A note for readers…
This is a personal blog, which aims to scrutinise the powers that be in Waltham Forest, from the Council (hereafter London Borough of Waltham Forest or LBWF), both elected members and staff; to our MP... »
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Waltham Forest’s Safer Neighbourhoods Board and MOPAC funding: a scandal in the making
Previous posts have dealt in depth with the travails of the Waltham Forest Safer Neighbourhoods Board (WFSNB) – its inability to hold regular meetings, the incompleteness of its minutes, and the fact ... »
LBWF CEO Martin Esom’s appointment to the Health and Safety Executive Board: a step far too far
In July of this year, LBWF CEO Martin Esom joined the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as a part-time non-executive director – a post that entails approximately 30 days commitment per year for a remu... »
Knife crime in Waltham Forest: a nasty little scandal (6)
In mid-June, I contacted the Mayor’s Officer for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to inquire about whether it or LBWF had prime responsibility for the Waltham Forest Safer Neighbourhoods Board (WFSNB)... »
LBWF Leader Clare Coghill’s MIPIM muddle (1)
In 2012, the Waltham Forest Guardian reported that councillors were finding the requirement that they fill in and then update their register of interest forms to be challenging. Some had missed out cr... »
London Borough of Waltham Forest: ‘a property empire with a sideline in local government’?*
In March 2016, then portfolio holder for economic growth and high streets, now Group Leader, Clare Coghill travelled to Cannes in the company of LBWF CEO Martin Esom and ‘Assistant Director, Investmen... »
St. Mary’s Primary School, Walthamstow, and asbestos: the final verdict (2)
Lest there be any doubt about the matter, this excerpt from AEC Ltd, “Independent Report on the Potential Risk of Exposure to Asbestos during Refurbishment Works in 2011 at St Mary’s School Walthamsto... »
St. Mary’s Primary School, Walthamstow, and asbestos: the final verdict (1)
The Waltham Forest Guardian‘s Tom Barnes has just filed an online story reporting that, following a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Balfour Beatty Regional Constru... »
Policing in Waltham Forest: performance
This post turns from its predecessor’s focus on police priorities to police performance. For reasons that are unclear, the most up to date figures borough by borough on number of offences and related ... »
Policing in Waltham Forest: priorities
Following on from my series about knife crime, this and the succeeding post look at wider aspects of policing in Waltham Forest. A sensible starting point is police priorities. Under Mayor Johnson, th... »
John Cryer MP and Labour’s endemic anti-semitism UPDATED
There is a sobering post on the Campaign Against Antisemitism’s website, here https://antisemitism.uk/three-months-after-107-labour-mps-issued-an-ultimatum-to-expel-livingstone-the-labour-party-... »