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The Prevent programme in Waltham Forest: has LBWF surrendered to Islamic...
‘Waltham Forest is a Prevent Tier 1 priority area and as such receives additional funding from the Home Office to deliver Prevent projects. Tier 1 status is apportioned as Waltham Forest is considered...
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LBWF and the Freedom of Information Act: some troubling new findings
The Campaign for Freedom of Information has just published an overview* that examines the extent to which London local authorities are following good practice in complying with the Freedom of...
View ArticleAn interview with James O’Rourke of Walthamstow Independents Forum
For those who don’t know you, can you briefly describe your political apprenticeship? Life events are often the catalyst for entering politics. In my case in 1990 my brother, who has a severe learning...
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LBWF old boy Daniel Fenwick makes the news in Newham
This week’s Private Eye has some disquieting news about LBWF old boy Daniel Fenwick, now working for Newham, see ‘Truth Will Doubt’, below: Many will remember then LBWF Director and Governance Mr....
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Health inequalities by ward in Waltham Forest: an investigation in eight acts
Prologue In the early 2000s, it was often noted that health in Waltham Forest varied noticeably from ward to ward. For example, the Primary Health Trust’s Public Health Report 2003/04 included the...
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The Connecting Communities Programme in Waltham Forest: everyone’s welcome...
In March 2018, the government launched a new £50m. Integrated Communities Strategy (ICS), ‘to tackle the root causes of poor integration and create a stronger, more united Britain’. Shortly afterwards,...
View ArticleCllr. Clare Coghill responds to a polite inquiry about Universal Credit:...
I try not to post about issues where I am directly involved, but sometimes it’s unavoidable, and what follows is a case in point. During September 2018, I signed a joint letter to LBWF Leader Clare...
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LBWF and fire hazards in its housing stock: the appalling case of Northwood...
In the past few months, journalists James Cracknell and Michelle Edwards of the Waltham Forest Echo have done sterling work in exposing the serious safety flaws that currently blight many of the 22...
View ArticleLBWF and fire hazards in its housing stock: the appalling case of Northwood...
In response to ‘[s]everal recent articles in local newspapers’ about Northwood Tower, LBWF has just issued a PR release which predictably claims that the latter contain unspecified ‘misunderstandings...
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LBWF and fire hazards in its housing stock: the appalling case of Northwood...
Lest there is anybody out there who still thinks that LBWF’s handling of fire risks at Northwood Tower has been commensurate with its boast that ‘The safety of our residents is always our top priority...
View ArticleLBWF and customer service: ‘I wouldn’t even give this council 1 star’ UPDATED
LBWF likes to project itself as a ‘forward-thinking’ and ‘innovative’ council, listening to the preoccupations of its residents in order to deliver ‘high-quality public services’, and thus improve...
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LBWF and fire safety in its housing stock: Goddarts House sheltered housing...
Following on from recent discussion of fire hazards in LBWF housing provision, this post presents a further case study, which is certainly the most disturbing yet. Goddarts House in Hoe Street,...
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Fire safety in Waltham Forest: Cabinet portfolio holder for housing, Cllr....
Following on from this blog’s earlier post about fire risks at LBWF’s Goddarts House in Walthamstow, the East London & West Essex Guardian has published a related story, which includes a response...
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Love amongst the Leaders: Councillors Clare Coghill and Simon Blackburn
For the past few months, Labour members in Waltham Forest have been agog about the evolving private life of their supremo, Cllr. Clare Coghill. Now Cllr. Coghill has set the record straight, posting...
View ArticleA new outbreak of sectarianism in the Town Hall?
As this blog has reported previously, some councillors in Waltham Forest seem to find avoiding sectarianism, whether national or religious, rather difficult. Now news emerges of what appears to be a...
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LBWF and fire hazards in its housing stock: residents in Cann Hall’s John...
John Walsh and Fred Wigg tower blocks in Cann Hall are 15 storey identical twins, built in the 1960s, and each containing 117 flats. It would be nice to state definitively how many people have lived...
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The East London Credit Union crashes in administration, leaving several...
On 11 September 2019, the East London Credit Union (ELCU), trading as the Waltham Forest Community Credit Union, collapsed into administration. Simultaneously, the UK Financial Services Compensation...
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Rebuked by the Information Commissioner’s Office, and revealed to have...
As past posts demonstrate, LBWF has a poor record when it comes to issues around transparency, regularly failing even in terms of its statutory responsibilities. A recent case reinforces the cause for...
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Cllr. Paul Douglas and the East London Credit Union: yet further confusion
As a previous post pointed out (see link below), the demise of LBWF’s beloved East London Credit Union (ELCU) throws up a number of as yet unanswered questions. Some recent correspondence adds to the...
View ArticleCouncillor Keith Rayner revealed to have had some difficulty with, ahem, his...
A valuable investigation by Lewis Berrill, Chief Reporter of the East London and West Essex Guardian, has revealed that in the past few years four LBWF councillors – Rajar Anwar, Kastriot Berberi,...
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