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LBWF fraud team’s investigation of the FEDs fire safety scandal dodges key questions, as officers focus on their ding dong battle with Osborne at the High Court

December 23, 2021 fire hazards, fire safety, Goddarts House, Northwood Tower

In response to a Freedom of Information request, LBWF has just released a redacted version of the June 2021 investigation report, authored by the internal Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT), concerning the flat entrance door (FED) scandal, much discussed previously on this blog. The ‘executive summary’ of the findings reads as follows: ‘Osborne Property Services Ltd (OPSL) were contracted by LBWF to provide 219 fire doors to the following blocks: Holmcroft House, Lime Court, Boothby Court, Northwood Tower and Goddarts House.  Originally LBWF requested…that these doors were FD30 rated (provided 30 minutes of fire protection). This is in line with Building Regulations 2010.  This order... »

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LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes lands a plum job on the side, but then ‘unforeseen circumstances’ spoil his Christmas, leaving the Town Hall hierarchy with questions to answer

December 17, 2021 Mark Hynes

Reports reach this blog of a new and arresting episode in the life and times of our old friend, LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes. The gist is as follows. In the past few years, Thanet District Council (TDC), which provides services to 140,000 people living in the Margate, Ramsgate, and Broadstairs area, has descended into chaos, said to stem from a near complete failure of governance. Indeed, the situation was so bad earlier this year, that the TDC auditors, Grant Thornton, stepped in, and using powers granted to it under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, investigated the scale and nature of the crisis, and made a series of recommendations. On the crisis itself,... »

STOP PRESS Cllr. Coghill revealed to have issues with her register of interests forms, and LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes now investigating

December 1, 2021 Cllr. Clare Coghill

As this blog has noted before, despite the fact that she long has been a senior figure in the Town Hall, Cllr. Clare Coghill’s record over her LBWF register of interests forms is not outstanding. In 2017, Cllr. Coghill was involved in a muddle about her two visits to the annual Marché International des Professionnels de l’Immobilier (MIPIM), ‘real estate’s Glastonbury Festival’, in Cannes (see link). Earlier in 2021, research by Walthamstow resident Charlie Edwards revealed that a complaint about Cllr. Coghill’s register of interests form was upheld (see link), and she subsequently added the name of her new partner, a Blackpool councillor. However, more recently still, investigatio... »

Cllr. Clare Coghill and Square Roots Registered Provider Ltd.: the controversy continues

November 29, 2021 Cllr. Clare Coghill

Reaction to Cllr. Coghill’s appointment to the Board of Square Roots Registered Provider Ltd. continues to provoke discussion, and, in some quarters, condemnation. One issue is whether her change of circumstance will impact on how LBWF does business with developers. Normally, there is a good deal of arm-wrestling in such negotiations, with the two sides haggling over, for example, the balance between social and private housing, the amount of green space and ancillary facilities to be included, and so on. Cllr. Coghill, needless to say, has intimate knowledge of LBWF’s current plans and bargaining strategy. Questioned about whether LBWF has any legal control over what Cllr. Coghill can or can... »

Complaints by residents about Waltham Forest councillors: another can of worms

November 16, 2021 LBWF spin, Mark Hynes, register of interests

As many readers of this blog will know, Waltham Forest councillors must comply with the ‘Code of Conduct for Members’, Part Nine of the LBWF Constitution. This document covers matters such a ‘General Standards of Conduct’ and ‘Registration of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests’; applies only when councillors are acting in their official capacity; and is presided over by Mark Hynes, Director of Governance and Law. An interesting question is what happens when councillors are alleged to have breached the Code, and here some recent data unearthed by indefatigable Walthamstow resident Charles Edwards is invaluable, not least because, regrettably, it points to some troubling conclusions. In the... »

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