Neil Wilby Media

This is far from the first Neil Wilby Media article that features criticism of the error-riddled website run by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council. A totem to a public authority’s laziness, ineptitude and a seriously concerning ethical and professional deficit that includes breaking the law, on average, every working day (read how here).

It just cannot be that the author of this article, Neil Wilby, is the only one who experiences issues almost every time he uses the slow-to-load Council website. Which, of course, is quite often (read more here).

The latest being a failure to locate Codes of Conduct for either elected Members (councillors to most people) and senior paid officers. The out-turn from that particular search can be found at this weblink.

Ordinarily, it is a matter that would be taken up with a public authority’s press office and the extant issue resolved quickly and amicably. But that is not how it works in Oldham; their press office, in line with the Council Leader’s media strategy (read here), is either very slow to respond or simply does not bother to reply.

A key limb to the aforementioned strategy being to marginalise those asking awkward (or embarrassing) questions. ‘Dissing’ by the Oldham Council press office, amongst the very worst in the country in Neil Wilby’s extensive experience, is just one of those tactics – and accounts, significantly, for the routinely trashed reputation of their employer.

But, as the two most senior paid officers charged with the running of the press office do not live in the Borough, why should they care if a national broadcaster labels the Council, ‘Odious Oldham’? Or they are widely known as a ‘bandit’ or ‘cover-up’ council. Continuing to receive the near £250,000 they take, between them, from taxpayers is, very likely, the extent of their concern.

So, does a journalist waste his own time and public resources making a freedom of information request so that those Codes fall into the public domain or persuade a Civic Centre source to leak them?

That is a matter requiring some reflection given that the same journalist is aware of at least two wide-ranging internal email searches by Oldham Council connected to him. In the meantime, it remains as the latest running sore in a plague that now covers almost their entire corporate body.

One other interesting, but unsurprising, discovery whilst searching for those Codes of Conduct was the fact that this same shambolic council, hooked on remote working (read more here), is having difficulty answering its telephones.

Which, added to the embedded culture of not answering emails, just brings further forward the urgent need for change of Council Leader and her failed Labour Party administration.

UPDATE: A Civic Centre source has, in fact, provided the gateway to the two subject Codes of Conduct at this weblink. Which may be out of date by now, but better than nothing.

Two days after publication, Oldham Council press office has not exercised their right of reply to this article. Unsurprising, given that the assertions made within it are unarguable. More crucially, they chose not to provide the Codes of Conduct, a matter entirely for them, of course.

Follow Neil Wilby on Twitter (here) and Neil Wilby Media on Facebook (here) for signposts to any updates.

Page last updated: Wednesday 22nd November, 2023 at 08h45

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