Anger at the council

THE callous disregard for the plight and suffering of CSE victims and their families was and is an outrage. And yes Mr Williams, some of us do care. So it is good to see that some arrests are being made at last.

However, CSE is not my only beef with Rotherham MBC. I am just as angry about the almost criminal irresponsibility with which our public officials handle our cash.

So: Rotherham MBC advertised jobs with salaries at £140,000 to £160,000+, did they? And nobody applied. Right? If so I can think of two questions immediately that need answers: a) Why did the Advertiser not report it? That was very remiss of them, and b) Simply, why? Are we really in need of a CEO while the commisioners are expected to be in place for some years to come?

On the other hand, if it did not happen quite like that, on what basis are ‘market supplements’ being added to the salaries of prospective senior officers? Even if nobody is interested at £160,000 then raising the offer to £200,000 only ensures that someone will come here for the wrong reasons.

Inflated salaries do not ensure that we get the services of exceptional individuals, but they are guaranteed to grab the attention of the greedy and grasping members of the magic circles, The Alpha types whose self belief and sense of self worth and entitlement is unshakeable regardless of any and all failings, shortcomings and errors.

I am surprised that the commisioners (some of whom have business experience) agreed to it. Business folk are normally quite shrewd when it comes to spending. Crucially they do not usually pay a penny more than they have to.

So here I make a plea to the commissioners; when you’re deciding how to spend our money: pretend it’s yours.

If a new appointment is necessary I suggest that there are three things to bear in mind here. First is that the salaries are already quite generous especially when you consider that they are not being fought over in a competitive environment skill, judgment, resourcefulness and some risk to try to outperform rivals and stay afloat. Second, that the right candidate will be attracted to Rotherham without the market supplement' because he or she will see the challenges as an almost unique opportunity to learn and to build on their reputations. And three?

Anybody who thinks that Rotherham is not the place to bring their family but can be persuaded, nevertheless, by the extra money is not the right person for us, thank you very much.

I am grateful to Alice Rodgers and especially for her perspicacity (Fat Cat Culture Continues, Letters, June 12) . The contrast she draws between the ‘market supplement’ for a senior council officer and the woeful offer by Thomas Rotherham College for a progress tutor highlights the contempt with which we are being treated and which I have referred to more than once in the past.

It is a fine example of double standards at work. How on earth is somebody worth only £13,500 (give or take) supposed to help our brightest scholars into university? The self serving hypocrisy beggars belief. Incidentally after tax and national insurance there won’t be a great deal of difference between the disposable income of a progress tutor and the ‘allowance’ of a Rotherham MBC councillor.

So Alice Rodgers and Terry Canadine (also Letters June 12) are right to challenge the spendthrifts at Rotherham MBC. I hope to see more doing so. My fear is that nationally the greed of the establishment is now becoming so blatant, so utterly shameless in fact and so costly to the rest of us and our children and our children’s children that there will be such a groundswell of hostility towards them that we may well eventually witness the re-emergence of militant radicalism. Though perhaps not here in sleepy old Rotherham.

Remember the councillors we have just re-elected and all the extra costs they saddled us with. The costs of the Jay and Casey Reports. The election of a replacement PCC. Termination of employment settlements of Kimber and Thacker. The imposition of commissioners. The PR guru and on and on and on. I am now going to shut myself in a darkened room for a while and meditate deeply on whether I have the nerve to withhold payment of my community charge in protest against its wanton misuse.

And another thing...we can’t afford to repair our roads, we can’t find the proper resources to support CSE victims and we can’t even keep open the travel information centre at Rotherham Interchange. So how is it the we can find tens of thousands of extra pounds for people already not short of a bob or two?

Vive la revolution!

Richard Beeley, Maltby