Posts

Nine years after Grenfell, 64 of LBWF’s 65 low-rise and high-rise housing blocks are still not fire safe. How can this have been allowed to happen?

June 26, 2026 fire hazards, fire safety 0

In 2020, after it was involved in several fire safety scandals, including litigation with a supplier, LBWF began a remediation programme (RP) to bring its housing stock ‘up to the most modern…safety standard’, this being forecast to cost £40m.. Previous posts on this blog have looked at the RP, and shown that in the early days there was some degree of progress, but more recently this has slowed. Now, unpublished returns forwarded in April of this year by LBWF to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) confirm the trend. The headline findings are that, as of April, 64 of LBWF’s 65 low-rise and high-rise blocks remained blighted by ‘life-critical fire-safety defects’; and in nearly a third of th... »

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Journalist Andrew Kersley’s investigation of Waltham Forest resident Tracey Turnell’s tragic death causes a stir, but after at first feigning interest, the Greens quickly chicken out

June 9, 2026 Safeguarding 0

Journalist Andrew Kersley’s investigation of Waltham Forest resident Tracey Turnell’s tragic death, published on 30 May in The Londoner, has deservedly provoked much positive interest and comment (see below). But there is one grating note. After publication, the newly appointed Green Party cabinet member in charge of adult social care, Cllr. Martin Edobor, was in contact with Mr. Kersley and ‘said he was open to meeting to discuss what could be done’. To Mr. Kersley this seemed promising, as, after all, Labour previously had ignored both him, and others who had raised LBWF’s longstanding failures over safeguarding (see links). But unfortunately, when push came to shove, Cllr. Edobor chickene... »

LBWF is quietly paying consultancy Newton c. £5m. to help it make savings in services for those local residents most in need

June 4, 2026 consultants, LBWF demand management 0

From the beginning of the year, LBWF has been working with a big consultancy, Newton Consulting Ltd., on a project to deliver ‘change across its organisation, with a focus on…  Housing and Homelessness and Adult Social Care’. This is part of a new LBWF emphasis on ‘demand management’, that is, wherever feasible, remodelling its key statutory responsibilities in a way that produces tangible savings.  Newton’s appeal is that it claims to have a uniquely meticulous approach to this issue, as well as a string of contracts with other local authorities, from Labour’s Lewisham Council to Reform’s Leicester County Council.  Turning to how much this is costing residents,... »

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‘How others see us’, an occasional series, No.2: The Londoner’s Andrew Kersley revisits the tragic death of Waltham Forest resident Tracey Turnell and eviscerates LBWF

June 1, 2026 Safeguarding 0

The Londoner has just published Andrew Kersley’s forensic investigation of the tragic death of Waltham Forest resident Tracey Turnell, the so called ‘body in the wheelchair’ case, here: https://www.the-londoner.co.uk/tracey-turnell-death-wheelchair-walthamstow/ It is well worth reading in full, particularly for those who still believe LBWF’s much repeated claim that it puts residents first in everything it does. Here’s a taste: ‘The findings in Tracey’s SAR [Safeguarding Adult Review] were written by an independent social care consultant, a former nurse and council worker, named Betty Lynch. Lynch concluded that the council had, over the course of nine years, repeatedly failed to show p... »

In Waltham Forest, the Greens take the Town Hall, but will ‘a new kind of council’ follow?

May 15, 2026 Greens 0

Jubilant at gaining an overall majority in the Town Hall, the Greens are promising major changes, no less than ‘a new kind of council’. However, there are several flies in the ointment, as this post explains. First, many of the new Green councillors are almost completely unknown, and it’s possible that when they step into the limelight, it will turn out that some have made comments in the past which they now may regret. Indeed, in this context, it’s notable that, even before the votes had been counted, one of the Green candidates at the recent local elections found himself being investigated for allegedly posting antisemitic comments.  But the Green’s potential difficulties here are ins... »

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