LBWF CEO Martin Esom, the Prevent anti-terrorist programme, and the politics...
Perhaps curiously, given LBWF’s decidedly chequered record in identifying and addressing Islamist extremism, Martin Esom, the council CEO, chaired the pan London Prevent Board (LPB) from 2012 to late...
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Fireproofing flat entrance doors at Goddarts sheltered housing in...
This post looks at what LBWF has done – in fact more accurately, has not done – over the past few years to make sure that flat entrance doors (FEDs) at Goddarts House sheltered housing in Walthamstow...
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The East London Credit Union’s collapse: major new revelations, and the bad...
As previous posts (referenced below) have pointed out, the collapse into administration on 11 September 2019 of that longstanding LBWF favourite, the East London Credit Union (ELCU), has left many...
View ArticleJohn Cryer MP and Anti-Semitism
All the recent talk of the Corbynistas’ antisemitism brings to mind a post that appeared on this blog way back in 2017. That great advert for Labour meritocracy, John Cryer MP, had awoken from his...
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London Borough of Waltham Forest: the local authority that can’t even...
Every year, like other local authorities, LBWF is bound by law to produce its annual accounts, using an external auditor and a timetable specified by the Accounts and Audit Regulations of 2015. But...
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Mark Hynes, LBWF Director of Governance and Law, receives a second successive...
As a previous post has revealed, though LBWF’s Director of Governance and Law, Mark Hynes, doubles as the council’s Data Protection Officer, his understanding of how information on individuals should...
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Private Eye on fire safety at Goddarts House sheltered housing complex,...
(From Private Eye, No.1512 21/12/19-09/01/20)
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The East London Credit Union: some new facts, but confusion, maybe evasion,...
Last month, LBWF divulged some more information about its subsidisation of the now collapsed East London Credit Union (ELCU). The focus is on a large grant that LBWF awarded to ELCU in 2015 in order...
View ArticleThe Goddarts House fire safety fiasco: an update
Previous posts have looked at the controversy over flat entrance doors (FEDs) at Goddarts House sheltered housing in Walthamstow, particularly the issue of whether or not they offer sufficient...
View ArticleLBWF councillors: what do they do, and is it value for money?
What is it that LBWF councillors do? Are they proficient or laggard? And can it be said, given that they are paid via allowances from the public purse, that residents get value for money? This post...
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Amy Lamé finds a congenial home
One name that has cropped up recently in relation to Waltham Forest is Amy Lamé, London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s £75,000 p.a. Night Czar, ‘TV personality’, and ‘active’ Labour Party member. Her link to...
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Cllr. Keith Rayner at it again UPDATED
Cllr. Emma Best has posted on Twitter a piece of film recording an exchange with the puffed up Cllr. Keith Rayner at last night’s Council meeting. In it he refers to her as ‘dear’, to the amusement of...
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LBWF’s press, communications, and PR operation: less about providing...
It is a staple of LBWF public utterances that ‘Communicating with our residents is important to us and we strive to ensure our residents are kept informed’. Indeed, in recent year, LBWF has underlined...
View ArticleLondon Borough of Waltham Forest: the local authority that can’t even...
Mystery continues about the fate of LBWF’s 2018-19 externally audited annual accounts. As a previous post outlined, these were due on 31 July 2019, so that they could be signed off by the Audit and...
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LBWF, Mini Holland, and air quality: the King’s College Environmental...
Acknowledgement: I am very grateful to Steve Lowe for drawing my attention to the subject of this post, providing important source material, and making helpful suggestions right the way though the...
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LBWF and the East London Credit Union: yet more disturbing details emerge
This blog’s investigation into the 2019 collapse of LBWF favourite the East London Credit Union (ELCU) continues to generate revelations, and what follows is a brief roundup of the most noteworthy,...
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LBWF and COVID-19
A few days ago, the Cabinet considered a paper which looked at the impact of COVID-19 on LBWF’s finances. The headline figures that were presented are alarming. Assuming the crisis lasts 12 weeks, LBWF...
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The London Fire Brigade and fire safety at LBWF’s Goddarts House,...
This post examines the role played by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) in the ongoing scandal about fire safety at LBWF’s Goddarts House sheltered accommodation in Hoe Street, Walthamstow – 27 flats, with...
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LBWF and settlement agreements: a bellwether in the post COVID-19 years
In the post COVID-19 years, it will be imperative that LBWF spends money wisely, and turns its back on past profligacy. The fact that LBWF’s Chief Executive currently earns substantially more than the...
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Goddarts House sheltered housing in Walthamstow: new facts, new controversy
Reproduced below is a letter that I yesterday sent to LBWF Chief Executive Martin Esom which focuses on some new material that has emerged about fire safety measures at Goddarts House sheltered housing...
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