Author: Nick Tiratsoo

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 Lewisha... »

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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 Lyn... »

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 f... »

LBWF’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) programme: has it involved unlawful discrimination against men?

April 23, 2026 EDI 0

For the last five years, LBWF has been implementing a wide-ranging equality, diversity and inclusion programme which has comprised numerous separate initiatives; involved every Town Hall employee, from the most junior to the most senior; and cost a large amount of public money, not least because all of the activity has taken place in worktime. One of the key objectives here, repeated again and again, has been to make sure that ‘our workforce reflects the diversity of our community’, on the basis of the assertion that ‘Greater levels of representation lead to stronger connections with our commu... »

The Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review of historic child abuse at Whitefield School in Walthamstow is further delayed, questioning its credibility

March 19, 2026 LCSPR, Whitefield

Word reaches this blog that the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) of historic child abuse at Whitefield School, though already more than a year overdue, is to be delayed yet again, and in fact there is no longer even a target publication date. In explanation, it is said that the LCSPR panel needs to add further expertise, though why any knowledge deficit wasn’t addressed long ago hardly inspires confidence.  It’s also rumoured that the panel early on lost the trust of victims and their families, and the reverberations of this early setback are still being felt. But whateve... »

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LBWF’s promise to put ‘residents at the heart of everything we do’ yet again revealed to be a sham

March 17, 2026 Cllr. Grace Williams, Linzi Roberts-Egan

Renowned Waltham Forest campaigner James O’Rourke has appeared in posts on this blog before. He is a highly qualified expert, a Family and Friend Representative, Learning Disability England; an Independent Panellist for NHS England’s Care, Education and Treatment Review programme; and a Member of the Adult Social Care All Party Parliamentary Group. In addition, he spends a good deal of time looking out for his brother, who has a learning disability and resides in supported living accommodation, and in this latter role, he has regular contact with LBWF. An earlier post looked at ... »

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The Whitefield School child abuse scandal: the five big issues that remain unresolved

March 2, 2026 Whitefield

BBC reporter: ‘You’re sure that his time in these calming rooms changed him?’ Mother: ‘Yes, very much so. He went in as a calm, sweet, innocent child, and he’s come out of there not even being able to function in his daily activities. He needs support with everything now…and basically…He won’t leave the house’.     The Whitefield School child abuse scandal is without doubt the most shocking in Waltham Forest’s modern times, involving as it does allegations that in the years 2014 to 2017 staff subjected about 40 children with learning difficulties a... »

Whitefield latest: in August 2024 LBWF and partners initiated a statutory review of the school’s historic child abuse scandal, but incredibly it’s yet to report

February 17, 2026 LCSPR, Whitefield

In August 2024, LBWF and its various safeguarding partners initiated a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) to examine the historic child abuse at Whitefield School, and this was then publicly announced by the Leader, Cllr. Grace Williams, on 27 November 2024, one day after the BBC’s Noel Titheradge had published the third of his devastating exposés (‘CCTV…obtained by the BBC shows autistic children being shoved into padded rooms, thrown to the floor, restrained by the neck – or left alone, sitting in vomit’).       According to the man... »

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LBWF’s commitment to being transparent again in question as campaigner finds c.£500,000 unaccounted for in audit documents signed off by the council’s senior leadership

February 5, 2026 Cllr. Grace Williams, Freedom of Information Act, LBWF spin, Linzi Roberts-Egan, Local Government Transparency Code, Ombudsman

In recent years LBWF has repeatedly failed to uphold its responsibility to be open and transparent, even where this is required by the law. A few examples are illustrative (for further details see the links below). In 2020, the Information Commissioner’s Office took the almost unprecedented step of issuing LBWF with a Practice Recommendation because of its widespread non-compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. Four years later, LBWF was revealed to have blatantly ignored the mandatory requirements of the 2015 Local Government Transparency Code, legislation that was specifically designe... »

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LBWF gets peer reviewed…but are the results credible?

January 29, 2026 Linzi Roberts-Egan

In 2024, LBWF volunteered itself for a Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC), that is an audit by a team of ‘senior local government councillors and officers’ from outside the borough. How did this work out? It’s worth noting to start with that opinions about CPCs differ. For the LGA, a CPC is ‘a highly valued improvement and assurance tool that is delivered by the sector for the sector’. Several senior LBWF councillors clearly agree, with Clyde Loakes, Marie Pye, and Grace Williams, amongst others, having been involved in CPC teams. However, elsewhere, there are qu... »