Letter: What happened to old-style council managers?

Letter: I echo the points raised by Dave Askins and Andy Sayner about Telford & Wrekin Council's chief executive offering up his job for a vast amount of redundancy pay.

After 21 years of loyal service in difficult roles I recently retired from the council so I have seen many changes, not all for the good.

What has been lost since the council became a unitary authority is the directors and senior managers who put people first.

Many of the new breed of senior managers seem more interested in what's best for them and offer only lip service to staff who face unemployment. The council spent a fortune and much time employing consultants to look at the ramifications of single status, which it was not legally obliged to do.

The results didn't tie in with the answers it wanted, what a waste of public money. To cap it all the council recently had the cheek to suggest dropping single status, which the unions refused to do. More wasted time and money.

Now members shout about the recession we are in and that we are all in it together. Every job had to be reviewed and those at risk were put into "the red box" which meant anyone else in the same situation could apply for another colleague's job. Talk about dog eat dog.

Many council employees work in teams, responsible for carrying out statutory functions, which the council must provide. What's the point in breaking up established teams and inserting new people into roles they don't understand?

Our councillors need to dig a bit deeper to find out what is really going on.

Trevor Turner

Wellington