sol·ace (s
l
s)
Solace Enterprises, a recruitment company, is paid fees by
local councils (taxpayers money) to headhunt chief executives, senior managers and committee chairs, and recommend salary levels.
Its advice has contributed to burgeoning pay packets for chief executives,
many of whom are now paid more than £150,000 a year. (more taxpayers money)
However, the company is wholly
owned by the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers
(Solace), which represents town hall bosses. The company’s directors include
a number of serving chief executives.
The Society is a Company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales No: 2771210.
Registered Office:
Hope House,
45 Great Peter Street,
London
SW1P 3LT
Operating in the same manner as the ACPO (private Ltd Company) who advise and determine how Police Forces are run, Solace is the private Ltd Company of all the Local Authority Chief Executives. They both lobby government on legislative changes.
Together, these 2 private limited companies ACPO and Solace determine how the army of local authority badge plastic police will raise even more money handing out fixed penalty notice fines, all of which are vetted and authorised by the ACPO, though its subsidiary ACPO CPI Ltd.
Local Authorities are no longer about listening to residents and taxpayers and providing you the taxpayers with local services that you want in the way you want, its a business, a big corrupt business. It seems to be based on extorting as much as possible from the taxpayers through council tax, and then over and above charging extra fees for the overpaid services that you have already ostensibly paid for (in the name of cost reduction), and then to operate a legal mugging service with a series of fixed penalty notices 'crimes' (with legislative protection).
It is a system of post democratic government that sidelines your elected representatives.
Looking at the Management Board of Solace, and the society officers, is it reasonable that these
people who are currently employed at overinflated salary levels as Local Authority Chief Executives and Managers should
be spending office time running a Limited Company specifically designed
to extract even more of your taxpayers funds.
Cronyism is not a strong enough word for this, it is a corporatist laundering system bordering on the unethical and fraudulent. It is more akin to state sponsored racketeering.
We are told that Solace Enterprises, which has a turnover of about £10m a year, is non-profit
making.
Any operating surpluses are invested in Solace or its charitable foundation.
It offers training courses, advice on restructuring, recruitment services
and salary benchmarking reports. According to its website, “the overwhelming
majority of UK councils are clients”.
The SOLACE Foundation is a Company Limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales No: 4053417
Registered Office:
Hope House,
45 Great Peter Street,
London
SW1P 3LT
Charity Registration No: 1084419
As expected however, no mention of accounts on their website.
I wonder how much of this Foundation's money finds it way back into the Labour Party as donations in return for the Legislative protection. Certainly wouldn't be the first 'charity' to do so.
It is also worth noting that many of the officers of Solace, the Solace foundation and the ACPO are graduates of Common Purpose (catch phrase: Leading beyond Authority).
