A note for readers…
This is a personal blog, which aims to scrutinise the powers that be in Waltham Forest, from the Council (hereafter London Borough of Waltham Forest or LBWF), both elected members and staff; to our MP... »
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The number of senior staff in the Town Hall keeps rising, with a 38 per cent increase between 2021 and 2023 alone, but the explanation remains a mystery
Recently released figures show that, between 2021 and 2023, the number of senior staff in the Town Hall increased from 317 to 437, that is by 38 per cent. This continues a trend going back to 2015 (th... »
LBWF’s glaring failure to obey official – and mandatory – transparency rules: a new twist, as evidence emerges of a major data breach
Two previous posts on this blog (see links) have explored LBWF’s compliance with the mandatory Local Government Transparency Code, the document which specifies the 14 categories of info... »
Cllr. Johar Khan appointed chair of the LBWF Pension Committee: cue questions
A week or so ago, one of Cllr. Johar Khan’s oldest confidants e-mailed me with the news that the great man had been appointed chair of the LBWF Pension Committee (PC). At first, I thought he was pulli... »
Air quality in Waltham Forest: Cllr. Loakes focuses on emissions, but new figures show particulate matter is a big killer, too, and LBWF seems slow to recognise that
In the Summer 2024 issue of the council’s Waltham Forest News, Cllr. Clyde Loakes MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality, reports: ‘“Waltham Forest has the lowest per c... »
LBWF in Private Eye, once again about asbestos
From Private Eye No. 1630, 16 to 29 August 2024 PS Its good to see Mr. Hynes fingered by PE, as, by his absurd antics (see links below), he wasted a good deal of public money, which costs us all. ... »
LBWF’s glaring failure to obey official – and mandatory – transparency rules: an update
Slowly, and through persistent questioning, the full truth about LBWF’s disgraceful disregard for the mandatory Local Government Transparency Code (LGTC) is beginning to be revealed. My initial focus ... »
LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes gets knocked back by the Information Commissioner, and is caught out muddling evidence, while council resources drain away
This blog has periodically highlighted the slipshod way that LBWF administers its information services, and the waste of time and public money which often ensues. In the last couple of years, LBWF Dir... »
Town Hall shambles: Chief Executive Linzi Roberts-Egan slams the scheme that her senior managers have been using to appraise staff performance, branding it ‘not fit for purpose’
Sometimes LBWF surprises even those who have followed its antics for many years. As a previous post indicated, the Town Hall is now stuffed with several hundred senior managers, their number having qu... »
New investigation reveals that since 2015 LBWF has failed to comply with the official transparency rules, so limiting outside scrutiny and accountability
In 2015, the Conservative government introduced an updated version of the Local Government Transparency Code (hereafter LGTC) which set out the information councils must place in the public domain, an... »
Leytonstone cartoonist Woox on Lord Cryer and You Know Who…
(Reproduced by kind permission of Woox) »