Author: Nick Tiratsoo

Ex-Cllr. Afzal Akram finds a new political home

February 23, 2015 Cllr. Afzal Akram, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

After reading my previous post, an astute reader contacts me to ask what has happened to onetime Waltham Forest councillor Afzal Akram. Her question is understandable. After all, here is a man who in a matter of a few years first rose from relative obscurity to occupy a powerful place in the Labour Cabinet, concurrently served on many different local boards and quangos, then was suspended by his local party, and subsequently abruptly disappeared from view – truly, a shooting star. Luckily for the body politic, it turns out that Mr. Akram is alive and well, has moved across London, and is... »

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Barnett v. Dhedi: councillors scrap

February 23, 2015 Cllr. Peter Barnett, Cllr. Shabana Dhedi/Qadir, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

Spats amongst councillors are often good value for money – a window into the Town Hall world of petty rivalries, vanities, jealousies, self-importance and general buffoonery, where molehills soon become mountains. Whether the latest altercation, between the deeply unimpressive Cllrs Peter Barnett and Shabana Dhedi, conforms to this mould remains to be seen. The Waltham Forest Guardian has covered the story in surprising depth, and attracted a fair bit of public interest. There is some suggestion of an organised campaign.  Regarless, the synthetic rage of the supposedly affronted adds an albeit... »

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Asbestos matters: John Cryer MP keeps stum, too

February 20, 2015 John Cryer MP, Town Hall asbestos

John Cryer is a trade union sponsored MP who likes to present himself as a staunch defender of the downtrodden. In April 2014, Mr. Cryer addressed a memorial service in the Town Hall complex to commemorate ‘men killed whilst at work’, in particular those  ‘as young as 16 who have died in and around the borough’. The local press published a picture of him standing outside the Town Hall itself, alongside trade unionists and bereaved family members. Nine months elapse, and LBWF is found guilty of exposing staff and visitors to dangerous asbestos dust in the very same building that Mr. Cryer had e... »

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Flying the flag in the face of austerity

February 16, 2015 Cllr. Chris Robbins

A local resident writes: ‘Have you noticed all the Union Jacks now flying in the borough? You might expect a Union Jack at the Town Hall, but do we need them at Leyton Cricket Ground and other such facilities? Alongside running the Council, with all the difficult decisions to be made over cuts to essential services, it would appear that money has been found to put a flagpole and union jack at all our sports grounds and council buildings, even to the extent of getting planning permission where required for listed buildings. Emails from the Council Leader’s office asking “Pleas... »

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Disposing of Council assets: the Waltham Forest Business Board and the Argall car parks

February 16, 2015 Argall Car Parks, Waltham Forest Business Board

Councils inevitably dispose of unwanted public assets from time to time, and it is always interesting to discover exactly how they do so, and who benefits. The following is a tale of what happens in Waltham Forest, and as might be predicted, it  provokes more questions than it answers.  On 14 June 2011, the LBWF Cabinet agreed to lease the Argall Avenue car parks to ‘BID’, a fair assumption being that the latter was the Argall Business Improvement District Co., which operated on the modest industrial estate of the same name (see the Cabinet paper of that date, Appendix B, p.1). The car parks b... »

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LBWF, the Local Authority Business Growth Initiative programmes, and the Waltham Forest Business Board, E11 Bid Co., and North London Ltd.

February 13, 2015 Argall Car Parks, E11 BID Co., North London Ltd., Waltham Forest Business Board

A couple of years ago, I started hearing some very surprising things about Leytonstone’s Business Improvement District (BID) company, the E11 Bid Co.. The allegation, in short, was that the directors of the company had failed to keep proper books and neglected to pay their taxes; run up substantial debts; and as a consequence jeopardised the company’s ‘going concern’ status. I had always been suspicious about the E11 BID Co. because there was a lack of transparency about its operations, and a lot of obvious flannel about its alleged successes. I knew that councillors (i... »

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LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom’s (non-) attendance at Cabinet

February 13, 2015 Martin Esom

Back in September 2014, Waltham Forest’s Chief Executive, Martin Esom, was awarded a very large pay increase, amounting to £15,000 or 8.7 per cent, and this took his salary to £195,000 p.a.. With some justification, the Waltham Forest Guardian reported the story under the headline ‘Inflation busting pay rise for town hall boss’. Given his level of remuneration, one might expect that Mr. Esom would be a fixture at Cabinet, as this is, of course, supposedly the Council’s highest decision-making body.  But looking at the Council’s website, I find that Mr. Esom last attended Cabinet on 15 July 201... »

Tower Hamlets and a ‘grant funding shambles’: echoes of Waltham Forest

February 13, 2015 Lutfur Rahman, Tower Hamlets

Mark Baynes at Love Wapping has just posted a very interesting piece on a Tower Hamlets council audit report which ‘paints a grim picture of an almost total lack of control in relation to the awarding and monitoring of grants across the borough’. As he observes, the report, which covers the period September 2014 to November 2014, ‘describes a culture within Tower Hamlets council that seems to have little or no interest in accounting for public funds. Issues identified included not verifying that grant money was actually being spent for the purpose the grant had been awarded, ... »

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Waltham Forest Pool and Track: non-consultation and what we can do about it

February 12, 2015 Waltham Forest Pool and Track

Ian Capes and Amanda Connolly write: ‘Some of you may be aware that GLL and the Council are redeveloping Waltham Forest Pool & Track. A few of us locals are concerned that they haven’t run a meaningful consultation. The new plans (due to be approved in the next month) show a reduction in facilities; for the disabled, the elderly and parents and toddlers, along with taking away the diving pool. We are also hearing that the Dog Track Redevelopment are reducing their planned leisure facility, as they will be investing in the Pool & Track, so why are we loosing any facilities a... »

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Asbestos matters: Waltham Forest Council, PR, and keeping stum

February 11, 2015 LBWF spin, Town Hall asbestos

So you are an employer who has just been found guilty of breaking the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 – of running your affairs, in other words, in such a way as to endanger your employees and those who visit your premises. What do you do? Publicly apologise? Offer everyone involved some advice and support? Perhaps even take action against those who directly presided over the negligence? Most of us would expect (and do) all of these things. Yet after the recent court case, which has left LBWF in exactly the position I’m talking about, the o... »

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