Nick Tiratsoo's Posts

Cllr. Clare Coghill confirmed to have broken LBWF’s Code of Conduct by not declaring her work for Barry Sheerman MP, but Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes declines disciplinary action

January 11, 2022 Cllr. Clare Coghill, Mark Hynes, register of interests

A recent post (see first link below) looked at ex-Leader Cllr. Clare Coghill’s LBWF register of interests in the period 2014 to 2018, and noted some discrepancies.  In 2014, Cllr. Coghill declared that she was office manager for the Labour MP Barry Sheerman, but in her next register three years later, she included no such entry: The clear implication was that her job with Mr. Sheerman ha... »

LBWF fraud team’s investigation of the FEDs fire safety scandal dodges key questions, as officers focus on their ding dong battle with Osborne at the High Court

December 23, 2021 fire hazards, fire safety, Goddarts House, Northwood Tower

In response to a Freedom of Information request, LBWF has just released a redacted version of the June 2021 investigation report, authored by the internal Corporate Anti-Fraud Team (CAFT), concerning the flat entrance door (FED) scandal, much discussed previously on this blog. The ‘executive summary’ of the findings reads as follows: ‘Osborne Property Services Ltd (OPSL) were contracted by LBWF to... »

LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes lands a plum job on the side, but then ‘unforeseen circumstances’ spoil his Christmas, leaving the Town Hall hierarchy with questions to answer

December 17, 2021 Mark Hynes

Reports reach this blog of a new and arresting episode in the life and times of our old friend, LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes. The gist is as follows. In the past few years, Thanet District Council (TDC), which provides services to 140,000 people living in the Margate, Ramsgate, and Broadstairs area, has descended into chaos, said to stem from a near complete failure of gover... »

STOP PRESS Cllr. Coghill revealed to have issues with her register of interests forms, and LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes now investigating

December 1, 2021 Cllr. Clare Coghill

As this blog has noted before, despite the fact that she long has been a senior figure in the Town Hall, Cllr. Clare Coghill’s record over her LBWF register of interests forms is not outstanding. In 2017, Cllr. Coghill was involved in a muddle about her two visits to the annual Marché International des Professionnels de l’Immobilier (MIPIM), ‘real estate’s Glastonbury Festival’, in Cannes&nbs... »

Cllr. Clare Coghill and Square Roots Registered Provider Ltd.: the controversy continues

November 29, 2021 Cllr. Clare Coghill

Reaction to Cllr. Coghill’s appointment to the Board of Square Roots Registered Provider Ltd. continues to provoke discussion, and, in some quarters, condemnation. One issue is whether her change of circumstance will impact on how LBWF does business with developers. Normally, there is a good deal of arm-wrestling in such negotiations, with the two sides haggling over, for example, the balance betw... »

Complaints by residents about Waltham Forest councillors: another can of worms

November 16, 2021 LBWF spin, Mark Hynes, register of interests

As many readers of this blog will know, Waltham Forest councillors must comply with the ‘Code of Conduct for Members’, Part Nine of the LBWF Constitution. This document covers matters such a ‘General Standards of Conduct’ and ‘Registration of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests’; applies only when councillors are acting in their official capacity; and is presided over by Mark Hynes, Director of ... »

LBWF and faith groups: a ‘gay friendly’ council does business with a church that thinks same sex relations are ‘immoral and sinful’, and guess what gives?

November 3, 2021 Cllr.Sally Littlejohn, faith groups, Redevelopment

A recent post on this blog (see links), which broadly raised the question of how – if at all – LBWF should interact with faith groups that do not subscribe to its social cohesion and equity policies, brings to mind another troubling episode, which was briefly mentioned here in 2019, but in the light of events perhaps deserves a little more coverage. The bones of the story can be summarised t... »

Ex-Leader of LBWF Cllr. Clare Coghill joins the board of private sector housing provider Square Roots: cue furore

October 29, 2021 Cllr. Clare Coghill, Redevelopment, register of interests

A couple of weeks ago, Cllr. Clare Coghill, the ex-Leader of LBWF, amended her Town Hall register of interests form to acknowledge that she has joined ‘Square Roots One York Road Uxbridge UB81RN’ as board vice chair. To seasoned Waltham Forest watchers, this development is perhaps not unexpected. Square Roots (or Square Roots Registered Provider Ltd., its full name) is a recently incorporated ‘aff... »

Islamic extremism in Walthamstow: the Charity Commission investigates two Muslim charities over controversial statements made in youth programmes, but LBWF must intervene, too.

October 21, 2021 anti-semitism, faith groups, Prevent

As has been reported by various media outlets (most prominently the Times), the Charity Commission is currently investigating two Waltham Forest Islamic charities, the Miftahul Jannah Academy and the Masjid-E-Umer Trust (which runs Walthamstow Central Mosque), following a complaint about controversial statements in lectures that allegedly have been delivered as part of their youth progra... »

Cllr. Anna Mbachu’s High Court claim to have been libelled thrown out, leaving her with a £34,000 bill UPDATED

October 13, 2021 Cllr. Anna Mbachu

After attending the High Court for the Waltham Forest Echo last week, Local Democracy Reporter, Josh Mellor, brings news that Councillor Anna Mbachu has lost a libel action in spectacular fashion, leaving her with a £34,000 bill, £15,000 of which must be paid within 21 days, with leave to appeal refused. Cllr. Mbachu claimed that, in 2018, she had been called a ‘“liar”’ and a ‘“vile deceptive pig”... »

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