At the start of this year the TV drama Mr Bates versus the Post Office gripped the nation and became a national talking point.

However we have to assume that no one connected with the administration at Suffolk County Council tuned into it - or at least paid no attention to the drama itself.

Because the administration at Endeavour House - both senior councillors and officers - are behaving exactly like those at the Post Office and Fujitsu 20 years ago in a way that is now causing such outrage.

The reaction to last week's damning SEND report coming after all the earlier shenanigans surrounding the funding of theatres and museums showed an authority out of touch with the people it is supposed to serve.

What is worse, and in my opinion it has now showed itself as an organisation that is incapable of accepting criticism which won't tolerate whistleblowers with an understandable concern about its failings.

I was glad to see the resignations of Rachel Hood and two others at the weekend - it was the least we could expect to see after the SEND services at the council came under such blistering attack from Ofsted for the third time.

But what was really shocking to me was the administration's treatment of backbench Tory councillor Sam Murray.

Now Ms Murray is the very opposite of a "Shy Conservative." She's just about the most in your face Tory you're ever likely to find.

She's very good at winding up the opposition and hasn't held back from hitting out at the media (yours truly especially) when she feels we've written something that isn't fawning enough about the Conservatives!

But she's also got family members with special educational needs and she's seen the problems with the service over the years.

This third report showing how the council was still failing children and families was too much for her so she snapped and told the world what she really thought of the service.

What did her colleagues do? Did they ask her what she thought, as a parent, would improve the service?

No. She was suspended from the Conservative group. In a text from leader Matthew Hicks - there wasn't even a phone call.

She isn't the only Tory to express concern. Both Ipswich MP Tom Hunt and his Central Suffolk and North Ipswich colleague Dr Dan Poulter have called for heads to roll.

Is Mr Hicks writing to the Chief Whip in Westminster demanding that the Whip is withdrawn from them? Or is it one rule for an MP and another for a backbench councillor?

The reputation of the Conservative Party and the Conservative Group at Suffolk County Council appears to be far more important than the needs of children with special educational needs.

And this is where the comparison with the Post Office in the noughties and Suffolk County Council today becomes clear.

The Post Office was determined to protect its computer system and its administration at all costs - no matter what happened to its sub-postmasters and mistresses across the country.

The county council seems keener to protect the reputation of its administration than dealing with its SEND crisis - even when one of its own loyalist members calls it out.

Other parts of government talk about openness and a need to listen to concerns - many even have a whistleblower's charter.

But in Suffolk whistleblowers can expect to have the book thrown at them. They aren't as important as the organisation as a whole.

I covered my first council meeting as a journalist more than 40 years ago. Council work has been a major part of my work for more than 35 years.

I've always believed, and still believe, that the majority of councillors from all parties are basically motivated by a desire to serve their local community.

But at the top of Suffolk County Council I'm not sure that still applies. Individuals probably do feel they're in the role for the right reason - but as a group there seems to be far too much concern about their own reputations and protecting the brand. 

And in the end that leads to the whole organisation looking tarnished.

The opinions expressed in this column are the personal views of Paul Geater and do not necessarily reflect views held by this newspaper, its sister publications or its owner and publisher Newsquest Media Group Ltd.