Top of the Range Disfunctionality

Those who’ve got management roles in the conservation industry locally are, with one or two significant exceptions, decent honest people with whom it’s a pleasure to talk over issues. So what is it that blinds them to what’s obvious to the rest of us? Does it come down to that indefinable thing ‘the system’ or that even more vague concept ‘the culture’? I feel constantly drawn towards trying to analyse this, only to shake my head sadly each time and think the world in my lifetime has moved beyond rational scrutiny.

A couple of things to illustrate the point: this is the first …..

I was talking with Blacka’s new Reserve Manager, Nabil, a very nice fellow who patiently listened to an oldie in full lecturing mode. “Look at this” I said, showing him part of the right of way path that becomes so muddy that for more than a year people have walked over to the side trampling the very best site for wild flowers on Blacka (made worse by the bovine crop and crap trashers in summer). “This needs some flagstones –just a couple of metres”. 

His response was orthodox present day management:

“You’ll be pleased to hear, Neil, that money is available now through Nature Improvement Areas grants to put this right”

“Why can’t you do something now – or better still six months ago?” say I.

“Money” he says.

My reply was somewhat intemperate perhaps. The gist: If this place belonged to me I would have done something within a couple of hours of noticing it, to prevent the damage. Why does SWT have to wait, year on year for national grants to be available and not even attempt a temporary fix?

It's the management model. Your focus is on bringing in central funds, So you put together a list, adding to it month after month while doing nothing apart from the usual bureaucratic stuff that never gets properly evaluated. Then, when a government grant becomes available you're ready to put in an application straight away. Dealing with the problem on the spot might actually disrupt this. So nothing gets done day by day and month by month, the managers attending meetings, writing reports and applications for grants.

Scrutiny and accountability are words that South Yorkshire seems only just to have discovered though some of us have been banging on about them for years. The public sector does not like these words and will take steps to avoid them or remove all effectiveness from them. Ignoring the examples all over the press at the moment that put the spotlight on governance failures in this region let's look at what this blog is about. On Blacka there has been a concerted managerial agenda to emasculate the Reserve Advisory Group. It's not liked precisely because  of its capacity to hold the managers to account. What manager would not avoid being held to account if he/she could get away with it?

The amazing thing is that SWT, when viewed purely as an administrative unit, can probably be seen as functioning normally. All sorts of boxes can be well and truly ticked. It's only when you start to look at what it's supposed to be doing on the ground that you see abject failure.