Courtesy of the LBWF Growth Scrutiny Committee, I now have some up-to-date figures on how many people – and in particular how many local people – have attended The National Construction College’s Cathall Rd. facility. As I pointed out in a previous post on this subject, LBWF initially promised that the College would have a dramatic impact on the locality. In December 2010, Council Leader Cllr Chri... »
The previous ten posts in this series have looked at LBWF’s record of extensive failure over the past decade or so, and it is now apposite to offer some general conclusions. First, it is notable that, by and large, the cases examined share some common characteristics, which may be summarised as follows: (a) rule breaches On paper, LBWF has always possessed clear rules to govern programme inception... »
The outcome of LBWF’s appearance at Southwark Crown Court on Friday last has been well reported in the Waltham Forest Guardian, see especially here: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/12979957.Council_asbestos_failings_put_workers_at__serious_risk____Judge/ However, there is one detail which certainly deserves greater attention than it has so far attracted. The case against LBWF was init... »
PRESS RELEASE UNISON in Waltham Forest Embargo: None Date: 29th May 2015 THE LONDON BOROUGH OF WALTHAM FOREST FINED £66,000 FOR FAILING TO MANAGE ASBESTOS SAFELY AND PUTTING ITS EMPLOYEES HEALTH AT RISK The London Borough of Waltham Forest was fined today at Southwark Crown Court following their pleading guilty to two Charges under the Health and safety at Work Act 1974 section 2(1) and section 3(... »
LBWF is due in Southwark Crown Court on Friday 29 May for sentencing over its conviction for breaking health and safety legislation in relation to asbestos in the Town Hall. In the subsequent fall-out, further questions no doubt will be asked about how LBWF interacted with NPS London Ltd, since in formal terms the latter was a key player in the authority’s Asbestos Policy (for which see the ‘... »
A correspondent who worked in the Town hall for a number of years writes as follows: ‘After over a dozen emails and three interventions by my councillor…and after filling in a form (which was more suitable for a manager reporting on an industrial accident in their department) I have now been told the types of asbestos to which I may have been exposed. Talk about jumping through hoops !... »
A recent Press Gazette story highlights the large number of press officers and other communications staff who are now employed in local government – see here http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/local-councils-now-employ-least-3400-comms-staff-more-double-total-central-government. Its author, William Turvill, has been kind enough to send me the figures for Waltham Forest. Apparently, there are cur... »
The National Construction College’s facility in Cathall Rd., on the Leyton-Leytonstone border, was presented by LBWF as the jewel in the crown of Waltham Forest’s Olympic legacy. Looking like a super IKEA, looming over the surrounding buildings, and hyped by every Labour hack from Cathall Councillor Terry Wheeler to the Leader himself, here was something, the patter ran, that really was goin... »
In the immediate run-up to the start of the Olympic Games in July 2012, LBWF proudly promoted a ‘new international food market’ in Marshall Street, adjacent to Leyton underground station, and, more important, metaphorically ‘just a stone’s throw away from the Olympic stadium’. In a press release, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Corporate Resources, Cllr. Mark Rusling, enthused: ‘This i... »
Waltham Forest was, of course, one of the ‘Olympic Boroughs’, and LBWF predictably milked that fact for all it was worth. From the ‘Big Six’ events (handily organised by the Manchester based Co-operative Event Management), to the outburst of civic pride that greeted the arrival of the torch, to the constant harping on ‘legacy’, no opportunity was missed to spread the message that the Town Hall bri... »