Bent Labour Sandwell - A New Low!

I am indebted to local community activist Darryl Magher for the main content of this post. Darryl will be known to most readers for his diligent work in exposing the fraud, cronyism and incompetence of bent Sandwell Labour over many years. Incidentally Darryl is due to have an op today and I am sure we all wish him a speedy recovery and a swift return to his anti-corruption work.

Before you read his email below you need to know that former Labour Leader, "Red" Yvonne Davies, ordered a review into the infamous Wragge Report (posts passim) and I am informed that David Stevens (at that time anxious to appease her) duly delivered. Red Yvonne is a fully paid-up member of the Mahboob Hussain fan club but I am told that Stevens produced an explosive report detailing further racism against the Muslim community, gross incompetence in the preparation of the report, stinging criticism of Stevens's predecessor, the disgraced Jan Britton, and grave concens over the award of the contract to Wragges (solicitors - now Gowling WLG) plus severe costs overruns.

It is indeed strange that Stevens (pictured with The Squealer) was a senior Director of the bent paid service at the time of the Wragge Report and "one of the boys" yet he didn't "find out" about any of this until after Eling had been deposed!

Red was duly shafted and since then there has been a concerted effort to bury the Stevens Review (or "Reviews" as there may have been more than one).

You also need to know that bent Sandwell Council's former auditors were one of the big four accountancy firms, KPMG. They were passed over in favour of a second-tier firm, Grant Thornton (GT). Of course, GT are supposed to be fulfilling a public role in auditing this corrupt public body's accounts but have "skin in the game" by reason of the large fees payable by the bent paid service. We shall never know what promises GT made to the corrupt Council to get the gig, due to the claim of "commercial confidentiality", but what you will see below gives grave cause for concern.

Mr Mark Stocks is the GT auditor in charge of the SMBC account and Mr Dunkley is the GT CEO (overall boss).

Finally, before you read Darryl's email, I say in the title of this post that this is a "new low" for the bent Labour Council. This is because this is the first time in the years since the start of this blog that the minutes of a meeting have been disputed in this way. Stevens and Tour (the head of Sadwell "legal") have managed something in their short double-act that even the disgraced Jan Britton could not achieve!

Here is Darryl's Email of 25th June, 2021 sent to David Dunkley (GT CEO), David Stevens, Nicola Richards (Conservative MP for West Brom East), Rajbir Singh (Labour "leader" of Sandwell Labour) and David Fisher (Leader of Sandwell's new Conservative Opposition).

"Subject: SANDWELL - Mark Stocks - Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Mtg

NOT A PROTECTED DOCUMENT 

I attended the above meeting today as a member of the Public, viewing from the public gallery. 

The minutes of the previous meeting were not accepted as a true record.

There was considerable discussion about this matter and references to private sessions where it is said by some that a review and other report in to the original Wragge report was discussed. 

I have submitted a FOI request on the Wragge etc. 

I noted that Mark Stocks long in to the discussion spoke of there being "final resolutions" and that considerable time had already been spent on the matter discussed in private session. 

This raised first concern. The original Wragge report was deemed to be in the public interest, surely any subsequent review or related report must be viewed in the same manner. 

The original report has now been spoken about in Parliament on a number of occasions. 

It is understood that the previous Leader of Sandwell Council had briefed current MPs on the review and matters arising. [I am not sure whether Darryl means Maria Crompton or Red Yvonne here and can't check just now due to Darryl's op.]

It is clear that a number of oustanding/ongoing cases, complaints, investigations etc refer to the original Wragge or rely upon some of it's content.

How can MPs, Officers, Cllrs and/or investigators possibly make informed decisions/judgements if they are not presented with all of the facts and the truth? 

In my capacity as a private individual with some limited knowledge of the matter, when listening to Mark Stocks it appears he has heard and seen all the evidence and has given the impression that there is a need to sweep away/bury reports to be able to move on. 

He stated that looking in to historical matters did not serve residents. This I strongly disagree with. There is a need for truth, accountability and for lessons to be learned by all. 

I'd also suggest that already low public confidence in council governance is not best improved by drawing lines under matters. The truth needs to be told.

It is further understood that Mark Stocks has written to the CE David Stevens on matters although the content of the letters was not discussed. Is there a plan to try and suppress the review and report? 

If Mark Stocks has seen and heard all the evidence and there within such evidence are clear areas of officer & cllr involvement this needs to be made clear and public. 

This matter has already cost the council a considerable amount of time and money but I suggest that the effect on public confidence, should a "fudge" take place, will cost the council considerably more in reputation and further costs should there be legal challenges and further FOIs.

May I respectfully ask for your comments and also I ask that the review and subsequent report in to the Wragge Report is recommended for release. 

I trust that there is no Officer or political coercion or shadowy xxxxxxxxxxxx [redaction by The Skidder though watch this space] connections that are suppressing it's release. 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/gowling_wlg_report_also_referred#incoming-1811028"

Kind regards, 

Darryl Magher"

There was a response to this excellent email from Mr Dunkley of GT:

"Dear Mr Magher

I have referred your email to Mark Stocks. Mark has provided me with the following informatio

‘The Wragge report relates to actions in 2011 and has been debated for a considerable period of time. To ensure that an appropriate resolution was reached the matters were fully debated at the March and May Audit Committees and appropriate resolutions reached.  The decision to consider the matters in private was taken by the Council. This is not unusual given the complexity and nature of the issues. I am satisfied that the resolutions reached are reasonable and provide the Council with a platform to move on from these past events. Subject to agreement of the minutes from the meetings the resolutions will be taken to Cabinet and the Council.

These events have now been fully investigated and given due consideration by the Council. It is appropriate that the Council now refocuses on its current services and governance.

The Council’s governance will be subject to the review discussed at the Audit Committee.’

Please can I suggest that you refer any future correspondence to Mark as he is best placed to respond to you.

Many thanks

David Dunckley

CEO, 

My pronouns are he/him

Grant Thornton UK LLP"

Firstly, it needs to be said that the Wragge Report does not relate just to 2011 but to later issues such as the sale of the Lodge Street building plot to Azeem Hafeez. 

Secondly, what on earth is a supposed guardian of the public purse doing getting involved in political issues? There is no way that Stocks should be involved in this secret political process and making his own views known. He is not an elected Councillor. Nicola Richards and her Tory MP colleagues James Morris and Shaun Bailey, need to tell GT to butt out! This is particularly relevant when (a) large sums of public money have been spent on the Review and, it is said, on expensive external legal advice and (b) some of the Councillors in Cabinet at the time of the matters raised in the Wragge Report are still "serving" "lol" notably Paul "The Cipher" Moore and Simon "The Sandwell Slasher" Hackett. Indeed I am informed that Moore has been instrumental in trying to stop the publication of the Stevens Review! 

Wragge's representative who wrote [sic] the original Report was chastised for an overtly racist remark about "inbreeding" and I held a one-man demo outside their office to demand they repaid their huge fees given this and the fact that the Report was crap. I now understand that the single racist comment was the tip of the iceberg and Wragge's representative (for whose actions they are legally liable) is said by Stevens to have made other disgraceful remarks. It cannot be that GT in a public role are seeking to condone and cover-up such racism in public life and Wragge's must be named and shamed into (a) an apology, (b) a commitment to change its ways and (c) repayment of its huge fee.

What a sad indictment too of new puppet Labour "leader" Rajbir Singh. An inexperienced Councillor controlled by Labour Party mentors is another who has come to the post claiming he will drain the swamp yet already his colleagues are at war and cannot even agree on the minutes of a meeting! Come on Rajbir - grow a pair and publish the Stevens Review(s)! Your reign will be forever tainted if you attempt yet another Labour cover-up (and the nine new Tory Councillors must fight for immediate disclosure). AND Cllr Singh, why are you covering-up racism and not demanding pay-back from Gowling WLG?

Of course, Andy Street (Tory Mayor of the West Midlands) is a big fan of Wragges and so will, no doubt, also have a word with his chums to do the right thing here.

Wasim Ali - No Azeem Connection!

I understand that Cllr Wasim Ali has recently got married (to a woman). He has kindly broken off from his nuptials to tell the Skidder in writing that allegations put to him that he is related to Azeem Hafeez both familially and via a family marriage are entirely false.

Azeem, of course, is the son of a former Labour deputy leader of the Council, Mahboob Hussain, who has just "won" over £22m worth of SEND contracts despite his regular appearances in this blog and the Wragge Report (see last two blog posts re the transport contracts and blogs passim via his involvement in various land details). [I need to just mention here the Legal Notice at the end of all of my posts since Sandwell's bent paid service under David Stevens seem to think it does not apply to SMBC. It does!]

This is all very curious since Wasim has always been considered to be Mahboob's brown-eyed boy and something of a protegee (and many in the Muslim community tell me this). There has always been speculation that when young Cllr Ali rushes straight out of Council meetings to make a long phone call that he is "reporting to control" whereas this is clearly false and he is presumably just discussing the minutae of Council procedure with his new bride.

For the record, Wasim also states that he has had no involvement in the award of the SEND contracts.

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