Regarding ESCC Response To Norman Baker FOI Request About Chield Executive Cheryl Miller Retirement

East Sussex County Council really need to answer some questions - we heard in December 2009 that the Chief Executive Cheryl Miller intended to resign and now we find out that in fact she may have been 'sacked'; yet Mrs Miller has been given an additional 'ex-gratia' contribution to her pension pot of £197,000. Is this yet another 'Reward for Failure'?

Why has East Sussex County Council done their best to avoid disclosing material information about the retirement of Cheryl Miller?

The response by ESCC was - County Council Chief Exec Gets EXTRA £197,000 pension pay-off

'.. The County Council faces considerable challenges over the next few years, when it will be necessary to deliver financial savings of nearly £60m. Against that background, it was agreed that, in the interests of business efficiency, there should be a change of managerial leadership, to ensure the Council is in the best possible position to address the challenges ahead ..'

'.. In accordance with County Council policies, applying to all employees, Cheryl Miller was awarded three additional years pension at a one-off cost of £197,000. Mrs Miller will not receive any severance payment. The pension strain (unavoidably arising in the case of any early retirement before the age of 60 on the grounds of efficiency or redundancy) in this case is equivalent to approximately £270,000, but this is covered by the county wide contribution for pension strain that the County Council continuously makes as part of its contributions to the pension fund ..'

This now raises questions about the following two paragraphs:

'.. in the interests of business efficiency, there should be a change of managerial leadership, to ensure the Council is in the best possible position to address the challenges ahead ..'

'.. Mrs Miller will not receive any severance payment ..'

On the face of the reply by ESCC to a FOI (Freedom of Information) request by Norman Baker it would seem as though Cheryl Miller has been 'sacked' (forced retirement) from her post as ESCC Chief Executive. Has this decision by ESCC been brought about in part by the failure of Ms Miller to adequately address the land raise issues over the past 10 years?

The following questions need to be answered by ESCC:

• detailed reasons need to be provided as to why '.. there should be a change of managerial leadership ..' and in what way has Ms Miller failed in leadership

• how has Cheryl Miller failed to live up '.. the business efficiency standards required by ESCC ..' - information in detail should be provided to the public

• is the whole land raise disaster (overseen by Cheryl Miller) a contributory factor in ESCC's decision to 'retire' Ms Miller

• why has ESCC and others (Councillor Peter Jones) been less than forthright over this issue, tried to 'cover up' the position and only declared the matter after an FOI request. Is this what 'Open Government' is all about?

• why does ESCC regard itself un-accountable to the public on this matter and has done its best to hide the position

• which is it to be 'health Grounds' or 'business efficiency' because it cannot be both. If it is 'health grounds' then why mention '.. Mrs Miller will not receive any severance payment ..' or is 'Health' being used as the age old euphemism provided by all those high places when they become discredited and need to make a graceful exit

In the light of all this new information, why has Cheryl Miller been provided with a bonus (£197,000) on top of her substantial annual remuneration and sizeable existing pension pot

Further information - Nearly £200k for county council chief executive

With all these new revelations now emerging, the following refusal to answer questions by Councillor Peter Jones starts to make rather more sense - ESCC Councillor Peter Jones Refuses to Reply to Ratepayer Questions

Unfortunately the message from ESCC spin machine simply does not 'stack up' and quite frankly the people deserve to know the full facts and reasons behind the matter. Why is it that these public servants continue to take us for fools?

MORE ESCC REWARD FOR FAILURE

06 April 2010

The Chief Executive of East Sussex County Council, Cheryl Miller, already by some distance the highest earner of all council chief executives in East Sussex, is to receive a windfall pension sum worth £197,000 as part of her leaving arrangements.

In an email to Lewes MP Norman Baker, ESCC revealed:

"The County Council faces considerable challenges over the next few years, when it will be necessary to deliver financial savings of nearly £60m. Against that background, it was agreed that, in the interests of business efficiency, there should be a change of managerial leadership, to ensure the Council is in the best possible position to address the challenges ahead.

"In accordance with County Council policies, applying to all employees, Cheryl Miller was awarded three additional years pension at a one-off cost of £197,000. Mrs Miller will not receive any severance payment. The pension strain (unavoidably arising in the case of any early retirement before the age of 60 on the grounds of efficiency or redundancy) in this case is equivalent to approximately £270,000, but this is covered by the county wide contribution for pension strain that the County Council continuously makes as part of its contributions to the pension fund."

Lewes MP Norman Baker has also compiled salary details for each of the Chief Executives of the local councils in East Sussex , which show that the Chief Executive post at East Sussex County Council is paid almost double that of the district councils.

Norman Baker says:

"At a time when the public finances are so tight, it is questionable whether six-figure sums being paid to leading council officials can really be justified. The County Council in particular, by paying a huge annual salary to its Chief Executive, and agreeing to a very generous pension package, shows a cavalier disregard for those struggling to make ends meet."

Chief Executive Pay in East Sussex - Freedom of Information responses received by Norman Baker MP

Council Current Salary

• East Sussex County Council £181,098

• Wealden District Council £106,000-118,179

• Lewes District Council £103,539

• Rother District Council £95,432

• Hastings Borough Council £88,693-98,553

Norman Baker - County Council Chief Exec Gets EXTRA £197,000 pension pay-off

Additional References:

Councillor Peter Jones refuses to reply to questions about Ms Cheryl Miller

Councillor Peter Jones and Wife Jacqui Lait (MP expenses scandal)

ONCE AGAIN ESCC POLICY OF REWARD FOR FAILURE

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Now here is an interesting item - judge for yourselves whether the original email was offensive or simply asking difficult questions

Feigned outrage amongst politicians has historically always been a favoured method of avoiding answering questions and we have a classic example of these tactics displayed on this occasion.

Unfortunately it has allowed Councillor Peter Jones to avoid answering valid questions which are based on fact; furthermore the questions still stand and expect an answer

Regrettably Peter Jones reply seems to demonstrate the contempt with which those in office regard the electorate.

Surely the real question has to be about accountability and whether spurious claims of offensiveness are a valid reason for refusing to provide an adequate reply to questions from a ratepayer

Herewith the text of an email which was sent to Councillor Peter Jones, Leader of the County Council (and Chairman of the Cabinet) - under the heading of:

ESCC Chief Executive Officer - Reward for failure

Reply from Councillor Peter Jones

I find your message offensive and deserving of no further reply. Peter Jones

Original email

Sir

With reference to the new appointment for Chief Executive Officer at ESCC

I refer to the following ESCC press report

ESCC Press Release about appointment of new Chief Executive Officer

'.. In welcoming Becky to the post, we will also be saying farewell to Cheryl Miller in the coming weeks. Cheryl has done so much for the people of East Sussex, and has been a recognised leader of her profession nationally, and we are all sad to be losing such a dedicated public servant ..'

As you are no doubt aware Cheryl Miller has been in office for some 16 years and was the Chief Executive when Land Raise proposals were raised some 10 years ago. I believe you were instrumental in turning down the proposals at that time.

The question is this

Cheryl Miller and her team have had over 10 years to come up with a revised cogent proposal for waste management that does not include the concept land raise. They have been able to draw upon the experience of other bodies in the UK and Germany for guidelines but the end result has been to reiterate the same 10 year old suggestions about land raise.

Unfortunately, ESCC under Ms Miller's guidance has not really addressed the land raise issues satisfactorily and as a consequence we are now no further forward that we were 10 years ago; except there is now greater urgency.

With these facts in mind could you please explain the following:

a. Why Ms Miller is being praised

b. Are there any proposals to censure Ms Miller for her inactivity in the land raise area

c. If there are no proposals to censure Ms Miller could you please explain why not. This response should be based around the concepts of the failure by those in public office to deliver on their mandate, be well rewarded for failure and permitted to retire on a full (indexed linked) pension underwritten by the taxpayer; whom they have failed

Frankly the approach of reward for failure needs to be addressed and in your capacity as Leader of the County Council one would expect some guidelines on this front

Many thanks

Cheryl Miller Announces Retirement

Ms Miller has been at ESCC for 16 years and 11 years ago the matter of land raise was put forward, objected to and abandoned. So for all bar 5 years of her term in office she has failed to produce and alternative solution to dumping waste in the countryside

Now 11 years later, land raise has one again been suggested as a solution for waste disposal

What has Ms Millers team done in the intervening 11 years to find alternative solutions to the problems; very little it would seem!

It very much looks as though Ms Millers enduring legacy to the county of East Sussex will be land raise rubbish dumps all over the Low Weald - what a truly oustanding career finale!

PS. as a Public Servant are we permitted to know what her (indexed linked?) pension will be on retirement? after all it must be commensurate with an annual salary of circa £164,000 pa

We are informed that ESCC Chief Executive Cheryl Miller has made the following statement:

"Councillors will be disqualified from voting if they have made it clear beforehand that they are totally against something and nothing will persuade them to change their view. Councillors must be seen to keep an open mind and , if they are to retain their right to vote , they must consider all views carefully"

 No mention about disqualification if they have already made up their mind to support something '.. and nothing will persuade them to change their view ..'

This looks a very one sided approach to the extent that if you support Ms Miller's point of view then everything is acceptable; but disagree and a vote is not allowed!