Councillors Y and Z – and their “coalition” colleagues past and present – have some very serious explaining to do.
Read the Waltham Forest Guardian’s take on Waltham Forest Council’s Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF)/ Better Neighbourhoods Initiative (BNI) scandal HERE and the BBC’s report HERE.
Download and read the independent report (which only scratches the surface) HERE.
THURSDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2009 UPDATE – HERE and HERE.
FRIDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2009 UPDATE – HERE.
MONDAY 11TH JANUARY 2010 UPDATE – HERE.
FRIDAY 15TH JANUARY 2010 UPDATE – HERE.
THURSDAY 21ST JANUARY 2010 UPDATE – PRIVATE EYE (22 January – 4 Feb. 2010 (No.1254), Pg 13, Rotten Boroughs section – reproduced below)
‘Munificent Seven
Question: WHEN millions of pounds of public money go missing, what does any self-respecting council do? Answer: Hold an inquiry. Unless the council is Waltham Forest, where so much dosh has gone astray it has held seven.
The most recent, headed by Sir Peter Rogers, chief executive of the London Development Agency, has concluded that money is still going awol due to poor procedures, lack of accountability and fraud. It remains a mystery where millions of pounds – no one is sure how much – of government money handed out under the Better Neighbourhoods Initiative (BNI) to help children in deprived wards ended up.
When auditors investigated allegations that several millions has been diverted from its intended purpose and spent on the Olympics instead, they found files that had been doctored and were “incomplete”.
Another inquiry conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that of 105 contracts awarded under the BNI, only three were done by the book. For example, a one-day event for teachers, organised by “community cohesion adviser” Munir Zamir, cost £26,000. Guest speakers were paid £6,000; “marketing”, “refreshments”, and a “Q&A session” all cost £3,000 each. Which makes a grand total of £15,000. Where the other £11,000 went has not been explained.
So far Waltham Forest’s hunt-the-money game has itself cost at least £100,000.
Kerrrching!’
THURSDAY 28TH JANUARY 2010 UPDATE – HERE.
SUNDAY 31ST JANUARY 2010 UPDATE – HERE.
TUESDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2010 UPDATE – HERE.
WEDNESDAY 17TH FEBRUARY 2010 UPDATE – HERE.
If you’re brave enough to point fingers, why not name names?
Or are you afraid that they’ll sue you for defamation?
‘Councillors Y and Z’ might just be the people who ‘requested my removal from George Mitchell’s governing body’ right?.
You should watch what you say
As say they in the Caribbean, “who the cap fits”.
Dear oh dear, what a nasty little rant from “Frank”. He seems to have lost the plot. Maybe news of this scandal has reached the good people of Northampton.
I was amazed to read in the BBC report that Cllr Robbins, whilst apologising to the people of Waltham Forest, emphasised that he’s only recently taken up his role as Leader of the Council. Hang on a minute – one of the contracts the report criticises was an award of £240,000 to education company, EduAction. The report says “It has been impossible to find any individual within the council who understands what has been delivered for the money….Of even more concern, there appears to be little concern from the key people that this is the case.”
Who was the Cabinet Member responsible for EduAcation from 2002 until 2009? – none other than Cllr Chris Robbins. I think his apology to the people of Waltham Forest might be better received if he told us what he knew, when he knew and what he did about it.
Thank you, Julia. I note with great interest the statements in today’s print version of the Waltham Forest Guardian where certain councillors have chosen to blame officers for this scandal and claim that they have nothing to do with it. For my part, I have every date, time and location written down of when I informed them of my serious concerns about the spending (or lack of spending) on these programmes whilst I was still a councillor. Coincidentally, only two weeks after I first formally raised the matter with one of them, I was suddenly contacted by Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command about my local election campaign, which had taken place nearly an entire 10 months before….Other people went to these councillors in 2005 and even before. To have the gall to now try and blame officers for the cover up which has taken place is quite disgraceful. The truth will come out and any attempts to keep delaying it coming out will just make the reckoning worse.
What a pity, Miranda, you seemed to have learned nothing from your ordeal.
Your attempts to rebuild your political career will end in failure of that I am sure.
I see that you’re still very much the scheming and conniving person tthat you are.Telling lies after lies, hoping to win gullible people to your cause.
You play the conspiracy card at the trial, that failed. Then you even tried the race card, I think even your own lawyer and close associates could see you for what you are.
Then you blame people for abandoning you rather than accepting responsibility for what you did.
I’ve also compiled a list of everything you’ve ever said online and look for contradictions, perhaps i should send this to the appropriate people?
‘I was suddenly contacted by Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command about my local election campaign, which had taken place nearly an entire 10 months before’, now you’re saying it was an attempt by your own party to expel you?
Doesn’t that contradicts with what you said in the trial saying it was a Lib Dem plot?
I don’t know who this Julia Hayns person is but maybe she is just an alter ego of you? I could be wrong but maybe just maybe.
There’s a nice video report of you on the bbc, maybe i should start sending the link to people?
What’s with the hiatus between Oct 2007- June 2008, for a PR obsessed person such as you this is highly unusual. What’s wrong? Feeling depressed?
I’ve always believed that karma’s a bitch and it can come back and bite you more than once.
Regards
‘Fran’ your old friend
Dear Fran, thank you for your comments.
I wish you and your family a peaceful Christmas and a successful new year.
Fran, I’m really sorry you seem to be so empty and bitter. Like Miranda, I hope Christmas and New Year brings you some peace and comfort.