Private Eye reports the Cann Hall mural fiasco
From Issue 1549, 11-24 June 2021 »
Posts
LBWF’s flat entrance door scandal: an update on developments
In the past few weeks, fresh revelations have emerged about the scandal surrounding LBWF’s 2017-18 purchase and installation of the 217 flat entrance doors (FEDs) at Walthamstow’s 21 floor Northwood Tower, and four sheltered housing blocks (Boothby Court, Goddarts House, Holmcroft House, and Lime Court) – FEDs which all remain in place today. The following provides a summary. Certification When selling to customers, manufacturers of FEDs routinely provide certification for each item in the order, confirming details such as batch number, fire safety rating, fire and smoke test history, and installation requirements, as this example illustrates: Such information is obviously vi... »
LBWF’s Cann Hall murals, Cllr. Sally Littlejohn, and £14,500 of public money that has disappeared down the drain, lost forever
As previously reported here, in the past few years, and encouraged by a £40,000 Town Hall grant, Cann Hall councillors have been intent on installing an artistic mural in the ward, but on two separate occasions, their plans have fallen through and been abandoned. That’s the bones of the story, but it can now be revealed that these failures have come at a cost. For in both cases significant sums of money were paid out in design fees prior to the decision to abort, while in one case there also were unexplained ‘closure costs’. And when these various sums are totted up, they come to no less than £14,500, or one third of the original budget. That’s £14,500 which has disappeared down the dr... »
LBWF opts for worthless ‘unconscious bias training’, while long-term staff recruitment and reward inequalities remain in place
In recent months, LBWF has employed third parties to put about 1,600 of its staff through unconscious bias training (UBT). Some will no doubt applaud, seeing this as a firm step forward in the fight against racism and discrimination. However, such commendation is more than a little misguided. UBT is certainly in vogue, and at present there is an increasingly influential cohort of HR professionals, private sector ‘trainers’, and campaigners who benefit from pushing its supposed efficacy. However, when the hype and self-promotion are stripped away, the flaws in UBT become very obvious indeed, to the extent that there is major doubt as to whether it has any value whatsoever. No-one,... »
Has LBWF got a child safeguarding problem? Judge in recent case condemns council’s ‘overwhelming failure’, while three other cases give cause for concern
In recent weeks, Waltham Forest and London news outlets have reported the trial of a local mother and father, who stood accused of keeping their two children isolated at home for more than 14 years, thereby depriving them of schooling, access to medical care, recreation, and any kind of social life. The outcome was that the father admitted child cruelty and neglect, and was given a community order, while charges against the mother were dropped for reasons that have not been made public. The evidence presented in court showed that several statutory agencies had performed less than satisfactorily, but the judge was particularly scathing of one, LBWF, the safeguarding authority. Soc... »