and Pensions Council tax reduction scheme we supported HCC in developing and consulting on a local scheme for Council Tax Reduction, which was approved by the Members in November 2012 communicated the Reduction Scheme to existing claimants, ready for implementation on April 2013 manage the claims process to determine the Council Tax Reduction award within statutory timescales apply council tax reduction to council tax accounts identify and process changes in circumstances to ensure calculated reduction is accurate Hoople provides an extensive range of services to our founding partner Herefordshire County Council. They include a full range of financial and human resources services, including payroll and DBS check. Our Technology and Transformation Service help support the public services network and infrastructure within Herefordshire and are working with the Council to support their change programmes. We deliver an extensive range of training, both on behalf of our partner to the local private, independent and voluntary sector; as well as directly to our partner in relation to mandatory training, workforce development, leadership and management training. We deliver full schools support, as well as trading directly with all schools and academies within Herefordshire.

I particularly like the following statement taken from one of the documents on the link above. We will continue to investigate ways to reduce our internal operating costs across the council. We have already significantly reduced our costs with over 300 redundancies in the last two years, capping redundancy payments and asking all staff to take two days of unpaid leave at Christmas, which has saved £225,000. Loosely translated 'we managed to develope a strategy so we could use the savings made from reducing our front line staff to enable us to spend £150 k of the £225 k saved on three posts in the finance department' whilst we appreciate that we are already paying a huge salary to the head of finance we thought he could do with a bit of help! For all the Councillors reading the above can someone explain why we need three more high flyers in the finance department? We don't have any money for them to manage! Also exactly how many Solicitors do we need? These two departments are fast becoming the largest within Herefordshire Council! Don't we pay a Hoople huge sums of money to deal with the majority of Council Finance?

Bobby I know what the problem is, lots of public sectors are paying Nepro Ltd between 40 & 50 k a month, I think that's a problem! Herefordshire Council has them on speed dial! That's an awful lot of money a year...

Wonder if any of the Parish Councillors recommended 3 new 50 K posts in the Finance department? Note to All Parish Councils – Budget Consultation 2014/15 Please see the email below in relation to budget cuts and consultation plans from Herefordshire Council. Dear Parish Clerk, You will be well aware that the council faces very significant budget pressures. We need to find £33m savings over the next three years, £15m in next year. We will be consulting the public on a proposed budget which shows how we could deliver these savings while still funding our priority services. It will be necessary to make very serious reductions in some services, to remove some altogether, and for others to reduce costs through shared service approaches with partners. We recognise that this will have far-reaching implications for many of our residents and our consultation seeks to help us to understand the implications of our proposals so that we can seek to mitigate these in our final budget which will be agreed on 7thFebruary. The consultation is available at https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/budget2014 and a news release announcing the consultation is available at http://www.newsroom.herefordshire.gov.uk/2013/october/budget-2014.aspx Your feedback on the proposed budget will be very welcome as it will help inform our decisions. Kind regards Peter Robinson Chief Financial Officer Herefordshire Council Brockington 35 Hafod Road Hereford HR1 1SH CC: Herefordshire Councillors

Evidence he Is able to influence key financial issues!

Also worth noting is that the high paid jobs appear to be in areas of finance and legal. Which would indicate Peter Robinson and Bill Norman are swelling their empires! http://news.herefordshire.gov.uk/Jobs/Jobs/Results/?Reset=true&jobCategories=Finance http://news.herefordshire.gov.uk/Jobs/Jobs/Results/?Reset=true&jobCategories=Legal

Sounds like a plan!

I'm afraid there's a little more to it than that Bobby although you make a very good start. In my humble opinion, It's more a kin to a life cycle. It starts off with a tiny insignificant grub at the bottom of the food chain. The grub needs to work its way up the food chain to survive and devour everything in its wake, it can not be seen to be doing this so it develops covert tactics. Those tactics include plagiarism, deception, lying and manipulation to name but a few. They then endear themselves to those at the top of the food chain using these tactics coupled with flattery and by feigning adulation and massaging egos. Once they've endeared themselves to the hierarchy who invariably recognise those traits in themselves they are propelled to the top of the food chain. It is incumbent for an incompetent Senior Manager to be in the company of people who hero worship them. It is also imperative to surround themselves with people who they can manipulate and of course it's a prerequisite that their intelligence is limited so you they never challenge them. It wouldn't do if there was the slightest possibility that they could contest their position. They then build a culture of bullying and harassment of the lower ranks which is insidious but effective. They convince themselves they are elite and above reproach because they absolutely believe they worked hard to get where they are so they are good and honest people. They are most definitely not, they are still bottom feeders back to where they started with a different title!

Colin can you delete one of these threads please before this gets confusing! Paul control your finger!!!

I hear Mr Norman is launching an investigation into a member of staff who complained about bullying an harassment, rather than investigate the complaint he is going to investigate the person who made them, see what he can find! Isn't this what happened on the Wirral with Martin Morton when he complained?

Councillors on the employment panel please be mindful that if this person turns up in Hereford and sits before you while you're passing the time of day on the interview panel, we don't want her here! Whilst we all appreciate she would make an execellent companion for Bill Norman and Peter Robinson we'd rather give her a swerve!

We are running out of time to spread the word before the Elections in May. Colin do you do mail shots to members? What about emailing our silent majority and encouraging them to join the debates? Have to had a chance to get the quote yet?

Spot on Twowheelsgood! People will have attended on the first day realised it was the same old s.h.i.t. , and decided it was a waste of time! The officers responsible for withholding the document should be dismissed! Let's face it, it isn't the first time! These Officers really are a law unto themselves! Any chance of a public enquiry ... I doubt it!

Paul thanks for the reality check! Which made sober reading after my initial euphoria! I was sucked in, nothing new I'm sucked in on a daily basis. I have lost count of the people I've trusted and believed in. Everyone has an agenda and I for one keep losing site of mine. Mine is the pursuit of integrity, I've spent a long time searching and I'm losing hope it really exists. Whistleblowers are, I believe in the main, people of integrity, if people accept that they must question their own. It's much easier to take the high ground and condemn them as liars and trouble makers rather than admit you are part of something that's rotten to the core!

GDJ they would have to lock up half the Councils Senior Mangagers and a few Councillors lol!

For those who missed the news http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31362196 Wonder if there's any chance this could work at the Council!

It's actually harder to find an MP not having worn the red coat! Lol

And another http://www.solihull-libdems.org.uk/burt_backs_research_to_save_emily_8

GreenKnight -Just red your post on Hereford times and accepted your challenge! http://www.joswinson.org.uk/jo_and_bhf_highlight_importance_of_funding

Well spotted GDJ, there's a few more out there! http://www.towerhamletslabour.org.uk/jim_fitzpatrick_mp_and_bhf_highlight_importance_of_funding_for_life_saving_research

Mole that is very sound advice! Greenknight you have a point, there is probably more people on this site qualified to assist someone in trouble and the advice is free! Not sure what the Union subs are now a days but I know I wasted a lot of money over the years! From what I've heard people in a Hereford Council are doing the same! The latest gossip if true is a shocker to say the least!

Agh ... A different one to the one that sprang to my mind.

Which particular job evaluation do you mean?