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WALTHAM FOREST: MP slams use of renewal funds

1:39pm Monday 14th January 2008

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HARRY Cohen is "extremely concerned" about the handling of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money allocated to help the borough's poorest people.

In a strongly worded letter to Waltham Forest Council's chief executive Roger Taylor, the Leyton MP says that he is considering referring the matter to the National Audit Office and Local Government Ombudsman.

He also questioned Mr Taylor's conduct directly, asking him to explain why it took three months to provide an "unsatisfactory" response to a reasonable inquiry on the issue from a member of the public.

Mr Cohen asked Mr Taylor to explain why millions of pounds from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) appeared to have been so poorly managed.

There were major anomalies in the way the performance of the Better Neighbourhood Initiative (BNI), which was created in an attempt to ensure a more focused use of NRF funds, has been measured.

Figures showed that In 2006/7, 60 per cent of the of BNI spending had either not achieved what it was supposed to, or no-one knew what it has achieved because of missing data.

Furthermore, much of the remaining 40 per cent of the money was not spent specifically in the borough's poorest wards.

A recent report by consultants Dr Foster Intelligence, which cost taxpayers £47,000, was found to be flawed by the company's own ethics committee.

The contract is currently the subject of a council fraud investigation, due to fears council tendering rules were broken.

But in an email from Mr Taylor to Nick Tiratsoo, vice chair of Leytonstone Community Council, which has been seen by the Guardian, he stated that he was satisfied the matter was dealt with "appropriately".

Mr Cohen wrote: "Local people are extremely concerned that this programme, which should be helping to bring about real improvements in specific areas, is clearly not achieving what it should be achieving.

"I share my constituents' concerns - particularly as such large sums of money are being put into this programme with the intention of delivering clear improvements in specific areas."

A recent review of the council's performance on regeneration by senior officers of other councils concluded: "Although there are examples of specific initiatives that have benefited local people in terms of regeneration and redevelopment these are not on a scale that would impact significantly on their localities."

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Your Say YourEast London and West Essex Guardian Series

Chris, Essex says...
2:56pm Mon 14 Jan 08

It sounds as if Nick Tiratsoo has succeeded in waking a few people up to what has been going on. Let's hope some others will sleep a little less soundly

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mdj, e10 says...
9:08pm Mon 14 Jan 08

The problem is, who watches the watchdogs?
Our 'temping' Chief Executive is a member of the Standards Board for England, so he's going to take a really tough line with himself, isn't he?
When the Audit Commission reported on our cultural services(don't laugh)last year, they had no complaint about closing libraries and public halls, decimating the William Morris Gallery, dubious promotions or burning library books, but said that'Waltham Forest scores well for consultancy', ie that we spend loads of money on consultants, so that's a good thing in itself!
Never forget that the official in charge of cultural services is a former Council Leader: says it all, really.
It'll take more than a few polite complaints to another bunch of bureaucrats to break up the very cosy, self-serving little cliques inside our Council.Contact antiscrap@googlegrou
ps.com if you want to help clean up our Borough

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Anon, Walthamstow says...
10:26am Tue 15 Jan 08

I came into contact with one of these Better Neighbourhood Initiatives. I was shocked at how badly managed it was, how late in delivery, how ill thought out it was and how much money they had to throw around! I myself had been trying to set up a genuine initiative for local people - with no money and I found it distasteful and disgusting what a waste it was. But everything is written up in a nice report and spun into a success story.

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WF Respect, E17 says...
12:17pm Tue 15 Jan 08

I agree with these comments. In the 4th richest country in the World, you have to ask yourself why our services are so poor ? There is definitely the money available - but it is wasted on consultants and the profits of privatised companies. Their aim is to maximise their profits and not the quality of the service. Of course they don't come out and say this, it is all covered up in self - satisfactory blurb of "meeting targets", "delivering excellence" and "value for money" which of course suits the agenda of the Lib Dem / New Labour coalition which has given them the dosh in the first place.

Congratulations to Nick and to all the other community activists in the various campaigns who genuinely have the interests of the community at heart. We need these type of people as our councillors.

If Carole Vincent is elected in Leyton she is pledged to vote to bring all services back under local control and accountability. She will also fight for genuine transparency on council spending and councillor's interests, which may scare a few councillors but will bring joy to the rest of us and maybe even real "value for money".

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Walthamster, E17 says...
2:20pm Tue 15 Jan 08

Congratulations, Nick Tiratsoo. Up till recently, this council has been able to keep its dirty dealings hidden. It blocks investigations at every step, refuses to answer questions and uses delaying tactics until people just give up.

But a growing number of people and groups are tackling this. It's a battle, but it's easier the more people join in -- and they are joining in, around community councils, the library campaign stjamesstlibrary.wor
dpress.com, the museum and gallery at keepourmuseumsopen.o
rg.uk, the town-centre campaigners and many others. People have stopped accepting this council's greed and incompetence.

Be afraid, free-loading councillors and lazy officials. You're running out of time.

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WF Respect, E17 says...
5:26pm Tue 15 Jan 08

To follow on from Walthamster's point, I think the councillors have presumed that they are safe because of the lack of a credible alternative. With the structure of UK politics it is hard for anyone beyond the major parties to have an impact - no matter how much people agree with what you say. So you get a Catch 22 of people not voting for you because you are not going to win, not because they necessarily support the other candidates.

A very welcome development in the borough is the discussion that is starting about trying to look at what unites those of us disgusted with the council and to see if there are any mechanisms that we can explore to put a viable alternative that echoes what most residents support ie not this shower.

Some initial steps are the moves to link the various campaigns, to share ideas, tactics and perhaps support. Some of this is already happening and there seems to be a lot of interest in seeing how much further this can go.

I hope that you - and others who feel the same way - can be part of this dialogue if you aren't already. I think that this could really shake the council up.

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Harry Cohen MP, says...
9:51pm Tue 15 Jan 08

What this article does not make clear is that my concern is for the Cann Hall ward area which should really get significant benefit from these funds if properly utilised. This is also the position of the local Labour Party and Waltham Forest (Labour)Local Government Committee. In a local Labour newsletter I have criticised the area's Liberal councillors for not fighting the ward's corner.

Harry Cohen MP

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WF Respect, E17 says...
10:27pm Tue 15 Jan 08

Harry - to many of us there is little difference between Lib Dems / New Labour - particularly the cosy Waltham Forest coalition.

With all due respect I believe it damages your credibility to attack the local Lib Dems whilst saying nothing about the New Labour councillors - very few (any ?) of whom share the values and commitment of yourself.

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mdj, e10 says...
11:01pm Tue 15 Jan 08

Dear Harry, What a disappointment: for years I voted for you as a good local MP, understanding that loyalty would inhibit you from being too outspoken about our Council's mismanagement. Do you now want us to believe that money is only misspent in Lib-Dem controlled wards, or is it that it's only then that you care about it? I haven't seen your local Labour newsletter, for the simple reason that we only hear from Labour at election times.From Gerrard to Loakes:what a downfall for a party that, for all its faults, used to serve the people, but now serves only its office-holders and cronies, and tells lies without shame.

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Sue, Cathall Ward says...
10:56pm Wed 16 Jan 08

I cannot believe My MP thinks this is just about the Cann Hall Ward, Mr Cohen you have just lost so many votes, I live on one of the deprived estates, that was suppose to benefit from this money, and to see it wasted like this is a travesty, I have sat in on the BNI meetings and asked all the right questions, but there have never been enough answers. So no this isn’t just about the Cann Hall Ward. You really need to look at the bigger picture.

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NTiratsoo, says...
12:01pm Thu 17 Jan 08

Sue,

You are right.

I am grateful to Harry Cohen MP for raising these issues, and really having a go at the LBWF Interim Chief Executive (who seems to have a problem in answering questions put to him by members of the public).

Harry Cohen's interest and action contrasts with that of our councillors.

On 4th January 2008, Philip Dundon and I sent a second open letter to all the councillors in the BNI wards, about 30 in all. It detailed a lot of information re the Dr Foster Intelligence contract, the overall performance of the BNI programme, etc.

As of today, we have not received a single reply or even acknowledgement.

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Brian Madican, Leytonstone E11 says...
1:50pm Thu 17 Jan 08

I think people have misunderstood Harry Cohen's comment when he says that your article did not not make it clear that he is concerned about Cann Hall ward not getting the full benefit of the BNI funds. I don't think Harry is saying that he is only fighting for Cann Hall. As the MP who covers 6 wards in Waltham Forest, this would just be silly and Harry is not silly. He is making the point that his concern that the area had not been improved (because of the way the money was used) hasn't been covered in the article and also that if the local Cllrs had fought more then more progress might have been made. The Labour leaflet mentioned, by the way, was delivered in Cann Hall ward. I know because as a member of the Labour party in Cann Ward, I helped to deliver it. Cathall has its own Labour Party branch people and they write and deliver their own newsletters which is the normal and usual practice.

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