Though she doesn't generally approve of outsourcing her recommendation was that a smaller agency be retained to manage strategy and high-level execution and a skeleton staff maintained in-house.
The cost of Mr. Fizzy Fitzpatrick's Dept was over £400k a year and the strain of the Grenfell Tower tragedy just overwhelmed him and his team: in fact, it seems that Fizzy has upped sticks and done a runner!
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| FITZPATRICK DOING RUNNER |
The Council has now appointed Newgate to damage limit. The cost?
Well, the Dame speculates the bill be in excess of £250,000.
Can't limit the damage on this !
ReplyDeleteIt's always about priorities. RBKC considers its perceived reputation comes before all else; particularly its duty of care to residents.
ReplyDeleteDespite the tragedy of Grenfell, the Council is still obsessed by its reputation. In reality there's nothing left of it to scrub clean. Tanker loads of disinfectant cannot cover the stench of sh*t pervading Horton Street.
Dear Dame, please continue your invaluable work. Sunlight is the only effective disinfectant in a case such as this.
By appointing Newgate, Paget-Brown is doing what he should have done on the morning after the fire. PR experts to handle his disaster scenario. Bringing them in now is questionable - the Council's reputation is already in tatters. Nothing left to save.
ReplyDeletewhat reputation>
DeleteOh, of course! Appointing PR experts when 70 + people have just been cremated alive. What human being would not have that thought uppermost in his mind?
DeleteThe sooner the Council gets rid of the useless and extravagant Fitzpatrick team the better. £400k of self indulgence (including the Borer) blown every year and funded out of hard earned Council Tax
ReplyDeleteHere we go again. More wasting of Council tax.
ReplyDeleteThe Newgate blurb says that what they do best is:
"Getting under the skin of a local community, mapping out the individuals and organisations that matter, and helping you get them onside, has never been more crucial".
Presumably the Dame can expect an early call and a very large bunch of red roses.
"Mapping out the individuals . . .that matter"
ReplyDeleteThere you have it, in black and white.
What about the individuals that don't matter? Just fry them one at a time rather by the score, I suppose.
This is what Hornton Street is about. Those that matter get noticed. Those that don't matter don't get noticed. Until the press notices that they got killed all at the same time in a big fire
DeleteThe Council continues to shoot itself in the foot. At this tragic time, when the "little" people need to be embraced and made to feel that they are important, and that they matter, the Council decides to spend a fortune on PR consultants who concentrate on "mapping out individuals and organisations that matter"
ReplyDeleteWhat are the Ward Councillors supposed to be doing? Why don't they get off their arse and do the job that they were elected to do.
Dame, please pass the sick bag.
a condom would be more appropriate
Delete£250K on damage limitation? About us effective as sticking an Elastoplast on a burst dam. Spend the money on victims in crisis, not reputations deservedly in tatters!
ReplyDeleteRBKC councillors believe that by keeping their heads down, Grenfell will simply disappear into history. Then will be business as usual in Horton Street. As well as the literally unspeakable disrespect, RBKC displays a Marie Antoinette sized inability to comprehend the darkness of the public mood.
ReplyDeleteCouncillors are desperate to retain their current access to RBKC's £300million of reserves. These funds will buy them the finest legal representation residents' money can buy; in order to defend themselves against potential charges of the corporate manslaughter of residents. A successful prosecution for corporate manslaughter will lead to an unlimited fine. Perhaps RBKC also intends to use residents' funds to pay the fine.
agree with above... However, piggy et al have had their knickers in a twist since the advent of the internet and eventual blogs....
ReplyDeleteThey were able to control the press with favours, money and down right threats.. Unable to do so with the internet, is the biggest thorn in their side - impotent to do anything about it.... This blog is a prime example - many a Councillor hopes, in vain,that our dear Dame should pack up her bags, board the SS Hornet and eff off with dear Ludo to the Med - forever more.... however, highly unlikely to happen any time soon....:-)
Long Live The Dame !
DeleteOur £250k for PR consultants is putting out daily press releases from piggy. The latest:
ReplyDeleteThursday 22 June: Statement from Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown
Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech this morning (22 June), Councillor Nicholas-Paget-Brown, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council stated:
"The Grenfell Tower fire has been a catastrophe. We are so sorry for all the victims, their families, friends and the other residents.
Council workers have been on duty around the clock since 1.30am on the day of the fire, helping local residents and the families of the victims. I have nothing but praise for their truly heroic efforts.
However, although individual Council officers have worked so hard and delivered so much, it is clear that there has been a failing in our collective response. We could have done a better job at co-ordinating what happened on the ground and we weren’t able to re-home people as fast as we would have liked. We are truly sorry for that. This is a tragedy of enormous proportions, and it has overwhelmed our normal capacity".
You could not make it up, as disgraced ex Cllr Phelps used to say.
Its all go in Hornton Street. Piggy reshuffled the Cabinet.
DeleteDeckchairs - Titanic , comes to mind .
DeleteThere was nothing to overwhelm . Too many cuts to vital services .
DeletePaget Brown is sorry for nothing but the danger the Grenfell catastrophe represents to his comfortable Horton Street sinecure. The same can be said for his gang of self-serving clones. All of them must go. Listening this evening to bereaved residents on tonight's Channel 4 News, it's clear that RBKC has done nothing from the moment their homes burst into flames, till now. RBKC has not compiled comparative lists of the missing by checking schools, mosques and doctors. All such work is being done by the victims themselves. They spend their days chasing the bureaucracy. Ten days ago families of 7 traumatised people were given just £500 to cover all their needs. RBKC and all its works are damned.
ReplyDelete"Council workers have been on duty around the clock since 1.30am on the day of the fire" according to piggy.
ReplyDeleteAs for the poor victims of the fire, they have not seen any Council workers, or heard from any Council workers, or been helped by any Council workers. Could these phantom workers have been somewhere else? The moon perhaps?
Time for the whole Hornton Street establishment (Councillors and Officers) to stop writing emails, stop putting out stupid press statements, and start to walk the talk.
Residents of Grenfell are being hung out to dry by the perpetrators .
ReplyDelete