FRONT-line staff at City of York Council have little confidence in "out -of-touch" managers who do not appreciate their hard work, according to a leaked report.

The damning opinions of workers at the city council have come to light in the results of a staff survey, which it is believed were presented to council bosses earlier this month.

Leadership, employee engagement, and workforce development all come under fire in the report - which shows a worrying lack of morale and confidenc, as well as a "paternalistic culture" where staff are not empowered and live in a culture of blame.

Chief executive Kersten England, senior directors and assistant directors - are branded as "out-of-touch" with front-line staff, and criticised for lacking leadership skills or direction, while the behaviour of elected councillors is said to be concerning.

City councilor John Galvin said he was not surprised with results of the survey.

He added: "People are trying to do the best they can in tricky circumstances, and there is not the recognition and support there should be."

"There needs to be top down recognition that people want to do a good job. They want to be supported, and they want decisions to be taken so they know they are doing the right thing."

Democracy and governance campaigner Gwen Swinburn has praised the brave whistleblowers who brought the papers to light. She said: "Finally the many management failings at City of York council are being exposed. The most disturbing thing is, once again, it seems all of this was to be kept out of sight and scrutiny of councillors and citizens.

"But still, looks like failing management is putting yet another sticking plaster on - when what it needs is a change at the top."

The presentation sets out ambitious targets to improve the situation and council bosses have defended their record, saying they asked for the survey as tricky financial times lead to a lot of tough decisions which they knew had hit staff hard.

Ian Floyd, the director of customer and business support services said: “Increasing demand for services, uncertainty about job security and the scale of change the council faces has created concern and frustration for many staff. This presentation is an amalgamation of varying views gained from the survey of around 100 members of staff at the council and should be considered in the context of wider discussions which have taken place with staff".

"We take the views of our staff very seriously, which is why we conduct surveys and hold wider discussions to gain their feedback, as part of a significant programme of ongoing staff engagement. As a management team we're committed to addressing the issues raised through direct action. Many of the actions outlined in this presentation are already underway and we will be continuing to ask for feedback from staff throughout their implementation. Organisational change and improvement has to be just that - everyone in the organisation working together and supporting one another to deliver necessary changes, whilst striving for improvement."