Mark Hynes

LBWF repeatedly claims it is taking residents’ complaints seriously…but just as repeatedly fails to do so

November 18, 2025 Freedom of Information Act, Mark Hynes, Ombudsman

In the last few years, LBWF has repeatedly claimed that it is taking residents’ complaints seriously, and learning from them, explaining: ‘Complaints are an important way for an organisation to be accountable to the public, as well as providing valuable insights into organisational performance and the conduct of staff providing services to residents in order to drive improvement in service delivery’. Of course, many big corporates make similar noises, it’s become fashionable. Yet in this particular case, there is reason to be circumspect, ... »

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Private Eye reports LBWF’s failure to properly monitor the corporate credit cards issued to its senior managers

April 3, 2025 LBWF spin, Local Government Transparency Code, Mark Hynes

From Private Eye No.1646 4-17 April 2025 »

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LBWF has issued corporate credit cards to its senior managers, but broken the law for many years by failing to publish data tracking their use

February 27, 2025 LBWF spin, Local Government Transparency Code, Mark Hynes

For the past two decades or so, LBWF has issued its senior managers with corporate credit cards. And, since 2015, following the introduction of the Local Government Transparency Code (LGTC), LBWF also has been legally required to publish data on how these cards are being used. But with the exception of one year, 2016, the latter is something which LBWF has, without explanation, completely failed to do.  Challenged about this in January 2025, LBWF’s Corporate Director – Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud, Revenues and Benefits, Gemma Young, states that ‘The corporate credit card data is bein... »

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LBWF’s glaring failure to obey official – and mandatory – transparency rules: a new twist, as evidence emerges of a major data breach

September 18, 2024 LBWF spin, Local Government Transparency Code, Mark Hynes

Two previous posts on this blog (see links) have explored LBWF’s compliance with the mandatory Local Government Transparency Code, the document which specifies the 14 categories of information that all councils must publish, and at what intervals. The major finding that emerges is that in many cases, and for some years, LBWF has failed to act as it should. But it’s recently become evident that even where LBWF has regularly published the required information, this has not necessarily gone smoothly. Indeed, in the case of the requirement to publish a quarterly listing of... »

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LBWF in Private Eye, once again about asbestos

August 15, 2024 Mark Hynes, Town Hall asbestos

From Private Eye No. 1630, 16 to 29 August 2024 PS Its good to see Mr. Hynes fingered by PE, as, by his absurd antics (see links below), he wasted a good deal of public money, which costs us all.  Readers may be interested to know that when I recently asked LBWF CEO Linzi Roberts-Egan what she intended to do about the ICO’s demolition of Mr. Hynes, the fact that, though a solicitor, Mr. Hynes even got the law wrong, and so on, and so on, she replied as follows: ‘Dear Mr Tiratsoo, The issue you have raised form [sic] part of the complaint you have made to the ICO who have now concluded the... »

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LBWF’s glaring failure to obey official – and mandatory – transparency rules: an update

August 12, 2024 LBWF spin, Local Government Transparency Code, Mark Hynes

Slowly, and through persistent questioning, the full truth about LBWF’s disgraceful disregard for the mandatory Local Government Transparency Code (LGTC) is beginning to be revealed. My initial focus was on LBWF’s failure to publish, as the LGTC demands, information about tendering and contracting. But LBWF’s Monitoring Officer, Mark Hynes, was having none of it, telling me: ‘The London Borough of Waltham Forest publishes all requirements under the LGTC regarding its Procurement Information, as stated in Part 2.1, in real time and ahead of the quarterly requirement. This information is publicl... »

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LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes gets knocked back by the Information Commissioner, and is caught out muddling evidence, while council resources drain away

August 6, 2024 Freedom of Information Act, Mark Hynes

This blog has periodically highlighted the slipshod way that LBWF administers its information services, and the waste of time and public money which often ensues. In the last couple of years, LBWF Director of Governance and Law, Mark Hynes, who is also Data Protection Officer, together with LBWF CEO, Linzi Roberts-Egan, have each promised reviews and improvements, but as a new case again shows, in reality little has changed. In February 2024, local commentator, Michelle Edwards, who authors the Anything BUT Countryside & Waltham Forest Council Twitter/X feed, sent LBWF a Freedom ... »

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LBWF’s top law officer Mark Hynes blocks a question about asbestos in the Town Hall for six months, and then gets an almighty rocket from the Information Commissioner

June 26, 2024 Freedom of Information Act, Mark Hynes, Town Hall asbestos

During the early 2020s, I spent a good deal of time researching LBWF health and safety matters, especially those which followed on from its 2015 court conviction for exposing staff and contractors to deadly asbestos dust in the Town Hall basement. Amongst other things, I discovered a worrying incident that had occurred in 2020. In early January of that year, contractors were drilling in the Town Hall basement, when dust suddenly started spiralling up into the floors above, setting off the fire alarms. Given the recent history, staff understandingly worried that the dust might contain asbestos ... »

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LBWF Monitoring Officer Mark Hynes rules that Cllr. Akram’s register of interests form is up-to-date and correct, and issues in the past were the fault of council staff

June 5, 2024 Mark Hynes, register of interests

After investigating, LBWF Monitoring Officer Mark Hynes has ruled that Cllr. Akram’s register of interest form is up-to-date and correct, and issues in the past were caused because despite Cllr. Akram submitting an e-mail requesting that his form be updated, ‘due to a fault on the part of the democratic services team the Register was not properly updated’. A fuller examination of this ruling will follow shortly. »

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Walthamstow community activist Charlie Edwards’ court case shows that, though LBWF has a legal duty to release to each resident the personal information it holds about them, it is still obstructive

February 9, 2024 Freedom of Information Act, LBWF spin, Mark Hynes

Some months ago, Walthamstow community activist Charlie Edwards lodged a claim for damages against LBWF because of the way it had handled a request for the personal information which it held about him, what’s known as a Subject Access Request (SAR), and earlier this week his case was heard at the Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court. The hearing started on a comical note.  LBWF was represented by barrister Douglas Scott of Six Pump Court (which describes itself as ‘Recognised nationally and internationally as one of the UK’s leading sets of Chambers’) and, while waiting to start, Mr. S... »

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