 |
| Risible stuff! |
This is the sort of total bollocks being pumped out by Sandwell Labour's propaganda machine but the real stink is that this is still costing us taxpayers over HALF a MILLION QUID a year!
I am setting out below the full text of a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act response as to the cost of the bloated "spin" department. Before I comment further may I just make a couple of observations.
Firstly, the dimwitted "leader" of Sandwell Council, Darren "The Turdmeister" Cooper, made a great song and dance recently about how, in future, Labour would usher in a new era of openness and transparency in its dealings (a tacit admission of the secrecy and obfuscation that shrouded its dealings in the past). The venal and incompetent comrades actually cheered him - I was there and nearly vomited over myself. Of course, this turned out to be total Cooper bullshit and just by way of a simple example, the crafty comrades have recently REMOVED all the old FOI replies from their website and there is no other means of accessing them! Thus in a grotesque Stalinesque stunt they have airbrushed any information that may be used against them from history. (I have been onto the Information Commissioner about this and it seems that this is actually legal!)
Secondly, it seems that before they are sent out, all FOI replies are now being routed through Melanie Dudley whose deep involvement in the multi-million pound BT contract disaster (and much else) ensured that Turdy recently PROMOTED her to Assistant Chief Executive. Mind you this might be a good thing since the amoeboid Chief Executive, Jan Britton, has obviously been comfortable with the Council lying in FOI replies (eg Judgstock, eg Bog-gate,eg rate relief on Labour Party-owned Terry Duffy House and, most recently, eg Sunny Jim Cadman's failed statue fund). I am writing again to the Information Commissioner about these matters since this is a totally unacceptable situation (except to Britton apparently). With Mel's seemingly unswerving devotion to Labour and The Turdmeister himself I feel sure she will soon act to stop the rot!
Moving swiftly on, you will see from the reply that even the spinners have not been exempt from Cooper's mass redundancies but that there are still 9 full-timers and 2 part-timers churning out inane tweets, writing Cooper's blog for him (as he is too thick to do it himself - though I am told they do give him some crayons and let him colour the pictures in now and again) and producing such notorious works as the communications plan to do down The Public - see:
(Incidentally, I wonder if the three ringers brought in in 2013/2014 were there to work on Labour's campaign to destroy The Public? Info anyone?)
 |
| Incessant coverage of Turdy obsession |
And so at a time when Cooper is driving Sandwell Council over the cliff edge the taxpayer is forking out around £550,000 a year for this garbage and for the glorification of The Great Helmsman himself!
I repeat the offer I made via twitter to the loony lefties - if they want ME to sit in the pub all day tweeting about dog shit I will be happy to oblige - and at a fraction of the current cost!!!
In you have any information about "unusual" council house allocations by the comrades can you please contact DS Wayne Haynes and the police fraud team on 0121 251 2175.
THE SANDWELL SKIDDER - A COMMUNITY BLOG - READ THE SKIDDER, KIDDER!
E-mail: thesandwellskidder@gmail.com Twitter: @bcrover (Vernon Grant)
Confidential phone no: 07599 983737
Freedom of Information Request – Communications Information
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 29 January
2015.
Please find below the information you have requested:
May I preface this request by saying that it may have been
unnecessary had SMBC chosen to respond to my request for a copy
of an earlier FOI request (not from me) on this subject and/or to
have responded to my question to your press office. It looks like
that you ate going to force this blog to do everything "the hard
way". So be it.
In respect of the size and budget for SMBC's Communication's
Department please state:
1. The number of employees – specifying full-time, part-time,
temporary, seconded etc employed in the Communications
Department and the annual cost for each of the following years
(being "Council years" ie 1st April to 31st March):
The number of employees employed in the Communications Unit on 1
April of each of the years requested was as follows:
2010/2011:
• 12 full-time (including 2 on reduced hours)
• 1 part-time
• 1 temporary, part-time
• 1 seconded, full-time (not funded by Communications Unit budget)
• 1 seconded, part-time (not funded by Communications Unit budget)
2011/2012:
• 14 full-time
• 1 part-time
• 1 temporary, part-time
2012/2013:
• 11 full-time
• 1 part-time
• 2 temporary, part-time
2013/2014:
• 10 full-time
• 1 part-time
• 1 temporary, part-time
• 3 seconded, full-time (not funded by Communications Unit budget)
The approved net target budget for the Communications Unit for each of
the years requested was as follows:
2010/11 £598,800
2011/12 £579,200
2012/13 £641,000
2013/14 £549,600
These figures included staffing, communications materials/campaigns
and overheads – e.g. office equipment, electricity, telephones and
building costs.
2. Please state the current number of employees (as defined above)
within the Department and the budget for the current financial year
to 31st March, 2015.
The approved net target budget for the Communications Unit for 2014/15
was £554,300. Again, this figure included staffing, communications
materials/campaigns and overheads – e.g. office equipment, electricity,
telephones and building costs.
On 1 April 2014, the number of employees in the Communications Unit
was as follows:
• 12 full-time
• 1 part-time
• 1 temporary, part-time
Following a restructure of the Improvement & Efficiency directorate in
December 2014, the number of employees currently in the
Communications Unit is now as follows:
• 9 full-time
• 1 part-time
• 1 temporary, part-time
They cover the following areas of work – media enquiries, news releases,
marketing, digital and social media, design, photography, internal
communications and supporting council events.
End.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.