Nick Walkley and One Barnet - The five key questions for Barnet taxpayers

As the dust settles on Barnet, following the shock news of Nick Walkleys resignation yesterday, there are five questions which need to be answered.

1. Did he jump or was he pushed?

2. Is there any way he'd be going if the One Barnet project wasn't in deep trouble?

3. As he is going to a very staunch Labour Council, which is highly unlikely to take the One Barnet outsourcing path, has he realised the model is fatally flawed?

4. Given the chaos at Barnet Council during his reign, what on earth pursuaded Haringey to employ him?

5. Can Barnet Council possibly continue with One Barnet with no effective CEO in Place?

Barnet are about to embark on a One Billion Pound Gamble with our money. It is like playing blackjack in a casino and leaving your cash with the barmaid to play your hand, whilst you get drunk at the bar.

The Barnet Eye calls for an immediate suspension of the program and a full audit. We hope that the Leader of Barnet Council, Richard Cornelius is listening

One Barnet program lies in tatters as Nick Walkley leaves Barnet Council

Today official sources at Barnet Council have confirmed that the CEO, Mr Nick Walkley is leaving Barnet council for a job at Harringey Council. As Mr Walkley is on £200,000 per year at present it is most unlikely that he has left because he couldn't make ends meet at Barnet. Mr Walkley has been the driving force behind the One Barnet outsourcing program. This porject has been reportedly been in deep trouble. Councillors and council officials have, for several months, been giving conflicting briefings both on and off the record. All of these have shown that the project was in serious trouble.

Barnet Council now has a massive crisis at the top. The CEO is going at the vital stage in the project life cycle. The deputy CEO is a part time consultant. In short, Barnet now has a serious power vacuum. This at a time when contract negotiations are at their most delicate stage. Even more worrying, many middle managers have either been made redundant or have jobs under threat. The organisation has been softened up for outsourcing and now the rug has been pulled from under it.

It is clear that Barnet must immediately suspend all work on One Barnet, until such time as the issue of the power vacuum has been resolved. Would Walkley have wlkley'ed away from such a prestigious project if he thought it would work? This blog has known for some time that Mr Walkley was looking for another role.  We wish him and the people of Haringey well and hope he  has learned some lessons from his time in Barnet.

Here is a copy of the email Nick Walkley sent to all staff today at 5pm
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From:Adams, Nikki On Behalf Of Walkley, Nick
Sent: 04 October 2012 17:20
To: AllStaff
Subject: Message from the Chief Executive

I am writing to let you all know that earlier today I was offered the role of Chief Executive with Haringey Council and that I have accepted the post.

This is obviously a hugely challenging role and one I felt unable to turn down. There is still a formal appointment process to be completed but I feel it is important at that I inform you all personally.

I will send out details of transition arrangements, which are likely to take some months, as soon as I am able.

Nick

Nick Walkley
Chief Executive
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park , Oakleigh Road South , London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 7001
Barnet Online: www.barnet.gov.uk

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Barnet Council Special - A free lesson in public relations

A very successful PR exercise, as demonstrated by the Barnet Alliance of Public Services yesterday

One of the things I do as part of my business is to give musicians advice on public relations. There is an old adage that all publicity is good publicity. Whilst to a certain extent this is true for musicians (unless you are Gary Glitter and you are exposed as a paedophile), it is most certainly not true for large organisations such as Barnet Council.

What amazes me is that Barnet Council never seem to learn the most basic lessons of PR. Let me give you a simple example. Yesterday various groups opposed to the policies of Barnet Council held a march through the Borough, culminating in a rally in Victoria Park, North Finchley. Some bright spark at the Council decided that banning childrens face painting, music and cup cakes from the finale would be a clever trick. They doubtless hoped that it would so demoralise the people marching that they would give up and have a lie in.

Lets think this through logically. A bunch of people are really annoyed at the policies of the council which seem to them to not take account of the views of the people of Barnet. Consultations have been ignored, people have been lied to and attempts to engage in discussion have been spurned. So how will these people feel when the council chooses to behave in a petty minded manner? Will they decide to stay in bed or will they be even more motivated to show up for the protest?

If the people protesting have their own very efficient PR machine, in the form of bloggers, with excellent press contacts, what are they likely to do at such unreasonable behaviour? Will they say "The council are being unreasonable, we'd better be very quiet" or will they ring everyone in their press contacts file and say there is yet another story?

I wonder who handles Barnet Council PR. When they have these meetings, don't they ever say "Well, if we do that, what will the other lot do and how will we look?". It seems not. The first rule of PR is that you don't do things which make you look pathetic. Sadly no one seems to have read "PR for dummies" at Barnet Council.

Given that the CEO is on £200,000 a year, maybe he could nip down to the library (not Friern Barnet because he's shut it) and read up on the principles of building a successful brand image. But then again, I don't think Nick Walkley really believes in homework, do you?