You say that you want total transparency between the Council and its paymasters-us residents.
So, you need to tell us exactly how much this fourteen-strong team is costing in salaries, pension and establishment costs.
We are waiting and it should not need a wasteful Freedom of Information request."
Nick Thompson, the new PR man at RBK&C tells PRWeek RBKC was in the process of reimagining its comms from the ground up and that he and his team would help guide it through a period of change.
This bodes badly for council taxpayers who have already seen £300 million of Reserves burned through.
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| EXPENSIVE IMAGINATION |
To have a team of 14 in the PR department of a small council is just nonsense.
No amount of spin doctoring is going to help the Council 'rebuild trust': the opposite- a media onslaught will just lead to more suspicion.
The Dame gets the impression that young Nick has rather pulled the wool over the eyes of the leadership team in order to fund his near £1 million a year department.
Here we go again. Dizzy goes weak at the knees when the prospect of a radio or TV appearance is on the cards. Nick Thomson will have her wetting herself as he blows hard earned council tax on KFC puff.
ReplyDeleteWhat a huge waste of money. But if the Council can spend £20 million to date on Holland Park Opera (and still spending) why bother about £1 million a year on reimagined fork speak? Cheap at the price.
Never trust a man with a beard. And a red top too.
DeleteBad news
RBKC - London's SMALLEST borough - PR Team of 14
ReplyDeleteCroydon - London's LARGEST borough - Team of ?
Bench-marking data required - staff numbers in all departments including PR - FOI request?
Milking bureaucracy - Bells are ringing!
Meanwhile RBKC extracts endless free hours of consultation from hard pressed tenants and leaseholders whilst RBKC employ interim agency staff at huge cost in a revolving door.
Is anyone watching, does anyone care?
I always mentored my A list staff to work hard at whatever they were given to do and establish a good track record. When the time was right I advised them to move towards the fire in order to get noticed.
ReplyDeleteThis could be a good personal opportunity for Mr Thomson. But he needs to be managed responsibly. Especially since he and his team are funded from taxes. 15.55 makes a good point. A PR Department of 14 sounds over the top. Some benchmark data is required. What do other Boroughs spend?
What you may not know is that immediately following the Grenfell fire, dizzy took over an office on the first floor. Who do you think were given pride of place outside? The recovery team? Adult social care? Children’s services? Nope - An army of highly paid spin doctors swooped in from WCC (where else?) complete with a bank of rolling news screens and an ambition to “drive the news agenda”.
ReplyDeleteThis needs investigation - BENCHMARKING data must be disclosed to residents, along with the decision to spend so much on PR, the full brief and purpose.
ReplyDeleteIs this value for money, if not, are RBKC in breach of their duties?
Were residents consulted on this executive decision?
One of the most powerful influencers in the Royal Borough is the exalted personage of the elegant Dame.
ReplyDeleteWill the head of PR be seeking to win her over with lavish lunches and orchids? If not-why not?
Re Anon 18:48: NO to both questions. Who are you to ask? RBKC, looking at the recent f*ck ups, need a slick team of spinners and liars to try and improve RBKC image? Is this possible? Probably, NOT. Cost? Worth every penny. Quite a bargain really, judging what tasks lay ahead. As far as "reimagining" goes, dear Dr Quirky Quirk, should know quite lot about imagining, his book bears this title. In fact, it matters not how many people get involved, the BBC, NAO, GRA and others will just pursue their goals with added vigour. The times when RBKC were somewhat believed, are OVER.....Remedy? Call Guy Fawkes - he may have good ideas - blow up the whole sorry lot...
ReplyDelete£1m a year is peanuts if the Borough can save further £300 million on housing for the drop outs
ReplyDeleteMr Angry: RBKC are already saving shed loads of dosh by housing those you refer to as "drop outs" away from the Borough, in ie Bolton, Isle of Sky etc... Indeed, 1m is peanuts, considering the other amounts our dear Councillors keep pissing against the wall.
ReplyDeleteWhy not? Nothing wrong with Bolton or the Isle of Skye. Too many benefits scroungers from dodgy countries in K&C.
DeleteYou should move your stinking sette out of here too
Anon 12:10: Nowhere have I said that I have anything against Bolton or Isle of Sky - that is merely your groundless conjecture....hiding behind the facade of an "anon". As far as I am concerned, I have been around for much longer than you have been or will be, judging from the mess you humans are making of the World...
ReplyDeleteI have no intention to swap Northern climate for that of Kyoto Garden. Anyway, we do enjoy Mr O'Sullivan's food, which he serves to the pretentious few at the Belvedere....
@Sadbadger, you might become a happybadger if you were more positive about what we can try to do to change the system. Lovely Guy is a good example to follow.
ReplyDeleteThe root of this whole problem is the undesirables living off benefits that we have tolerated for far too long in North Kensington. It is a total waste of taxes and a breeding ground for the likes of MP Dent-Coade
ReplyDeleteLiving off benefits is NOT isolated to North Ken. It is a countrywide problem. Comparing, North Ken is not at all that bad. What exacerbated the problem are the extra large estates, with extra capacity, built in the 70s(?), which welcomed people from other parts of London and the country. I would like to know what was the behind concept of "ghettoising" North Ken. But, I think that had these estates been managed properly, they would NOT have become the ghastly places they are now. Dizzy Lizzy said few days after Grenfell, that she had never visited the area. Simple, the aging Sloane Rangers and the Cheyney Walk set, were (are) not interested in the plebs of North Ken. Are they now? The new PR team is to convince you that they do care...and good quality spin costs a lot...in the end is it effective? Temporary relief, diversion.. in the long term? Carry on as usual, as recent Derbyshire programme highlighted (Grenfell victim still not rehoused). Amen
ReplyDelete"Welcomed people from other parts of the country and London".
DeleteBollocks
Its loads of people from Ethiopia, Morocco and Somalia. Rubbish
Time to cull the Badger
RBKC is a dustbin for lying refugees who claim all sorts of abuses....the majority of claims total fiction but of course they make good vote fodder for Dent Coad and her ilk as hardworking Brits want nothing to do with her.
DeleteBreeding ground for Socialists and badgers
DeleteRBKC is the smallest London borough with some of the most expensive property and most wealthy residents, therein lies the attraction, revulsion and conflict. Who will RBKC seek to serve, the monied class, the under class, both equally, themselves?
ReplyDeleteFed Up Local: so why were these "social housing" estates built, so, so over capacity? To accommodate the middle classes, would be in idiotic idea.Obviously, the thinking behind this was very flawed.
DeleteThe cull of my brethren is now questioned, as there is no credible evidence that the incidence of Bovine TB, which we were accused of spreading, had gone done. You are like the many others, looking for a scapegoat, to blame for human mess ups. I do not believe in a cull. However, I challenge you to a pistol duel at down in Holland Park during the next Full Moon....
RBKC social housing conveniently accommodates the maids, nannies, household staff and chauffeurs of the local elite, always has.
DeleteFake news about Bovine TB? Had not heard this. Maybe I now need to concentrate on the fox - the other vermin in the Park (except, of course, for Volpe and his tribe).
ReplyDeleteI don't do pistols
oh, what a pity. Rather a nice sport, very satisfying, you know. Particularly, if the opposition is eliminated. Game of conkers, instead, maybe?
DeleteMy lady wife and I were perambulating around Holland Park when we passed Sad Badger's illegal sette. SB was doing some Spring gardening and worm collection so we stopped to chat. He was boasting that life was looking good as culling was over and Mr McDonnell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in waiting, was going to give everybody, including badgers, £15,000 a year to spend as they wish. Bring it on, he said!
ReplyDeleteAnon- 08:30:
ReplyDeleteHow could you possibly say "illegal". Once upon a time, my tribe lived on the grounds of the "Hippodrome". When that venture collapsed, we were given our lovely place in Holland Park, where we have been ever since.
Indeed, recall the nice chat, although from I remember, your dear wifey had very little to say. Oh, £15,000 a year will come very handy. We need a new mini-plasma TV and few other odds and sods. Should meet again soon, perhaps I may treat you to a nice afternoon tea at the Belvedere. Very posh, you know. You should be in your element.
SadBadger v Anon - could you please find another vehicle by which to communicate your personal issues, rather than here.
ReplyDeletePoint taken. However, it was "Anon" who started this silly spat...
ReplyDeleteAnd in any case it now seems to be called the 'Fukushima Garden' with no explanation.
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ReplyDelete