Forum Topic

New Interim CEO for Richmond and Wandsworth

From the main news on PutneySW15Andrew Travers Set to Be Appointed as Interim Council Chief ExecutiveTaking over the joint administration of Richmond and Wandsworth".... He is currently working as Interim Chief Executive of Southampton City Council and previously as Chief Executive of Lambeth Council and Barnet Council as well as time spent in the private sector. ..."I am not particularly impressed by the choice.  All three Councils require support from the government as they are facing bankrupcy...  Not particularly brilliant background.....

Ivonne Holliday ● 402d8 Comments

Two things I remember a decade after that is applying for a job at Lambeth Council and receiving their equal opportunities policy that consisted of two inches of A4  that been photocopied so many times the contents were unreadable.That didn't stop someone sending it to me. I have no idea how such a document could be so long but the idea of some one would post it sums up the administration at the time.A few years later and when Lambeth were finally forced to collect rents and local tax, it was not unusual for cases where people hadn't paid their rent or tax for years, decades in many cases, simply because they could. I was truly shocked about wondered where such a culture had come from.

Ed Robinson ● 401d

Back then people in Lambeth certainly knew how bad things were. Each year when the enormous rates rises were announced there were protest marches. A neighbour and I used to go. Most of our fellow marchers were council tennants.Things started to deteriorate when the Hard Left - Militant - took over the Labour group on the council in 1978.

Elizabeth Balsom ● 401d

It isn't just the UK that has crumbling infrastructure - so does Germany:https://constructionmanagement.co.uk/tackling-germanys-crumbling-infrastructure/

Philippa Bond ● 401d

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot

Philippa Bond ● 401d

I'm not sure if people realised just how bad Lambeth was back then. No idea what the situation is like now.You won't here me say this often but one of the things Thatcher did was debuct money from the central government grant if the local authority was not collecting rent and local tax etc Even in the middle late 80's a colleague at work spent months trying to pay his council tax having moved out of the borough even though LBC thought he didn't owe any. Good on him.But back to Wandsworth where things appear to work in reverse. I got a demand for payment, then some time afterwards an invoice and now 6 months forward I'm still trying to get details of the invoice.Clearly I do not dispute that money is owed hence I'm paying by installments while I progress my dispute.When local authorities can not perform basic administration satisfactory, disputes snowball and a spiral of rising administration costs and low efficiency follows.I fear political gimmicks regarding council tax will not help and may cost more in the long run.Still lucky we have have such well run central government :(

Ed Robinson ● 402d

Richmond Council haven't got the right staff to do the job properly, even where garages are concerned, they have changed who manages them. Richmond charges a lot for Council tax, yet they can't manage the area.

Barbara Stevens ● 402d

Infrastructure all over the country has been run down as the amount of money coming from Central Govt has been reduced and so much has also been sold off rather than spending vast amounts on new and on maintenance.  With a growing elderly population the demands on services have also grown and where there is a more affluent population then fewer people may have needed or wanted to use some of the services.  Poorer people can't afford to eat as well as those better off and may need more help.  I think a lot depends on the local demographic and luck as to what the economy is doing -  higher interest rates when the wholly owned older buildings have been replaced by Private Finance Initiative ones for instance.  (This was used by all.) In a much more global world there aren't as many local philanthropists who want to spend their money on building a new hospital or library for their local community as there were in Victorian times.  It's hard enough to crowdfund much smaller projects!

Philippa Bond ● 402d

I agreeI don't know what it is with Lambeth.  I lived in West Dulwich part of Lambeth borough in the late 1970s until I fled here in 1981.  It was a dreadfully run borough, (obviously Travers wasn't there then) but  nothing seems to change. At one point it was in "special measures".The rates, as it was then, rocketed while I was there which was one reason why I left. It emerged a couple of years ago  that there'd been problems with Lambeth's children's homes way back then which I found upsetting.Just what did they do with my - and other ratepayers' - money?It would be interesting to know what qualifies Mr Travers for the job here, and who were the other candidates.

Elizabeth Balsom ● 402d