We have seen time and again how Costigan and grovelling Councillor Peter "Zorro" Hughes have sought to interfere in Wednesbury affairs. Every opportunity is taken to advance themselves and the perfidious Labour Dictatorship/Council. Every "community event" is exploited and ransacked for the publicity it will afford the venal "socialists". And so we come to the switching on of the Wednesbury Christmas Lights in 2017 - normally a happy, non-partisan occasion. But not any more.....
The Lights event as I shall call it is run every year by the Tipton Community Association (TCA) which has an excellent reputation across the Borough for managing outdoor events. But in 2017 it was hijacked by Sandwell Labour. The bent paid service of the Council under the leadership [sic] of Jan Britton yet again failed to adequately answer a Freedom of Information Request on this matter. I now set out below a series of questions and answers put to TCA by a third party which has elicited some shocking replies (shown in red). If anyone has any problem with the replies please refer to TCA. My cooments are in bold.
Questions
& Responses:
Wednesbury Christmas Lights Fri 1st Dec
2017
1. Organising Committee: Sandwell
Council advise that the TCA were commissioned to lead on Mgmt and
delivery of the event and were supported by local organisations and ward
members. This doesn’t give all the information I was hoping to receive.
Please may I ask specifically other than yourself
and members of the TCA can you name all of the following that were involved?:
Ward Councillors: Elaine
Costigan, Pam Hughes, Peter Hughes
Sandwell Council Officers: Tom Hogan (not Hodson)
Labour Party Members (known to you): Maggie Dorsett plus the three Councillors
named above
Union Members (known to you): Not known
Businesses/Business Owners: Tony Baker (ANT), Spencer Thrower (Black
Country Barbers), Scott & Spencer Evans (Bescot Promotions)
Any other organisations: None involved in the actual planning
& management of the event
Did Cllrs Olwen
Jones, Bob Lloyd or the newly elected Luke Giles have any input in to this
event? If so please could you advise who and what they did? Olwen Jones & Bob
Lloyd were not involved in the planning and did not attend any meetings. Luke
Giles was not directly involved in the planning and did not attend any
meetings, however he did attend the event as a representative of a sponsor
(Evans Halshaw) and also assisted with the charity collection on the night of
the event
[Skidder Comment - I thought Cllr Pam Hughes was also meant to be a trustee of TCA?]
2. Cllrs Costigan,
Pam & Pete Hughes, Labour member Maggie Dorsett, Spencer Thrower and Tony
Baker are all said to have been involved in the planning & organisation:
Did any of these
named people act against the TCA or act separately to the TCA, as commissioned
lead & Mgrs, in organising this event? Yes
If so please could
you advise who and how they acted in ways contrary to the TCA management &
lead? There
appeared to be a hidden agenda. There appeared to be separate secret meetings
where arrangements were made without my knowledge. All three Councillors
arranged external sponsorship and direct payment of some activities and attractions.
These arrangements were kept secret and not discussed at any meetings I
attended, even though I requested information on several occasions. The
sponsors were not revealed until the event, they did not appear on any
publicity until the event when a large banner was placed at the front of the
stage. A FINAL meeting was arranged by the three Councillors which had to be
rescheduled at my insistence as they had not informed me, or invited me (as the
organiser) !
I take full responsibility for the amount
of funding received through my LAB funding application which is clearly and
accurately documented and is now in the possession of SMBC. I have no knowledge
of the amounts of any external funding, who received it, or who it was paid to.
I felt coerced into accepting decisions that had already been made, even though
I knew they were potentially fraudulent. Although official SMBC posters had
been produced, there were several other styles of posters created and
distributed throughout Wednesbury town centre without my knowledge, when
questioned, I could not get a satisfactory answer from any of the three
Councillors named above. I was also pressurised into ignoring the requirements
of SMBC's Safety at Public Events Committee regarding the Fire Eater's act insurance
cover
I was specifically
requested to visit a business owner in Wednesbury to discuss her concerns about
the location of various elements of the event. During that discussion that person
raised the issue of the Wednesbury BID. The very next day, I was subject to a
complaint that I had questioned her about the BID. It is my belief that this
situation was manipulated by one or more of the three Councillors named, in an
attempt to discredit me
In another meeting,
where I was trying to ascertain the content and running order of the event (as
more secretly arranged items had been added) I was subjected to an array of
dirty looks, tuts and eye rolling from all three Councillors, a complaint was
then made that I was rude and disrespectful to the Town Lead. An accusation
that I strongly deny and in fact have a number of witnesses to support my
position. When I raised concern about the level of expenditure (as we were
at that point over £1500.00 over budget) I was told to not worry as there was
plenty of money and they would simply sign another LAB grant, this I felt was
contrary to the spirit of my tender for the project.
Throughout the whole
sequence of planning meetings and site visits I felt unwelcome, pressured, and
treated with a level of contempt by the three Councillors named
[Skidder comment - as above re Pam Hughes.]
3. Spencer Thrower,
Tony Baker “Rhino” and Ant Event Management: It would appear that Spencer
Thrower & “Rhino” are both part of Ant Event Management, B71 3SH:
Please can you
advise if any other organisations were asked to quote for staging and booking
acts? The actual stage was booked directly by me through
Promarco Ltd of Dudley. Ant Event Management were appointed by me to book acts
and run the stage activity during the event as they had done in previous years.
Do you think that it
is ethical to have two persons who apparently have an entertainments business
“Ant Event Management” as part of the planning group from the initial planning
stage? Would this not be a conflict of interest? As
this arrangement had been in place for the previous year I saw no reason to not
continue with them
Are you aware that
Spencer Thrower’s partner was booked to appear, Helen James? At
that point in time I was not aware that Helen James was a connected person to
any of the organisers
Were any checks done
on Ant Event Management being a bonafide business entity? The website
they have used for promotion does not exist currently. There is no UK listing
for Ant Event Management or any phone number I can see being listed. I
raised this question at the time and reported my concerns to Council Officers,
however I was advised to run with it
Did Ant Event
Management have all the necessary documents available in their name to
be able to ensure the safe running and legal requirement of any part of
the Wednesbury Lights Switch On that they were responsible for ie Public
Liability, PAT etc? No
Was Ant Event
Management asked to give a new quotation for the 2017 event with breakdown or
was it agreed that they charge the same amount as the previous year? I gave Ant Event
Management a budget of £1500.00 to work with, leaving them to decide on the
content of the entertainment
Please can you
advise who approved the use of Ant Event Management and was Cllr Elaine
Costigan involved in the approval? It was apparent at
the first meeting that I attended that Ant Event Management were the
organisation I was to use for the Wednesbury event
Were the decisions
to award Ant Event Management the contract for this event done prior to the TCA
being commissioned to manage the event? It is my opinion that
this is the case
Is it correct that
Tony Baker was first given the contract for the security of the event? Yes
Was this agreed
prior to the TCA being commissioned to manage the event? It is my opinion that
this is the case
Who approved and/or
put forward Tony Baker to supply security? It was apparent at the first meeting that
I attended that Ant Event Management were the organisation I was to use
for the Wednesbury event
On the night other
security were managing the event, please can you advise why Tony Baker and his
security were dropped? Although the operatives on the
night were the actual persons as those appointed by Tony Baker, I actually made
the decision after consulting Council Officers and my fellow organiser Karen
Simms, to engage the men under my own organisations management and insurance,
as it was clear that there was no legal company structure in place and my own
integrity would be put at risk. Therefore the freelance security personnel who
were there at the event were appointed by, and paid directly by myself on
behalf of Tipton Community Association.
4. Sponsorship,
donors etc: This is an area that is not clear at all. A
banner was on the front of the stage purporting to show “sponsors” of the
event. I list the following companies and organisations on the banner:
· Evans
Halshaw
· Gallagher
· Gaumont
· Playlands
· Sandwell
MBC (SMBC)
· The
Lamp
· The
Trade Centre
Clearly other than
SMBC all of the above are business entities.
For each, other than
SMBC, can you advise what was actually sponsored at the event and what costs
did the sponsorship cover? I believe that Playlands
made a payment of £300.00. I do not know what for or who received it. I only
know this because the Manager there asked us for the gazebo and table they had
paid £300.00 for! I have no knowledge whatsoever of any of the other
sponsorship deals
If any of the
companies donated anything either financially or in material goods please can
you advise for each company what they donated and amount? Not
Known
Who arranged each of
the sponsorship deals or donations, please name? Not
Known
If any Cllrs or
Sandwell Council Officers agreed to the sponsorship and/or accepted donations
please can you name them? Not Known
Who arranged for the
printing of the banner, what was the cost and where has it been accounted
for? Not
Known
[Skidder comment - those of you who have read by blog about hos Jan Britton's bent paid service rigged the Wednesbury BID ballot will note that two friends of La Costigan again feature here. How much was donated, to whom and where did the money go?]
5. Cash Collections:I
understand that the TCA passed a total of £1500 to the Mayor of Sandwell for
their chosen charity. This compromised monies from Oldbury, Tipton as well as
Wednesbury.
On the night of the
collections in Wednesbury are you satisfied that you received all of the
collecting tins, buckets and any other container used for the purposes of cash
collection that you as organiser had distributed? The number of
collecting tubs returned to us on the following Monday was correct
Were all of the cash
collection tins, buckets and containers secured, tied and unbroken and returned
in the same condition as they were initially distributed? No
Are you satisfied
that all your own collections were in order and above board and all monies
counted by yourselves represents a true and accurate figure of what was
collected on the night? If for any reason you are not please could you advise
details? The
amount collected was disappointingly low, arrangements had been agreed to
collect all the buckets to be stored securely at xxxxxxx [redacted by Skidder - name of local business] where they would be
kept until the Monday morning when my Chair of Trustees and myself would meet
with the three Councillors named above to count the contents. In the event,
when Alan and I arrived at xxxxxxx we were advised that the 'bloke from the
barbers' had already taken them. When Alan and I arrived at Wednesbury Town
Hall, all the buckets had been opened and the cash tipped into one container
Other than TCA
collections were any other collections made by other organisations on the
night? If so please if known can you name the persons and/organisations that
were making other collections? Were these collections authorised by
TCA? TCA
did not authorise any other collections and as far as I am aware no other
collections took place
[Skidder comment - this is not the first time this blog has queried the "inadequacy" of street collections involving Sandwell Councils. Remember former Council Tony "Fudgy" Meehan and his bucket collection at "The Friends of Fudgestock" for Wolverhampton Hospital? Alas when I wrote to the Hospital they could not trace the receipt of ANY donation from that source in the year in question.....]
6. Event:There
seems to be a number of other holes in the recording, accounting and
management of the event that may not have been in TCA’s control. Please
may I respectfully draw your attention to the following and ask for your
response:
1. Ice Rink - Who
organised this, authorised it and paid for it at what cost? Not Known
2. Jelly Legz - Who
organised these, authorised these and paid for their services at what cost? I believe all
arrangements were made between Elaine Costigan and Bescot Promotions
3. Gareth
Gates - Who booked him, authorised booking and who paid for his appearance at
what cost? Were there any other associated costs involved in his appearance
i.e. accommodation, rider etc ?
Not Known
4. Stilt Walkers - Who organised
these, authorised them and paid for them at what cost? I believe all
arrangements were made between Pam Hughes and the organisation concerned
5. Of the 1- 4 above are
you aware if any of them have any personal connections or family ties with Councillors,
Sandwell Council Officers and/or any other persons that have been involved in
the planning, organising and management of this event? If so please can you
name and advise? Not
Known
6. There is a Local Area
Budget payment for this event from SMBC to the value of £6036.33 to the TCA.
Are you aware of any extra SMBC funding either LAB or other being received by
organisations, cllrs or individual persons that may have contributed to
this event? Please can you name and advise amounts if known? Not Known
[Skidder comment - the Labour Council is skint. £6k seems reasonable for an event of this type IF the local traders are behind it. But what was the true cost and who has accounted for the mysterious extra funds and where is this information?]
7. Mgmt, Staff,
Councillors and Sandwell Council Officers:
1. Are you happy to
state that you are satisfied that TCA had full control of all aspects of the
event and the event management and that it was run in accordance with your own
good practice? If not please could you advise why? Although I was left in
complete control on the day (I was there from 9.00am through to 9.00pm) I
cannot honestly say that TCA were allowed to manage the Wednesbury event to our
own good practice
2. At any time during
the planning process, management and the night of the event were you at any
time coerced in to making decisions that you did not agree to? If you were are
you able to advise in what way you may have been coerced and by whom? Particularly regarding
Ant Management, xxxxxxxxxxxxx [Slidder redaction for legal reasons], and
the inferred instruction to ignore the requirements of the SAPE Committee
regarding the Fire Act's level of insurance cover
3. Since the event
has taken place have you been put under any pressure to not release any details
of accounting, management, sponsorship, donations and or any other
matters that may compromise the good name of the TCA or implicate others in any
way that may be detrimental to their reputation? If you have please could you
advise the circumstances and the persons involved? I have been advised to
tread carefully by Council Officers so as not to return to the 'days where TCA
were excluded from any working relationship with Sandwell Council'
4. Since the event
have you received any implied or explicit threat to undermine the good name of
the TCA and/or deny yourselves funding and/or council resources or the
withdrawal of your lease of The Brook Street Community Centre? If you
have please could you advise the circumstances and the persons involved? Yes, this is happening
now, we have already been deliberately excluded from this years Christmas
Events, I have received several reports from members of the public regarding
inflammatory and potentially slanderous comments being made by at least one
Ward Councillor. I cannot comment further on this point at the moment as it is
currently being investigated by the relevant employer of the said person and I
would not wish to prejudice any decisions that may be made
5. Have you received
any implied or explicit threat or similar that may make you feel uneasy in
being able to continue your role professionally and for the good of the
community in an open, honest & transparent manner? If you have please
could you advise the circumstances and the persons involved? Yes, both myself and
other members of TCA Management Team feel under pressure at the moment, we feel
intimidated and deflated, and although we want to let the community know what
is happening we are genuinely frightened that our activities will suffer and
our facilities will be pulled from under us. We firmly believe however, that
the public will come down firmly on our side and therefore will continue to
bring this bullying and corruption to light
6. I am aware of
comments that some officers and councillors have made to myself and other
organisations in the past. The phrase “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” is a
popular one thrown out. At any time have you received comments
similar to this from Cllrs or SMBC Officers? Please can you advise which Cllrs
and/or SMBC Officers have made these type of comments to you? Yes, on several
occasions
7. Do you feel that
you are being coerced by Cllrs and SMBC Officers to tow [sic] the line and not the
wishes of your organisation or community? I truly believe that this is the case
PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT
THIS IS A TRUE REFLECTION OF THE SITUATION AND THERE IS NOTHING I
HAVE WRITTEN HERE THAT I WOULD NOT RELY ON IN A COURT OF LAW
[Skidder comment - here we ago again - vicious bullying by the Labour Dictatorship! Who is running this year's event and how are the finances being handled? Once again how is Cllr Pam Hughes tied up in all this - though given her performance at "Ask Andy" she has no independent will and is merely a cipher for the ludicrous Zorro?]
Stop Press
Since writing about the bent BID ballot overseen by Jan Britton's staff a trader has approached me directly. The trader claims to have been canvassed to agree to the BID directly by both Cllrs Costigan and Pam Hughes but was also NEVER sent a ballot paper.....
I also raised the involvement of Mr Mike Maynard in all this and my FOI request to the bent Council has been acknowledged today. Regular readers will know that Maynard boasted that he was specifically asked by the Council to run the "publicity" for the BID and so set up Facebook and Twitter accounts. What was in it for him - an obsessive photographer? Maynard has also revealed what might be the answer - he has also boasted that the Council are considering "funding" his photography"!
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PROUD TO HAVE BEEN TROLLED BY DICKHEAD DARREN COOPER DECEASED!
*See previous blogs for the reasoning behind this nomenclature.
