Posts

Mr. Hynes asbestos inquiry report is still awaited, though promised for June, and meanwhile LBWF continues to fight off awkward questioning

July 7, 2023 Asbestos at St. Mary's School, Town Hall asbestos

In various statements made from the end of 2022 onwards, LBWF Director of Governance and Law, Mark Hynes, reiterated that he aimed to complete the report of his asbestos investigation by June 2023. In May 2023, the Leader, Cllr. Grace Williams, backed him up, telling councillors ‘we are expecting the final report imminently’, and elaborating: ‘the Monitoring Officer anticipates [it] will be available no later than June this year’. June has come and gone, but without any sign of the report, or any explanation as to why it is delayed. When asked, Mr. Hynes comments only: ‘I appreciate your continued patience on this matter. I hope to have finalised the report shortly’. One theor... »

Some councillors seem to have been put on earth purely to entertain us. But are they having the last laugh?

July 3, 2023 Cllr. Ahsan Khan, Cllr. Alistair Strathern, Cllr. Anna Mbachu, Cllr. Johar Khan, Cllr. Keith Rayner

In a recent Waltham Forest Echo story, Local Democracy Reporter Josh Mellor reports that one of Waltham Forest’s finest, Cllr. Alistair Strathern, is standing for Labour in the eagerly awaited Mid Bedfordshire bye-election, and while a bit hazy about local issues, believes he is an upgrade on the Tory incumbent, Nadine Dorries, because she has been a ‘“part-time M.P”’, presumably a reference to her novels and TV work. A nice attack line, perhaps, but a somewhat strange one nevertheless. For since 2021, while Cllr. Strathern has been Cabinet portfolio holder for children and young people, one of the most demanding and important posts there is in local government, he also has be... »

, , , ,

LBWF spends millions of public money on cycling, but cannot say whether residents as a whole are getting on bikes, or just the better off

June 27, 2023 LBWF spin, Mini Holland

In the past few years, LBWF has spent upwards of c. £30m. on cycling infrastructure, while preaching the virtues of cycling at every opportunity.  Indeed, cycling has become an integral part of the borough’s assiduously promoted self-image, alongside artisan coffee, craft beer, independent shops, and ‘the arts’. Accordingly, it’s reasonable to ask: is this policy working? Are more people cycling? Have all residents, regardless of background, been equally enthused? And is LBWF collecting enough data to make an accurate reckoning, and thus justify the planned further interventions, for instance, the roll out of new Lower Traffic Neighbourhoods?  These are big questions, and ones whic... »

,

Local faith in the police plummets to levels lower than elsewhere in London. Why? Probably because too few criminals are being caught!

June 19, 2023 Policing/crime

It is a striking, though often overlooked fact, that Waltham Forest residents’ trust and confidence in the police has not only declined markedly over recent years, but is also comparatively less favourable than in most other London boroughs. What follows looks at the dimensions of this unsatisfactory situation, and then turns to  discuss its possible causes. Local trust and confidence in the police: the facts Each year, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) runs large-scale surveys to measure six metrics about how samples of the public assess the police, borough by borough. Looking at the data specifically for Waltham Forest, the following emerges. 1.Do you have ‘confid... »

Town Hall asbestos: now LBWF can’t produce the mandatory health and safety permits issued to the contractors doing vital remedial and removal work

June 6, 2023 Town Hall asbestos

In the period 2015-20, LBWF ostensibly managed Town Hall asbestos on the basis of a 101-page manual, ‘Asbestos Management Procedure For Main Building Walthamstow Town Hall Complex’, jointly produced with the NPS Group. Amongst other things, this contained a chapter headed ‘Audit Records – Permit to Work’, which explained that ‘The Permit To Work…procedure provides a formal control system aimed at the prevention of accidents and damage to property where foreseeable hazardous work is carried out’.  The key to the ‘procedure’ was a ‘Permit To Work’ form, reproduced here:  Construction work where asbestos was likely to be present, it was underlined, could only proceed if ‘an authorized... »

Page 17 of 92«‹1516171819›»