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Reporting local life since 1854 37pMonday, September 26, 2011
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SKIPPER: ‘ONE OF OUR BEST’‘Come cleanover pool deal’A LOCAL authority facedrenewed pressure today toreveal the details of a secretsettlement with businessmanMo Chaudry following aswimming pool dispute.
The Waterworldentrepreneur reached theagreement with cash-strappedStoke-on-Trent City Councillast week after dropping histhreat of legal action againstthem.
He had claimed officersbroke a deal to closeDimensions splash pool andpay him around £100,000-a-year to offer cut-price entry atWat e r wo rl d .
Both sides have so farrefused to disclose the detailsof the settlement.
Councillor Dave Conway,leader of the opposition CityIndependents group, said: “Ic a n’t see how they can getaway with this because theinformation is in the publicinterest. There are a lot ofpeople who want to know thed e t a i l s. ”
‘RED TAPE’BILL TOHIT £600k
Consultants expose inefficiencies
Welcome tothe slowlane... PAGE 5
BY ALEX [email protected]
A DAMNING report todayreveals the extent to whichStoke-on-Trent City Council hasbecome engulfed by red tape.
Consultants drafted in to helpthe local authority cut itsbudget will be paid up to£200,000 more to find extra sav-i n g s.
The decision to extend Van-guard Consulting’s work at theauthority could take the firm’stotal bill to more than £604,000.
A review of the savings iden-tified by Vanguard condemnsinef ficiencies in a number of theservices reviewed – i n cl u d i n gadult social care and highways.
Consultants found that:■ Arranging for dropped kerbsto be installed took an average oftwo years, and sometimes up to1,148 days – more than threeye a r s ;■ Making a record of onedefect on one of the city’sroads involved 14 separatepieces of paperwork and 16inputs on the computersystem;■ A request for work onhighways took an average of34 days to file, and some-times up to 75 days;
■ It was taking up to 93 days forcustomers to receive benefitsafter claiming, leaving themunsure about whether benefitswere being paid and resulting insome being targeted by debt col-lectors;■ Every repair carried out at acouncil property was followedup with a 50p posted letter –resulting in 1,350 letters beingsent out every week at a totalcost of £35,100 a year;■ Maintenance workers wereoften sent out to repair roaddefects that had already beenre paired;■ Carers and disabled peoplecontacting Stoke-on-Call to dis-cuss adaptations to their homeswere left waiting for an hourbefore being passed on toanother “team” who asked thesame questions;■ It can take more than a year tofit stairlifts, and the £65 equip-ment costs the council £223 to
p ro c e s s.The council said Van-
guard has identified sav-ings of £600,000 so far,resulting in a net savingof £200,000.
As well as identifyinginefficiencies, part of
Va n g u a rd ’s workinvolves train-
ing staff to learn its methods.The Buckingham firm wasbrought in last year with a viewto being used for up to threeyears at a total cost of up to £4million.
Councillor Paul Shotton, cab-inet member for transforma-tion, pictured, said: “These aresavings that will still be thereyear on year on year.
“We are challenging officersto make sure we see savings anda real return on what we’respending. There are processesthat should be completed in fiveor six steps that take 20 steps.
“It’s important to emphasisethat the consultants train ourpeople to think differently sothere will come a time whenthey are not needed anymore.
“Savings will eventually be inthe millions.”
The council is trying to imple-ment budget cuts of £36 millionthis year, and talks will soonbegin on how about £25 millionmore can be cut in 2012/13.
The cabinet is due to approveplans to extend Vanguard’sintervention on Thursday.
COMMENT: Page 10
What do you think? Email us [email protected]
Picture: Alex Severn
We’re sorry!THE Sentinel hasapologised to readers whowere confused whenS at u rd ay ’s Week endSentinel was publishedwith two different priceson its front cover.Mike Sassi, the Editor-in-Chief of The Sentinel, said:“I‘d like to think we don’toften make mistakes.However, it seems that onthis occasion we’ve madea howler – and I have tohold up my hands andapologise. We’re verysorry for the troublewe ’ve caused our loyalc u s t o m e r s. ”Last Saturday’s coverprice mistake has beenblamed on a productionerror. The new Saturdayedition of The Sentinel,which is called Week endSentinel and includes theNew Green ‘Un, The WayWe Were and the SentinelMa gazine, was launchedearlier this month. Itscover price is 60p.
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