Leytonstone cartoonist Woox on Lord Cryer and You Know Who…
(Reproduced by kind permission of Woox) »
Posts
The Whitefield School abuse scandal: who knew what, when, and why is there still a sense of unease?
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 safeguarding issue, a scandal that has periodically re-surfaced, and today is as raw as ever. The story starts in January 2017, with an Ofsted report. For while this was in several respects highly satisfactory, finding for example that ‘Most pupils make outstanding progress in their learning, ... »
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
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 particles; an anonymous complaint was made to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE); and on 13 Janua... »
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
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. »
LBWF censured by an Ombudsman again, this time because it sent an invoice demanding £6,000 to a vulnerable resident…though when challenged admitted this was an ‘error’
Hardly a week goes by without someone from LBWF repeating the twin mantras that ‘Residents are at the heart of everything we do’, and ‘We are determined to be a Council that listens to and works for everyone’. Regrettably, hardly a week goes by, either, without evidence emerging that, especially for anyone who is disadvantaged, these mantras are at best an aspiration for the future, at worst a disingenuous fiction. A new case adjudicated on by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman service (hereafter LGSCO) again proves the point. Mr. X is an adult with a learning disability who resides in supported living accommodation, and receives direct payments from LBWF to meet his a... »