The beginning of the end……THE EMAIL (1)

So it wasn’t actually because the punters were being pumped for unlimited amounts of cash that Dave ‘the rave’ Anderson decided to call in the men of Lothian & Borders finest. It was the snooty Elected Members, or coonsillors to us hoi polloi, that were kicking up the dust.

One has to assume that high up on that list was Councillor Stefan “Rigsby” Tymkewycz with his massive property portfolio (which is not actually listed on his Register of Interests) who was being stung for statutory repairs. Nowhere to be found in the email below is any mention of the council’s “customers” who were being shafted to the high heavens on a daily basis by bent council officials and of course the bent contractors who were put in place by those very same bent officials (or cunts, as the hoi polloi know them). What Dave the Rave did mention, if you check the very last paragraph of the email, is “and your support for your colleagues”. One has to wonder whether this is code for ‘get them there shredders on permanent overtime’

What’s even more disturbing is that contractors he was referring to (“any allegations of unfair contract award or unsuitably qualified contractors“)in that email of April 2011, are still working on council jobs today, in Chambers Street and other parts of the city.

So in the interests of openness and transparency, please see the email below where the lid was finally cracked open a little:

From: Dave Anderson
Sent: 12 April 2011 11:10
To: City Development
Subject: Corporate Property Management

Last summer, following complaints raised by Elected Members, I asked the Council’s Internal Audit service to review management practices in the Property Conservation service to check that contracts for property conservation work were being allocated on a fair and transparent basis and that sound management practices were in place. The auditors made a number of recommendations for improvement which I took to the Policy and Strategy Committee in October. I asked Internal Audit subsequently to follow up specific allegations made by one contractor about the award of 44 tenders to another named contractor to check that these had been properly awarded. The auditors reviewed these cases and stated that they were unable to reach definitive conclusions because of partial or incomplete records. To ensure the allegations were fully investigated, I instructed that the case files should be passed for investigation to Lothian and Borders Police.

As you know, following discussion with the Chief Executive, responsibility for Property Conservation was transferred to Services for Communities at the end of March. The Director, Mark Turley, took over responsibility for the ongoing investigations and took the decision to make a number of precautionary staff suspensions within Property Conservation whilst the allegations raised by the external contractor are under investigation. Last week, a small number of precautionary suspensions became necessary in Property Care following documentary evidence that would appear to implicate one of the contractors under investigation.

It is clearly essential to the integrity of the Council’s procurement practices that any allegations of unfair contract award or unsuitably qualified contractors is thoroughly investigated and that the managerial procedures, checks and balances governing such contract awards are fair, transparent and robust.

Mark Turley has therefore asked the management consultants, Deloitte, to conduct a thorough investigation of Property Conservation and Property Care services to ensure that this is the case. Pending the completion of this investigation and following consultation with Mark, I have made a further precautionary suspension yesterday of the Acting Head of Service in Corporate Property and Contingency Planning, who was the substantive Manager of Property Conservation in the period relevant to the allegations in question.

I want to stress, in all cases of precautionary suspension, that the staff in question are temporarily removed from duty so that investigations can be carried out as thoroughly as possible.

It will be important the investigations are carried out thoroughly and speedily and that the Council’s services in Property Conservation and Property Care can quickly return their focus to providing high quality services to our customers.

For the period until the end of May, I have asked John Bury to take on responsibility as interim Head of Service in CP2. Staff reporting to Helen Allan, Anne Crawford, David Love and Bill Miller will therefore fall within John’s line management during this period.

Finally, I want to stress, for the avoidance of any doubt, that precautionary suspension from duty in the case of all the officers involved is not a disciplinary action and does not imply any presumption of guilt on the part of those staff. It is in their and all our interests for the investigation to be conducted as quickly as is practicable.

I would ask for your forbearance over the course of this difficult but necessary period of investigation, and your support for your colleagues until the current inquiries have been concluded.

Dave