Sandwell Labour - IT's a mystery

One of the reasons Labour Birmingham City Council went into the local government version of bankruptcy was the disastrous implementation of an Oracle Fusion IT system. Bent Labour Sandwell Council is also trying to roll-out an Oracle Fusion set-up and, guess what, its not going according to plan ...

When the plot was formed by the corrupt Council to unlawfully fund McNally's crazed case against The Skidder the (then) highly-controversial legal supremo, Surjit Tour, not only used public money to unlawfully fund the disastrous case but also deliberately tried to smear me in the official court papers (known as "Pleadings") without putting his lies in a formal witness statement (an ongoing issue). As part of the smear, Tour and his fellow plotters stopped me contacting bent Sandwell other than through a "single point of contact", and then told the High Court that they had been "forced" to do this by my mythical "misconduct". Needless to say, this was not pursued on my application to strike out the absurd claim at the first opportunity, but did not become an issue again since the case fell at the very first hurdle. Because of the unlawful funding the taxpayer had to cough-up £100,000 due to its malicious behaviour. Nevertheless, bent Sandwell insists that the "single point of contact" system remains.

Sandwell has refused to let the publicly-funded and vastly over-staffed press office deal with my journalistic queries, but I am the only journalist in the whole world facing this discrimination. Now, and not for the first time, Chief Exec Shokat Lal, has decided to take the proverbial as will be seen below. Whilst he ensures other "press enquiries" - i.e from pet propagandists in the mainstream media - are dealt with in a timely manner you will see below how I am treated very differently.

I received information recently on what seems to be a strange top-level appointment even by bent Sandwell standards. Of course, I cannot simply write up unverified rumours and so I did the proper thing and asked SMBC to confirm or deny the facts. It may be that my information is entirely incorrect, but the point here is Lal's reaction.

Here are the actual emails. Please note that I am still unaware of the truth or otherwise of Ms Davey's alleged appointment, but she has not chosen to respond either. Accordingly, the information received is entirely UNPROVEN and should NOT be regarded as a statement of true facts. Of course, I shall keep Skidder readers informed as the story evolves.

Email to SMBC point of contact for the attention of Shokat Lal and copied to the Labour Leader of the Council, Kerrie Carmichael - 18th July, 2024

"Dear Mr Lal, Ms Carmichael,

THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - PRESS ENQUIRY 

THIS IS A PRESS ENQUIRY AND NOT A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

I am informed that Alice Davey has been appointed as Director of IT and Transformation on a six-figure salary plus LG pension:

Part One

1   Where was this post advertised?

2   How many applicants were there for the post?

3   Was there any external process in Ms Davey's appointment and, if so, what?

4   What IT qualifications does Ms Davey currently hold?

5   What experience does Ms Davey have of managing IT Services during her career to date?

Part Two

Oracle Fusion has been a major problem for SMBC as with Birmingham City Council (and is now ["seemingly" - Ed] part of Ms Davey's remit). I am informed, rightly or wrongly, that on 8th July you emailed all employees stating that the implementation of the new Oracle system has been delayed from July to October. Is that correct? Does this mean additional costs for the taxpayer?

Please respond by 10.00 am Monday 22nd July.

Julian Saunders"

Readers will note that Mr Lal would be in a position to answer Part Two immediately.

Sandwell response - 18th July, 2024 (my emphasis added):

Dear Mr Saunders

Thank you for your email below, which has now been forwarded to the relevant persons.

The Council will endeavour to respond to your enquiry within the next few weeks.

My Response - 19th July, 2024:

This was a press enquiry. I have a deadline for Monday!

Sandwell response - 19th July, 2024

Dear Mr Saunders,

Unfortunately, the council is not able to response [sic] within those timescales. A response will be provided at the earliest opportunity.

My Response - 20th July, 2024:

Noting that Mr Lal is apparently incapable of dealing with this press enquiry in a timely manner perhaps you can forward it direct to Ms Davey who should be in a position to answer Part One immediately.

FOR THE TIME BEING - IT REMAINS A MYSTERY!!!!

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