THE chair of learning disability support charity Les Amis has announced his resignation in a letter containing scathing criticism of the Health Department – including accusations of behaviour ‘tantamount to bullying’ from senior staff.
Leslie Norman said he was tired of doing ‘constant battle’ with the government – in particular the Health and Social Security departments – who he claimed had ‘piled on’ increased regulation but failed to ensure proper funding of the charity.
He announced that after ‘a great deal of soul searching’ and ‘for the benefit of my mental health’, he was tendering his resignation as trustee and treasurer of Les Amis Incorporated, and as chair of Les Amis Ltd, with immediate effect.
Mr Norman was involved with the charity for nearly four decades – including ten years spent as its chair.
His letter, seen by the JEP, makes several references to a report by professional services firm BDO – which this newspaper understands to be a government-commissioned report looking at Les Amis’ funding – describing it as ‘full of holes’ and ‘disingenuous’.
In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the government said it ‘continues to work closely with Les Amis to support them in providing the best care and facilities for people with learning difficulties whom they look after’.
Mr Norman wrote: ‘The only conclusion I can draw from the BDO report is that our financial position is down to bad decision-making and that clearly must be my responsibility. The briefing paper would indicate that I must be living in cloud-cuckoo land, which having had to deal with government and particularly Health for so long is probably correct.
‘Residential, domiciliary, nursing and respite services for the learning-disabled have always been at the bottom of the pile in Jersey and will no doubt continue to be so.
‘After 40 years of regular meetings with government to ensure the proper funding of Les Amis and its residents my patience has run out.’
His message continued: ‘I have to say that the response from senior people in Health has at times and certainly recently, in my opinion, not only been insulting but also downright rude and tantamount to bullying.’
Mr Norman said that this was ‘nothing new’.
He added: ‘You have to appreciate that Health [and] government do not want a charity which is financially independent, as it plays havoc with their ability to control them and loses the possibility of potential for empire building.
‘I am afraid my hopes that this new government would somehow be better placed to get this sorted in a timely and sensible way were sorely misplaced. All government does is pile on more and more regulation whilst attempting to reduce how much they contribute towards the costs.’
He claimed that the government did not have any intention of ‘meaningfully working in partnership with the charitable sector’.
And he added: ‘We already have a staffing issue and gave a 5% pay rise thinking how this will help, even though we can ill-afford it, and then government gives their employees a 7.9% pay rise – well, how helpful.’
He also suggested that, unless the government gave an ‘undertaking’ before the end of March to replenish the reserves of Les Amis Ltd – currently just below £1 million – to a ‘strategic level’ of £1.5 million, the charity should be handed over to the government ‘to run, as it is the legal responsibility of Health to look after our vulnerable learning-disabled community’.
He praised Les Amis managing director Shaun Findlay for his commitment to the charity – adding that he deserved ‘nothing less than a knighthood’.
‘I will of course help in any way I can as you take Les Amis forward, as long as it does not involve me in any meetings with government, or, in particular, the senior officers of Health and Social Security which is definitely bad for my health.’
He acknowledged Chief Minister Kristina Moore and government chief executive Suzanne Wylie, who he said had ‘good intentions’ but were constrained by the ‘ghastly bureaucracy and inefficiency of Jersey’s government system’ as well as the ‘inadequacies, incompetence and self-importance’ he claimed existed within the Health and Social Security departments.
‘I have also copied in [Treasury Minister] Ian Gorst, who seems to understand the issues better than most but also has his hands tied,’ he added.
Speaking to the JEP, Mr Norman added that his resignation letter had been drafted ‘for a while’.
‘Nearly every year I end up in meetings with civil servants, tearing my hair out,’ he said, noting that Les Amis had yearly running costs close to £7 million and around 140 members of staff.
Government chief executive Suzanne Wylie said: ‘Les Norman is recognised for his commitment and passion as chair of the charity. However, the government does not accept the accusations relating to senior staff or the specific criticism of one of its senior team members. Our teams continue to work with the Les Amis team and board to try to find workable solutions to some of the challenges being faced.’
