Thursday, November 29, 2012

Accountability & Openness

In the  Code of Conduct 

we found these two definitions 



ACCOUNTABILITY: Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.

OPENNESS: Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.


So  as tomorrow is the last day of "consultation" we here at FCCL will be sending an email  next Monday to every member of the fire authority and senior members of the management team at WYFRS  asking them (in the spirit of openness and accountability of course ) what they have done in regard of promoting the consultation process. 

How many public / private meetings have they organised ?
How many public / private meetings have they attended ? 
How many emails  they have had from constituents in opposition (or favour) of the proposed cuts in provision?


But sadly we are prepared to be bitterly disappointed - we suspect that many will simply not reply - some such  as Cllr Gil Thornton & MP Hilary Benn will even show contempt and delete our emails unread.  (in which case we will have to FOI them for the information ). 


But it does already seem that deals are being done behind closed doors.............



BUT 

the tail you can see disappearing is that of the station cat at Haworth  -  station cat reported that last night her fire station had a very special visitor, its so interesting we have posted the whole message below.  

"Deputy Chief Steve Beckley at Haworth last night; Told them that Keighley is to lose a pump in April and Haworth will be staying open for the time being. What happened to the consultation process? Mr Beckley is the Deputy who has taken his pension but stayed on, so he now gets £60,000 salary and £60,000 pension, taking him back up to his original £120,000. He will also be drawing interest on his half a million lump sum at the same time, so another £10,000 there. Could he be the best part time employee in the county? "




YES - we think he probably is !!!
(this scheme is NOT open to ordinary fire fighters btw) 


With information like this - its no wonder we at FCCL get cross - we have of course emailed Simon Pilling to ask if this is TRUE - for a start was DFO Beckley at Keighley last night would be a good place to start.   


BUT it seems that deals are already being done ------  without the consultation process even finishing..................   


anyway for nearly the last time (well till next year) 



IF YOU OBJECT TO THE CUTS PLEASE


Email Hannah Stoneman (HERE
(And don’t forget to copy in your MP, 
Local Councillor, 
Fire authority members, 
see the Contacts list for their E-mail addresses HERE

Or Write to her Here:-
Hannah Stoneman
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
Oakroyd Hall
Bradford Road
Birkenshaw
West Yorkshire
BD11 2DY








  



11 comments:

Unknown said...

There is no openness or accoutability from the very top down.

The Leveson Inquiry is going to cost the taxpayer between 5 and 6 million. After paying all that from the public purse, Cameron can just reject the recommendations.

The same applies to this consultation, there will be little or no support for these cuts yet they will be implemented.

No one in either the Fire Authority or Senior Management has the courage to say no to the Government.

Shame on all those who play a part in putting the lives of the general public at risk, and for what, political gain.

Anonymous said...

Why do you keep attacking hard working public servants like Mr Beckley - by taking his pension whilst continuing to work it actually saves the Fire Authority a lot of money because the way it works he can't get anymore by way of pension and salary if its more than what he used to get in salary so really he is working for a lot less isn't he

Sarah Covell said...

Because it isnt fair. And perhaps the next question should be if he is part time - why is he getting a full time car allowance. He isnt a bargain - the cuts he promotes will kill people, and we will carry on blogging and promoting transparency in the fire service.

Anonymous said...

Why is not fair - he will have worked for 30 years and paid big contributions to earn his pension just like you are doing in your job so what's wrong with the fire authority then employing him full time because he is full time not part time which is no doubt why he still qualifies for a car - you could at least get your facts right before you launch spurious attacks on hard working public sector workers just because you do not agree with them or do you write these attacks after one too many g&ts

Sarah Covell said...

There are lots of people in the fire service who work very hard indeed. But the top table feather their own nests very well. There is a 40,000 pay difference between an ACO and a lower rank, its ridiculous.

If you have read my blogs you surely know i never drink and blog, and i get my facts right too.

Sarah Covell said...

There are lots of people in the fire service who work very hard indeed. But the top table feather their own nests very well. There is a 40,000 pay difference between an ACO and a lower rank, its ridiculous.

If you have read my blogs you surely know i never drink and blog, and i get my facts right too.

Anonymous said...

Well I think you might find the difference is more like 100k but that's a lot less than the difference between a nurse and a hospital trust boss but what are you a closet Commie ? What's wrong with paying fire chiefs proper wages - they only get a fraction of what building society directors get-time to stop this ill conceived gin soaked rant against the hard working dedicated managers

Sarah Covell said...

i have no problem paying anybody a proper wage but i expect them to do their job properly and tell the truth. and that goes for the councillors too. i and many others will continue to fight for openness and transparency.

Anonymous said...

Give one example where they are not telling the truth not just something you do not agree with. These are the professionals who started on the shop floor and now work harder than ever to protect the public by squeezing the pips out of every resource - I think they should be paid extra bonuses for the hard work they put in to protect us not criticised all the time.These are difficult times for everybody and every pound has to be stretched further - the new ideas to make the workforce more efficient are great and not one fireman will lose their job which is more than can be said for a lot of companies like comet and jessops which would still be going if they had managers like the fire chiefs

Anonymous said...

Well I think Mr Beckley is wonderful and such a hard worker for someone of such advanced years ,it just goes to prove they should all be capable of working for 40 years before they get a pension . DW

Bubbles said...

Yes he is