EduAction – Waltham Forest Matters

Looking back at the past, an occasional series. Part one: LBWF CEO Roger Kilburn is sacked and walks away with £356,000

Nick Tiratsoo September 8, 2021 Cllr. Chris Robbins, Independent Panel, NRF, Youth at Risk

The story reproduced below is from the Oldham Evening Chronicle of 11 June 2010, and deals with the dismissal of current LBWF CEO Martin Esom’s immediate predecessor, Andrew Kilburn. Briefly, Mr. Kilburn had come to Waltham Forest with a big reputation, gained during a long career in local government, and burnished by his recent leadership of Oldham Council through a period of heightened racial tension. Yet after just 21 months in his new post, Mr. Kilburn found himself surplus to requirements, and in circumstances that the Local Government Chronicle described as ‘mysteriou... »

Cllr. Chris Robbins, EduAction, Independent Panel, NRF, NRF Youth at Risk

The National College for Leadership and Teaching report on Waltham Forest head Ludiya Besisira: a tale of dishonesty and almost total regulatory failure UPDATED

Nick Tiratsoo December 7, 2015 Cllr. Chris Robbins, EduAction, LBWF, Ludiya Besisira

‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank the headteacher, Ludiya Besisira and her staff for all their hard work in improving the school and attaining an excellent Ofsted report’ (Cllr. Chris Robbins, portfolio holder, to LBWF Cabinet, October 2008) In October 2015, the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) published its adjudication on allegations made against Ms. Ludiya Besisira, headteacher at Mission Grove Primary School in Walthamstow from 2001 to 2010 (NCTL, Ludiya Besisira: Professional conduct panel outcome (October 2015)). It does not make pleasant read... »

Chris Robbins, EduAction, Waltham Forest Council

Documenting Past Failures: (11) some conclusions, part one

Nick Tiratsoo June 10, 2015 Past failures: overview

The previous ten posts in this series have looked at LBWF’s record of extensive failure over the past decade or so, and it is now apposite to offer some general conclusions. First, it is notable that, by and large, the cases examined share some common characteristics, which may be summarised as follows: (a) rule breaches On paper, LBWF has always possessed clear rules to govern programme inception and governance. Yet the evidence shows that these were often disregarded. Contracts were procured without seeking the requisite number of bidders; contract documents remained unsigned, sometimes und... »

Andrew Kilburn, BNI, Camden New Journal, Chris Robbins, Clyde Loakes, Common Purpose, EduAction, Elizabeth Phillips, Goss Consulting Ltd., Independent Panel, Jacquie Dean, Keith Rayner, LBWF, Marie Pye, Martin Esom, NRF, NRF Youth at Risk, O-Regen, past failures, Roger Taylor, Sir Peter Rogers, Waltham Forest Council, Worknet

Documenting Past Failures: (5) The BNI – ‘We’re awfully sorry, folks. Mistakes were made about how we spent millions of pounds of public money. But it’s all in the past. Let’s move forward and forget it’.

Nick Tiratsoo March 6, 2015 The BNI

By the spring of 2008, the situation with the Better Neighbourhoods Initiative (BNI) programme was becoming untenable. The Council’s Corporate Audit and Anti-Fraud Team had just reported on the Dr. Foster episode, had nearly completed its work on EduAction’s Youth at Risk project, and was chasing new leads. A consultant’s examination of the BNI which was presented to Cabinet concluded there had been ‘systematic failures by officers to follow sound procedures’. Police investigations were said to be ongoing. Negative coverage in the local press continued. So LBWF reacted as it had always done, ... »

BNI, Corporate Audit and Anti-Fraud Team, Dr. Foster, EduAction, LBWF, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Waltham Forest Council, Waltham Forest Guardian

Documenting Past Failures: (4) NRF, EduAction, and the Youth At Risk programme

Nick Tiratsoo February 10, 2015 EduAction, NRF, Youth at Risk

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 the borough. From 2006 onwards, rumours about this programme began to spread, with the central allegation being that EduAction had not spent the money as intended. Various investigations ensued, and a complaint was made to the police. The issue rumbled on, receiving extensive coverage in the Waltham Forest Guardian (see links below). Finally, in 2010, thanks to the persistence of several campaigne... »

Corporate Audit and Anti-Fraud Team, EduAction, Iain Duncan Smith, NRF, NRF Youth at Risk, past failures, Waltham Forest Guardian

Documenting Past Failures: (3) NRF, EduAction and an open letter to Cllr. Chris Robbins

Nick Tiratsoo February 10, 2015 Cllr. Chris Robbins, EduAction, NRF

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 services providers’) and Nord Anglia Education. In the 2000s, EduAction ran the schools in the borough, after a damning Ofsted report at the turn of the century had disposed of the idea that the local authority was up to the job. It was always said that EduAction was receiving NRF monies to help it run special programmes, aimed for instance those at those most at risk of failure or truancy. Ho... »

BNI, Chris Robbins, contracts, Corporate Audit and Anti-Fraud Team, Dr. Foster, EduAction, LBWF, NRF, past failures, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Roger Taylor, Waltham Forest Council