| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Proposed closure of Wandsworth Museum | |
| Posted by: | Malcolm Grimston | |
| Date/Time: | 12/03/07 16:44:00 |
| The point I am making is that when negotiating over difficult issues there are two stances that can be taken. BAC decided that they would treat discussions as confidential, would not look for every opportunity to attack the council in public and would focus on building trust on both sides to find a way forward. So a relationship has built up whereby we've been able to discuss the real issues and negotiate, knowing that if I or the council team put forward an idea, say, that might or might not work (because obviously I don't make policy, that's done by the Conservative Group collectively, so I need to see what is acceptable to colleagues as well), we will not then see a distorted version of it, sprinkled with lies about individuals, appear in a long diatribe on a website within a few hours. This has made it a much easier job to find a compromise, which I think we might be in the course of doing, hence the extension of the lease. Sadly this has not proved possible in the case of the Museum - there are some who seek to put the worst spin on anything that is said, and indeed seem to take as their starting point that the council is being dishonest (so anything that did come out of negotiation would be meaningless, presumably, as it would be portrayed as mendacious and untrustworthy. To use the future of the Court House as an example, even my categorical statements that it will be used for the new library have been dismissed by some participants). Would you believe there are even leaflets in circulation that do not mention the new library! Fine, that's a personal choice since everyone has to weigh up how to behave in a way that is most likely to get everyone on board and so deliver their objectives, whatever those objectives might be, but it makes meaningful discussion and negotiation - which always involve risk-taking and therefore need a high degree of trust on both sides - impossible. Incidentally, re the current staffing, there is a difference of 0.68 of a post between establishment and actual fte at present. All posts are occupied but three posts have officers employed for a lower number of hours than the establishment - 0.5 fte Museum Technician (18 hours a week 'shortfall'); 0.16 fte Museum Assistant (5.5 hours); 0.02 fte Museum Assistant (1 hour). This approach allows flexibility so that staff work extra hours at busy times (e.g. for a Saturday event or when setting up a new exhibition) but it also means those staff are not required to work those hours every week whether or not there is work to do and are therefore not paid at quieter times. |