A Document Sandwell Council Didn't Want You To See - Bogs Scandal Latest!

The smell from the bogs is getting worse......

Regular readers will be aware * that Labour Sandwell Council "lost" my Freedom of Information Act request concerning the sale of three public conveniences and then two officers - Willetts and Wendling - supplied me (for reasons unknown) with information which (at best) was incorrect and grossly misleading. One might have thought that the very highly-paid Chief Executive and/or Head of Legal & Governance would, in the circumstances, have hastened to correct the record and make a full, open, disclosure of the material facts but it doesn't work like that in Labour's Sandwell. I was forced to spend time and money applying to the Land Registry for the true information (fees payable). In the case of the former bogs at The Shambles, Wednesbury - the premises had been sold on and so I had to make a further "historical" search by post (this service is not available online) and pay an even higher fee than normal. Before we turn to the result, let's have a look at what Sandwell Council said EXACTLY in respect of the mechanism of the sale process:

"Question - Please state how SMBC marketed the plots and for how long the marketing process continued;

Answer - The properties were not offered for sale on the open market"

"Question - Please state the number of offers received. If for any reason the
highest offer was not accepted in respect of any of the plots please give
reasons why it was not accepted;

Answer - The Council received one offer for each property and proceeded on the
basis of a negotiated sale..."

Thanks to my historic search I can now confirm that, like the other two former bogs, The Shambles was again sold to Abdul Naeem Quyam of Warley Road, Oldbury and for just £10,000. Here is the proof which Labour were so keen to withhold:

Now let us have a look at the FoI Request again with regard to Labour's valuation of the premises before sale:

"Question - State how SMBC valued the respective plots. If an external valuer was
instructed please state their name, the valuations and the fee for this
service;

 Answer - The sites were valued by the District Valuer, Mr J Page.  The fee for the valuation service was £1,200 and the valuations were:

Albert Street - £35,000

Jervoise Lane - £50,000

The Shambles - £45,000"

And so, friends, Labour paid 12-hundred quid (!) for a valuation which provided a combined total figure of £130,000 (One Hundred and Thirty Thousand Pounds) but, without marketing them (or auctioning them), accepted a mysterious written offer and then sold all three sites to Abdul Naeem Quyam for a TOTAL of £35,000 (Thirty Five Thousand Pounds). Now the next QUESTION is WHY but outside agencies might need to become involved to try and solve that one.....

I should just add that The Shambles has been sold on. At this point in time I cannot say whether there were any intermediaries between Quyam and the people listed at HM Land Registry as the current owners but I can say that Quyam paid £10,000 for this particular site in August, 2012 and the present owners paid £40,000 for it on or around 2nd April this year. As I say, there MAY have been other owners in between and/or considerable monies spent on renovating the property but, even so, this appears to also be indicative of Labour selling at a gross under-valuation......

THE SANDWELL SKIDDER - A COMMUNITY BLOG

e   thesandwellskidder@gmail.com                    t   @bcrover (Vernon Grant)

Confidential phone number - 07599 983737

* See earlier blogs - 07/08/14 "Can you help me? Local Sandwell knowledge required!" and 08/08/14 "Why are Sandwell Council Lying to Me?"