HS2

Stratfan   25/10/2017 at 14:12

Why didn’t the initial appointments make it clear that the posts would eventually be relocated to Birmingham? Why werent he and others sacked for acting contrary to instructions? If they can’t be trusted to act professionally why are we allowing them to spend at least 56 billion. Pounds of our money?

Ian Watkins   25/10/2017 at 20:50

Gravy Train and OPM are two phrases that spring to mind.

PAC   25/10/2017 at 22:30

Seems like misconduct in a public office, it should surely be a police matter with the money involved.

Stratfan   27/10/2017 at 07:49

Why did hs2 want to enhance the payments anyway?

Fenlandpaul   27/10/2017 at 09:54

The sense of outrage over this story is utterly ridiculous. Anyone who has worked in businesses going through restructures or plant closures knows that if you don't provide an incentive for people to stay on and work well right up to the end, the project will fail. In almost all instances, the most effective incentive is money. The redundancy packages that Grayling and co think should have been offered are a compensation, not an incentive. If these guys had only been offered the statutory redundancy rates then they would have been all out for themselves, understandably, and many would have jumped ship to another job before the project was completed. That would have been disastrous for the relocation project and ultimately for HS2, costing a lot more to unpick and sort out than the sums that have actually been paid. Put yourself in the redundant employees' shoes - if you felt like you were genuinely being treated fairly, and had enough to keep your family housed, fed and watered for a decent period afterwards while you found a new job - you'd be a lot more likely to do everything in your power to keep the project on track and do a good job. If you were getting the bare minimum, you'd probably give bare minimum effort, zero ownership and the project would fall apart. Excitable politicians and journos need to stop turning this into something it isn't. Get in the real world.

Stratfan   27/10/2017 at 12:11

Except; Project nowhere near finished Many were given ‘garden leave’ No evidence payments linked to staying to a particular date I bitterly resent my tax being redistributed to well paid people

John Grant   27/10/2017 at 16:27

@Fenlandpaul: redundancies are usually a result of things that weren't foreseen when the people were hired, e.g. market shrinking or losing share; HS2 ought to have been able to plan ahead and if necessary hire people on fixed-term contracts (which might well include incentives to actually finish the job).