Tony Clements - Ealing Council’s new chief executive
You may have already heard about Mr Clements’ appointment and that he worked for Ealing Council as Director of Place between 2017 and 2020. That’s another very highly paid role, as head of the department that oversees the public realm in the borough, including parks and streets and has a big say in planning.But what hasn’t been widely publicised is why Mr Clements left that role exactly two years ago or why he received a pay-off of £74,000. It wasn’t a redundancy as the role remains. He didn’t leave to spend more time with his family as he then went to work for Hammersmith and Fulham Council. Ealing has refused to say what this big pay-off was for. Bear in mind that throughout this period we were told repeatedly that cuts from central government were impacting council services.What has also not been reported is that employees who leave with these types of pay-off are usually barred from being re-employed by that organisation for a set period of time, usually five years. Yet Mr Clements is strolling back into the top job in Ealing without any questions being asked. Again, the council has refused to explain why the usual protocols have not been applied.When he was Director of Place Mr Clements worked very closely with current council leader Peter Mason, who held the planning portfolio in cabinet. One wonders if Cllr Mason sees me Clements as an ally as he looks to realise his ‘vision’ for our borough.Certainly Mr Clements is politically aligned with the current council, having stood as Labour Party candidate in Beaconsfield at the 2015 General Election. The Chief Executive role is politically restricted, which means technically they are required to be impartial, but whether that happens in practice is anyone’s guess. Mr Clements was certainly enthusiastic about getting tall buildings into Ealing before, as was Cllr Mason. Do leopards really change their spots? Time will tell.We’ve all been told about the cost of living crisis and we all got a big council tax hike. Yet the council decided in January to increase the CEO salary from £189,000 to £200,000 plus benefit, no doubt hoping to attract the very best candidates. Nice work if you can get it.And if you think Mr Clements’ £74,000 pay-off was big, it’s dwarfed by the £530,000 pocketed by an unnamed individual when they left the council in 2019. Again, no clarity coming from Ealing about that.There’s an election in three weeks. Please do bear in mind that we are never told the whole story by those in power.
Simon Hayes ● 1623d19 Comments ● 1622d