Regular readers will know some of the information about the so-called "Celebration Statue" proposed for West Bromwich. For the benefit of new readers, the planned statue (if the money can be raised) is of West Bromwich Albion's magnificent "Three Degrees" but it is not destined for The Hawthorns and is not funded by the football club. Instead Sandwell Labour want to plonk it in the middle of New Square, West Bromwich and have diverted £30,000 meant for public infrastructure improvements to this allegedly "private" project.
Below the subscription is a list of previous posts on this subject but suffice to say here that a person with a cynical state of mind may have noticed that "anti-racism" is a hot topic in football at the moment and that the Football Association, The Premier League, the Kick it Out campaign etc etc are throwing shed-loads of money at defeating such undoubtedly vile behaviour. But where there is money.....
Step forward serial "statue entrepreneur" Jim Cadman. He sets up various "funds"/"appeals" around the country - which are not registered charities - and raises money for statues to be erected. If you read his materials you will come away with the impression that this is an entirely philanthropic venture and yet, to date, Cadman has steadfastly refused to state the legal status of the various appeals or to produce any accounts to show how much was raised and where the money was actually spent. Why the reticence when most of the money is from the public and/or the public as taxpayer?
Readers will know that Cadman has been involved with a string of dissolved companies and - directly - with one that recently went into liquidation with large debts of over £100,000. Most of his companies have as their "Company Secretary" one Mark James Cadman (who is believed to be one of Jim's close relatives). That gentleman was involved in yet another company that went bump - Media Lights Limited. Whilst Sunny Jim was not the Secretary or a Director of that Company he did hold himself out as being its representative to a newspaper in Lancashire and the registered office address was eventually moved to Jim's address in Stourbridge. Media Lights went bust recently owing over three-quarters of a million pounds. This included £14,091 to the taxman and a mere £246,231.36p to hard-pressed local authorities (including £66,205.75p to neighbours and fellow Black Country basket case, Wolverhampton Council).
Let me just re-wind a bit to look at the history of this matter in the light of a recent Freedom of Information reply. It is known that Jim Cadman had a contract with Sandwell Council a few years ago and that the termination was to be negotiated with boing boing barmy Cllr Darren Cooper - the self-appointed "Voice of the Baggies", plus Cllrs Eling and Hussain.
I asked a simple question via the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) as to how this project came about and how Cadman came to apply for public funds. You can see the whole history of the request and replies at
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/legal_status_of_the_celebration#incoming-579062
but the fact is that the crafty comrades have not answered this question either through the initial request nor through an internal review. And so it seems that this was all done by telepathy. Or else there was a stitched-up private deal behind close doors between Labour and Cadman? What do you think readers?
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| Boing Boing Barmy (as long as it's your money and not his)! |
The FoI second reply makes the extraordinary claim that the millions being used by Sandwell Labour from s106 agreements as a large piggy bank is NOT public money! Once again, and without going over too much of what I have said previously, Labour have extracted millions over the last few years via "planning gain" agreements eg. from the likes of Tesco for the New Square development. They have even had money via Sandwell College - ie us, the taxpayer - and via one of the ruinously expensive PFI schemes they love so much. On top of this they have gone cap in hand to the European Regional Development Fund and had money from them or rather, again - us - the taxpayers. They are making the extraordinary claim that because the money came from the likes of Tesco into their hands it is never "public" money and that they don't have to account for the use of it in the normal way. In other words (and subject to "consultation") they will do with it as they please and they don't have to even discuss the expenditure in tiresome meetings which would have to be publicly recorded.
This is nonsense. Firstly, planning gain monies were meant to be for specific infrastructure spending as defined when planning permission was granted although the law changed to allow for some of the monies to be paid into a "pool" for more general infrastructure improvements. This is (possibly) fine where you have an accountable local council but clearly a disaster in the North Korean clone-state of Sandwell. Secondly, the council receives millions per annum that is not from direct or indirect taxation for which it remains accountable - everything from commercial rents to parking fines. Just because the cash may have come from, say, Tesco, doesn't mean it is not public money the minute it arrives in SMBC's bank account!
But Labour want to hang on to their cash-pile and use it to try and bribe the electorate with a few "fluffy" projects now and then. Well they say - it's OK that we keep secret what we are doing because we have "consulted" the people about it. Do you remember being consulted, Sandwell folk? The Labour liars say that consultation "took place on the policy and strategy that sought to deliver the regeneration of the town centre, including public realm improvements". Surely you MUST remember that, Sandwell folk? (Try going through the huge West Brom Town Plan of late 2012 - you will find no reference to this "effort" there!)
And now it gets really interesting. Although this is clearly a "Darren Cooper project" (not with his money but with ours) there is allegedly no record of any Labour politicians ever discussing this daft scheme. Once again, supernatural powers seem to be at work. Or perhaps not - since it seems from the record that the whole thing was dreamt up by our old friend and faithful public servant, Nick Bubalo! Here is what SMBC say in the FoI reply:
Question:
"3. Please state which person or committee authorised this expenditure and
when, as a search of the SMBC website does not make this apparent. Please
disclose any minute or other record confirming the decision;
Answer:
The disbursement of s 106 funds falls within the remit of the Director of
Regeneration and Economy as delegated to that role through the Council’s
scheme of delegations contained within the Council’s constitution."
Incredibly, SMBC then state that they did not check the legal status of the statue appeal before handing over £30,000 (yes, thirty thousand pounds) because they were not spending public money! (See further below).
Just hold the name Nick Bubalo in your mind for one minute whilst we consider the question of planning permission. The conning comrades have persisted in the yarn that this is a "private" affair when Cooper's grubby fingerprints are all over it and when he has flogged this wretched thing at every opportunity. This turd is supposed to be positioned in New Square which belongs to Tesco and, of course, Jim Cadman would have to apply for planning permission for it.
There was a planning application but you try finding it. Look up "New Square" in the planning application part of the SMBC website and you will find nothing. You will find it hidden under a section called "street record". I wonder why?
Unbelievably, friends, the applicant for planning permission is not Cadman but Nick Bubalo of Sandwell Council although this too is concealed under the "applicants" tag which merely mentions SMBC as the applicant. He is using an agent (!) who is, er, Alan Reynolds of - yes, you guessed it - SMBC. There is the very briefest of brief delegated reports from someone at SMBC called "CP" and then, happily, application DC/13/55766 was granted on 24th May, 2013 by one, er, Nick Bubalo using his delegated powers.
Now I am not a lawyer but it simply cannot be legal for a Council employee to:
(a) use delegated powers to agree to spend £30,000 on an (allegedly) private project: and
(b) for that SAME person to make a planning application on behalf of a private businessman; and then
(c) decide the planning application himself under delegated powers.
There is something seriously wrong here and the current police investigators may wish to have a look at this. In any event, I will be taking urgent advice as to whether this is legal under planning law. It seems certain to me that the planning application will have to be re-run.
Of course, it may be that Labour Sandwell Council are pissing down your leg and telling you it is raining. Perhaps the statue is not private at all but a SMBC/ Darren Cooper project being passed off as private through Jim Cadman to hide the expenditure. There is a "Design and Access" statement from SMBC in its own planning application which suggests that far from the legal status of the statue fund etc being opaque there have already been legal discussions since SMBC ITSELF says:
"Although the New Square development is privately owned (ie by Tesco) the sculpture and the site it occupies will be owned, managed and maintained by Sandwell Council on behalf of the people of Sandwell."
Oh, you are so lucky! But at least this clearly suggests that a deal has already been done with Tesco who also raised no objection to the planning application. Strangely, SMBC have clearly stated that they do not envisage putting anymore money into this other than the £30,000 robbed from the infrastructure fund and the money recently siphoned off from the Arts Festival budget to promote it. It is alleged that it is up to Sunny Jim to raise the considerable balance.... We shall see. And I wonder if Jim will break his habit of refusing to disclose details of the monies raised/spent?
This "no more money" is a lie in any event since you will see that SMBC are guaranteeing to pay the costs of maintenance in perpetuity!
Labour are currently axing hundreds more or their hard-pressed staff and destroying front-line services for the most vulnerable members of society including children and the elderly. Meanwhile they are borrowing and spending a king's ransom on sports centres and sport-related activities. Even though West Brom Football Club are coughing up only relatively trivial amounts to its "own" charity, The Albion Foundation, Sandwell Labour has decided it must pump in colossal sums of taxpayers' money there instead.
A very small number (two so far) have contacted me to say they couldn't care less about cuts to vital services and that they would rather see £30k plus spent on the statue. Even these characters must surely want to be satisfied, however, that Chief Executive Jan Britton is running a tight ship and that the public money is going to the right place? Thus I asked this question in the original FoI request:
Question:
5. Please state whether the payments were made by cheque and, if so, the
identity of the payee. If the payment was not made by cheque please
provide full details of the method of payment.
SMBC refused to answer and so I asked again via the internal review. SMBC completely failed to answer the first part of the question and only stated:
Answer:
Both payments were made by BACS. (ie electronic transfer).
And so I am now having to go to the Information Commissioner to find out. SMBC have parted with the money and refuse to say to whom. But Jim Cadman e-mailed me to say that the bank account "is under the control" of SMBC. If (and I say "if") this is true where is it? What's the secret?
Noting the track record of some of the companies Jim Cadman has been involved with recently, taxpayers may be alarmed if the money has simply been paid to him or to one of his companies. When I accidentally bumped into Darren "The Turdmeister" Cooper himself outside the Kremlin recently and asked him where the money was he pointed at the building and said "in there". When I said this was incorrect he said he didn't actually know and that it might be with the sculptor.
The sculptor, Graham Ibbeson runs two limited companies. One is a very small affair called Freddy Neptune Ltd which is "technically" insolvent having net current liabilities of £5,502 against current assets of just £3,619 as at 31st July, 2014. His main company is Graham Ibbeson Sculptures Limited which as at 30th April, 2014 had £29,794 in the bank (coincidentally close to £30k) but, alas, the picture here is not rosy either as current liabilities were £100,711 against current assets of only £89,779 (and that includes a stonking £55,542 for "stock" which may not be realisable at anything like that figure in the event of a liquidation). Both the current liabilities and current asset positions had worsened from the previous financial year. Perhaps the situation is now suddenly better?
So has Jan Britton of SMBC sent £30,000 of public money to either of these businesses? If so, what checks were done beforehand?
As above, all this nonsense is being wrapped up in an "anti-racism" wrapper connected to football. Just in case you didn't think £30k plus was enough and that the likes of the (admirable) Kick it Out campaign could not get by just with money from those "poverty-stricken" organisations The Premier League, The PFA, The FA and The Football League who should step forward in September with a £1,250 enforced "donation" from the taxpayer to "Show Racism the Red Card". Yes, of course, the cash-rich comrades at Sandwell Labour!
(Additional Note: Arthur Wharton (1865-1930) was Britain's first black professional footballer. Apparently this achievement - as opposed to being the being the first black nurse, doctor, firefighter etc - merits being commemorated by a bronze statue and not just one but THREE! Arthur has northern connections and there has been a long-running campaign for a statue in Darlington. In the meantime a 16-foot high statue of him was recently unveiled at the FA's new centre at Burton. Finally, there is a campaign for yet another one of him in the area of another Labour basket-case council - Rotherham. A body with uncertain legal status and with no published accounts to date - The Rotherham Sporting Heritage Guild - is attempting to work with the Labour Council to push the anti-racism message that Arthur's career allegedly represents and to raise money for this monument. If you feel like making a donation you need go no further than Stourbridge - to the home and business base of Mr Jim Cadman!)
THE SANDWELL SKIDDER - A COMMUNITY BLOG - READ THE SKIDDER, KIDDER!
E-mail thesandwellskidder@gmail.com Twitter @bcrover (Vernon Grant)
Confidential phone no: 07599 983737
Earlier Blogs on this subject:
03/08/14 - The Darren Cooper "Celebration Statue" Appeal.
13/08/14 - Jim Cadman - Statue Entrepreneur.
07/09/14 - Arts Council Money Diverted for Private Statue Stunt.
26/09/14 - "Celebration" Statue - All Quiet on the Western Front.
31/10/14 - Arts Council Private Statue Stunt - It's Even Worse Than We Thought!
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