A note for readers…
This is a personal blog, which aims to scrutinise the powers that be in Waltham Forest, from the Council (hereafter London Borough of Waltham Forest or LBWF), both elected members and staff; to our MP... »
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LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom’s (non-) attendance at Cabinet
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... »
Tower Hamlets and a ‘grant funding shambles’: echoes of Waltham Forest
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 aw... »
Waltham Forest Pool and Track: non-consultation and what we can do about it
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... »
Asbestos matters: Waltham Forest Council, PR, and keeping stum
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... »
Residents of Fredd Wigg and John Walsh Towers talk about gentrification
Worth reading: East London Residents talk about gentrification in their own words by residents of Fredd Wigg and John Walsh Towers http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/residents-of-fredd-wigg-and-john-walsh... »
Tower Hamlets and Rotherham
I have posted the recent reports on Tower Hamlets and Rotherham in the documents box on the left. Each discuses a disturbing range of pathologies, and more of these than is comfortable have echoes in ... »
Documenting Past Failures: (4) NRF, EduAction, and the Youth At Risk programme
Between 2003 and 2006, LBWF paid EduAction £340,000 for a programme called ‘Youth at Risk’, the objective of which was to reduce exclusions from schools in targeted areas, broadly the poorer parts of ... »
Documenting Past Failures: (3) NRF, EduAction and an open letter to Cllr. Chris Robbins
One of the outside organisations that LBWF paid NRF monies to was EduAction, or more properly EduAction Waltham Forest Ltd., a joint venture formed by Amey Plc (‘one of today’s leading public se... »
Documenting Past Failures: (2) NRF and Dr. Foster
The Dr. Foster episode is one that always will be close to my heart, not only because it demonstrated everything that was wrong about the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF)/Better Neighbourhoods Initiat... »
Documenting Past Failures: (1) Introduction
Over the coming months, and at irregular intervals, I’ll be posting Documenting Past Failures pieces, which will look at some of the episodes that I’ve been involved in since 2004, broadly... »