Sent to Congleton Chronicle, 5th January 2024
Dear Sir/Ma’am,
Cllr Rachel Bailey submitted a Notice of Motion at the December meeting of Cheshire East Council asking for an urgent Peer Review to investigate its in year overspend of £18.7million. Instead of simply saying,” yes, grand idea,” Cllr Sam Corcoran again took this opportunity to inform us how he repaired the culture of the Council in just 8 months. Having taken over the administration of Council in May 2019 he claims in those few months between May 2019 and January 2020 to have resolved the problems highlighted in the report from January 2018.
I’ve said very little on this matter because it’s my belief the officers might prefer to look forward as they continue the journey of the Brighter Futures program which began for me, in 2018 when I was appointed Chair of the Members Brighter Futures Forum. Unlike Cllr Corcoran, I’m not looking for a headline, but I am tired of being airbrushed from my part in the transformation of the culture and the implementation of the Brighter Futures Program.
I might feel less irked if it weren’t for the fact that I put many heart felt hours into engendering trust and belief that the commitment to change was both genuine and forthcoming. And I wasn’t alone. Many hours of Members and officer time went into the creation, implementation and development of the program. Cllr Corcoran delivers his narrative and maybe even believes it but to quote her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11, “recollections may vary”.
Cllr Liz Wardlaw, Odd Rode Ward
