Whistleblower claims lack of governance and internal controls at FHDC
This is a guest post
“I am a senior council officer at Folkestone & Hythe District Council. I am publicly blowing the whistle to the Shepway Vox Team for reasons set out herein. What is mentioned here has come about through long, private out of hours conversations with many past and present colleagues, who know if they dare blow the whistle internally, they’ll lose there jobs and be sent to Coventry in the time that it takes for them to lose their jobs. I am NOT suspended, or under investigation. I most definitely work for the Council and am NOT a subcontracted party.
There is little substantive trust between officers and the most senior officer levels of the council especially- Dr Susan Priest, Charlotte Spendley, Andy Blaszkowicz and Amandeep Khroud – and there exists a climate of fear and intimidation as reflected in many of the conversations I have had with past and present council officers.
The Chief Executive fails to stand up to the leader of the council; which began with the incident in the staff car park where Cllr Monk shouted and screamed at Dr Susan Priest in late 2018. I and others know about this incident and it is clear it did happen, as there were witnesses to this event including elected Cllrs, who failed to pursue any complaint after a meeting with her, shortly after the event occured. She does not have ‘broad shoulders‘ regardless of what others were informed.
Since then she has done most, if not all of his bidding, even when she and others knew this was breaking law and regulations, as set out in the constitution and statutory acts of parliament. It is clear and evidenced Dr Priest will not raise issues to outside bodies when she knows full well Cllr Monk is NOT a qualified Occupational Therapist, and is breaching the law and regulations regarding his register of interest. He is not the only elected Cllr doing this.
It is well known by colleagues that Dr Priest, does not want to be in the building. She has applied for jobs elsewhere, and has so far been unsuccessful.
Let me remind you all, local government is about people and place, managing, delivering, and integrating a range of disparate services to achieve a consistent level of service delivery and community leadership which improves the lives of all of the area’s residents. This is NOT happening across the district of Folkestone & Hythe as many of my colleagues have stated.
The evidence, and the information collected clearly points to the fact FHDC has forgotten much of this and lost its way since Dr Priest was placed in charge, to the extent that the leadership of the council, do not perform their appointed responsibilities satisfactorily. Despite the Council’s relatively good financial position, there are signs that services are starting to perform at a lower level due to this lack of attention. Think bins, procurement, contractual & financial irregularities, the failure to publish data, plus broader issues of non-compliance of internal controls, of governance and the lack of integrity to follow necessary procedural processes.
Many staff who have left the organisation signed settlement agreements with terms included which meant they could not speak to anybody about the circumstances of their employment with an exit from FHDC. In effect Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) clauses, although the council might not use this terminology, played no formal part at the personnel committee, when it most definitely should have.
Let’s not forget Jeremy Chambers left the building with £43,000, and he had sexually harassed women within the building for a good number of years. This behavior still continues and is best described by senior officers as ‘banter‘. It is not ‘banter‘. It is sexual harassment, and a criminal offence, yet the council choose to do nothing.
Many staff who have left, described in harrowing terms they had been treated extremely poorly by senior officers at the Council. I alone cannot make a full determination of all these circumstances, but at FHDC there have been significantly more staff subject to these agreements than would be normally expected. Between April 2015 and March 2021, nearly £1m has been paid out by the council in settlement agreements for staff leaving the organisation. This is higher than comparable councils within Kent.
This is the latest in a series of particularly disturbing reports about a council that we are paying for with our taxes at a time when money is particularly tight for all of us.
As a local council tax payer I have a right to know what is going on and have to assume that the reports of Shepway vox are accurate otherwise the council or those named would be refuting the claims and at least threatening libel. I am planning on bringing these emails to the attention of our local MP although with little optimism of any action from that source and the Local Government Ombudsman with expectation of a thorough independent investigation. Any comments from other residents?
@ Peter – As a Council employee I can identify with the points made by the whistleblower all to easily. Certain department’s are run by directors surrounded by a small group of acolytes, who will do their bidding, including confabulating and breaching processes and procedures. There is an atmosphere of distrust, even though many are still working from home. The Chief Exec wants out, and she is all too often blaming her near tearful looks on colds and tiredness, when in fact she is being bullied by a certain Cllr. She is a good woman, but as The Shepway Vox Team have pointed out many times, she has been promoted beyond her level of competency, as have other senior directors.
Finally, there is little confidence on blowing the whistle internally by staff, as there’ll be a witch hunt and one will not receive any anonymity, as too many are prone to gossip.
As a council employee, I recognise and agree with most of what has been said, and especially the part where people have been promoted who most certainly don’t have the skill set to do the job. If you’re not a groupie of a director, you ain’t getting ahead.
@Peter, from experience if you go to the ombudsman you will be asked if you have exhausted the internal complaints procedure with the council you are complaining about, so should you wish to take forward a complaint with the ombudsman you must already of made the council aware of any and all of the evidence you have of fraud or criminality. P#*%<G in the wind comes to mind?
I recently had occasion to put a formal complaint to the LGO about the Monitoring Officers performance, or lack of it, and of her boss. The LGO showed themselves to be just another tier of protectionism!
What chance Dr. Priest will respond, beyond no chance. Perhaps Amandeep Khroud will chance to comment, fat chance!, our District Council is corrupt to it’s core and those within know this. Why do I have to pay a levy to an organisation who patently fail to serve the people they claim to serve and get scant return.
I have had an issue concerning recycling that goes back more than a decade that has been met with ignorance and denial at every turn. Where is my confidence that I will be served by my District Council when truth and accountability are concerned?
Well the decision taken to propose an extension of Controlled Parking Zone F despite a majority of businesses being against the idea and a distortion of the results so that residential and business views are considered, all points to an element of arrogance, incompetence and ignorance that seems to spread further afield.