Yes, they've filled the job - but don't tell anyone!

There was a prompt and informative answer to our question posed yesterday about whether or not Boston Borough Council appointed  someone to its its highly unpublicised post of Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer at its December council meeting.
The answer is "yes" - but only after the ruling Boston Bypass Independent Party treated the members gathered for the meeting to their very own Christmas pantomime. Or as Churchill famously described Russia, "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
In an e-mail, Conservative Councillor Myles Larrington writes:
"I read with interest today your article entitled “Deal... or no deal?” referring the appointment of a permanent S151 Officer. I can confirm that this appointment was filled a recent meeting of the Full Council, which was taken on ‘pink papers’ (or in secret) although all opposition councillors (including myself) did vote to hold the debate in public, but where outvoted by members of the BBI.
"This is where things then get slightly ridiculous.
"You see the S151 is a statutory appointment and therefore along with the Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service) and the Monitoring (Legal) Officer, has to be confirmed by the Full Council.
"This is despite the fact that the recommendation for the appointment comes from a committee called the Chief Officer Employment Panel, a private meeting to which only appointed councillors can attend.
"In addition, the rest of us on the council are not entitled to see the information put before the panel (for legal reasons) so we have no idea who the individual is we are appointing beyond a mere name and salary (no CV, background info, past employment records, etc)
"I can say that I raised this issue at the recent full council meeting, in addition to the fact that it took me half an hour to get an officer to reveal the proposed salary to those us not the panel! As you can see it is quite incredible officers were expecting us to appoint someone without providing councillors, let alone the public, the relevant information. It begs one to ask what has happened to the notion of transparency!
"Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the actual salary (ridiculous quite frankly, as it is public money) but it is substantially less than the figure you quote (which incidentally I also quoted at council, so thank you for that) but in my view it is still rather grotesque.
"I would also just like to put on the record that I personally voted against this appointment on the grounds that I think it is unacceptable to working Bostonians in a time of recession (when people are struggling to pay the bills) to be asked to potentially pay more council tax to provide someone with a salary like this, whilst front-line staff are being relieved.  It is frankly mad. I can only say what I said to council (and I’m happy to put on the record) which is that on an issue like this I don’t ask whether I can justify this sort of appointment to my constituents, but actually whether I can justify it to myself – which is a no. (I earn less than £200 a week from my main job, which puts these things into perspective for me!)
"I hope this provides some clarification to the issue you raised, in addition to providing an interesting insight in to the meeting itself.
"Best Regards,
"Councillor Myles Larrington"
Please note that the views expressed above are solely those of the author and are not necessarily the views of the Conservative Group on Boston Borough Council.


You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com  Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.