Sandwell’s missing officers

BACKGROUND

The Friends of Sheepwash were one of a number of groups in Sandwell who were basically forced to sign up to an agreement with the council known as “The partnership agreement.”

We were told, and in writing that the council would hold quarterly meetings where the officers in parks would be available to answer questions and give briefings on matters including applying for funding.

“4. Working with Friends Groups a) Sandwell Council will provide senior officers for a quarterly meeting with all recognised Friends Groups (those with a signed Partnership Agreement), split by North and South of Sandwell. b) The Quarterly meeting with friends will have an agenda to include the following regular items: i. Best Practice Sharing and Progress (Friends Groups Updates) ii. Update on Green Spaces Strategy progress (Council Updates) iii. Fundraising Update for Friends Groups and information sharing on grants and funding opportunities available. iv. Key Issues for Friends Groups (to be raised in advance of the meeting). v. Guest speakers to support the training and development of Friends Groups.”

The last meeting took place in March 2024 after being hastily cancelled and then re-arranged and since that time we have received no minutes of that meeting or subsequent invites to any further meetings.

We had a meeting with park officers- John Satchwell and Amy Robinson who have also failed to give us any updates on a meeting we had with them in April. We have emailed Ben Percival who took over from Matthew Huggins on an interim basis- we were also never told officially that he actually had left, and yet he has failed to even respond to those emails which is a complete lack of professional courtesy. Councillor Gill tells us that he had spoken to Ben Percival about this, and yet weeks on, still nothing from this interim officer.

Further more, we are wondering what exactly parks officers have been doing for the last 10 months, and do not feel they have done anything with our site, have failed to communicate any matters and have failed to respond to emails.

We can evidence all of the above and this matter reflects very badly on the council and its failure to work with friends groups or support them.

We will no longer honour the agreement we signed up to and not be bound by it due to the council breaking the agreement. Following a complaint to the council, this was received, and we will comment as appropriate in blue.

We have responded to your case with reference number CU668692148.

We knowledge and apologise that there hasn’t been a quarterly meeting held since March earlier this year.

Following Mr Huggins departure, we entered into a period of change while our service was reassigned under an alternative Assistant Director. A number of additional complications lead us to focus attention on other areas of our service.

So what were these “additional complications” and what were the “other areas of our service” as it appears to suggest a very amateur set up of what should be a professional organisation, which as we know is far from that. It is far from that as volunteers appear to be required to pick up litter and do other things that are someone’s actual job. Where in the private sector do companies advertise for people to do litter picks? Do Royal Mail ask the public to do a few streets for their postman? Do train companies ask, “can you wave a flag for us or blow a whistle on a platform because our staff are on strike again? Why is SMBC and Serco relying on the third sector to do the jobs it is paying employees to do? 

The problem with this response is that it appears to blame the guy who has left, just as the guy who left blamed the guy who left before him. With that in mind, we would point out that it is Sandwell Labour Council who hire and can fire staff, and it is on their watch when things go tits up, as they appear to have here. 

During this time we have been undertaking a review of some of the services that we offer whilst considering whether our current processes were the most appropriate.  We need to ensure that we are consistent with our approach to friend’s groups to guarantee equality and transparency.

So again, a year of wasted initiatives which it now admits were a waste of time, and yet we get NO TRANSPARENCY from this vaguely worded excuse. 

We fully intend to continue working in close partnership with our existing friend’s group but acknowledge that the current agreement needs to be re-visited.

Wow! So why would any group sign up again to any agreement when the council has shown its failure to honour that agreement which it set up? 

We propose to carry out a consultation with our friend’s groups in the New Year to establish the best approach for our continued work together, allowing us to continue to focus on our priorities whilst incorporating the support for the valuable contributions made by our volunteers.

We as a team have been incredibly busy delivering £4 Million worth of improvements to our Green Spaces this year, which will continue into 2025.

Bullshit. Too busy to even answer relevant emails , or still skiving working from home for no valid reason because your pathetic unions demand it in the public sector? 

We appreciate that it has been frustrating during this transition, however we seek to resolve these outstanding issues and look forward to a more positive working relationship in the new year.

Well, all to be said on that is, it would appear to be better if the interim hiring of officers ceased and appointment of new ones from a fresh canvas took place. How can someone who cannot even be bothered to answer emails and be reminded by a councillor and still not respond after that be credible in the job?