Wirral Council counts the ‘cost of failure’ outlined in Klonowski report

Jan 18 2012 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

WIRRAL Council has been left counting “the cost of failure” after a damning report into how it dealt with a whistleblower who was trying to protect vulnerable people.

More than £4m has been lost after the authority failed to listen to its former employee Martin Morton, who was then bullied and forced out of his job.

He had raised concerns that a “special charging policy” was in place which discriminated against a group of people with physical and mental disabilities placed by the council in care at homes provided by external organisations, resulting in them being overcharged.

The council has since agreed to repay around £241,000 but Mr Morton insists the true figure is more than double that.

A report by outside consultant Anna Klonowski into Mr Morton’s allegations not only backed up his claims about financial abuse of vulnerable people and other serious concerns, but also revealed massive failures in how the council was run and managed.

Tory group leader Jeff Green, who commissioned the report when his party was in power last year, said he believed the truth of what had happened would have remained hidden had he not demanded a full investigation.

He said: “This is the cost of secrecy, the cost of failure.”

The council has lost out on millions of pounds due to incorrect charges, as well as having to repay money unfairly taken from some of those in its care and the expense of several detailed investigations. That includes:

The money overcharged, estimated at £500,000.

Fees of £3.3m which Wirral Council’s social services lost out on because their charging policy was wrong.

£250,000 for the Anna Klonowski report.

£50,000 for the Martin Smith report, which upheld many of Mr Morton’s allegations of bullying.

£45,000 payment to Mr Morton to get him out of his council job.

£15,000 for an Audit Commission report which first revealed the financial abuse.

Other costs include tens of thousands of pounds spent while two senior social services officers were suspended on full pay for nine months, plus the cost of their replacements.

The Tories also criticised council leadership for a series of “roadshows” to speak to staff about the implications of the Klonowski report.

Labour council leader Steve Foulkes has outlined an action plan to deal with the issues raised.

Cllr Anne McArdle, who recently took on the post of cabinet member for social care, apologised and said: “Clearly there are serious issues and allegations mentioned in this report that go well beyond financial irregularities.”

But Cllr Green accused the council leadership of using “the bankers defence”, adding: “No one is taking responsibility – they are saying they made a mistake but ‘let’s carry on and put it right’.”