Thread by @ItsOurCity1

This is unfortunate & looks like very poor judgement / an error by Andy Buck.

Of course everyone is entitled to their own personal political views…..

[thread start]

https://twitter.com/ibbyullah/status/1652695356805619718

But Andy is also (pretty well known) as Chair of the Board of Voluntary Action Sheffield, a charitable company (with an annual income of £2.3m), and the umbrella organisation/voice of, the voluntary and community sector in the city.

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To help maintain public trust / confidence and avoid reputational damage, there is much govt and charity commission regulation & guidance on ethical behaviour, conflicts of interest, and good governance for charities and their Trustees 👇👇

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In all cases actual and potential conflicts of interest, or the perception of such conflicts, must be very carefully managed and avoided, especially by Trustees (let alone Chairs of Boards). Even more so at times of elections

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(And, as an individual just involved in a bit of voluntary grassroots community organising, I wouldn’t even join a Party, and am really v. careful not to let any national Party sympathies be known.)

But going as far as publicly endorsing a particular candidate on video…

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….and a Party (unequivocally) would appear to be highly inadvisable, and explicitly incompatible, with the role of Chair of the VAS Board.

This also shows a worrying lack of awareness and sensitivity to the Sheffield local political context…..

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…People and community groups across Sheffield understand (and despair at) the overreach, and attempted overreach, of political party intrusions/infiltration (esp Sheffield Labour) into community groups and organisations.

This has many impacts, including …

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…silencing out of fear of repercussions (funding/support/advice) or just called “anti-Labour” & treated as political enemies. This is now documented in the Street Trees inquiry (Lowcock) Report e.g.”anything other than positive endorsement is seen as disloyal criticism.”

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It is also well-documented in local political histories that e.g. describe the party political strategy as seeking to control all levers of power in the city.

Or where ideas and input can only ever be somewhat listened to inasmuch as groups are prepared to….

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..cede power to, or come under the disciplinary umbrella of, Sheff Lab (see e.g. Payling, Carter).

Flinders calls this a “disconnected & disinterested political elite that treats the city like a personal fiefdom” (2018), & that is embedded in the city’s political history

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…The grim joke - told all across Sheffield - goes like this:

When someone states something that needs to happen, the retort is, “Aah yes, but it’s not been through the Labour Group.”

This ‘joke’ reflects widespread understanding of what goes on.

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This is all part of the toxic political culture (most recently documented in Lowcock of course) that has damaged Sheffield/all of us, and that we all have to live with/face up to (but that Sheff Labour are so fearful of being exposed, & held accountable for).

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Stating it draws hostility, despite the substantial evidence &, of course, this proves Lowcock correct.

The Chair of VAS is certainly not responsible for all of this, not by any stretch of the imagination.

But one would certainly expect someone in his position to be…

cont/

…extremely careful not to contribute, or be perceived to contribute, to it all. And certainly not to appear to break clear regulation/guidance. It’s just behaviour incompatible with being Chair of the Board of an umbrella organisation for the VCS in the city.

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#sorrynotsorry
@ItsOurCitySheff