Cat and mouse

Apologies – in my previous post, I got a little over-excited and hopeful about my request for the whistle-blowing to be reconsidered. How foolish of me…

On 15.12.22, after months of silence, I had been graced with a response from the council’s HR department. What ensued was a slapstick scurry of e-mails between them and me. With a touch of Kafka thrown in for good measure.

_________

Dear Alex

I am writing with reference to your email of 7^th December 2022.  I have to confirm that as at today, the Local Authority have not had any contact or a request from the DfE to review your earlier WB referral.

The findings of the independent consultant will therefore remain in place as the outcome.

Best wishes

(HR representative)

_________

Dear (HR representative),

Please find below recent correspondence with the DfE. I have been assured as you will see that "(Council) Local Authority have advised that they are looking into the concerns you have raised." I will phone them to see if there has been some confusion. I trust this may have an impact on (Council)'s decision to reconsider.

Best regards,

Alex

From: (DfE)

Sent: 15 November 2022 11:32

To: Alex Gwinnett
Dear Mr Alex Gwinnett,

Thank you for your correspondence dated 31 October, I can confirm that this now concludes the departments involvement in the matter.

(Council) Local Authority have advised that they are looking into the concerns you have raised.

The Department appreciates you taking the time to raise these important matters with us.

Kind regards
(DfE representative) | Teachers’ Pay and Conditions

_________

Dear Alex

I’ll wait to hear from you with any further information.

Best wishes

(HR representative)

_________

Dear (HR representative),

I have just got off the telephone from the DfE who are adamant that they have been in touch with you and that "(Council) Local Authority have (indeed) advised that they are looking into the concerns you have raised." 

Please advise me when this has been done.

Regards,

Alex

_________

Dear Alex

I can only say again that the LA have not had any such request to review the earlier outcome .  It would be helpful if you could give me the contact details of the person who is saying that contact has been made in order for me to make any progress with this issue.

Best wishes

(HR representative)

_________

Dear (HR representative),

The contact details of the person are included (in our previous correspondence) below[1]: (DfE representative) | Teachers’ Pay and Conditions

Regards,

Alex

_________

Dear Alex

Just to let you know that I was unable to speak to (DfE representative) directly.  I have had to submit a request form.  Hopefully she will get back to me quickly.

Best wishes

(HR representative)

_________

Dear (HR representative),

Thank you for response. As I’d imagine you are aware from the acknowledgement you will have received from the DfE, there is usually at least a 2 week wait for a response for a written request[2]. In my experience, it has usually needed to be chased. 

I would strongly advise you call the DfE to accelerate the process. I will be calling them tomorrow to check they have received your request. 

Regards, 

Alex

_________

I called the DfE the following morning, and most days since… I was hoping to get a response before Christmas, but unsurprisingly this has not happened. As for the council’s HR team: no comment… While it is obviously frustrating, what is a few more weeks?

It is time for me to log off properly until next year to focus on family and friends, and get some headspace.

Again, thank you for reading and showing such support this year. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and all the best for 2023. See you on the other side!

 

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[1] Incompetence or stalling on the part of the council’s HR team?

[2] If the representative has indeed made this request, an automated response is standard procedure: Thank you for getting in touch. We can confirm that we have received the information you submitted, (…) The Department for Education aims to respond to written enquiries in 15 working days. Disingenuity on the part of the council – surely not?