Wirral council chief leaves (From Wirral Globe)
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Wirral council chief leaves
11:20am Friday 8th June 2012 in News By Leigh Marles, Editor
Jim Wilkie
JIM Wilkie – Wirral Council's chief executive – departed from the authority last night after taking early voluntary retirement.
His departure was rubber-stamped at a short meeting of the council's employment and appointments committee.
Five hours later, just after midnight, an embargoed Audit Commission "public interest" report highlighting serious issues over a multi-million pound highways contract was released.
Mr Wilkie, 58, had been on sick leave since February. He was only appointed chief executive a year ago, having previously been deputy chief executive.
He was elevated to the top job after his predecessor Steve Maddox himself took early voluntary retirement shortly before independent consultant Anna Klonowski began her inquiries into the abuse of vulnerable adults, an first issue highlighted by the Globe in November 2008 after we were approached by adult social services whistleblower Martin Morton.
The council will pay more than £95,000 into Mr Wilkie's pension fund.
It is not yet clear if he will also receive three months' worth of his £132,000 salary in lieu of notice.
At the employment and appointments committee, the three Conservative group members opposed signing-off his early retirement.
They were defeated by the five Labour members and one Liberal Democrat, who approved Mr Wilkie’s early retirement.
His departure from the authority was active immediately.
Tory group leader Cllr Jeff Green said Mr Wilkie still had not offered an explanation as to why two senior adult social services workers were allowed to leave the authority less than 24 hours before the damning Klonowski report was published in January.
Comments(40)
Hon
says...
12:06pm Fri 8 Jun 12
PaulCa
says...
12:11pm Fri 8 Jun 12
Still, central govt intervention and a full public enquiry are yet to be ruled out..... and nothing would surprise me with this council.
Cheesy Peas
says...
1:01pm Fri 8 Jun 12
If the Tories are serious about wanting answers re: AKA and indeed the HES contract, that is precisely what they should do - and with great urgency.
PaulCa
says...
1:06pm Fri 8 Jun 12
Cheesy Peas wrote:It depends on whether that specific course of action could risk opening up their own "personal can of worms".
As I understand it, this decision - while unlikely to be subject of a judicial review - could actually be "called in".
If the Tories are serious about wanting answers re: AKA and indeed the HES contract, that is precisely what they should do - and with great urgency.
Cheesy Peas
says...
1:07pm Fri 8 Jun 12
WirralAl
says...
1:49pm Fri 8 Jun 12
What a payout!
Can I apply for the job as its good money, it does not matter if you can do the job, you can go on the sick for months, not do the job and the get a nice payout at the end of it.
Funny Labour always moan about the conservatives cut backs and blow our money without batting an eyelid.
I will check out the council website for the job application.Wish me luck!
johnbrace
says...
2:33pm Fri 8 Jun 12
"Imagine that? The role of Chief Executive becoming 'redundant'!"
They can make the Chief Executive retire early, but they still are required by law to have a Head of Paid Service (which if memory serves me correct was Jim Wilkie). So who's the new Head of Paid Service?
Cheesy Peas
says...
2:35pm Fri 8 Jun 12
I think Ian Coleman is, as Acting Chief Exec.
PaulCa
says...
2:37pm Fri 8 Jun 12
However, from this vantage point I can't see any smoke emerging from the top of the town hall.
red devil
says...
2:47pm Fri 8 Jun 12
johnbrace
says...
4:58pm Fri 8 Jun 12
If memory serves correct regarding Coleman and Armstrong, one is the Acting Chief Executive and the other is the Deputy Chief Executive.
I may be wrong, but I think Coleman is the Deputy and Armstrong is Acting. It all gets very confusing as it keeps changing...
johnbrace
says...
7:13pm Fri 8 Jun 12
johnbrace wrote:Well I got it a bit wrong, sorry, but I think I have it right now.
@Cheesy Peas and @PaulCa
If memory serves correct regarding Coleman and Armstrong, one is the Acting Chief Executive and the other is the Deputy Chief Executive.
I may be wrong, but I think Coleman is the Deputy and Armstrong is Acting. It all gets very confusing as it keeps changing...
David Armstrong is Acting Deputy Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service.
Ian Coleman is Acting Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service.
Sorry about leaving out the Acting bit... and apologies to Ian Coleman for describing him incorrectly as Deputy Chief Executive rather than Acting Chief Executive.
JADEE1
says...
8:42pm Fri 8 Jun 12
LocaLGovwatcher
says...
8:51pm Fri 8 Jun 12
vicarious phil
says...
11:48pm Fri 8 Jun 12
PeteSheff
says...
11:55pm Fri 8 Jun 12
Parts of Mr Wilkie’s letter were read to the committee in which he said retirement was not a decision he had “come to lightly” but that given the challenges facing the council he felt someone else was needed to make the changes that need to be made.
A report to the committee said the cost to the council of the early release of Mr Wilkie’s pension is £95,728.98, to be paid back over a five-year period with interest, totalling £111,054.48.
Council leader Phil Davies said: “I would like to thank Jim for his dedicated service to Wirral Council over the past decades and wish him well in his retirement.”
Thank you for your inability. Here - have a pot of money and a pension most hard working people can only dream of... and while we are at it lets cut what we pay for older peoples care.
MX
says...
9:06am Sat 9 Jun 12
bickyboy
says...
11:03am Sat 9 Jun 12
To commemorate the anniversary of another long overdue assault on corruption and vested interest, anyone fancy storming Wallasey Town Hall?
PaulCa
says...
11:36am Sat 9 Jun 12
bickyboy wrote:Only with the following conditions:
Guys, Bastille Day comes up in just over a month.
To commemorate the anniversary of another long overdue assault on corruption and vested interest, anyone fancy storming Wallasey Town Hall?
1. The weather's OK
2. We can buy a latte / some cake (is there a Starbucks attached to the Town Hall yet?)
3. The storming doesn't clash with "The Voice" or "Big Brother"
4. The Council has a policy in place that caters for, embraces and facilitates safe, efficient and effective "storming"
MX
says...
12:07pm Sat 9 Jun 12
Thought not.
http://democracy.wir
ral.gov.uk/ieListDoc
uments.aspx?CId=634&
MId=3851&Ver=4
johnbrace
says...
3:32pm Sat 9 Jun 12
MX wrote:Well it's on their website, isn't that publicity enough?
Has the Public meeting Q & A at Wallasey Town Hall on 22nd June 2012 been promoted anywhere yet?.
Thought not.
http://democracy.wir
ral.gov.uk/ieListDoc
uments.aspx?CId=634&
amp;
MId=3851&Ver=4
I've been the only member of the public to ask questions at it so far. Mind you only two members of the public (including myself) turned up to the last one as not many people knew it was happening.
bigfoot
says...
3:32pm Sat 9 Jun 12
That is having a lobotomy, a spine removal and a charisma by-pass,some of the pre-requisites!
daggers drawn
says...
7:10pm Sat 9 Jun 12
bigfoot wrote:Well Bigfoot has it right with the qualifications! PLEASE lets have someone as CEO who has the right qualifications, has a good track record, is not afraid to lead & change, and above all will he sack the officers who have over the past few years not 'performed' or got to big for the boots they wear, and by God there are many of them. Look at the officers, look at the qualifications they have, and then ask yourself why are they in that job. That CEO needs to have a support network, but none of the officers who are employed at the moment are up to the job. You only have to look week in and week out the wrong doings, the AKA report the latest HES contract, the bad press and the spin, the list is so long it would fill your paper. Look at all the comments you have had on Wilkie, Green, Foulkes etc will somebody somewhere sit up and take notice. I thought that with someone sent to steady the ship from the LGA might have helped, but I think its too deep rooted. The next step is up to the Government, and unless some dramatic changes happen in the next few weeks then perhpas Government intervention will be the only answer. Let the whistleblowers start and 'blow' open once and for all the rest of the goings on. (As long as they 'are not a bit mad') then things might improve, and we can then move on and the Council can get on with the job in hand. I can dream can't I?
I would consider applying but the time in hospital would delay matters. That is having a lobotomy, a spine removal and a charisma by-pass,some of the pre-requisites!
JADEE1
says...
10:24pm Sat 9 Jun 12
PeggyPig
says...
9:13pm Sun 10 Jun 12
hugo2008
says...
9:47pm Sun 10 Jun 12
It has to be a monumental joke to couple the word Legal with that of Bill Norman, to date there have been about eight decisions with financial implications, that streach the imagination about being legal.
There must be some intervention soon from either the Government or the DPP into the running of WBC, why it has not happened before now is the only truly remarkable event.
PeteSheff
says...
2:29am Mon 11 Jun 12
council officer
says...
9:35pm Mon 11 Jun 12
daggers drawn wrote:You talk great sense Daggers. Bang on! I couldn't have said it better myself. Start with Press an PR and HR and OD then move onto Legal.
bigfoot wrote:Well Bigfoot has it right with the qualifications! PLEASE lets have someone as CEO who has the right qualifications, has a good track record, is not afraid to lead & change, and above all will he sack the officers who have over the past few years not 'performed' or got to big for the boots they wear, and by God there are many of them. Look at the officers, look at the qualifications they have, and then ask yourself why are they in that job. That CEO needs to have a support network, but none of the officers who are employed at the moment are up to the job. You only have to look week in and week out the wrong doings, the AKA report the latest HES contract, the bad press and the spin, the list is so long it would fill your paper. Look at all the comments you have had on Wilkie, Green, Foulkes etc will somebody somewhere sit up and take notice. I thought that with someone sent to steady the ship from the LGA might have helped, but I think its too deep rooted. The next step is up to the Government, and unless some dramatic changes happen in the next few weeks then perhpas Government intervention will be the only answer. Let the whistleblowers start and 'blow' open once and for all the rest of the goings on. (As long as they 'are not a bit mad') then things might improve, and we can then move on and the Council can get on with the job in hand. I can dream can't I?
I would consider applying but the time in hospital would delay matters. That is having a lobotomy, a spine removal and a charisma by-pass,some of the pre-requisites!
JADEE1
says...
11:05am Tue 12 Jun 12
council officer
says...
9:10pm Tue 12 Jun 12
hugo2008 wrote:Umm, I have seen Bill Norman in action an I'm not impressed. For someone in such a lofty position, he seems to have a strange take on how the law works! If he isn't one of the next green bottles along with the Uggly one, I will see my backside!
I wonder who is next to be lined up for a temporary or acting job then after a short period of spin and horse manure, waltze off with pockets bulging.
It has to be a monumental joke to couple the word Legal with that of Bill Norman, to date there have been about eight decisions with financial implications, that streach the imagination about being legal.
There must be some intervention soon from either the Government or the DPP into the running of WBC, why it has not happened before now is the only truly remarkable event.
JADEE1
says...
9:35pm Tue 12 Jun 12
RL 1952
says...
11:55am Wed 13 Jun 12
JADEE1
says...
11:19am Thu 14 Jun 12
hugo2008
says...
3:36pm Thu 14 Jun 12
The absurd posturing and deliberate deceit will stamp out the characters excelent manner of misbehaviour.
The sheer incompetance of the Elected Councillors will be an execelt backcloth to the lies, deceit, underhanded behaviour, plus secret deliberations and turn a blind eye to the truth examples portrayed.
The Elected Councilors disgrace of appointing fellow Councillors to Mayors, to further compound plus whitewash the actual facts into pure fiction and convenient blindness, will be interesting.
All in all such a book will have all the ingredients Evil Plots and Actions,Complicity,I
ntrigue, Deciet, Payoffs, Manipulation and financial misappropiation on a large scale, even overtones of salious behaviour between high ranking prominent people and members of staff in large organisations.
This could even become a great film featuring the absolute scandal of Party Politics in Local Government. With corporate mismanagement on a grand scale.
council officer
says...
8:07pm Thu 14 Jun 12
hugo2008 wrote:Sound like a best seller. Second thoughts, sounds too far fetched!!! :-)
I do hope Martin Morton is writing a book, just think a blow by blow report to how Wirral Council carry out procedures this will give an endless line of intrigue and mystery.
The absurd posturing and deliberate deceit will stamp out the characters excelent manner of misbehaviour.
The sheer incompetance of the Elected Councillors will be an execelt backcloth to the lies, deceit, underhanded behaviour, plus secret deliberations and turn a blind eye to the truth examples portrayed.
The Elected Councilors disgrace of appointing fellow Councillors to Mayors, to further compound plus whitewash the actual facts into pure fiction and convenient blindness, will be interesting.
All in all such a book will have all the ingredients Evil Plots and Actions,Complicity,I
ntrigue, Deciet, Payoffs, Manipulation and financial misappropiation on a large scale, even overtones of salious behaviour between high ranking prominent people and members of staff in large organisations.
This could even become a great film featuring the absolute scandal of Party Politics in Local Government. With corporate mismanagement on a grand scale.
council officer
says...
8:14pm Thu 14 Jun 12
LocaLGovwatcher
says...
10:14am Sat 16 Jun 12
council officer
says...
10:52am Tue 19 Jun 12
Hon
says...
9:19am Fri 22 Jun 12
(1) The contribution and service Mr Wilkie has given to the people of Wirral over the past 23 years.
(2) The decision of Mr Wilkie, advised by the Director of Finance and the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management, to allow two members of staff to leave, under compromise agreements, less than one working day prior to the publication of the AKA report without bringing any potential disciplinary issues to the attention of this Committee.
(3) That queries raised by myself as Leader of the Conservative Group and subsequently as Leader of the Council in response to the report of Mr Wilkie: Agenda Item 15, ‘Interim Management Arrangements’ at the meeting held on 29 September, 2011 remain unanswered.
(4) That if this retirement goes ahead these matters may remain secret and unanswered.
Therefore this Committee believes that until these matters are adequately reported to this Committee and Members have had the opportunity to express a view it is clearly inappropriate to approve the extra cost and request for Early Voluntary Retirement from Mr Wilkie.”
The Leader of the Council asked if Mr Wilkie had made any direct communication with the Council. The Head of HR and Organisational Development confirmed that she had a record to the effect that Mr Wilkie, had on 7 February, 2012, had a conversation with the Leader expressing his request for EVR on the basis that it would be in the best interests of the Council to appoint a new Chief Executive. Mr Wilkie had been asked to reflect on his decision and had had informal conversations with all 3 Party Leaders. On 11 May, he had written to formally request early voluntary retirement, “in light of the exceptional challenges facing the Council I feel that I should make way for someone else to take forward the changes that need to be made.”
- interesting I feel........
PaulCa says...
11:44am Fri 8 Jun 12
Methinks these two matters are not unconnected.