No comment
This story in the Staffordshire and South Cheshire newspaper The Sentinel caught my eye.
According to the piece, the Stoke-on-Trent City Council has drafted in a new £80,000-a-year head of procurement to overhaul the “struggling department”.
The council’s calamitous list of purchasing errors is enough to make any buyer shudder. Mistakes allegedly include untendered contracts and departmental running costs of £314,000 – 2,600 per cent over budget.
So you would think the new man Laurence O’Neill would want to herald his arrival with some tough words and promises of change? Well, I certainly did. But as I read on, I was to be disappointed.
“Mr O’Neill declined to speak to The Sentinel about his plans for the procurement department,” the story says.
Although this is unsatisfying, sadly it is not surprising. During my two years at SM I have consistently encountered this response from new starters.
Many have good reasons for not talking to us hacks just after taking on a high-profile role, while for some it’s simply a question of lacking confidence. I won’t second guess if O’Neill is in this latter group, but the fact that Stoke-on-Trent City Council leader Ross Irving is quoted instead speaks volumes.
My view is that if you’re going to employ someone to sort out major issues, give them the confidence to speak publically about their plans. It seems this confidence wasn’t placed in O’Neill and no detailed response to the problems is set out.
As a consequence, procurement looks like the silent, faltering party with a gagged new leader.
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I say good on O’Neill. Maybe he wants to understand the issues and start putting in place some actions before he makes bold statements. There is nothing worse than people new to a role mouthing off about what a mess they have inherited and how they are going to save their particular world. Its a cheap shot to criticize what came before.Its much more difficult to fix it!
I totally agree with Meryl. I’ve recently started as Head of Commerce at the National Audit Office. I don’t lack confidence in my ability to make a positive difference, but I wouldn’t go external with my plans until I was not only ready to develop them but had made good progress with their implementation. By the way I applied for the Stoke job last autumn and I wish Lawrence well in it.
Roy & Meryl are correct in what they say, but maybe if Mr O’Neil had made the point himself he would have satisfied some that he was of firm stuff and perhaps also reassured the locals of Stoke that the positioned was filled by a thinker who indeed, will not commit until he has something concrete to say. On a personal note, I wish anyone who takes on a senior public sector role all the very best. Good luck Laurence.
Jake, maybe he will speak to SM. Give him a call. Steve