LBWF spin

Town Hall shambles: Chief Executive Linzi Roberts-Egan slams the scheme that her senior managers have been using to appraise staff performance, branding it ‘not fit for purpose’

July 23, 2024 LBWF finance, LBWF spin, Linzi Robers-Egan 0

Sometimes LBWF surprises even those who have followed its antics for many years. As a previous post indicated, the Town Hall is now stuffed with several hundred senior managers, their number having quadrupled since 2015. Many are well paid, too. Thus, 126 (about quarter) earn between £70,000 and £100,000 p.a.; while 37 earn £100,000 p.a. plus, topped off by the Chief Executive, Linzi Roberts-Egan,... »

New investigation reveals that since 2015 LBWF has failed to comply with the official transparency rules, so limiting outside scrutiny and accountability

July 18, 2024 LBWF spin 0

In 2015, the Conservative government introduced an updated version of the Local Government Transparency Code (hereafter LGTC) which set out the information councils must place in the public domain, and how often, with the aim of increasing ‘democratic accountability’. Subsequently, the LGTC has remained unchanged down to the present. But it now can be revealed that, although the LGTC is manda... »

The Whitefield School abuse scandal: who knew what, when, and why is there still a sense of unease?

July 8, 2024 LBWF spin 0

Whitefield is a long-established academy school in Walthamstow with c. 300 pupils aged between three and 19, many of whom have severe or complex needs and are unable to communicate verbally. Over the years, Whitefield has received plenty of plaudits, and attracted support from a range of senior politicians and public figures. However, since 2017 it has been embroiled in a scandal about a historic ... »

LBWF’s latest employment tribunal case: allegations of serious Town Hall racism dismissed, but a sour taste lingers

April 10, 2024 LBWF spin, Racism 0

On 28 March 2024, The Times published the following story: ‘No leading lady worth that label in the golden age of Hollywood would have balked at being called “glamorous”. But Joan Crawford and Rita Hayworth were not slaving away in modern local authority offices, where, according to an employment tribunal judge, the term is “undermining” and “belittling”. The judge, Sophie Park, said tha... »

‘Affordable housing’ in Waltham Forest: Labour councillors talk up their alleged achievements, but the data on completions is still dismal

March 18, 2024 Housing, LBWF spin 0

(cartoon courtesy of WOOX) It’s been widely reported that some Labour councillors are bragging about a supposed breakthrough in the local provision of ‘affordable housing’. Politicians habitually will trim to their advantage, obviously, but in truth this new claim is incomplete without careful contextualisation, as a glance at the data demonstrates. To start with, it is important to underline that... »

LBWF’s new core strategy, ‘Mission Waltham Forest: our plan for a more equal borough’: laudable response to austerity, or cynical political opportunism?

March 8, 2024 LBWF spin 0

 At its February meeting, the Council approved ‘Mission Waltham Forest: our plan for a more equal borough’ (hereafter MWF), comprising a new ‘strategic ambition’ and ‘core purpose’, which is to make Waltham Forest a more equal borough by 2030, plus a new and ‘radical’ way of working, very much ‘a break from… business-as-usual’. In detail, MWF will focus council effort and resources on ten dif... »

Private Eye reports LBWF’s mushrooming number of expensive senior staff, their failure to improve performance, and the redundancy programme that is the consequence

February 14, 2024 LBWF spin, Redundancies 0

From Private Eye, No. 1617, 16 Feb to 29 Feb. 2024 »

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 0

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 represe... »

Speed humps in Waltham Forest: new evidence shows that activists’ call for a review are perfectly reasonable

February 5, 2024 LBWF spin, Mini-Holland 1

It is pleasing to report that the campaign for a review of speed humps in Waltham Forest is progressing well, led by determined activists in partnership with the Chingford Residents Association, gaining support from local MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, and currently attracting ministerial attention in the Department for Transport. However, barely a month passes without new questions arising about ... »

LBWF Chief Executive Linzi Roberts-Egan orders a review of how the council handles residents’ requests for information, but the omens are not encouraging

January 24, 2024 Freedom of Information Act, LBWF spin, Mark Hynes

In a recent e-mail, LBWF Chief Executive Linzi Roberts-Egan tells me: ‘We are currently reviewing our FOI [Freedom of Information Act] and SAR [Subject Access Request] processes to ensure they are as effective and efficient as possible and that the errors identified in dealing with your FOI and SAR will be avoided in the future’. If this review is meaningful, then it will be welcomed. But as is al... »

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