THE almost unbelievable refusal of Bury MBC to see sense over an unnecessary court case that has cost £700,000 (and rising), instead of paying staff their due, typifies the root attitude.

Had a pay review been implemented gradually (as happened in many local authorities), there would have been no problem in the first place!

Put this together with a certain lack of transparency, a sense of omnipotence (eg, the Lowry painting), and you have, at the top, in this and many other contemporary organisations, what Shakespeare described as “the laws delay” and “the insolence of office”. (Hamlet, scene III, my time at Bury Tech wasn’t wasted!).

The current restructure within senior management (February 10) and last-minute salary reductions could well have been an appropriate leadership gesture, if it wasn’t so thoroughly undermined by what is going on elsewhere.

As Cllr Ken Audin said quite recently, those fortunate enough to retain their jobs will face extraordinary pressures over the next few years, on the frontline, in a situation of diminishing resource — expect sickness levels to rise in areas like education, housing and particularly social services, as staff face a tsunami of demand.

That sort of natural disaster is always prefaced by a withdrawal, the period of disbelief, denial and confusion, followed by an overwhelming torrent!

Dave Walsh Paradise Street Ramsbottom