A Wirral councillor has apologised for comments about council staff that were branded “absolutely appalling”.
Councillor Andrew Gardner, who represents Hoylake and Meols for the Conservatives made the comments during a tense Wirral Council budget meeting.
He said: “This council exists for its own self perpetuation. £127m spent on itself. That’s where the money is, that’s where the waste is. That’s where it needs to be looked at as to what we get for those 3,300 staff we employ doing what?"
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Cllr Gardner added: “Because I tell you, when I knock on my door, all I get is “this hasn’t been done, that hasn’t been done, I wrote this email, I got no response” time and time again.”
He criticised what he called the “same old pantomime” at the meeting and argued a Conservative-led council would address issues of “waste” in the council pointing to things like the controversial West Kirby sea wall.
He was criticised by Cllr Jean Robinson, deputy leader of the council, who said: “I think that is absolutely appalling. You’ve got people right up and down across this organisation that work very hard. You made a statement against all the staff at this local authority and that’s people who work very hard and you’ve personalised it.”
Cllr Robinson thanked staff “who try the best they can on the means they’re given” and after the meeting, council leader Janette Williamson sent an email telling staff “you are the backbone of the council and deliver day after day for our communities.”
Cllr Williamson told the LDRS: “They are doing so much for so much less. They work night and day and serve their communities. They brought us through covid and they have to listen to their remarks as if they are just disposable.”
Cllr Williamson said the remarks had demoralised staff in the council, including those on frontline services.
David Jones, Branch Secretary for Wirral Unison, said: “Cllr Gardner has demonstrated incredible disrespect to a staff group that every year have to go through this process and may worry about their futures and what their role in the organisation will be, whilst continuing to provide a high level of service in challenging conditions. We have many members expressing disquiet to us. These comments are simply unacceptable even in the cut and thrust of political debate.”
Mr Jones added: “Such comments cause distress and undermine the work our members undertake and will continue to undertake for the benefit of the people of Wirral.”
Cllr Andrew Gardner later apologised for the comments, adding: “In the heat of the debate, my words were a little clumsy. What I was trying to say was about the council at a corporate level. I wasn’t criticising officers for their work level.”
He said the council worried more about what the Liverpool City Region and the government thought than residents, adding: “We cannot keep putting up council tax and not look at ourselves.”
Cllr Jenny Johnson was also criticised for comments she made at a meeting on February 15 over a policy in the budget to do with voluntary redundancies. She said: “Unfortunately when we do these kinds of interventions we lose the experienced and the best people.”
She added: “Voluntary severance, in my vast experience, is not the best way to go about this. If we were a private company, we would be considering compulsory redundancies as part of this definitively. There’s no question about this.
“How can we possibly focus on trying to reduce costs of services when we are not looking at the potential for compulsory redundancies?”
Mr Jones, of Unison, said: "These comments fail to understand and appreciate the skill and dedication of our members and the important safeguard having a policy that seeks to prevent compulsory redundancies has on staff morale."
Cllr Johnson in response said: “Wirral Council is cutting services that we depend on. How then can the council justify spending £127 million on itself?”
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