Jane Todd Departs the Plastic Throne

So. Farewell then. Jane Todd*...

As you might have heard, Jane Todd has become the first Nottingham City Council Chief Exec in around 10 years to depart for reasons unconnected with JoCo's megalomania. Joking apart, she's going so that she can recover from an operation to remove a form of brain tumour which is seriously nasty stuff. I genuinely hope that she continues to improve and returns to full health asap.

I'm no fan of hers professionally but neither am I particular a hater. There will be puff pieces in the local media but we don't really do puff pieces over here. So what follows is, I hope, a small analysis of Ms Todd's record in the context of the rather vexed history of the NCC Chief Exec post.

As many know, the Chief Executive Post at NCC has not had a happy recent history. Ms Todd is the forth postholder in about 10 years, with the three predecessors leaving with large payouts. Much of this was blamed on JoCo's apparent inability to get on with his Chief Execs, a point of view supported by the infamous Hardmoor Associates report. Ms Todd's immediate predecessor, Michael Frater, did not necessarily have a reputation as being a particularly nice man but he is known for rooting out corruption. Some might wonder whether his rather swift departure and huge payout, even by NCC standards, might be connected with that.

So in swans Jane, initially as an 'interim' 'consultant' chief exec. She'd been a senior officer at the council before and was generally regarded to have kept links with the local Labour Party establishment. She wasn't expected to rock the boat and no-one was surprised when she got the job on a permanent basis in December 2008.

It wasn't long before she started fulfilling her promise. When the Hardmoor report was leaked she leapt into action with a somewhat cringeworthy defence of her political colleagues. She deftly sidestepped the massive elephant in the room that the chief suspect behind all the trouble was still in position while trying to convince us all that there was nothing to see here. I'm afraid I thought that she made rather a fool of herself.

A quick pause here. I think there can be absolutely no doubt that Ms Todd is an extremely able woman. You don't get to inhabit the very senior positions in both local and central government without that being the case. And I also have no doubt that she deserves all the plaudits she has received from the top NCC politicians because she has, without a shadow of a doubt, delivered everything that they could have asked for her.

With that in mind, the list of her achievements on first reading doesn't look over generous. Maybe that's because her main achievements can't really be stated out loud and, while JoCo and the politburo have much to thank her for, it's less clear that the ordinary Joe and Joesephine of Nottingham should feel so grateful.

Forgive me for another digression. Essentially, local government is based partly on a separation between the political side i.e. the councillors and the paid staff i.e. the officers. For the most part ( there are exceptions e.g. political assistants), the officers are supposed to remain politically neutral. The politicians' job is to decide policy, the officers' job is to deliver it, without fear or favour.

That sounds simple but difficulties emerge when the politicians expect the officers to join in with some of the more political aspects of public life. The Hardmoor report touched on this. One of the tasks that the head of paid staff has to negotiate is to keep this separation and to support those officers below her/him in doing so too.

Let's have a look at the 'achievement' described as 'effective partnership working with Notts Police has contributed to major reductions in crime'. A big chunk of this 'major reduction in crime' is the joint decision by NCC and Notts Police that the worst local authority housing housing scandal since Dame Shirley Porter was doing the rounds wasn't really a crime at all and the resultant massive cover-up. Now most of the blame deserves to be laid firmly at the feet of the politicians but the papering over of the cracks could not have been achieved without some serious input from senior paid staff. As the head of the paid staff, and with a scandal that goes to the heart of the authority's reputation, that puts Jane Todd firmly in the spotlight as an accessory after the fact.


So, looking at what we know, including largely circumstantial evidence, reinforced by the findings by Hardmoor Associates, what I find myself concluding is that Jane Todd's predecessors did make some attempt to keeep the political separate from the officers but Ms Todd was less fussy. It doesn't take a full blown conspiracy theorist to suspect that is the chief reason why she and JoCo worked so well together and her valiant defence of his past battles supports this. Like I said, she has done everything the politicians could have hoped for. Whether she did everything WE could have hoped for remains very much open to question. The two are not the same thing.

So to summarise, I'm glad Ms Todd is still alive, because her illness I'm sure could well have been life threatening, and I hope she carries on in rude health for many years to come. But I'm not that sad that she's left her post to tell the truth. I think she got too far into bed with the dodgy politicians, forgetting that her role was to deliver the policy, not the personal agendas.

Of course, the next thing to worry about is who the hell we're going to get next. There were many rumours that Nottingham was seen as a bit of a poisoned chalice in Chief Executive circles and that's probably not gone away. Luckily the bunch on the next tier down appear sufficiently supine so I predict an internal appointment.

*Legally required intro for article about anybody leaving, passing on etc.

NCC Gets Stupid Over 'Fly Posting'

The Post had an article last week saying that NCC removed posters owned by the 'Save Carrington Post Office' campaign that they had put up on the old post office site. The council apparently claimed that it was fly posting.

However, in a letter to the Post, campaigner Colin Barratt said that the posters were placed with permission from the owner of the building and that the council should have given them two days to prove that before removing them. He has written to Jane Todd and asked for an apology. I hope he isn't holding his breath. Personally I would have gone to the Police as it's theft but perhaps Mr Barratt is a nicer man than me.

I've written to the campaigners and if I get any more info I'll add it up here.

New NCC Management Structure

The new senior management structure for NCC is up on the website, following news at the end of last year that there was to be a minor bloodletting. One or two interesting points spring to mind.

Firstly, there is no longer a Director for Housing or Director for Workplace Strategy. This slightly ups my optimism that maybe Geoff Hibbert is on his way out after all. However, there is a new post called Director for Property in the new 'Development' department and I imagine he's probably wormed his way into that one.

Also, the Director for Customer Services has disappeared, previously held by my old mucker Helen Shipway. Wonder what's happened to her? She was probably quite vulnerable in the night of the long lives as she is a relatively recent recruit.

It would also be interesting to know where Housing Benefits has been placed, there's nothing immediately obvious.

However, by far the most interesting aspect is that there are three Directors who now report directly to the Chief Executive rather than to a Corporate Director. That's somewhat unconventional so why would they do that?

Well my suspicion is that it is all down to Jon Collins, as most things at NCC are. The three directorships are 'Partnerships', 'Communications' and the Chief Executive of 'One Nottingham'. I think these three areas are JoCo's main tools for exerting control in the wider environment. Communications is obvious, always best to have close control of the spin, Partnerships is of course the way NCC gets to push other organisations around and conclude the business that it would rather be kept from prying eyes and of course 'One Nottingham', currently being run by his bezzie mate Nigel Cooke, is the centre for many little pet schemes.

So JoCo would clearly prefer these Directors to report directly to him. I know they nominally report to Jane Todd but really that's pretty much the same thing.

A Response to my Formal Complaint

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I submitted (several) complaints to NCC about their rather silly legal letter they sent to me to try and stop me being a naughty boy.

It seems that it's third time lucky and not only that, the reply came from Jane Todd herself. There, I knew you'd be impressed by that. And here it is -

"Thank you for your letter of complaint dated 16 February 2010.

Having looked into the matter, I acknowledge that the Council received your original letter of complaint via our website on 20 December 2009 and also a reminder dated 5 February 2010. Unfortunately, the original letter was overlooked and the reminder was not forwarded to the relevant service area. I apologise for the fact that the Council did not acknowledge your correspondence and deal with your original complaint sooner.

I have now considered the contents of Jon Ludford-Thomas’ letter to you dated 17 December 2009 on behalf of the Council and which is copied in its entirety in your letter to Cllr Collins and me dated 16 February 2010.

I do not agree, as you state, that the sole intention of the letter was intimidation of you and an attempt to silence your criticism of the Council. I consider the letter was a legitimate request, politely made, by the Council, to remove from your website and not post further potentially distressing, personal, derogatory comments regarding certain councillors and employees of Nottingham City Council. It made no threat of legal action by either the Council or the individuals in question and did not seek to restrict you further other than desisting from making personal, derogatory comments. As such I cannot agree to your demand for an apology regarding the contents of the letter.

If you still feel that this decision is wrong you can have your case looked at independently. You can contact the Local Government Ombudsman and ask them to look into the details of your case. You can use the form I have enclosed otherwise the contact details for the Ombudsman are below..."

We haven't given the NCCLols Translation Service an airing for a while so I think this is an ideal opportunity. Here we go then -

"We threw away your earlier complaints. What did you expect?

And no we're not going to apologise. Instead we'll hide behind some nonsense fiction that we were acting in good faith. Nottingham City Council never apologises. Never. NEVER!!! Do you hear?

Here's the Ombudsman's details but only because we're obliged to give them to you, don't go thinking we're going soft."

What was I saying about it being a bit early for the 'Least Surprising News...' award?

The matter has already been sent to the Ombudsman so I'll have to update them with this most recent development. Can't say I'm over optimistic about them doing anything, in my experience the Ombudsman is less than keen to criticise Local Authorities when there's a nonsense fiction they can hide behind instead.

Formal Complaint

As you may remember, a little while ago top NCC legal chump Jon Ludford-Thomas wrote to me to tell me off for being nasty and not to do it again. I replied to him by return.

However, it made me a bit angry and my publishing of the letter and reply, posting it to Indymedia and having it picked up by big name bloggers, resulting in large sections of the internet pointing and staring at him didn't quite seem enough. So, just before the end of last year I submitted a complaint via the NCC website.

I heard nothing so I submitted another one. I still heard nothing so I decided to do it properly this time. Here's what I sent -

"February 2010

Formal Complaint

I have twice contacted you via the online complaints system to complain about this matter but I have been ignored. I therefore have no choice but to make the matter public in the hope that this will shame you into finally taking some action.

On 17 December 2009 I received the following letter from one of your senior solicitors, Jon Ludford-Thomas -

“Dear Mr *****,

Nottingham City Council LOLS

I am writing regarding the above, which Nottingham City Council understands is written and/or edited by you and has the following website address: www.ncclols.blogspot.com.

Nottingham City Council notes that the Nottingham City Council LOLS blog (“ncclols”) contains personal, derogatory comments regarding a number of its councillors and employees that could cause distress to those individuals. Nottingham City Council requests that you please remove these personal, derogatory comments from ncclols and refrain from posting similar such comments on ncclols or elsewhere on the internet.

Yours sincerely,

Jon Ludford-Thomas

Senior Solicitor”

This is what I am told is known in legal circles as a 'cease and desist letter' and is normally the starting point of legal action for defamation. It is therefore an extremely threatening and intimidating thing to receive.

You have absolutely no right to subject me to such actions. You have absolutely no legal basis whatsoever to demand that I remove material from my blog and, as a solicitor, Mr Ludford-Thomas would be aware of this and would have advised the council as such. There can therefore be no doubt that the sole intention of this letter was intimidation of me and an attempt to silence my criticism of the council.

Furthermore, the letter clearly states that it is written on behalf of “councillors and employees” rather than the council itself. Individual councillors and employees are responsible for taking and funding their own legal actions so this is a clear misuse of resources.

I demand an immediate and public apology for this blatant maladministration and attempt to impede my freedom of expression.

I am copying this complaint to the leader of the council and the Chief Executive as well as publishing it as an open letter on my blog. If satisfactory action is not taken by 3 March 2010, bearing in mind this is the third time I have raised it with you, I will refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman."

And here it is about to be submitted on the website -


And here is the acknowledgement page -


And yes, it really does miss the 'r' off 'your'.

To be on the safe side I also copied it in to JoCo and jane Todd via email.

I'm fairly confident that they can't pretend they haven't received it this time and I shall post up the results.

Jane Todd Talks Utter Shite

Jane Todd, chief JoCo worshipper at the Council has taken an early lead in the 'Bullshitter of the Year' contest. The City Council website carries a response from her to the Evening Post's coverage of the 'top secret report' on officer/member relationships.

I feel obliged to reproduce it below, along with my comments, so you can see it for the execrable kak it is.

"Sometimes I wonder what it will take for the Nottingham Evening Post to recognise that things have changed and continue to change – for the better – at Nottingham City Council."

Er, maybe when it stops trying to cover up critical reports...?

"The front page story headlined City's Top Secret File, on which the council was not even invited to comment, is so wide of the mark and so out of date that many readers must be beginning to wonder if their local newspaper has it in for their local council."

Erm no Jane, we're not. Anybody reading this might suspect that you're trying to deny the media's legitimate role in holding public services and public servants to account in the...

"No-one would deny the media's legitimate role in holding public services and public servants to account in the public interest. But where is the public interest in splashing on the front page a story that dates back to 2006? Well before I was Chief Executive. Before even Michael Frater was Chief Executive."

Well Jane I'm so glad you asked. Part of the issue is that although the report is pre Frater a significant other party is still in place. Whats more, that significant other party was in place when the previous two Chief Execs were bundled out of the door at our expense. So, some people might suspect that this significant other party may be a large part of the cause of the 'cultural problems' the council was suffering from and, as he is still there, may be cynical about whether the problems have been solved at all. You never know, there might be a few clues to this in that report.

Another thing is that, as the report is almost certain to be politically embarressing some residents of Nottingham might just want to take such things into account when they next get a chance to vote.

"It seems the Post may have its iPod stuck on shuffle and it's playing one old tune after another."

Guffaw! *insert yoof relevant ipod reference here for teh kidz*.

"It's been acknowledged that relationships between senior Councillors and senior managers previously – but no longer - employed by the council did not work as well as they could. But things have moved on. I've been here since 1st May last year and I think it reflects on my time here that the Post has been unable to date any of its "Trouble at the City Council" stories later than June last year."

June last year! Why thats...ages ago, 8 months even. A whole different epoch.

"What will reflect even more upon how things have changed will be the Audit Commission's next Comprehensive Performance Assessment Direction of Travel report due to be published in March. I don't expect it to say everything is perfect but I am confident that our significant steps in the right direction will be acknowledged."

Awww, Jane doesn't expect the next Audit Commission report to be perfect. Thats probably for the best. Maybe she hasn't managed to get the whole council to pull the wool over the Audit Commission's eyes by following the Housing Benefits Service's exercise in tick box management.

"To be very clear, we have not released an old, draft report to Councillor Sutton because, on balance, our legal officers and advisors do not believe it to be in the public interest to do so. I must emphasise that councillors have had no role whatsoever in making this decision."

No Jane, you have refused to release a still relevant report because it would be politically embarressing to Jon Collins, your lord and master.

"It strikes me – and I know it strikes people I talk to – that the Post seem to be seeking to denigrate the City Council at any opportunity – no matter how old the story – and I think people deserve better. It does Nottingham no good and the Post no good if we're raking over old coals rather than pulling together, particularly in these difficult economic times, in the interests of Nottingham and the people who live here.

Jane ToddChief Executive,

Nottingham City Council "

Trans; 'Yes come on team, lets pull together for Nottingham's sake. Lets have some of that supine journalism we know you're good at, this bolshy stuff doesn't suit you at all. You're letting me down, you're letting the team down but most of all, you're letting yourself down.'

You see? What a bullshitting patronising little gobshite she is.

Meanwhile, today's Evening Post reports that as well as the £30k for the report thats gone up the swannee, the Council also spent £5k on legal advice on how to cover it up. Some people might wonder if £35k for avoiding embaressment to the Labour party is good value for money.

Furthermore Cllr Sutton has announced that he is referring the matter to the Information Commissioner which should be interesting. Generally the ICO has taken a fairly robust view in favour of complainants when it suspects that covering up political embaressment is the issue so I don't hold out much hope for JoCo and JaTo on this one.

New Chief Exec

In the biggest turn up for the books since the sun came up this morning, Jane Todd has got her reward for metaphorically fellating John Collins for the past few months.

Fresh from her emphatic victory over close rival, the Clerk to the Parish Council for Little Pootle on the Wold, Jane said, well nothing of significance really, just the usual blather about looking forward to the challenge and the like. No killer one liner, bit dull really. Nothing to see here.

I tell a lie, the hot news is that NCC gets £20,000 cashback. Yes, Jane seems to have offered herself in a kind of winter sale, only accepting £165k rather then the full fat £185k on offer. What a gal!

Maybe its her share of the £42m still missing in Iceland.