Council names 27 of its new executive managers
The council today named 27 of its new executive managers as the new structure starts to take shape.
The managers will report to directors Neil Grant (development); Helen Budge (children’s services); Christine Ferguson (community care services); Phil Crossland (infrastructure services); and an as yet unappointed head of corporate services.
In the children’s services department the executive managers are: Martha Nicolson (children’s resources); Audrey Edwards (quality improvement); Shona Thompson (schools); Neil Watt (sport and leisure).
Executive managers in community care are: Sally Shaw (adult services); Ruby Whelan (community care services); Denise Morgan (criminal justice); Jeff Shaw (mental health); Jo Robinson (occupational therapy). Managerial posts have yet to be filled in: children and families; psychological services; Shetland Library; and finance.
Corporate services managers: Robert Sinclair (ccapital programmes); Jan Riise (governance and law); Denise Bell (human resources); Stuart Moncrieff (ICT); John Smith (improvement and performance).
Development services managers: Vaila Simpson (community planning and development); Douglas Irvine (economic development); Anita Jamieson (housing); Iain MacDiarmid (planning); David Gray (Shetland College); Michael Craigie (transport planning).
Executive services managers: Peter Peterson (executive); Crawford McIntyre (internal audit).
Infrastructure services managers: Maggie Dunne (environmental health and trading standards); Ken Duerden (ferry operations); Roger Moore (harbourmaster and port operations); Dave Coupe (roads maintenance); Stephen Cooper (waste management and energy). The post of roads and transport network manager has yet to be filled.
SIC chief executive Alistair Buchan said: “I am delighted to announce these appointments. This is a very important moment for the council. Having been involved in quite a few of the interviews, I saw firsthand how our staff rose to the challenge. To be honest, I am excited at the prospect of working with such an able team.
“I’d like to thank everyone who was involved in this process. I realise it has been a very challenging time for everyone. We will of course continue to liaise with our colleagues who have not secured an appointment at this stage, to achieve the best outcome we can for them.
“We will be aiming to get the team settled in as quickly as possible, with most managers starting in their new roles straight away. The directors and I feel very optimistic that we can really kick-on from this now and make some lasting improvements in the way the council operates, for the benefit of the people of Shetland.”
Maureen Bell
How many of these senior appointments are local people?
Brian Smith
Yes. It should be compulsory to have at least four Shetland grandparents before you get a job here.
John N Hunter
As far as I am aware they are all people who have worked for the SIC for many years.
Colin Hunter
So! Brian Smith would happily deny my son a job because his Mother (and her parents) are English. This despite the fact he has lived here all his life and has returned here with an Honours Degree after four years in Dundee at University. How many Shetlanders have left the Isles to find work in the past? I count myself among that number. I returned after an absence of about 14 years as an Engineer in the Merchant Navy, complete with my new wife to take up “muild and stane” on the “Auld Rock”. That was 25 years ago and I count myself lucky to have been in the same job all that time. While it would be nice to see locally bred people in the “plum” jobs in the Council, the fact is that they obviously didn’t cut the mustard when it came to the interview. It is an unfortunate fact that the SIC rely heavily on how well people perform in their interview to decide who to appoint. It doesn’t always work and there have been some utterly disastrous appointments in the past. Our last Chief Executive is a case in point! I would think that the woman who left a message in lipstick on his forehead on the Bressay Ferry was probably a better judge of character than the interview panel in that particular case! Perhaps we should find her and give her a job interviewing potential SIC employees!
ian tinkler
“Yes. It should be compulsory to have at least four Shetland grandparents before you get a job here.” Racist claptrap. I hope written in jest?
Perhaps inter-breeding would help!
James Moir
Nice one Brian. You make a good point through humour. If you want the best people you cannot apply discriminatory qualification requirements on the job application. I presume that anyone supporting the “only Shetlanders” need apply criteion will also be in favour of no Shetlander getting a job outside Shetland.
Of course the interviewers can only do their best when it comes to choosing the best candidate and we all know that in recent years that hasn’t always been as successful as we would all like.
Brian Smith
I am thinking of offering a nightclass in irony dis winter.
John Tulloch
I tink du better dus offer a nichtclass, Brian,mebby hit wid boost diy support fir staandin as “Irony Chancellor” o’ da upcomin Shetlan’ Republic as weel?
Donnie Morrison
Yes Brian, da age o skyimp lik da Shetland dialect is braaly near da leek strae – most be da lak o da Shetland grandfokk……..
John Kryton
Brian you should know that irony does not project its self ın the wrıten form so maybe ıts you who needs to go to a nıght class. But havıng said that you have a good grasp of sarcasm.
Kay Wheatcroft
I can find no evidence to suggest that any of the five types of irony (Socratic, dramatic or tragic, linguistic, structural, and romantic) should be spoken not written. Neither, apparently, could PG Wodehouse or Jane Austen to name but two. But what do they know?
ian Tinkler
Kay, Not much. They are dead and not very relevant today…
Kirsten Leask
Na na, bairns, a distinct sense-of-humour-failure seems to be evident amongst several of the correspondents who have contributed to this particular thread. Folks, please lighten up – your dull-witted, knee-jerk, reactionary responses do you no favours at all!
Robert Sim
Surely dramatic irony is spoken, not written, Kay?
Brian Smith
It can be spoken or written, Bob. I will be covering this important point in my third lecture.
Peter Dodge
Maist splendid Brian, fairly lookin forrard tae dat. Wid hit be ower muckle tae hae him delivered in Norn?
Alternatively in da writtem form du could pit a peerie hash in noo an again wi instructions for folk tae smeeg here!
Gordon Harmer
Because irony cannot be successfully projected in the written form the irony mark or irony point (French: point d’ironie) is a punctuation mark proposed by the French poet Alcanter de Brahm (alias Marcel Bernhardt). He proposed it should be used to indicate that a sentence should be understood at a second level (e.g. irony, sarcasm, etc.). It is illustrated by a small, elevated, backward-facing question mark.
Malachy Tallack
Irony can of course be successfully projected in the written form. But that does not guarantee that all readers will successfully spot it.
James Stewart
How is it not possible to notice Brian’s obvious sarcasm? It was fairly obvious that he was joking. Read his post again, 4 Shetland-born grandparents to get a job in Shetland? How can anyone take that at all seriously?
John Kryton
Just done the third lecture for you Brian without irony or sarcasm, many literary giants say irony can not be successfully delivered in the written form. In the case of what is written above it was taken by one extremely well educated gentleman to be racist claptrap, so maybe you should think before you print.
In the English language there is no standard accepted method to denote irony or sarcasm in written conversation, several forms of punctuation have been proposed. Among the oldest and frequently attested are the percontation point, also known as an iron icon, invented by Henry Denham in the 1580s, and the irony mark, furthered by Alcanter de Brahm in the 19th century. Both of these marks were represented visually by a backwards question mark.
These various punctuation marks are primarily used to indicate that a sentence should be understood at a second level. A bracketed exclamation point and/or question mark as well as scare quotes are also sometimes used to express irony or sarcasm.
Scare quotes is a term for a particular use of quotation marks. In this application, quotation marks are placed around a single word or phrase to indicate that the word or phrase does not signify its literal or conventional meaning. In contrast to the nominal typographic purpose of quotation marks, the enclosed word(s) are not necessarily quoted from another source.
ian Tinkler
Only those with webbed feet may apply!
Kirsten Leask
Canna fin dat backwards-facin question mark on me keyboard, so will joost hae ta mak do wi quotation marks:
”John, please refer to comment 13 in the above discussion thread.” (!) (?) (!?)