Shoesmith Disgrace

Sharon Shoesmith is quoted to be “thrilled” at the Court of Appeal decision in her favour.

Pity she did not show as much zeal and dedication to her work as she has in fighting her dismissal, for if she had, Peter Connelly (Baby P) would probably still be alive now.

The thing that really annoys me about the whole thing is that Ms Shoesmith was quite happy to accept the 6 figure salary of her position, but not the responsibility that goes with.

A quote from the BBC Correspondent: “Many senior managers who run children's services will be very relieved by this ruling”. If that’s the case then God help the poor kids, for it is clear that these people are merely self-serving and only care for their careers.

The other galling thing about this was that the ruling was it the issue was not whether or not Ms Shoesmith should have been dismissed or not, but in the way that it was done.

At a hearing in March, Ms Shoesmith had asked Lord Neuberger, Master of the Rolls, sitting with Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, to rule that her sacking without compensation was so legally flawed as to be null and void.

In other words, although she was plainly crap at her job, she reckons that she should have been given some of the tax-payers’ money as she walked out of the door!

And there lies the problem. Senior Public and Civil Servants cannot be dismissed without going through a convoluted process which, in effect, protects them. In fact, it is nigh on impossible to get rid of such people merely because they are useless at their jobs. Instead, they are “encouraged” to take early retirement, along with pension rights and lump sums, paid for by the tax payer.

Oh what a world we live in...