David Bowles is a public official who has been Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council and chairman of
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust is an NHS trust which runs County Hospital Louth, Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Skegness and District Hospital, and Grantham and District Hospital.
The trust established the Path Li ...
. He came to particular attention for giving evidence against the leader of Lincolnshire County Council, who was subsequently jailed. He is a member of the whistleblowing charity, the Council of
Public Concern at Work
Protect formerly Public Concern at Work (PCaW) is a whistleblowing charity operating in the United Kingdom. Established in 1993, Public Concern at Work advises individuals with whistleblowing dilemmas at work, supports organisations with their w ...
.
Background
Bowles was born in Cambridgeshire and has lived in Lincolnshire, England since 1999. He graduated with a science degree. He has worked in the public sector since the 1980s.
Lincolnshire Councils
Bowles was Chief Executive of Lincolnshire County Council from 1998. He subsequently revealed that the Conservative council leader,
Jim Speechley
William James Speechley (1936/7 – 19 April 2021) was a British politician. He was a Conservative Party councillor in Crowland and leader of the Lincolnshire County Council. He was appointed a CBE in 1992, which was later stripped after his 2004 ...
, had been using his position to manipulate the route of a new
by-pass
Bypass may refer to:
* Bypass (road), a road that avoids a built-up area (not to be confused with passing lane)
* Flood bypass of a river
Science and technology Medicine
* Bypass surgery, a class of surgeries including for example:
** Heart bypas ...
to increase the value of his land. His evidence led to Speechley being jailed for 18 months. Bowles then had a "strained" relationship with the new Conservative leader,
Ian Croft
Ian Mitchell Croft
On 3 September 2004 Bowles was heckled at a council meeting, as he defended his actions and described the past period as "characterised by smear innuendo and lies" with "bullying and a climate of fear". With his tenure at the county council due to come to an end shortly, Bowles then accepted a position as chief executive of
West Lindsey District Council
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, in north Lincolnshire, to start in September 2004.
In March 2006 councillor Croft (who had resigned as leader of Lincolnshire County Council) was banned from being a county councillor for 15 months for "breaching the code of conduct for people in public office" during his revenge campaign to get rid of Bowles.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
After three years as chair of
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust is an NHS trust which runs County Hospital Louth, Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Skegness and District Hospital, and Grantham and District Hospital.
The trust established the Path Li ...
, Bowles resigned in July 2009 after being threatened with suspension for refusing to commit the Trust to meeting national waiting targets. Bowles described the situation as "a substitution of bullying for performance management and an obsession with targets rather than safety".
Anglesey County Council
In September 2009 Bowles became a 'troubleshooter' to sort out the in-fighting on Isle of Anglesey County Council. Bowles was imposed on the council, as an interim managing director, by the Welsh Government and paid via a recruitment company. At £1,160 a day, he became Wales' most expensive public sector worker at the time. Bowles sacked two members of the ruling council group, and the head of education and leisure was forced to resign.