wirralleaks-blog-blog

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WE HAVE MOVED

WIRRAL LEAKS HAS MOVED LOCATION ..... TO A NEW SITE ... DO NOT BE ALARMED IT IS BIGGER AND BETTER AND SHINIER AND FASTER AND GIVES MORE OPPORTUNITY TO INTERACT.

YOU CAN FIND US HERE

"In 1972 a crackhead commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Merseyside underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as bloggers of misfortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the WL TEAM."

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Proposed Savings - WBC

Some proposals HERE

And Another HERE

But As long as there's enough clawed back to keep paying 1 x CEO, 3 x £130k and 66 Councillors

Your Vote (Wirral Globe at 25.11.2012 votes so far)

As the council struggles to cut its spending by a third, has the time come to ditch 22 of our 66 councillors?

YES: It's a waste of money having so many: 92%

NO: They do a good job for Wirral: 6%

Don't know: 2%

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Health and Safety gone...

Lord and Lady Wirral- Leaks aren't quite sure about the legality of "volunteers" running crowd management control and security (see email below)  but Eldritch our loveable gardener wasn't too keen on the idea of us "extending the opportunities "for him to volunteer additional services for nought but a pat on the head and a smart new hi-vis tabard.  But he did say "The ways I see it sir,  it seems all Local Authorities will be run by volunteers sir in the future, it's that Big Society bollocks those F**k-witted Eton toffs talk about!  I hope these "volunteers" have proper insurance- it seems it's not so much as Health and Safety gone mad, as Health and Safety.... gone."

"Great Scott! " roared Lady Wirral- Leaks, "I really do hate to think what might happen at a Michael Buble concert, I hear his fans can be quite the handful, in fact almost as relentless as Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear in pursuit of their prey!!  The whole idea of using volunteers, trained or not simply to cut costs where there are large numbers of people sitting in the dark is as outrageous as it is dangerous.  Why, if there was a serious incident, such as a mass "Buble-gasam" you could almost guarantee  nobody would be held accountable."

"But my dear Lady," I gently chided," this is the Wirral, accountability is not a concept they understand"

*****************

EMAIL:

"Dear Everybody,

As you will all be aware the council is going through a very difficult time and the requirement for savings has fallen on every single service area.  As part of the savings associated with the Floral we intend to extend the opportunities for volunteers to engage in the work of the theatre and seek to phase out our reliance on external contractor Kadansa who currently provide our stewarding services.

I appreciate how important the role of the steward is to the safe delivery of performances/events, however, there is no getting away from the fact that we spend a great deal of money on stewards and we simply will not be able to sustain this level of spend in the years ahead. There are many excellent examples of theatres working with volunteers as stewards and it is my intention to launch a brand new volunteers’ scheme in the spring of 2013 with the aim of volunteers taking over as stewards from September 2013. Volunteers will be supervised by our own Front of House Manager and a further two members of our staff team who will have responsibility for the fire panel etc. All volunteers will have gone through a fairly rigorous recruitment process and will receive full training.

In order for this scheme to get off the ground we are appointing a Special Project Co-ordinator for six months and it is anticipated that this person will be in post from January 2013. They will work directly with P’s team and J who is ultimately going to take over the role of ‘Volunteer Co-ordinator’ as part of her duties once the scheme is launched. The success of the scheme will depend very heavily on how well it is administered and also on how well we engage with our volunteers on a daily/weekly basis –quite a task and one that I am not underestimating, hence this lead in time.

We will continue to require security officers from time to time, however, Kadansa has been advised that we will not require freelance stewards after 31stAugust 2013. I have emailed P and he will be informing his freelance staff of our decision.

This is a big change I know and I am sure that many of you will have comments/suggestions to make so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly. "

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Back To The Future

It's  the new Super-Director led austerity "vision" for your local Council   HERE.

Can't see "Ministry Of Spin" as yet ?

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Night of the long knives

Oh dear

Night of the Long Knives

But not everybody is unhappy

*********************

"Subject: Senior Management Restructure

Dear All,

 As you are aware, the Chief Executive has committed to reduce the senior management of the organisation by a third and met with Directors and Heads of Service at 16:30 yesterday afternoon to present his proposed structure to achieve this. Prior to it taking place I was asked to meet with him and informed that the Head of IT Services post was being deleted from the structure and that I would be made redundant. Therefore I will probably be leaving the organisation during March of next year. Like most of you I have been thinking about this for some time and am not too unhappy with the outcome.

 I thought it important that you heard this from me rather than via an indirect route or through rumour.

 This gives me about five months to get IT Services in the best shape I can for whatever lies in the future and I hope we can work together to achieve this.

 Regards,

*******************

Which gives him five months to order the 66 vitally important iPads for elected members, without which they cannot do their jobs, apparently.

As reported HERE

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Has everything gone quiet on the Boy Dave Green front or is it true - as he has been telling friends & fellow members at Wallasey Golf Club that he will go in December with a handsome payoff. Has December got something to do with his birthday. Perhaps his package will be bigger by then.

300 k is the rumour

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SHOWER GATE !!

This week Wirral CX Graham Burgess sent a missive (SEE HERE )  to staff to correct a scurrilous rumour without any foundation, [designed to distract from the real issues WBC is facing - apparently :( ] that a shower had been, or was planned to be installed in his Penthouse, sorry we mean in his humble public servants office... He said

"Contrary to strong rumour – no shower has been installed. or will be, in my office or anywhere else in the Town Hall."

This is entirely true , however what he didn't say was that there was an initial "PLAN" submitted which stated "Supply and fit new shower tray and cubicle to include all pipework and extraction unit”

The FLOOR PLAN- LBC/12/01343  (CLICK HERE) - (bottom right-Zoom in) was apparently  amended overnight, and the attached plan above which to reiterate, clearly states “Supply and fit new shower tray and cubicle to include all pipework and extraction unit”......   HAS NOW BEEN REMOVED !!!  We have no idea why ? Maybe it was too um, LEAKY ? 

(Where is "Employee T" with his trusty shredder when you need him ?)

Note that the plan is for the 3rd floor, the floor above the Chief Exec suite, but was part of the PLAN for the alterations to the Chief Exec / strategic Directors alterations, which are rumoured to have cost around 25 to 30 k and justified in a time of austerity by GB because "the Town Hall is an important meeting place for visitors and potential investors in Wirral"

Word is there may well already be a defunct shower tray in situ from decades ago, but clearly there was an intention to fit a new shower and cubicle etc in the town hall. 

Maybe not a huge deal in the general scheme of things, but it again demonstrates a particular mindset that is all too prevalent in those  who hold "high office."  All we can say at Leaky Towers is what a bloomin' shower !

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Let Them Eat Cake

"Wirral Against The Cuts" have compared Wirral's latest SOLACE approved Chief Executive Graham "The Goofmeister" Burgess to France's infamous Queen, Marie Antoinette!!!  “The arrogance of the people who took this decision is similar to Marie Antoinette, the French queen who advised the starving people of Paris who couldn’t afford bread to buy cake instead.”  STORY HERE

This statement was prompted by GB's somewhat insensitive decision to splash out on a £25,000 upgrade for town hall bosses’ offices (BUT NOT A SHOWER , OH NO! NOT THAT!)  as the authority prepares for massive budget cuts and jobs losses. This is what is known in the trade as "An EPIC PR FAIL!

We thought this a tad harsh, that was until we were given a picture of a recent council meeting in GB's recently refurbished palace, ahem sorry, office ... We now think they may well have a point !

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Shower? No! Dishwasher Yes ?

Dear Lord and Lady Wirral Leaks

Once again, I’d like to thank those employees who have responded to my last weekly email with some helpful suggestions and ideas regarding the savings we need to make and I will of course respond to these individually.  I would, however, like to take this opportunity to answer some general questions I have been asked by staff based upon some unfounded rumours which appear to be doing the rounds.  I am concerned that they are diverting attention from the key task of addressing the £103 million budget gap. Contrary to strong rumour – no shower has been installed. or will be, in my office or anywhere else in the Town Hall. The Council refurbished parts of the second floor of the Town Hall, which includes decorating and standard furnishing of seven offices (including my own) and a waiting room. One of my concerns when I arrived at Wirral Council was that Directors have historically been located in up to 6 different buildings; contributing to silo management which has impacted on the way departments work together strategically to deliver the Council’s objectives.  The refurbishments mean that Directors will be located along one corridor and we can therefore work together to manage the organisation much more effectively.  Also, the Town Hall is an important meeting place for visitors and potential investors in Wirral and the previously very poor standards of the offices would have undermined the confidence of key investors bringing jobs into Wirral. Public Health is transferring into the Council and these refurbishments were partly funded through transition funding to accommodate those staff who are now located in Wallasey Town Hall. These exaggerated rumours are either being spread innocently or with an agenda to divert attention from the real issues we are facing, so I thought it was important for me to give you the facts.   I also wanted to let you know that I have asked David Armstrong to lead on a wider review of Council assets and office accommodation, with the aim of making savings, improving standards and bring together as many staff as possible into central locations. As you will be aware, the first people to be put at risk of redundancy were Chief Officers and Heads of Services.  This week, I will begin consultation on my proposals for the top two tiers of the management restructure.  Initial discussions will take place with those directly affected; however I will be keen to share this with you at the earliest opportunity.  I will then bring forward proposals for restructuring the management level who report directly to a Head of Service for further consultation.  These changes to management will be reported to Cabinet on the 20th December. Last week Elected Members appointed Clare Fish to the post of Strategic Director: Families and Wellbeing and Kevin Adderley, to the post of Interim Strategic Director: Regeneration and Environment. These two appointments are vital to the change and improvement programme the Council has embarked on and – along with the expected appointment of a third strategic Director for Transformation and Resources shortly after Christmas – will play a significant role in ensuring the Council can safeguard its frontline services whilst making the savings required. It has been widely communicated that the Council must make savings amounting to £103 million over the next three years – this is on top of £44 million savings the Council has already had to make since 2010.  I have been asked questions about the national distribution of Central Government cuts to Local Government and I have therefore attached for your information a map which illustrates this distribution and clearly demonstrates the disproportionate impact that these cuts will have on the North of England. The second stage of consultation on the proposed budget options began last week and I’ve been enormously encouraged by the high volume of responses received so far – a return rate in excess of 2,800 in less than a week. Again, I cannot stress the importance of getting involved and having your say. The unprecedented financial challenges we are facing are going to have a significant impact on a great number of people: it’s vital your voice is heard.  I will be continuing my visits with staff over the coming weeks and would be happy to receive any invitations to come and visit your teams and hear more about the work that you do. As part of my induction to my new role, I have made it one of my priorities to visit partner organisations and local businesses.  This morning I attended the first Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone board meeting.  This board will provide a useful forum for regular meetings between Wirral Council, Liverpool City Council, Peel Holdings and the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership to ensure the successful implementation and delivery of the Enterprise Zone. I am delighted to inform you of a local success story for one of Wirral’s most famous companies.  John Syvret, Chief Executive of Cammell Laird has won the business category at the recent Liverpool Daily Post’s Leadership awards.  John received recognition from the judges for the great job he has done turning round the fortunes of this historic company. This week, I will also be meeting with colleagues from our partner organisations to discuss the setting up of a Wirral Public Service Board.  This board will enable partners to proactively work together to identify and deliver efficiencies and opportunities for joint working – something that is very much on the agenda given the current and foreseeable economic climate. Finally, I wish to congratulate the Wirral Early Onset/Alcohol Related Brain Injury Team, based at the Stein Centre at St Catherine's Hospital.  The team is a small integrated team with staff from Wirral Adult Social Services and Cheshire and Wirral Partnership Trust.  From a shortlist of 6, the Wirral team was awarded national prestigious award in recognition of their excellent rehabilitation work with people with alcohol related brain injury.  The judging panel were looking for examples of innovation, leadership, team work and effective use of resources. The winning team certainly met all of these criteria and their efforts towards excellence have been rightly recognised. Graham Graham Burgess Chief Executive Wirral Council

Ok

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/new_furniture_equipment_for_offi

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Know Thy Fate

Wirral Council Employees - your fate is a point on somebody else's action plan. 

Ever felt you've been cheated?

CLICK HERE

And when questioned the Head of Propaganda responded THUS

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So, who do you trust ?

"And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgement now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not."

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Wirral Tapped Up ?

Morning Leakers,

Nothing quite beats the smell of Napalm in the morning when driving past Clown Hall (aka The Pleasure-dome) at  Brighton Street eh ?  We sense there is revolution in the air, which Eldritch brusquely suggests  “will probably last about as f**king long as it’ll take Burgess to bathe, slap some Denim aftershave on and tell the Union Reps that their jobs are safe if they play nice.” Ever the conspiracy theorist Eldritch deduces in his finite wisdom that Comrade Joseph,Geoffrey,Rod, Jane (it’s not Just For Men), Freddy, Zippy and of course Bungle (comrades we are ALL Bungle!) will then announce they have  won concessions from the Chief Exec, and that it’s a clear victory for the people of Wirral and the stitch up will be complete .

I don’t think they’d be as silly to fall for that one old bean I replied. Eldricth winked and then channelling the spirit of Edward Lear rambled “Never underestimate “players, “even if they are just parochial Town Hall players, because in their own sad little minds they are all Gordon Gecko and such delusions of grandeur can be a dangerous thing.”  I must check if the dear chap hasn’t been snaffling the cognac again!

Anyhooooooo,  I’ll be off …. oh wait , Verity has passed me a note with red marker all over the darn thing. What can it mean ? It reads thus

“My Lord , This is the hospitality list of Cllr Jeff Green.

 The entries highlighted show two occasions last year when Cllr Green was the guest of one Graham Burgess at the very time Mr. Burgess was chief exec at Blackburn council.

 Surely, he should have mentioned this when he took part in the appointments panel, which gave his apparent football fan friend and fellow long suffering Evertonian the job at Wirral?  Or was the appointment agreed before and this was a lovely thank you ? Either way it proves they are indeed "all in it together" The most "difficult choices" the Local Government elite seem to have to make is "Krug Grand Cuvée Or Bolly dahling? " when they are in the Executive bar

·        03/09/2011 - Match ticket and hospitality at Tranmere Rovers v Yeovil Town.; Accepted

·        27/08/2011 - Match ticket and hospitality at Blackburn v Everton, Ewood Park, Guest of Graham Burgess, Blackburn with Darwen Council and NHS Teaching Care Trust Plus; Accepted

·        20/08/2011 - Attendance at Blackburn v Everton Match: Ticket, meal and drink included offered by Blackburn & Darwin Council; Accepted

·        07/07/2011 - Lunch as a guest of Zurich Municipal; Accepted ; Value £30

·        06/07/2011 - Lunch as a guest of Tradition; Accepted ; Value £30

·        06/07/2011 - Dinner as a guest of UBS; Accepted ; Value £50

·        05/07/2011 - Dinner as a guest of Marsh; Accepted ; Value £50

·        29/06/2011 - Dinner as a guest of Price Waterhouse Cooper; Accepted ; Value £50

·        28/06/2011 - Dinner as a guest of UBS; Accepted ; Value £50

·        26/05/2011 - Mersey Partnership Tourism Awards Dinner offered by Mersey Partnership; Value unknown. Accepted

·        18/03/2011 - Guest at Annual Conference Dinner at Liverpool Echo Convention Centre offered by Federation of Small Businesses; Accepted ; Value £75

·        08/01/2011 - Match Ticket for Tranmere Rovers v Walsall and dinner offered by Playing for Success, match sponsor; Accepted ; Value £40

·        18/11/2010 - Attendance at the Liverpool Business Awards as a guest of Mr Paul Flanagan offered by The Flanagan Group; Accepted

·        08/11/2010 - Dinner offered by University of Chester (Colin Hankinson); Accepted ; Value £50

Answers on a postcard to “What Really Matters”

#Wirral Leaks #Wirral Council #Graham Burgess #Jeff Green

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All in it together

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Keep Your Hat on

*incoming message* Please find advice to "Leaders" within Wirral Council when discussing redundancies. *stop* ....

Key Messages for Leaders

This is hard

Talk more

Cascade through conversation

Don’t answer what you can’t - escalate to FAQ’s

Read Intranet

No decisions made as yet

Leadership – Visibility – Communication – Consistency – Ownership

Print articles for staff without Intranet access

Cascade One Brief on Friday 9 November 2012

See it in all its glory HERE

Nb/

 Not that they would try and feign empathy you understand but Ricky Gervais would have an absolute field day if ever he decided to revive "The Office" format and based it on a local authority.

  *************************************

Now, how about this for rank hypocrisy from new Wirral CX Frank Drebin look a like, Graham Goofy Burgess - In a lovely soft focus interview in the Daily Post in May 2007 our hero GB tells us about his time in Liverpool as a union rep and how he fought those nasty Militants and banished them forever. Something he's dined out on ever since...  

"....... the Militants’ solution to creating a legal budget – issuing 90-day redundancy notices to all 30,000 staff – immediately put the political leadership on collision course with unions.

Graham says: “They would say to us, ‘It’s just a piece of paper, of course we’ll re-employ everybody’ but from a union point of view, we couldn’t accept that because there was no guarantee.

“Liverpool at this time was, in many ways, in a desperate state. Hundreds of jobs were being lost at the big employers every week. The council was the employer of last resort, so we couldn’t let that happen.”

Fast forward to today and the latest leak ... (click)  - Poacher turned gamekeeper

Taxi anybody ???

But GB is used to this for where GB lands redundancies seem to follow ...see HERE

Love, Verity Snoop x

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Bad Day At Black Rock ( Ferry) and Beyond :(

Hello Leakers

We have just had sight of the "Jobs At Risk Letters" sent by Wirral s Chief X-ecutioner . It does not bode well or the long suffering staff or indeed the people of Wirral

Eldritch our (very) common gardener had previously furnished us with a copy of a letter he claimed was the original draft! It certainly read like the truth, sans the PR spit and polish. However we were slightly suspicious that he appeared to be covered in printer ink kept guffawing over matters that are no laughing matter as Lady WL read the missive out.  We suspect it may be a fake, however ....

Il Comandante

“Lubyanka Lounge”

Brighton Street

Dear ‘Worker’,

As you will be aware, since l have been Chief Executive (a whole 2 months now), l have communicated regularly with all employees about the Council’s financial position.  We are facing a considerable financial challenge.

 The current position is that the Council is facing a budget shortfall of £103m over the nextthree years and a projected shortfall of £39M for 2013/14.  This will necessitate significant changes to the manner in which the Council conducts its business.  And let’s face it guys, this IS a business, not a ‘service’, by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s a business, with business needs

and there are some tough calls to make.

 ln response to the Council's financial situation and the Public Consultation that we have undertaken, responded to by 18% of the local public, we have published a range of officer budget options.  The remaining 82% had their chance and blew it.  They can go and whistle.  

 Within these budget options there are two options which directly impact on the number of jobs:

1.      Significantly reduce the running costs of the Council by reducing the number of staff.

I’ve seen you, walking around, armed with a sheet of A4, pretending to look ‘busy’.  Well the game’s up comrades.  I’m on to you.

2.      Stop, reduce or change out of all recognition services that the Council currently delivers to ‘the public’.  We’re a high-flying concern goddamit – with ideas.  Who in his right mind decided we had to bring these people onboard?  They’re sooooo last century – and a bar to innovation.  An obstacle to progress.  How the hell do we get quoted on the Stock Exchange with this dead weight hanging around our necks?

 Chief Officers, Heads of Service and other Senior Managers have in the past few days tried to round up as many people as possible to inform them about the proposals and advise them how it affects them. 

As you are a line manager and/or work in a service for which reductions have been proposed,I must inform you that unfortunately, your post is one of those ‘for the chopping block’.

 An employee is ‘for the chopping block’ if, following a determination that redundancies need to be made, they are in the pool of staff whose post could be made redundant.

 The Council will now begin its consultation process.  The purpose of consultation is to explore ways of avoiding or reducing the number of redundancies.  It is an opportunity for you to make any suggestions or proposals as to how redundancies could be avoided or minimised,as well as raising any other concerns or questions – I’ve dubbed this ‘pissing in the wind’.  Additionally, consultation is an important way for the Council to highlight your needs, before offering any support or assistance that may be required i.e. a firm boot up the backside, to help you on your way.

 No decisions have as yet been taken and will not be made until consultation has concluded.

For these purposes the organisation will be consulting with the recognised trade unions about ways of avoiding or reducing the need for redundancies and about the criteria on which any selection for redundancy will be based.  Sadly, if you’re a member of a union which does not meet the strict criteria (golf handicap of 10 and below) you’ll be out before you know it.  lf redundancies are necessary, (ha ha – did I say ‘If’?) the Council will use selection criteria to determine who, from those at risk of redundancy, will be provisionally selected for redundancy.

This will be done on the basis of objective and quantifiable criteria that will be the subject of consultation with Joe (no, not Stalin – Taylor).  The criteria will be reasonably, fairly and consistently applied.  You as well as your Trade Union representatives will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed  criteria, and the score which you are awarded – see, you even get awarded a score.  We’ll even give you a piece of paper promising share options for when we get listed on the Footsie  – in return for the employment rights you’ve had savaged.  Who said this process didn’t have some positive benefits?  :)

As the Council is proposing to make more than 100 ‘workers’ redundant, in accordance with relevant legislation, consultation will last for a minimum period of 90 days.

 We are not seeking volunteers at this stage and we are not able to provide details of redundancy or pension estimates as we are currently consulting on ‘changes to the redundancy scheme’ with Trade Unions – Ha haaaaa – least said about this the better...

 During the period of consultation, as well as consulting with Trade Unions, we will hold group and individual consultation meetings to discuss the issues outlined in this letter, and any other concerns that you may have.  Please don’t attend these ‘wired for sound’ – the scanners will pick it up, and ‘security consultants’ will cart you off out the door and issue you a P45 in the process.

 l appreciate that this is an upsetting and difficult time for everyone but l regret that given the scale of the financial challenge the Local Authority has little option but to push on regardless.

 If you have any questions or concerns, we have published guidance in the form of Frequently Fudged Questions on the Intranet. We have also put in place a dedicated HR ‘Support’ Team

which can be contacted on 0151 LOL 2222 or by e-mailing  harseupgort@wirral.gov.uk. The

helpline will be open Monday to Friday from 08.45-17.00hrs.

Trade Union members may wish to contact their Union for advice.  If they’re busy, ring HR.  Same difference.  All employees can also contact the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).  This is a free, independent and confidential service available to employees and their family household members, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  You will be able to talk in confidence to a qualified adviser and the services include financial and legal advice as well as access to counselling. 

If they’re busy, ring the Union, HR, or the Samaritans.  Same difference again. ;) 

 Unless otherwise occupied (Golf, Town Hall bonding sessions) Unions will provide details of every aspect of this stitch-up as we work through it.

Yours sincerely,

Il Comandante

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You Spin Me Right Round Baby

Whilst Council CX,  Goofy "Kubla Khan" Burgess relaxes in the newly refurbished extension of his ego (yes it's HUGE) over at Clown Hall, Council Staff are not happy.  It appears many may be getting "the bullet, or "F**ked up the arse with rusty spike after being made to eat shit for years" as Eldritch so colourfully puts it.  Even today, despite the spin, we hear tales of the sort of bullying that makes water boarding at Guantanamo Bay seem like a fun filled trip to "Splash Mountain."

One time Communist Party* member (*citation) Goofy hasn't exactly had a tricky time with the local media, given the horrendous mess WBC  are still in.  An example of this kind of powder puff, kid gloves treatment revealed itself in all its  ghastly glory when GB appeared on BBC Radio  Merseyside,  and was given the soft focus treatment by Roger Philips..."So Graham, how do you cope with being so f**king awesome, day in day out"

 Our rotund and sweet-toothed cook Mrs. Doughball was not happy with this interview AT ALL and got in a terrible lather whilst kneading her large sweet dumplings.  Thankfully, with Verity's help she took some solace by sending a rather sharp missive to the BEEB.  In short her complaint begged the question why was a public service broadcaster affording dear old Goofy a licence fee funded soapbox to sell his cuddly, cosy 'vision ?'

Below you'll find  the BBCs official response.  Maybe staff and soon to be ex-staff  can email Mr Phillips with some suggestions of possible questions to put to good ole Goofy Burgess ?  The BBC Website states " Whatever your views on the topics of the day, Roger Phillips on BBC Radio Merseyside is the person to call on 0151 709 9333."

After all he really does want you to have your say over "What Really Matters ." So much so in fact, he commissioned a video

 http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/marketing_advertising_agency_wor

Now, here's that Email

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Subject: BBC Complaints - Dear Mrs Doughballe [sic] Reference CAS- Doughballe 417000 Thanks for contacting us regarding Radio Merseyside.

  We’re sorry to note you were unhappy with Roger Phillips interview with Graham Burgess. The programme was a half hour conversation between Roger Phillips and Graham Burgess in the programme “The Phillips Hour”. The focus of the programme is to discover the person behind the title, their career history, and aspects about their personal life. The programme doesn’t set out to examine the current roles of interviewees per se, but instead looks at how they arrived at this juncture of their life. As you may be aware, Mr Burgess took up his role as Chief Executive of Wirrall [sic] Borough Council on Sept 3rd 2012. Accordingly, Radio Merseyside are planning to have Mr Burgess as a Hot Seat guest early next year, when Roger will challenge him thoroughly on his new role. We believe this will be an appropriate and established platform to conduct the type of interview you suggest. Nevertheless, we’ve also registered your comments on our audience log. This is the internal report of audience feedback we compile daily for the programme makers and senior management within the BBC. The audience logs are important documents that can help shape future decisions and they ensure that your points, and all other comments we receive, are made available to BBC staff across the Corporation. Thanks again for contacting us. Kind Regards Stuart Webb BBC Complaints www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

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All In It Together ...

As part of his commitment to cleaning up Wirral after a series of damning reports new Wirral Council CEO poacher turned gamekeeper Goofy "Kubla Khan"  Burgess has been true to his word and has purchased a dishwasher for the palatial new Chief Executive Suite.  (Leaker's also mention a newly installed en suite bathroom)

 It has also been reported that customers queuing at the  Wallasey Town Hall One -Stop Shop were today astonished to see a Jenkinsons delivery van drop off a selection of expensive looking turquoise and green leather settees allegedly bound for Goofy's stately pleasure dome.

Ironically, this incongruous scene was played out against a backdrop of spineless Unison reps who were also gathered outside Clown Hall to discuss forthcoming cuts to Council services.  Or in other words sneaking a quick fag and swapping hints about exactly which shade of  "Just For Men" suited their skin tone before getting back to the tiresome business of  selling their members (oo-er!!)  down the River Mersey.

 As Lady W said, "Really, don't these people ever learn - blue and green should NEVER be seen without a colour in-between..."   

 Her Ladyship was reassured by Eldritch's observation " Don't worry m'am - those settees will be soon be complemented............. with huge swathes of f**king bullshit ............."

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Order Of The Boot - Things Get Uggly

Wirral Council are at last beginning to acknowledge the pulling power of Wirralleaks ( See FOI request) and have commissioned Leaky Towers to a assist  with their latest consultation.

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/10032043.All_Wirral_Council_chief_officers_are_told_their_jobs_are_at_risk/

  Ok -Ok, in the name of openness and transparency , when we  say commission, we mean they bunged us a crate of Courvoisier ,a golfing holiday and life membership of the Venus in Furs Lapdance Emporium.

  This consultation is a follow up to their monumentally successful " Nothing Really Matters,Nothing Really Matters To Meeeeee" consultation and apparently they really really wanna see those fingers on your PC keys tapping out the name of the Chief Officers and Heads of Services who the staff and public think should shuffle off to Buffalo.

The name of this consultation is : " You're a Nonentity - Get out Of Here".

So Lord and Lady W hereby request your nominations and reasons why these persons should be on the hit list, sorry, the at -risk list.

Please note: Reasons such as " he looks at me funny", "he supports Tranmere Rovers" and " she wearsincongruousUgg Boots " will not be accepted.