Does anyone question the decisions of ‘Your Waverley’s Executive other than Farnham Residents councillor Jerry Hyman?
As Guildford Borough Council freezes recruitment…
As Waverley’s Executive prepared to vote unanimously for the council to share staff with cash-strapped Guildford on the brink of bankruptcy, the only councillor who ever seems to rock up and question its wisdom haunted them again.
The Waverley Web asks why everyone leaves it to the man; everyone spends their time trying to gag, and who has the guts to ask the questions we, the taxpayer, want answers to?
He asked.
Are we just helping Guildford out? What’s the rush for this temporary arrangement? Is it Guildford’s pressing need? Are we here at Waverley helping to get GBC out of a tight corner? If so, is this an ethical move and what cost to ourselves. To what extent does it benefit us, do you have a plan. Why are we doing this so urgently.
We have a duty of candour and need to satisfy our residents the case for doing this. will expertisebe available to where we need it most.
Shouldn’t we scrutinise this? Where is the detailed report?
Could we have some straigh answers to some straight questions?
A niggley Leader, Paul Follows, who has a propensity these days to want to lead and never follow, said the difference between a dishonest man and an honest man was that they would both tell you they are honest. He said he liked to believe everyone was honest until proved otherwise.
He said the move was simply a “constitutional mechanic” to share staff between the two authorities and that Guildford had already passed the “constitutional instrument.” After the councilspeak, he said both councils had been sharing staff for months, and it was all about using staff efficiently.
“We have been using their staff where we have gaps; this isn’t a one-way street. There are gaps in each council. For example, we have been using their resources here on private sector housing.”
He confirmed that GBC was operating a recruitment freeze but was “hiring by exception.”
The initial vision for collaboration was set out in 2021. This is just the first step. The larger, more serious element is where people are working and who they are working for, and that will be the subject of a report to both councils in the future.
This is just tidying up about the efficient sharing of resources; we have been doing it for over a month.
An Officer said, This is a technical paper and a report to share staff on an interim basis when it is in the best interests of both councils, and both councils make the decision.
Councillor Liz Townsend supported the move saying:
We have been working together for the past few months, and there are opportunities to use the knowledge and expertise of the staff of both councils if and when they arise. I certainly look forward to working with the officers of both councils in the coming months.
“Many truth-tellers don’t try to candy-coat the truth to preserve your feelings. They rather just get it over and done with so you will get the real information you need.”
Problem solutions are fact based understood, defined and competently executed. Public money is a resource that deserves respect most taxpayers can use their money more wisely than that lost to governments local and national. Local Governments have too many undefined and misunderstood problems looking for solutions.
Hi WaverleyWeb – Cllr Paul Follows here.
I thought I would take a moment to throw in some other thoughts on this one.
Not for the first time, Cllr Hyman registered to speak at 1 minute before the deadline to do so. As a result, many of the questions he asked were either a) things he has asked before and received an answer about (often more than once), b) something that is in the papers and even a cursory reading of them would indicate (in this instance literally paragraph 1 dealt with the thrust of this points) or c) an interpretation of rules not supported by either our local monitoring officer and / or the courts.
As to C I hope Cllr Hyman will confirm that I have read and understand our constitution and indeed insist people actually follow it. When he is right, and I can think of a handful of occasions where he has been – this has been conceded.
As to the substance. Jerry asked where the vision for this collaboration was? Well that was back in July 2021 and was done in public. He essentially implied this was a one-way street. It clearly isn’t and as both the author here and Jerry neglected to state is that GBC passed this very same instrument back in July and we have already benefited from sharing their staff (and I gave examples).
This arrangement allows the sharing of resource ‘when it is in the mutual benefit of both councils’ and is subject to reporting and can be scrutinised by O&S.
I get a little bit tetchy when Cllr Hyman talks about a duty of candour because a) I personally believe, as you quoted that honesty is a quality you have to assume until proven otherwise (and laws hardly do a good job of compelling that, see for example: National Government) and b) because the distinct inference is that that I and the rest of the exec either haven’t read or understood what we are doing or are lying / acting in bad faith. On top of that it isn’t the first time.
I hope that is a bit clearer and Happy to respond to further selection.
Cllr Paul Follows
Leader of Waverley Borough Council
and PS:
Who is trying to ‘gag’ Cllr Hyman. He is not only given his full rights by the constitution, I frequently at exec let him come back with follow-up and ask further questions in excess of those rights.
I don’t do that when I have answered the same question more than twice.
But the idea that anyone would try to (or even could) ‘gag’ someone is ludicrous.
Cllr Paul Follows
Oh dear! We did rattle someones cage didn’t we. Wouldn’t it be great to get the odd comment from the Leader on more serious issues than Cllr Hyman having a dig. Perhaps, as a starter for One. Perhaps someone, somewhere, working for either Guildford or Waverley Borough Council would have the good manners to respond to the good people of Alfold! Do you realise Cllr Follows that the parish council has been writing for months, and not just a few months asking for an honest answer to a simple question.
What is the tenure going to be for the 99 homes on Loxwood Road, and is Waverley and Surrey County Council going to allow the devious developer Thakeham Homes to toss the 106 Agreement it made with them to provide £400,000 towards a demand-led bus service into the gutter? The very same service that Cranleigh has benefitted from this week. A town which is well-served by buses! We understand that CEO Tom Horwood has now received a yet another letter of complaint from villagers in Alfold. Will he respond? Doubt it, apart from a holding letter. Perhaps too busy working on Guildford’s problems to deal with the village your councillors dubbed, “poor old Alfold?’
Why the secrecy? If a developer gets consent at appeal for 80% private housing and 30% affordable shouldn’t this be agreed by someone to change it to all affordable? Particularly in a village with no school and poor infrastructure.
Don’t parish councils matter any more? Alfold deserves an honest answer. No doubt you will remain silent on this one just like the MP, the Portfolio Holder for Planning the sitting councillor for Alfold, and the Chief Executive – eh?
Alternatively we have two individuals normally absolutely opposed to each other trying to keep a sinking ship afloat. Busy attempting to stop the only person that tells “We are sinking!” quiet.
Hyman can see. Everyone can see. This is a catastrophic mess and there is no pleasant. end.
MeaninglessMud
The pot calling the kettle black! Is not Waverley Web built on a foundation of a few people who had their cages rattled by the Council? Some planning permissions denied, an out of touch architect and Councillor maybe?