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FGM and Waltham Forest

April 6, 2016 Uncategorized

From yesterday’s Evening Standard: ‘A survivor of female genital mutilation today told how she had been attacked in public over her outspoken campaign to confront the barbaric practice in London’s schools. Hibo Wardere, 46, who fled Somalia’s civil war at the age of 18 having suffered FGM aged six, has made it her life’s work to educate and speak frankly about the brutal surgery which affects 200 million women in 30 countries. Mrs Wardere, a teaching assistant who visits schools to educate children about the procedure, has written a book about her one-woman fight to wipe out FGM in her lifetime. The mother-of-seven from Walthamstow told the Standard how after speaking at one loca... »

LBWF and the Freedom of Information Act: dumb insolence reigns?

March 30, 2016 Freedom of Information Act, LBWF, Martin Esom

LBWF’s response to Freedom of Information Act inquiries has, in my experience, always been pretty hit and miss, but recently things seem to have deteriorated sharply, ostensibly due to the fact that the system has been automated. I reproduce a letter that I have sent today to LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom, as it well illustrates the kind of muddle that the innocent inquirer now can so easily find themselves enmeshed in. In some respects, the events outlined are comic, but there is a serious side, as well. LBWF has never been very open about its workings. If it ignores the Freedom of Information Act, too, how can anyone hold it to account? ‘Dear Mr. Esom, I have been seeking to... »

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North London Ltd.: further significant revelations UPDATED

March 24, 2016 North London Ltd.

In previous posts, I have discussed North London Ltd. (NLL), and pointed out some of the mysteries that surround it. To recap briefly, NLL was a private company that (a) was handed hundreds of thousand of pounds by public authorities (including LBWF, both directly, and through the Waltham Forest Business Board); (b) according to its accounts, paid generous ‘director’s remuneration and other benefits’ (a whacking £314,897 in the three year period 2004-07 alone); (c) left an unexpectedly faint footprint in terms of recorded outputs and accomplishments; and (d) was put into liquidation in 2013. What I think is particularly interesting is one of the two programmes that NLL was involved in during... »

LBWF councillors through the prism of their register of interest forms

March 23, 2016 LBWF, register of interests, Waltham Forest Labour Party

The LBWF councillor code of conduct requires each member to answer questions on a register of interest form at the beginning of their term of office, and then update as necessary, with the results being published on the authority’s website. In 2012, the Waltham Forest Guardian reported that councillors were finding this requirement challenging. Some had missed out crucial details, with, for example, the Leader, Chris Robbins, neglecting to mention his family home. Others – incredibly – overlooked their party membership. A few had simply failed to keep their forms up to date. The full story is here: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/9527377.WALTHAM_FOREST__Concern_over_councillors__... »

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‘Forget the homeless, what about the coffee drinkers?’ LBWF v. The Christian Kitchen (Part 2): the council gets a walloping in court

March 22, 2016 Christian Kitchen, Cllr. Clyde Loakes, Cllr. Marie Pye

We published Part 1 of this story some months ago (see the link below in Related Posts). Our correspondent now provides the sequel. ‘The Christian Kitchen has been feeding the homeless in Walthamstow for over 20 years. On the 17 April 2013, LBWF revoked its longstanding licence to operate from the Mission Grove car park (located just behind the High Street), citing the apparent incidence of associated anti-social behaviour, and a desire to regenerate the immediate area. In Part 1 of this investigation we documented how veteran councillor Terry Wheeler made known his opposition to the licence decision in a letter to Labour Group colleagues.  Here, we turn to what happened subsequently, lookin... »

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