A few days later an informant contacted me and named the unfortunate employee as Jez Hall. I was told:
"He was asked to do report on some Smethwick Councillors and when this report was shown to Britton he was asked to take out the names of three certain councillors and add another's name. he refused to this and was then subjected to a trumped-up charge to get him out. When these charges obviously didn't stick he was personally called into Britton's office and made an offer that he couldn't and didn't refuse (subject to a confidentiality clause)."
(We have, of course, seen pitiful liar, Steve "The Milkman" Eling recently claim that corrupt Labour did not use gagging clauses which was a porkie of epic proportions and his untruthfulness was speedily exposed.)
The usual caveats apply. I know this particular informant but facts can become distorted and caution should be applied to unproven allegations (but see further below....). I should add that although I have attempted to contact Mr Hall himself via a third party but without success and he has played no part in the production on this post.
It is a testament to Mr Hall's seeming popularity within SMBC that other employees complained to me that he had been stitched-up by Britton "for political reasons". But as I couldn't speak to Mr Hall it was difficult to take this further.
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Addendum 06/08/18: Following the publication of this post some other people have contacted me to praise Mr Hall's abilities:
LB: "I would like to say that Jez is one of the most professional people I have met. He was a brilliant Local Government Officer...."
TS: "I worked with Jez on several occasions when he was Town Manager - Smethwick. I found little fault with his work."
RD: "I knew Jez for many years, most recently as the Town Team Manager....Jez always came across as on of the straightest, most capable and competent guys I have ever had the pleasure of working with."
**********
Then a senior Tory (yes, you did read that right, Tory) in the Borough also contacted me outraged at how Mr Hall had been treated. His version was:
"[Mr Hall] used to be a town manager, or acting as such, but in more recent times he was overseeing a funding stream. A number of councillors were trying to have a slice of the funding without adhering to the criteria. He made representations to the chief executive and went on leave. When he came back he was told his job had gone. However, I gather there are some undercurrents.....he was paid off with the usually confidentiality clauses."
Following a conversation with another employee and in the absence of any contact from Mr Hall I put in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request as long ago as 18th January, 2018. I asked for a copy of Mr Hall's report that Britton and others took exception to and the one that replaced it. Jan Britton has been stonewalling me ever since - demanding that I identify the report I was referring to. I replied in April:
"You are uniquely aware of the reasons disciplinary action was taken against Mr Hall leading to his departure from the Council. The request is what Mr Hall is alleged to have done wrong leading to this action being taken. I understand that Mr Britton is fully au fait with the facts of this matter."
Still no reply was forthcoming and I requested an internal review. The time period for that has also expired and I am now forwarding the whole matter to the Information Commissioner's Office to have them force Britton or his replacement to comply with the law.
Many of you are now worried about contacting me by email in case WMP are still interfering with my communications and are writing to me at home - which is fine. (Write to Jules Saunders, 11 Chelworth Road, Birmingham B38 0BG.) Today I have received just such a letter and part of it reads as follows:
"Jez Hall was one of the good guys and stood up to Marshall about the Smethwick Xmas lights procurement. He was suspended for a few months but was exonerated, however was still hounded out by JB [Jan Britton]. Jan's next door neighbour is a sandwell Unison rep and he went to Jez with paperwork about his retirement that he was given 24 hours to think about so he couldn't refuse - as the rep made it clear that JB [Jan Britton] wanted him out. Jez had a lot of backing from well wishers who knew what was going on."
How many times has this blog asked why the unions have failed to protect their members at corrupt Sandwell Council whilst happily collecting their dues? We have seen the GMB sail staff down the river whilst its Darren and Sarah James were mysteriously given a SMBC council house. (They even failed to get GMB member Amy Hodgkins a deal. She was one of seven secretaries unlawfully suspended by Darren Carter - an ongoing story. Unite represented six of the secretaries and they were all reinstated with compensation).
The Unison rep referred to is the top man locally - Tony Barnsley. Unless either has moved recently he is, indeed, the neighbour of Britton!
Clearly there is sufficient information to warrant a full investigation by SMBC and Unison into what has happened here. How can a supposedly "socialist" Labour Councillor treat a very long-standing and well-liked employee is this appalling manner? Surely even some of the ovine Labour Councillors will want to demand a full and independent inquiry? Did Britton act as a tool (!) of his political masters? If yes, what disciplinary action will he now face? How much was Marshall involved in all this (and we all know Marshall was Eling's "enforcer")? How did a well-paid senior trade unionist become involved? Did he really stitch up a Union member at the request of Jan Britton? If yes, what disciplinary action will he face if this is proven?
If the evidence of three people (backed by comments from others) and this blog shows a prima facie case will the feeble Milkman suspend Britton? Will Unison suspend Barnsley?
Milko has the charisma of a wet fart but should grow a pair and immediately assure Mr Hall that SMBC will waive any rights it has under the gagging clause and ensure an independent party takes a full statement from him which is then made public. He should also ensure that my outstanding FOI request is answered first thing Monday morning.
*Jan Britton was the grossly under-qualified choice of Chief Exec by Cooper, Eling and Hussain. He has presided over widespread fraud, corruption, cronyism and incompetence but remains in his £160k a year post despite his laughable claim that he was simply unaware of what was actually happening in the bent Borough!!!!
THE SANDWELL SKIDDER - COMMUNITY NEWS - READ THE SKIDDER, KIDDER!
07930 361831 Facebook: Julian Saunders Twitter: @SandwellSkidder
Email: thesandwellskidder@gmail.com
Post: Jules Saunders, 11 Chelworth Road, Birmingham B38 0BG
PROUD TO HAVE BEEN TROLLED BY DICKHEAD DARREN COOPER DECEASED!
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