CHIEF EXECUTIVE SLAMS SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL'S PERFORMANCE

8.16.12pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 26th Jul 2009

County Hall, Kingston Upon Thames

Surrey County Council's Chief Executive has evaluated the Council as being arrogant, bureaucratic, lacking in vision, direction and strategy, obsessed with itself, inefficient, unsophisticated, with a culture of blame and bullying, a lack of leadership and in denial about its shortcomings. He continues that this has created an environment where there is an inability in the organisation to learn even though everyone could see what was wrong but no-one felt able, empowered, or safe enough to say so. The new political Leader of the Council and of the Tory majority admitted that there are problems.

This is the assessment of the outgoing and very experienced local authority chief executive who was brought in to temporarily manage Surrey County Council between the departure of the previous chief executive and the arrival of the new permanent appointment.

Lib Dem opposition leader, Cllr Hazel Watson, said that the outgoing Chief Executive's damning report was accurate. She added that it is obvious that Surrey's council taxpayers' money is being wasted and the Tory administration has forgotten that it is there to provide services for residents.