Dragon Says: Cultural Change at GBC – Still ‘Work in Progress’

Published on: 22 Jul, 2024
Updated on: 25 Jul, 2024

We all know that politicians are too often dishonest.

It is not that most of them are on the take – thankfully that’s unusual. It is more often that if candour might put the progress of a favoured policy or project at risk, damage their party or cause embarrassment, they prefer to keep things under wraps.

This behaviour is so commonplace that it’s expected. There is even a term for it: “Realpolitik”. But that is no excuse – ethics do matter.

We should all demand better. After all, one of the seven Nolan Principles of Public Life states: “Honesty – Holders of public office should be truthful”.

And we should hope for, if not expect, our governments at all levels to be whiter than white. After all, they set and enforce the rules so the least they can do is obey them.

The council report released following a Freedom of Information request.

This week through diligent scrutiny by a resident who made a Freedom of Information request, a document on the Ash road bridge was released that demonstrated the council was being less than straightforward with a government agency from which it was seeking substantial extra funding for an infrastructure project.

See: GBC Denies Misleading Government Agency Over Ash Road Bridge Funding

The bridge itself has a chequered history. So as not to frighten the horses, initially it was claimed in 2018/19, under the then Conservative administration, that it was required to alleviate motorists’ waiting time at the level crossing and was nothing to do with facilitating further housing development in Ash. Gradually that pretence has dropped and it is now admitted that is the main purpose of the bridge.

Normally road projects are the responsibility of the county council but so desperate were GBC to have the bridge built that, unusually, it took on the funding responsibility. With escalating costs of construction, in 2023 more funding was seen to be required.

Compensatory section 106 contributions from developers for the bridge were expected but these could only be used for the purpose specified, ie the bridge. A further grant was also sought from Homes England but under their agreement with GBC they expected section 106 monies to be used for further housing developments, not what the council intended to use the money for.

Extract from our story: GBC Denies Misleading Government Agency Over Ash Road Bridge Funding quoting the GBC report.

A risk was clearly identified by council officers that if the agency, Homes England, knew the truth they might withdraw their funding leaving the council in an even deeper financial hole than they were already in. Nonetheless, council officers recommended that the council accepted the risk and proceed.

The GBC Lib Dem/R4GV Executive appears to have been unconcerned by the lack of candour, perhaps considering that “the ends justified the means”. In secret they agreed with the recommended course of action and just hours later, on the same day (March 16, 2023), their decision was ratified by the whole council, which had access to the documents. Once again press and public were excluded from that part of the meeting.

Did all the councillors understand the lack of honesty they were approving? Who knows?

There are, of course, genuine needs for secrecy in some council decisions. Pre-contract deliberations and staffing matters are two areas that are obvious. But any reports containing such content should be limited to the sensitive information only. It should not be used as an excuse to classify information that would simply be embarrassing or worse, reveal dishonesty if revealed.

The council has denied misleading Homes England and one councillor told the Dragon that Homes England would not care in any case; they had loads of cash for which to find a home. Maybe that’s true, but it does not excuse dishonesty.

In May, in response to the damning Solace report, GBC’s new CEO Pedro Wrobel recognised the importance of candour and ethics. He said: “It is critical that we make everything open and transparent. We are here to do the right thing, not the easy thing.”

The Dragon Says – The Solace Report States the Obvious – Real Change is Needed Urgently

We can’t blame Mr Wrobel for what happened before his arrival and he does appear determined to change the culture at GBC. But cultural change is well known to be one of the most challenging of leadership tasks.

Unfortunately the GBC response to the revelations of the released document does not inspire confidence. Instead, we see the same reluctance to admit wrongdoing and the absence of any contrition.

Clearly, any attempt to change GBC’s culture is still “a work in progress”.

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