Some council staff in Newcastle have warned that morale is at “rock bottom” and accused decision-makers of putting up a “wall of secrecy”.
Leaked responses to a Newcastle City Council employee survey also brand the local authority a “sinking ship” and raise concerns about the number of senior figures who have exited over recent months. The comments, obtained by ChronicleLive, were made as part of a Local Government Association (LGA) review of the council’s performance, which has been requested by the civic centre’s new leadership.
However, other respondents offered high praise for workers “going over and above what is expected to deliver services” and said the council is generally a “supportive and caring employer”. The LGA ‘peer challenge’ was launched after a period of major upheaval at the council, which has experienced a change of chief executive and the departure of a number of senior directors this year – as well as a switch at the top of the Labour-run political administration, with Nick Kemp taking charge after long-serving leader Nick Forbes was deselected.
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A number of anonymous comments from the online staff survey seen by the Chronicle air fears about the loss of experienced heads, with one person remarking that the new leadership is “quite inexperienced and it takes a long time for them to make any decisions”.
Another employee calls the council a “sinking ship” and claimed there was “no acknowledgement about the huge emotional toll the pandemic has left on individuals and those they work with”. They added: “Staff morale is rock bottom and staff retention is a huge problem.”
Other staff criticised “outdated” systems and technology, said colleagues were overworked, and that “decision making at a senior level often appears to be behind a wall of secrecy”. Another critic said: “My opinion is that we are suffering from a significant lack of communication as to the changes we are facing as an organisation both in policy and operationally, and how we propose to retain talent and replace lost experience.”
But positive comments regularly cited the “committed” council workforce. One person wrote: “The council's strengths are the passion and quality of the workforce. We have a strong senior leadership team, who take financial management seriously.
"We have recently seen a change of leader, cabinet, chief executive and senior directors. All of this has been completed without incident and the ship has remained on an even keel."
There was also praise for improved communication with city residents and staff via social media and for the council having a “clear set of values at the heart of the organisation, driving what we do”. The council said the LGA's findings would be used to form an action plan for improvement.
A spokesperson confirmed: “Newcastle City Council’s new leadership team invited the Local Government Association (LGA) to undertake a Peer Challenge to help us understand how we are performing across a range of areas including our leadership of place, financial performance, culture and governance. During the visit, members of the peer team are meeting with a cross-section of people, including councillors, colleagues at all levels of the organisation, and partner organisations.
“Peer challenges are an important tool to enable local authorities to reflect and improve. An independent report will be published following the challenge with recommendations for improvements and reflections on where we’re doing well. We will use the findings of the challenge to form an action plan which will be published and invite the LGA back in six months to reflect on progress.”
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