Pots and Kettles ACO Walton

There are a lot of posts this evening about the emergency services who on this festive evening will be working just the same as any other day of the year. With heavy rain and bad weather on the way and both incidents and response times on the up,  it will be far from the lazy Christmas many of us will have.

They will be missing this ..........

 

Perhaps even this .........

 

 

But hypocrites they most certainly aren't

 

unlike ACO Dave Walton of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue who committed a twitter faux pas today that we personally think was an insult to the committed operational staff of WYFRS who are working over the festive period.

 

  

Today, Christmas Eve he tweeted this

 

 But on the 22nd he tweeted this.

 

We have to confess we do love his tweet about    Ignoring media hype about firefighters with truncheons & cops with hoses-Is move to Home Office good for FRS?

Which we basically interpret as "@?*& goes my chance to be a CFO" 

 

With the magnificent total of 39 votes we suspect many in the Chief Fire Officers Association members at Birkenshaw agree with him it's not a great idea.  Let's face it who would want  Theresa May as your boss!

We will no doubt talk more about the police and crime commissioners in  2016.

But for now there are just two things

1. to David Williams , West Yorks FBU brigade secretary who burst out laughing when he heard I had a spinning wheel  - been warned sweetie with another FOUR YEARS of cuts coming you might just end up with the FRS equivalent  - a bucket of water.

2. Santa has brought our present a little early - the site is still under construction but ladies and gentlemen  we present (da da daaaa)  

firecutscostlives.com

 

Handbag Gate

We here at FCCL advocate being in a trades union, for many reasons.

 

Firstly, if you ever need support at work it's there and of course the more you become involved in a unions activities  the more benefits you gain.  Education and qualifications are available for members in  everything from basic skills to specialist diplomas in many subjects including employment law and equality.  But the main benefit without a doubt is

if you are up a creek without one,  a union can provide a damn fine paddle!

 

 

But sometimes as well as a belt - you need braces!

 

 or in the instance we are going to divulge below 
 a mobile phone with a recording function.
 

 

 

On the 22nd May 2013, Anthea Orchard signed a compromise agreement with West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, which in part was an acknowledgement   that they (on behalf of the tax payers of West Yorkshire !!!!) had vicariously breached her human rights by  hiring a private investigation company to provide "directed surveillance" for a period of up to three months, (which included tracking her family car).  This Regulation of Investigative Powers form was signed by Assistant Chief Fire Officer
Martyn Redfearn within HOURS  of Anthea saying she was not fit for duty  on 31st October 2012. Without a shadow of a doubt she was ill and was absent for several weeks - even WYFRS cannot ignore a Fit Note from a GP! 

So, an employee who was already acknowledged as suffering from depression, hypothyroidism and work place stress was placed under (very incompetent) surveillance by ACO Redfearn.
(who is probably sighing a huge sigh of relief that he retired in early 2013 or perhaps he is getting ready to be a SCAB and add strike breaking to his list of misdemeanours)

Anyway fast forward to an office at WYFRS headquarters at Birkenshaw earlier this year...... present in the room are a  newly appointed Assistant Chief Fire Officer (and HR director) , an area manager and an HR representative, an FBU representative and Anthea  (the employee whose car was tracked ) All there to negotiate  her compromise agreement. And we have to say we don't blame her for recording the meeting, on balance we would have done it  too. It's also fair to say that nobody could have envisaged what would have been picked up by the mobile when the meeting was played back.

 

If you listen to the recording  you can clearly hear Anthea and her union representative leaving the room. And after a discussion about the negotiations we believe  the HR person  saying " is that her handbag" some rustling in the bag and her mobile phone being handled and then dropped back into the bag. We therefore think  the person who actually went in the bag was the area manager!

They all knew that they had done wrong by the stress reaction of silence and the nervous clicking of biro's afterwards .......which in first listening to we thought a bit funny. But by far  the worst part is the  saying "That's a bit naughty we should have asked her"  which can of course be interpreted in so many ways.

"That's a bit naughty"  (a mild reprimand  for going in her bag) 

 

"We should have asked her" (for permission to rifle through her bag)

OR

"That's a bit naughty" (recording the conversation)

 

"We should have asked her" (if she was recording the conversation)

Either way the ACO allowed his staff  to go in somebodys handbag

when the owner was out of the room!!!!

We expect all three to be suspended, investigated  and disciplined for gross misconduct!

We have sent a copy of the recording and other names we believe to be involved to CFO Pilling and Cllr Mahboob Khan, Chair of the Authority, which will give them  an opportunity to invoke their new independent senior officer  complaints process.  We do  not believe CFO Pilling is an appropriate person to comment on his ACOs integrity, its going to take an independent person to do that. ( if independent they hopefully  are ???)
 

If our allegations are upheld we cannot help but wonder what the sanctions will be?

We were told recently  an FBU member was demoted for tweeting - the sanction should surely be demotion or indeed dismissal  for the ACO for allowing the tampering with of very private property by his subordinate staff. 

 

 

 

 

Its not a very good start for the  new Director of HR is it?

Having read a significant number of the papers involved with this case we will say just one thing, there is one little ray of hope in that dank immoral pit that is West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Senior Management  and it comes from Mick Smith dated 16th November 2012

 "Always there are two sides to a story" he writes. 

Yes Mick, and having given our side of events  we are keen  to hear the story  that WYFRS come up with for  going into a woman's handbag (seemingly condoned by both an assistant chief officer AND a Human Resources representative who very kindly identified the handbag on the recording for us "is that her bag"  she clearly states) at a meeting to discuss the financial settlement she was to receive for being illegally watched.

Ironic or what!

What made them rifle her handbag in the first place - does it happen often that senior officers go  through their staffs personal possessions? 

Perhaps all meetings going forward at WYFRS should be conducted with hands placed clearly on a table, which may cause problems if the need to scratch ones balls is  required, (but saying that we are  not sure anybody in WYFRS senior management have any anyway).

Heads should roll for this but we  suspect all concerned will be getting a pat on the back  despite red faces all round. 
 
We hear more and more of employees of WYFRS being supported and encouraged to report their colleagues who use social media to  challenge the working practices of WYFRS.  FCCL itself has been cited in  the  pension review of one of its supporters - although  the person concerned has requested via Freedom of Information the actual passages in facebook and on this blog which render the pensioner fit to work (after being retired on ill health grounds ) they  have never received a satisfactory answer. But we eagerly await the next instalment in that particular long running story........ and look forward to the day when we can blog the lot.

 



To Tweet or not to Tweet ?

Today FCCL went for a coffee and a welsh rarebit ( #aspirationalcheeseontoast ) with a lady we much admire, Anthea Orchard. We have been in touch for a while now with her  and have watched this weeks events unfold with interest (and a very unusual silence that some of you may have observed). 

Many comments in FCCL circles have said "if you knew, why didn't you blog it?" and  I have to admit I was seriously tempted BUT we  figured for such a serious allegation (which we hadn't had corroborated by anybody else) a face to face meeting was essential before any tapping of keyboards took place. Anyway today FCCL and Anthea met for the first, and we sincerely hope not the last time! And as it turns out we have a lot in common. (Under active thyroids and pet rabbits for a start). 

Having read a few of the WYFRS papers and emails  in depth ,  that Anthea has showed us, it seems some employees in WYFRS have nothing better to do with our tax payers money than to trawl face book for allegedly errant employees who heaven forbid have facebook pages. Are they working without permission or perhaps bringing WYFRS into dispute? It seems that as well as social media in WYFRS eyes it's Anti Social Media.

Although it seems to FCCL that WYFRS senior  managers seem to be doing a damn fine job of being anti social themselves recently.  Simon "no comment" Pilling could probably do with coming out of his ivory training  tower instead of peeking over the battlements and chucking the occasional AC/DC O to the crowd. Although many claim that Simon has completely lost the plot in all of this and actually WYFRS is currently a rudderless ship!



We  can't help but wonder as Anthea was exonerated of the allegations AND  received a payment for damages, if WYFRS employees (all views expressed are their own of course) will be reprimanded for posting negative comments in the social media world about an ex colleague.  We give an example on the left from a WYFRS current employee.

Don't know about anybody else but I find the #attentionseeking  hashtag in particular offensive!

How do we know he is a WYFRS employee? As an avid twitterer he actually tweets he is at Birkenshaw HQ !







Gary, bless him also seems to  revel in the fact that Anthea openly admitted on national TV  to being full of oestrogen when the events took place resulting in the  application for authority for directed surveillance that  was instigated by recently retired ACO Martyn Redfearn.

Well Gary, if you despise  women  whose hormones are all over the place because  they have recently given birth; you should have thought twice before really annoying a MENOPAUSAL ONE who runs a blog!

 

Anyway (windows 8 permitting ) we will be back  tomorrow with a post  "Rhodes to Nowhere". Well actually we think that ACO Rhodes may shortly be up a rather  dirty waterway without an appropriate method of propulsion to move him forward.  #redfacesallround  - maybe!  

Fireman Jeff Naylor

As an Aries who  had the (mis)  fortune to be born in the Chinese year of the Tiger it could be said that I  am astrologically pre programmed to be hot headed and  bad tempered  (ok that might be a rhetorical question)  it could also be said that i see things very much in black or white - no  50 Shades of Grey  for me  

BUT some times things are so obvious,  to ignore them is a crime. 

And in my opinion today WYFRS should have had on its news site a mention or memorial  to  Jeff Naylor the last firefighter to die whilst on operational duty in West Yorkshire. Lets hope in  10 weeks time after reading this they mark the anniversary of his actual death with significantly more respect. 

On Saturday a very important event took place, the naming of the last remaining pump

 at Keighley Fire Station  after   Jeff  Naylor a fireman at the station  30 years ago. 

Jeff was on duty on the 27th April 1983 when Keighley Fire Station attended an incident on Broomhill Walk,   a house fire in which 2 of the 5 children rescued died.  Jeff suffered horrific injuries at the incident  and died  aged 31 years ten weeks  later in Pinderfields Hospital , leaving two young children without a father. 

He was commended by the Queen for his bravery, an honour which was collected

 by his young son Mark the  year after. 

Fortunately, the death of fire fighters is a rare occurrence  31 firefighters have lost their lives in the execution of their duty in West Yorkshire, a roll of honour is listed below.

Leeds Brigade Memorial - courtesy of Mrs P  Leach 

It wouldn't have taken 10 minutes to compose a brief tribute to Jeff and post it, or maybe an outline of the events at Keighley on Saturday. Social media is a quick and easy way to transmit information to lots of people very quickly, and although this blog is usually written and published all in one fell swoop, it is possible to  programme it to release information at  certain  time  if we are not about to press PUBLISH. 

And nobody knows of the power  &  speed of social media more than the newest  Assistant Chief Officer Dave Walton. He has a twitter account   @ACOwestyorksfire  which we watch with interest. For example he spent Sunday having a look around Haworth, a spot of shopping perhaps, a pub lunch maybe?

Ever so slightly cultured afternoon stroll through #Howarth -home of the Brontes-liking this #Yorkshire thing twitter.com/ACOWestYorkFir…
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 28, 2013

BUT on   Friday 26th April  he attended the crash on the M62 which resulted in a death and several injuries. 

He tweeted he was on his way  12:04 PM (we do hope he wasnt driving) 

Am attending significant RTC on #m62 huge multi agency rescue underway
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

Then he tweeted he had arrived 12:52PM  

Initial rescue phase on #m62 now over.difficult scene for all agencies.good effort from fire, police & amb - more to do though
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

And then he started to organise his press statements

@skybod @skynews are you still looking for interview?
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

@johnnyianson @bbcleeds okay- doing on scene media at 1500. DM me a phone number
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

And then after a few Thank You's  - he left.

What a day that turned out to be!Thoughts with those affected by #m62 inc today.The poignancy of the hen trip & excitement adds to tragedy
— Dave Walton (@ACOWestYorkFire) April 26, 2013

Now we dont have a problem with him having a twitter account - but we aren't sure about him using it  to publicly  arrange press meetings and such (maybe thats a job for a discreet text or two)  and we most certainly arent convinced an Assistant Chief Fire Officer should use his account for telling the world about his  Sundays off.  Its either business or pleasure - not both!

We are of course familiar with the WYFRS social media policy - they reissued it to all staff  when this site started to become rather "popular" with WYFRS staff.  And in  that policy it states:-

"Access to social media and networking sites during paid working hours or usingAuthority facilities is strictly prohibited unless authorised at Director level for business purposes." 

We cant find any  paragraph that says its Ok to blog on a Sunday off  from what is essentially a company account. The "Views expressed are my own"  is interesting. Does that mean its a company account that is unregulated by WYFRS in which case surely he shouldn't be using it at shouts" or a company account which means he should NOT be using it for personal slightly cultured events!

Dave Walton

@ACOWestYorkFire

ACO with West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service. Tweeting about fire related issues. Views expressed are my own. In case of EMERGENCY always dial 999

West Yorkshire, UK · westyorksfire.gov.uk

We asked the Fire Brigades 

Union for their opinion  

"I'm saddened and disappointed to see that our Assistant Fire Officer found the time to update his Twitter account during operations at the tragic crash on the M62 on Friday. It's amazing that when WYFRA have a policy of "no phones" whilst at work, even if doing routine duties on station, Dave Walton thought it would be acceptable to organise Tv and Radio interviews via Twitter.

I have previously represented members who have broken the "Use of Social Media and Networking Sites Policy" one individual lost their temporary promotion position after being found to be in breach of the policy, but I'm not sure the same fate will be in store for ACO Walton."

David Williams  - WYFRS - Brigade Secretary 

SO WHAT CAN WE AT FCCL DO TO HELP 

JUST IN CASE YOU EVER NEED TO CONTACT  ACO DAVE WALTON 

(WHILST HE IS AT WORK )

HIS NUMBER IS  01274 655734 

Email Him by clicking   dave.walton@westyorksfire.gov.uk 

OR EVEN BETTER 

Why not contact the 

Senior Information and Communications Manager

Gayle Cogan

01274 655802   |   gayle.cogan@westyorksfire.gov.uk

Crystal Balls - Who needs them !!!

Well admit we do have one, sometimes we stare into it  
at the FCCL Office, 

BUT it's only  used for very  important things, such as 

trying to ascertain what we have written that makes ill people fit to work (and when we do find out we will be straight on the blower to Iain Duncan Smith or maybe try and sell our technique to ATOS)  obviously we wouldn't dream of profiting from our exploits but would pay ourselves a nice sensible salary of £28k a year in line with the people whose jobs we aim on this blog to defend.

But so far we aren't doing very well and as our crystal ball is still under warranty we may have to return it to the International Crystalball Organisation for some fine tuning 

What do you think of the new nail polish btw? 

So why today didn't we need one?

Well as we have said on a different blog  ( here )  occasionally the karma fairy comes along and gives us a hand. And as we said yesterday in our post  TITS 

 (you can read it by clicking here) 

we think WYFRS use of social media is dire! 

This morning we received an email from Mehboob Khan  (the chair of the fire authority) informing us that  the Local Government Association, Safer, Stronger Communities   had  interesting news, he had as well as appearing as a witness at a parliamentary select committee investigating the horsemeat scandal (aka lasagna- gate) he  has been  involved in this ............  

Fire and rescue services e-bulletin:  March 2013

I have added the link  HERE BUT unless you log on to the LGA site 

( for which you need a government email address), 

 .gov.uk, nhs.net   etc  

you might not be able to access it , so much for transparency !!!!  

Hidden  in the pages - the karma fairy  drew our attention to this

And guess who its hosted by 

THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE 

It is a bargain at £80 + vat  

Best of all when you go to the topics pages it says 

Staff relations

Can social networking improve staff relations and boost morale? Should social media be managed or controlled? Can social media improve employee performance? 

SINCE FCCL BECAME POPULAR

 WYFRS REISSUED THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY TO ALL STAFF

WE THINK IN AN EFFORT TO STOP THEM INTERACTING WITH US   

A politicalPolitics

Should politicians be tweeting and using Facebook? What are the benefits for politicians? Has social media improved public awareness and interaction with elected representatives? 

WELL THIS MADE US CHUCKLE AS WELL, COS IF YOU CHALLENGE A POLITICIAN ON FACEBOOK, CHANCES ARE THEY WILL BLOCK YOU !!!!!! 

Anyway  all the details are  on the LFB website which you can access from our  news pages

So hopefully  IF very soon, if the penny drops and WYFRS stump up £80 (plus vat )

  we might soon be seeing 

THIS  

ooooohhhh but there is one ray of hope ACO Dave Walton has a twitter account - you can follow him by clicking  here    in fact WYFRS has one too but its very quiet and spasmodic. 

Fire Plan Friday = Brilliant

One of our first tweeting lessons  was how to "follow" people. 

And in following Derbyshire Fire and Rescue, 

and learning how to re-tweet  we discovered this 

FIRE PLAN FRIDAY

and its so good we decided we needed to blog it on 

a Thursday evening 

so you are all ready tomorrow to create a fire plan for your home.

 It is a website designed by 

RED WATCH WATFORD

 in Hertfordshire 

And to be honest you don't need to know anymore from us......... because it is BRILLIANT! 

Click here   get the information you need to keep your home and family safe. 

Its not often we suggest you should look at someone elses website but just click and go away, tonight you need to read THIS site from start to finish. 

Fire Plan Fridays stat counter is currently at 935, I would love to see it much much higher tomorrow, Red Watch Watford deserve nothing less. 

11/10 Red Watch  from FCCL 

And don't forget if you live in West Yorkshire you can have a free 

home fire safety check from 

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue by clicking here 

It's time to share the fact that we have....................

got a Twitter account . 

We have had the account for ages but up to now haven't really had the time to  utilise its functionality to maximum effect.

BUT thanks to a very generous offer from Eamonn, we at FCCL are learning how to tweet like a canary!


You can find it HERE

Cheers Eamonn!  we really appreciated your kind offer of help

And perhaps before WYFRS engage in a witch hunt to  find  Eamonn, and point out the error of his ways and how it may impede his career development plans it might be a kindness to explain  ...

Eamonn  doesn't  work for WYFRS in any capacity 

(or isnt a retired early fire fighter to be called in either)

Our latest facebook  entry got over 1,300 views in less than 12 hours and Twitter is said to be quicker and more responsive, we look forward to giving it a go.