Latest news with #SharonSmyth
BBC News
18-06-2025
- BBC News
Ex-employee of Attleborough council racks up £3,700 phone bill
A former employee at a council racked up a £3,744 bill on a taxpayer-funded mobile in less than three months. Attleborough Town Council said the incident was due to the member of staff not being "au fait" with technology. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the authority declined to specify how the phone had been used and who by. Sharon Smyth, the clerk at the authority, said: "The ex-employee did not realise what he was doing and it is our fault too for not putting a limit on the phone." Attleborough Town Council said it agreed to cover half of the phone bill, with the ex-employee expected to pay the rest. "We felt that, because we had not put a cap on the work mobiles, and this person was not au fait with using modern technology, this would be a fair solution," she Smyth said the amount was spent between January and March in 2024 by the figure was revealed at a town council meeting earlier this month. The decision was met with anger among some taxpayers who demanded the councillor pay the bill in member of the public told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "This feels like a cover up and some councillors seem to find this funny."Personally, I object to having my council tax money being frittered away by somebody."Richard Allington, a local businessman, said: "If it is the fault of councillors, they should have to split the bill."Why should we pay it? It isn't our fault." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Civil Service: 'Not enough office space' if working from home ends
A return-to-office policy for the civil service would not be possible because there is no longer enough space to accommodate everyone, Stormont assembly members have been civil servants began working from home during the pandemic, a trend which has NI Civil Service (NICS) is in the process of reducing its office estate by 40% by selling buildings and ending Smyth, chief executive of construction and procurement delivery at the Department of Finance, said that four-year process was on track. She told Stormont's finance committee there was currently sufficient office space for civil servants but that would not be the case if there was a widespread return to office-based the policy was "everyone's coming back four days a week" then "we wouldn't have the space, we wouldn't have the physical accommodation to do that," she Smyth said a review of the NICS hybrid working and working-from-home policies is due to be published also revealed the sale of one of the biggest NICS offices had not been completed despite going sale agreed last Court in Belfast City Centre is the former HQ of the Department of Smyth said it would be put back on the market shortly and the current bidder remains also told assembly members a decision was expected by the end of July on whether Marlborough House in Craigavon would be 1970s office block is due to be vacated by civil servants and a listing could complicate efforts to find a new use for the site.
