Perth and Kinross Council - bullying employese

The Courier reports on bullying claims from upper management at Perth and Kinross Council to employees.

OUR SAY: Business Perthshire are finally cracking the underhanded nature of doing business in Perthshire. The council rule Perthshire in a vice like grip. Fall in line or lose your job! With little or no choice of work in the area our council is the largest employee and abuses the right to be so. This is serious for an area that desperately needs to expand its economy and encourage new talent. People will simply not want to visit or work in the Perthshire area if these practices continue. Once again from our experience we can only conclude that business in Perthshire is quite simply governed by threats and fear of intimidation from a self appointed few that show very little foresight or intelligence to plan a long term future for anyone but themselves.

Social work chiefs facing ‘bully’ claims
By Eric Nicolson

ACCUSATIONS OF bullying, harassment and intimidation have been levelled at senior management of Perth and Kinross Council.

In an anonymous letter to The Courier, a group of social work officials with the local authority have claimed that highly-paid members of that department have aggressively intimidated experienced employees to such an extent that they have decided to leave the service, bringing about a “meltdown in middle management.”

On top of the staff exodus, services being provided to children and other vulnerable people in the community in Perth and Kinross are being affected as a result, it has been suggested.

The deterioration of performance and of staff morale has been attributed to one senior manager in particular.

The management style of Mr X has resulted in “a significant number of experienced, effective and popular managers” leaving their jobs over a short period of time.

It is claimed “some have gone to other agencies, some have taken early retirement or resigned with no job to go to and many others have expressed their desire to leave.”

The letter adds, “We are aware that all these managers were settled and committed to working with Perth and Kinross Council.

“They have left because they have been subject to bullying, harassment and intimidation from Mr X.

“His management style is at times aggressive, manipulative and hostile to good management relations. We have witnessed him undermine managers to the point where their ability and confidence is so diminished that they become dysfunctional and choose to leave.

“We believe this is a crass waste of public funds and talent. Services to children are experiencing difficult times and need good leadership, not fear.”

The disaffected group added, “The net result of Mr X’s actions is that the anxiety and lack of confidence experienced by management is permeating down through the workforce. This is affecting practice.

“Staff are scared or reluctant to make management aware of situations because of the expected levels of aggression.

“The management culture is such that any complaints made by the public lead to the social worker’s decision being overturned in order to avoid publicity.”

There are also worries that Mr X has close ties with the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA), meaning that “we do not have confidence that the SWIA can be impartial because of these ties”.

The letter concluded, “Our only aim is to ensure that modern and stable management of our services can be established within this council in order that we can provide a professional service without fear to the vulnerable people in our communities.

“We need managers who are competent and inspirational to support us in what is a difficult task. With the current level of management inexperience and anxiety within the service, we are concerned that errors in practice could occur which may adversely affect our clients.

“We have remained anonymous as we are clearly worried what effect this letter will have on our careers due to the influence held by the managers in question.”

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson insisted that the group need have had no such fear about repercussions of whistleblowing.

Responding to the claims, he commented, “Perth and Kinross Council is disappointed that anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations have been taken to the media.

“The council has a robust whistleblower procedure which allows staff concerns to be addressed without any threat to them.

“We also have policies in place to deal with any alleged bullying or harassment in the workplace which any staff member can follow.

“Social work services are continually working to ensure the highest possible standards of care, and as a result improvements are constantly being made.”

The group have written to the Scottish Executive, looking for an independent investigation, but a spokesperson last night insisted that “it is not for the Executive to comment on specifics of the situation”.

She did stress, however, that they refute any suggestion that the SWIA or its inspectors are anything but “entirely independent”.