In The Public Domain?: 2024

Sunday, 15 December 2024

BREAKING NEWS: LION FARM FIELDS "FOR SALE"

In accordance with bent Sandwell Labour's plan to destroy much of the green space in sh*thole Sandwell a new "plan" has been hatched to develop Lion Farm Fields following the collapse of the corrupt shopping centre deal. As usual with this amoral and venal Council, all this has been going on in secret.

Regular readers will know that I have been campaigning against the destruction of the massive 19 ha green space for many years (Skidders passim). In an astonishingly bent deal starting in 2011/12 corrupt Labour agreed to a top secret "options agreement" with Tory Party donor and multimillionaire, Jeremy Knight Adams (JKA), for him to build an "up-market designer shopping village" on the vital local green lung.

Lying Cllr Simon "The Sandwell Slasher" Hackett was in on the deal right from the off as was Cllr Paul "The Cipher" Moore. Bent Labour went to great pains to hide the deal referring to it in such documents as they had to make public by absurdly misleading names such as "Land at Junction 2, M5" Initially I exposed the corruption and was part of a local campaign against the proposed despoiling development. This pressure led to some panic in bent Labour and, ignoring the material fact that JKA had not fulfilled his part of the deal, then Labour "Leader", the tyrannical Steve "Squealing" Eling and his close associates, simply declared - in the teeth of the contrary evidence - that all was above board, and purported to give retrospective legality to this "deal". Once again, Paul Moore was heavily involved in this unlawfulness, putting his name to a mendacious and grossly inaccurate Council Report. Others involved in 2017/18 (at the latest) were current Leader, Kerrie, Dim Kez, Carmichael and corrupt liar, Cllr Syeda Khatun.

The destruction of green space continues apace under Labour. Only Sandwell Valley is safe (at least for now) and Labour has already destroyed Londonderry Fields, and agreed to destroy a substantial part of the old Brandhall Golf Course. [Warley Woods is safe as Sandwell Labour can't destroy it for legal reasons.] The new Labour national Government has already said that it doesn't give a sh*t about wildlife etc., and is intent on concreting-over as much green space as possible.

Folks local to Lion Farm Fields were initially opposed to the proposed development, but it is clear that the residents of Langley and Tividale Wards don't give a f*ck anymore. Indeed, in Langley, they even voted in Dim Kez's mum who is guaranteed to support her daughter's enthusiasm for this despoliation in the midst of an urban dystopia. There was also ambivalence from the b*llshitting friend of JKA, former Tory West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, but he has - thankfully - been booted-out. The local ever-shrinking band of Tory Councillors have generally pretended to be against Labour's plan to destroy The Fields, but they played that same deceitful game with Brandhall, and then turned round and p*ssed over the strong local campaign Group. Still, if the locals want another 19 ha of concrete on their doorsteps (no doubt with a miniscule "eco-park" in the middle) good luck to them.

Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed the use of inverted commas around "for sale" in the title of this post and wondered about this. The fact is that whilst the Fields are technically on the open market, bent Labour is yet again trying to do a secret deal with favoured friends without a fully open and transparent process.

Sandwell has disclosed a lot of heavily redacted documents to me via a Freedom of Information request. What is certain is that the "Options" deal with multimillionaire JKA is dead having expired on 5th July, 2024. What is not clear is whether bent Labour had to pay him to go away (and I am still working on that).

In fact, even before this, in a secret Cabinet meeting in May, 2023 Carmichael and her chums agreed to:

"Designate the site for a mix of residential and employment use with a suitable proportion of open space".

Note that is when the Government Commissioners were in situ and supposed to be preventing anymore bent deals although, of course, Lead Commissioner Kim Bromley Derry also has a very lucrative side-hussle working for a major, er, property developer.

Thus bent Labour has stated in writing:

"The land is currently available for purchase to an appropriate developer"; and

"The piece of land subject to this request is currently available and the Council is open to discussions with developers".

The Council has a legal duty to dispose of the land (assuming it faces no opposition to development which seems likely given the fecklessness of locals) at the best price, and so the obvious thing to do would be to put the huge green space on the open market. But that leaves less option for corruption and kick-backs and so, yet again, bent Labour has chosen to deal with only certain developers who have somehow "found out" about the end of the JKA nonsense and "expressed an interest in the land at Lion Farm".

It goes without saying that Labour are hiding the names of the mystery developers it is already talking to, and Chief Executive, Shokat Lal, has come up with this absurd reasoning for concealing their identities:

" ... the name of the companies will reveal who the council is willing to engage with in terms of the development of land and give an advantage to other developers." [My emphasis].

Surely the more interest, the higher the amount the taxpayer is likely to receive from this scandalous situation but Lal has made it clear that only people Labour want to bid can get involved here. This is, at the very best, extremely poor practice which I will be drawing to the attention of Sandwell's arse-licking external auditors, Grant Thornton.

Alas, another very sad Sandwell story. Farewell to the Fields.

[In the unlikely event that anyone actually does want to contest this appalling vandalism I can send the large amount of new documentation by sharing a Google Drive file. That offer excludes Peter Durnell and his proxies.]

Labour Cllr Paul "The Cipher" Moore

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Monday, 9 December 2024

The Last Days of The Skidder

Dear readers will have noticed that The Skidder has been rather quiet for the last few months. This was largely due to personal circumstances together with (a) the fact that no matter what evidence of Labour cronyism, corruption and incompetence The Skidder exposes, the vast majority of the morons who live in the sh*thole Borough want more of the same, and (b) despite the efforts of myself and others over many years to hold Labour to account, the elected opposition in the form of the hapless Tory opposition MP's and Councillors have been absolutely pathetic. Happily, the Tories have been severely culled at all levels in Sadders. But the half-century of Labour failure continues with the Dictatorship stronger than ever and, quite simply, this is exactly what the residents of the benighted Borough deserve.

Subject to the caveats set out below, The Skidder will be winding down over the next few weeks. There are still some big stories in the offing and so stay tuned for now. There are at least two Tribunal cases coming up. And "retirement" will never be total since there are certain bent individuals who will remain "on the watch list" whilst I draw breath.

I will also be writing up the definitive "History of The Skidder" as a matter of public record so that future Sandwell generations will see the contempt their ancestors had for their future. Watch this space.

Recent news

This has been unremittingly bad from the national Rachel Theeves tax bombshell Budget to local Labour disasters as shown by the following small selection of recent horrors:

Even the pro-Labour clickbait recycling works, The Birmingham Mail, recently said:

"Sandwell is one of the most deprived areas in the country and regularly comes near the bottom of rankings when it comes to health, lifestyle, poverty and school performance."

This was written in a piece explaining that Sandwell had appeared in the top ten areas nationally where kids perform the worst in English and Maths GCSE's. But then Sandwell parents don't care and so why should we be surprised?

And Sandwell's appalling reputation nationally was reported again in the Mail when dismal West Bromwich - described in a survey report as "the Black Country's crime capital" - was also in the "top ten worst places to live in the UK". Besides the awful crime rate the toilet that is West Brom scored particularly low in terms of culture - which is hardly surprising given Labour's decade-long attempt to destroy culture across the Borough, except for a few brown-tongue organisations like Multistory. It also scored badly in respect of parks and green spaces - the latter being systematically concreted-over by bent Labour across Sadders.

And Labour's hapless administration was slammed by the Regulator of Social Housing for failing to meet health and safety standards and poor record keeping. How is this even possible given the bloated Council workforce although, of course, the majority are now "working" - or "shirking" - from home? Despite huge year-on-year increases of council rents under bent Sandwell Labour the Regulator's inspection revealed a colossal backlog of 14,000 repairs. Shokat Lal (the Chief Executive) could only produce accurate records for 5% (yes that IS five per cent) of homes. Asbestos surveys and re-inspections had only been carried out on a tiny 2% of homes.

The irony of this is that bent Labour has been waging war on supposedly "rogue" private landlords yet Labour as landlords has "serious failings" according to the Regulator and "significant improvements" are needed. Once again you have to question the mentality of Sandwell Council residents who keep paying more and more rent for this substandard service, but then keep supporting Labour. Serves them right, really.

Incidentally, on the subject of landlords, a***-licker extraordinaire Gurinder Josan MP is one of the largest private landlords in Parliament. In addition to his other business interests he and his family own eight rental properties in and around the cesspool that is Smethwick. Right on, Comrade!

The UK needs more immigration rather than less, but Sandwell Labour is (now) vociferous in support of irregular immigrants (as the UK Government describes them) arriving on our beaches. (Compare and contrast the position when the vile wifebeater, Darren Cooper, was the Council's Labour "Leader" and he and the Labour Group refused to house folks fleeing civil war in Syria). Sandwell Labour backs the independent local Borough of Sanctuary campaign in its usual leftie, virtual-signalling, way. Meanwhile, besides letting council properties fester (as above) it has presided over a 345% increase in "temporary" - mainly bed and breakfast - accommodation for families in just three years. The bill to us taxpayers has risen from £400,000 in 2021 to £2.5m in the last financial year. You would have to be desperate to want to live in red Sadders, but then there are locals and new arrivals who are.

This blog has always pointed out the "good" news that inhabitants in the Sandwell sh*thole at least have a shorter life expectancy than their peers in most of the rest of the UK but, alas, yet another bent Labour stealth tax is coming with the New Year as funeral/cremation costs are hiked again - this time by a stonking 10%. These and other fees (weddings/planning etc) are going up despite Labour continually boasting of its financial acumen. In an incredible statement bent Labour blamed the public for not spending enough on its woeful services. It coyly and absurdly described this as an "under-recovery of income". It intends to fill the black hole by charging more for the, er, same services. Anyone else think there might be a flaw in this "plan"?

And so the disasters stack one on top of another. But still, that's what people in Sadders are happy with.

Orifice Latest

Rumours abound that the Oracle Fusion computer upgrade is still problematic. In a recent post:

https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2024/09/shokat-lal-on-davey-and-oracle-fusion.html

I explained that it was Birmingham Labour's contract with right-wing US software giant, Oracle, which had been a factor in driving that Council to the local government equivalent of bankruptcy. Sandwell Chief Exec, Shokat Lal, decided that the staff member in charge of this project did not need a suitable qualification and, indeed, that this was "not desirable". WTF?

It was claimed that Alice Davey (Skidders passim) was to head-up the project, but she has now left the Council altogether despite Lal re-employing her following the removal of her original post! WTF again? It seems the s.151 Finance Officer has been handed the poisoned chalice so that Lal can distance himself from any more disasters.

Farewell Alice.

Sources claim there have been big problems with paying suppliers and maintenance of staff annual leave records. There seems to be some problem with input of time sheets. Staff claim there has been little or no training on the new system. Let's just hope Lal is on top of this, and that the project is not eating money Brum-style. (Anymore info welcome on this.)

(Unless I have missed something the small rump of Tory Councillors are completely silent on the Oracle shambles so far, and so we can assume that they are entirely happy with the way the contract is running - or like much else Labour does, don't actually give a fxxx!))

Akpoteni - The Silence of the Sheep

Last March (13th & 22nd) I wrote in two posts how (then) Labour Councillor (and, incredibly, would-be Parliamentary candidate) Kacey Akpoteni ran a care [sic] Company which was investigated by the police (although no action was taken) and by care regulators in both England and Wales. The Regulators raised serious concerns and Akpoteni's Company was required to improve. Of course, bent Sandwell Labour had given their pal Akpoteni part of a valuable domiciliary care contract, and let her Company loose on vulnerable Sandwell people.

I put in a detailed Freedom of Information (FOI) Request and if you can't sleep at night you can view it, and the wholly inadequate replies from SMBC, here:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/domiciliary_care_contract_cllr_a#incoming-2800968

Suffice to say that bent Labour itself terminated Akpoteni's contract AND kicked her out of the Labour Group. I asked about the original contract and what Lal and Co. did once they became aware of the damning reports from the Regulators. Even though all this raised serious safeguarding issues, Lal has refused to respond in any meaningful way.

Normally, I would take this matter to the Information Commissioner but as the Cllr for Hateful Heath has gone, and her Company no longer has the contract, I am not going to waste time on this for several more months. The record (via the link above) shows that Sandwell Labour clearly has a cavalier attitude when (a) doling out contracts to its cronies, and (b) in respect of safeguarding issues - despite all its bulls*t to the contrary.

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Friday, 4 October 2024

Dorset Council formally apologises to The Skidder

Following the initiation of a legal protocol process Dorset Council has issued an apology (set out below) to The Skidder via its external Solicitors.

Background

The story started when Dorset decided to replace a departing Director with an "interim" one. Applications were sought via the Council's "framework" but Chief Executive, Matt Prosser, claims to have received unsolicited applications via Solace in Business Limited, the trading arm of Solace, a membership organisation formed to promote the interests of local government figures. At the material time, Prosser was the President of Solace.

Prosser received the CV of the disgraced former Chief Executive of Sandwell MBC, Jan Britton, from Solace in Business although Prosser says that Britton is not a member of Solace. Despite the appalling misconduct of Britton over many years at Sandwell (see Note One and Skidders passim ad nauseum), Prosser agreed to pay the appalling Britton £900 per day plus a payment of £125 per day to Solace in Business for the interim job.

The pathetic groveller who claims to have seen nothing, heard nothing and certainly said nothing at corrupt Sandwell!

(Later, Prosser wrote that he was a Director of Solace in Business Limited (SIB) although he is not shown as such at Companies House. The Skidder duly wrote to the Company Secretary of SIB, Ruth Hyde, querying this anomaly but she has not bothered to respond. I will now take this matter up with Dorset again.)

You can see the history of Britton's appointment by Prosser and the hapless (and now out of power) local Tories via Note Two.

The Skidder wrote to a number of (then) Dorset Councillors from a selection of political parties asking why they thought spending £1,025 per day of taxpayers money on Britton - given his atrocious record, much of which is in the public domain - was good value. It quickly transpired that Dorset's Head of Legal, Jonathan Mair, had arranged to intercept Councillor's private emails without their knowledge (this was seemingly with Prosser's agreement and a later "independent report" by one of Mair's deputies said this appalling action was actually ok although, in future, it might be nice to ask the councillors' for permission to intercept their private emails first!)

Mair then sought to bully The Skidder. It's the same old, same old story for journalists covering misconduct in local government - bullying Councils ignore the facts and shoot the messenger. Mair threatened to use taxpayer's money to protect Britton's non-existent reputation and to take legal action if The Skidder attempted to contact any of Dorset's apparently pusillanimous Councillors about the appointment. Mair also told colleagues he was contacting the pathetic local mainstream media to warn them off the story! In fact, during the recent legal process, Dorset confirmed that they did not actually go on to nobble the local clickbait brigade (hence the wording of one of the paragraphs in the official apology). Interestingly, the feeble local mainstream media were alerted by The Skidder regarding Britton's appointment, but only the splendid, and independent, Dorset Eye covered the story.

Mair then wrote to the Councillors The Skidder had tried to contact making what The Skidder considered to me grossly defamatory remarks about him and his journalism. See Note Three below (from our associated blog).

Interestingly, one of the Councillors contacted was Nick Ireland. He was then the Lib Dem opposition Leader, but is now the Council Leader following the Tory rout locally. Ireland was apparently unconcerned (a) that his private emails had been intercepted, and (b) that his Council was paying £1,025 per day for the awful Britton. There is a curious "Lib Dem" aspect to all this. When Britton was kicked out of Sandwell (without compensation other than his statutory/contractual entitlement - almost unheard of for miscreant local government officers) a very aggressive Lib Dem Councillor in the Cotswolds called Joe Harris decided that someone as hopeless as Britton was just what was needed in that neck of the woods and gave him a job immediately! All very odd.

Incidentally, Ireland did not have the b*lls to tell The Skidder that Mair had written to him (and the others) in the manner in which he had, putting the poison down. But, incredibly, Dorset then put the incriminating documents on a public website for all to see! The Skidder started the protocol process to commence legal action.

For the record, Mair wrote to all the Councillors listed in the apology below (two of whom have since lost their seats) and - so it seems - not one of them had the guts or gumption to question what Mair and Prosser were up to, nor to contact me for verification of the facts. Clearly spending £1,025 per day on someone as dreadful as Britton is not, in their view, a matter of concern.

The Legals

Mair made it quite clear Dorset would use taxpayers' money to shut me up thinking that a small independent journalist would just rollover and comply. But, fortunately, I have the excellent Mark Lewis, Solicitor, and 5RB Chambers ready and willing to fight my corner. Thus Dorset's external and commendable lawyers quickly offered an apology. This is in the knowledge that I still intend to take regulatory action against a party involved in all this.

There is also a Freedom of Information request about Britton's appointment outstanding. Realistically, it should be Dorset Councillors asking the questions given Britton's long history of incompetence and misconduct and not me, but it seems they are incapable or unwilling to do so. Poor Dorset taxpayers!

There is also the ongoing question - which I am sure Prosser will wish to hasten to answer - about declarations he made in the Register of Interests in respect of his involvement with Solace before the appointment - in particular, his alleged directorship of SIB.

There is also some evidence that at least one of the Tory Councillors who gave Britton the job, Jill Haynes, (Chalk Valleys). knew of Britton's history of gross misconduct before the interview, but ignored the facts! That also remains an outstanding issue.

Here is the formal apology:

Prologue

Incredibly the story of Britton's misconduct at Sandwell is still ongoing. This blog published the still officially secret "Cox Review" into his appalling behaviour and so that was also available for Dorset Council to see before they appointed Britton at huge public expense (see Note Four). The Cox Review confirmed, amongst other things, what this blog had been saying for years - that Britton was hiding what he was doing by using an encrypted Blackberry device rather than his Council iPhone. There is a lot more that still remains hidden ...

And after, literally, YEARS the final costs of the Hackett case are about to be revealed. This followed on from Britton's very deliberate subversion of a Council standards review which also led to the bullying and dismissal of the Assistant Chief Executive at enormous cost to the taxpayer, and then a legal claim for damages from other parties which, of course, succeeded. Watch this space folks!

Note One: https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2023/12/desperate-dorset-council-employ-jan.html

Note Two: https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2024/02/four-tories-go-mad-in-dorset.html

Note Three: https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2024/08/dorset-council-foi-response-grossly.html

Note Four: https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2022/02/here-it-is-folks-cox-review-revealed.html

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Friday, 27 September 2024

Shokat Lal on Davey and Oracle Fusion

One of the causes of Birmingham City Council's bankruptcy at the hands of Labour was/is a colossal overspend on an Oracle computer system. Having spent £100m it decided, four years later, to start again. A report described the fiasco as an unmitigated failure.

Bent Labour Sandwell has also decided to go with Oracle for its new system. Guess what? Yes, there have been problems and rumours from within (although not, so far as I am aware, from the rump of Tory Councillors) of a dramatic, er, overspend.

Insiders claim that Chief Executive, Shokat Lal, when not out partying with Labour current and former Councillors, sent a memo to staff saying that the implementation of the Oracle system had been delayed from July until October (and see further below).

Also, remember Alice Davey? She was the Council Director who so memorably humiliated chocolate p*sspot Liam Preece (Labour) in a public meeting when she was "Director of Borough Economy". Watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DX2ajk1qDk

You can also read more about this amazing episode via an earlier post:

https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2023/08/bumper-summer-skidder-double-holiday.html

Davey was also supposed to be the boss of the disastrous Matt Huggins (Skidders passim).

Shocked Sandwell insiders contacted The Skidder to say that Davey had not been kicked out in yet another rearrangement of the deckchairs on the Titanic but had been made the new Director of ICT and Transformation ("ICT" means Information and Communications Technology and "Transformation" means f*ck all). I duly wrote to Lal about these issues:

"THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - PRESS ENQUIRY

THIS IS A PRESS ENQUIRY AND NOT A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

I am informed that Alice Davey has been appointed as Director of IT and Transformation on a six-figure salary plus LG pension:

Part One

1 Where was this post advertised?

2 How many applicants were there for the post?

3 Was there any external process in Ms Davey's appointment and, if so, what?

4 What IT qualifications does Ms Davey currently hold?

5 What experience does Ms Davey have of managing IT Services during her career to date?

Part Two

Oracle Fusion has been a major problem for SMBC as with Birmingham City Council (and is now part of Ms Davey's remit). I am informed, rightly or wrongly, that on 8th July you emailed all employees stating that the implementation of the new Oracle system has been delayed from July to October. Is that correct? Does this mean additional costs for the taxpayer?"

It took Lal a mere 35 days to respond to a legitimate press enquiry:

"In relation to your questions on the process undertaken for recruitment to the post of Service Director – ICT & Transformation, we would advise –

1. The post Service Director – ICT & Transformation was established as part of the phase one review of the Council’s Strategic Leadership Team. In accordance with due process for the conduct of leadership and service reviews, opportunity was in the first instance given to those individuals – in this case Directors impacted by the phase one review - and subject to redundancy to express interest in any vacant posts of a comparable level of seniority as a suitable alternative role. The post of Service Director – ICT & Transformation having been established was available for this purpose.

2. There was one applicant for this role, the application being made through the process set out in our response at (1) above.

3. As indicated in our response at (1) above, opportunity was in the first instance given to those Directors impacted by the phase one review of the Council’s Strategic Leadership Team and subject to redundancy to express interest in vacant posts of a comparable level of seniority as a suitable alternative role.

4. Recruitment to the post included the preparation of a detailed job description and person specification which set out essential and desirable levels of skill, professional knowledge, and experience commensurate with the role. A qualification in ICT is neither an essential or desirable part of the criteria for this post.

Following application and expression of interest, it was determined that the post of Service Director – ICT & Transformation was of a comparable level to that held by Ms Davey. In turn, following assessment of the extensive professional experience of leading and managing transformation projects held by Ms Davey, set against the significant senior service leadership experience deemed both essential and necessary to operate effectively in this role, it was appropriate to identify a match with this post.

5. Please refer to our response to question (4) above. Ms Davey possesses extensive professional experience of leading and managing services and transformation projects, along with significant senior service leadership experience necessary to operate effectively in this role.

Turning to those elements of your request which relate to the Council’s implementation programme for Oracle Fusion, we would advise that Oracle Fusion is complex Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERPS) for the whole of the Council and its partners. The Council has an established project team leading the development and delivery of this programme which involves staff from across the Council, it’s partners and from contracted workers.

The Senior Responsible Officer for the programme is the Executive Director of Finance and Transformation. The timescales for implementation are clearly dependent upon important technical and operational milestones being achieved, which is consistent with best practice in programme management. The Council updated the Audit and Risk Committee on progress on 18th July with External Auditors Grant Thornton in attendance.

The final costs and benefits of the system will be published as part of the project closedown. This will have to be completed post implementation when all the relevant milestones have been achieved and full costs are known."

Dealing with the Oracle debacle first it will be noted that Lal was not prepared to say whether he DID write an email saying that the implementation would be put back? Why not? What is he hiding? Has the implementaion been put back of not?

At least Oracle is NOT the responsibility of Davey but of the s.151 Officer, Alex Thompson, who joined Sadders in May. He goes by the title of Executive Director of Finance and, er, Transformation (that bullsh*t word again!) Alex appears to have a strong CV (which begs the question why he would work for bent Sandwell) although his LinkedIn profile makes no specific reference to any computer expertise.

As far as Davey herself is concerned and despite the techie-sounding job name you will note that in true Sadders-style there was only one appllcant for a job that was only advertised in-house. We have seen this sh*t before haven't we readers - notably with the disgraced former Chief Executive, David Stevens?

And although the job sounds techie Lal reassures us that an ICT qualification was "neither necessary nor desirable" for the ICT job! WTF???? Not even desirable? The clue is that the job was "on the same level" as Davey's redundant post. You will have smelt the bull*shit as you read the above.

A large part of the failure of Labour Sandwell Council has been incompetence and cronyism in addition to outright corruption. The amateurism of vast swathes of the staff has been astonishing. It looks like the Lal-era will continue the historic trend.

Oh, and did you notice that Lal dodged the question on the Oracle costs? He must know how much the contract was for and how much has been spent already. Fear not readers, a Freedom of Information request has been made as there is no possibility of the Tories ever getting the information. Let's just hope the mess isn't as bad as in Brum ...

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Every now and again we make a genuine error and get something wrong. If an error in the blog affects you please email thesandwellskidder@gmail.com and we shall

use our best endeavours to remove offending material and/or publish appropriate corrections forthwith (together with an apology, if applicable).

Friday, 16 August 2024

Dorset Council FOI response "grossly defamatory"

Yet another extraordinary twist in the Jan Britton scandal. Regular readers will know that Dorset Council decided to employ the disgraced former Sandwell Chief Executive at Director level on a £900 a day interim contract (recent posts below* and Skidders passim).

In the course of The Skidder's investigations into this appointment two Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests flushed out a considerable amount of information. The Skidder, as ever, used the excellent What Do They Know (WDTK) website for the FOI requests which is, of course, a public website open for the whole world to see.

In the course of its responses Dorset also decided to grossly defame The Skidder. Rather than send evidence of grossly defamatory material direct to Skidder HQ it deliberately chose to make public the libel via WDTK.

On 30th July, 2024 The Skidder wrote a legal letter to Dorset demanding, inter alia, that it removes the defamatory material from the WDTK site. Not only has it ignored the letter completely, but it has also failed to remove the offending material.

The Skidder has had to contact WDTK directly today and they have kindly made Dorset's response "requester only" for the time being i.e. only The Skidder can now see it.

Addendum 22/08/24 - WDTK has kindly confirmed that, having reviewed this matter, they will NOT be reinstating Dorset's grossly defamatory content on the public site.

The matter is now in the hands on m'learned friends.

Prosser mystery

Those of you who read the second specific post on this scandal - set out below - will know that Dorset's Chief Executive, Matt Prosser, was, at all material times, the President of "Solace UK", a sort of medieval guild aiming to further the careers of "top"[sic] local government "workers". Solace has a commercial arm, Solace in Business Limited, to make dosh out of the jobs for the boys and girls network - mostly from the taxpayer.

Solace in Business was not on Dorset's "Framework" of recruitment firms when it sent Britton's CV to Prosser but, as we have seen in a previous post, he ensured that this would not hinder Britton's appointment in any way. And lo, so it came to pass and the Sandwell reject was appointed.

Not only did Prosser agree a £900 PER DAY payment to Britton but he also agreed a £135 PER DAY payment to Solace in Business Ltd. This was at the end of 2003. It is noteworthy that it is not just councillors but also employees - particularly senior ones - who are obliged to maintain a Register of Interests so that conflicts of, er, interest are avoided.

On 25th January, 2014 - a month or so after the appointment - Prosser wrote to the Monitoring Officer and to another senior employee stating:

"I am President of Solace the membership body - Solace in Business (SIB) is a separate arm that covers interim and development work, although I declare I am a Director of SIB for the period that I am President."

The fact that he was making his "declaration" to the senior law officer of the Council a month after the appointment suggests, at the least - that he had NOT done so prior to the appointment. Neither does he make clear in any of the documentation disclosed to date that he declared an interest when granting a Company of which he claims to be a Director payments of £135 per day.

But soft, what is this? Companies House records do NOT show Prosser as a Director of SIB! The Skidder duly wrote to the Company Secretary of SIB, one Ruth Hyde, asking if she could explain this anomaly. She has declined to reply.

There's the mystery - and it would be very convenient if it was found that Prosser wasn't a Director after all wouldn't it (even when he claims that he was)?

(Companies House says it will not comment on individual companies, but there is an enforcement issue here and The Skidder is following this up.)

* https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2023/12/desperate-dorset-council-employ-jan.html

* https://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.com/2024/02/four-tories-go-mad-in-dorset.html

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

Wednesday, 24 July 2024

The Dark Heart of the Black Country

THE LAST POST - AND IT'S BAD NEWS! (12/08/24)

The original post is below - followed by some updates.

Many of you will know that the management of Black Country Ales got their way and forced the removal of Malt and Hops from The Welly. A kindly staff member took them on, but this disgraceful episode should never have happened.

Messrs McMeeking, Manwaring and Walker ignored a petition with over 5,000 signatures and toughed the decision out in the face of the almost total opposition of customers.

Incidentally, one of BCA's biggest fans - before this outrage - states that Angus McMeeking suggested getting a cat in the first place to deal with mouse infestation!!!!

Farewell, Malt and Hops - you brought so much joy to so many. We shall remember you - and the heartless xxxxxxxx who threw you out.

LATEST NEWS AS AT SUNDAY 28th JULY #Catgate

Our visitor from Wales arrived yesterday and another friend from joined us. We boycotted The Welly in favour of The Colmore and the Post Office Vaults, and a jolly good time was had by all.

We picked up:

1 Further allegations (and they are only allegations) of further Black Country Ales (BCA or Be Cruel to Animals) bullying of legendary licensee, Nige Barker. Curiously, someone also wrote to The Skidder yesterday saying:

"Do some digging. The Welly has a unique deal with BCA and the only way to end it is to get rid of Nigel. The plan is to move a publican more in line with their ethics in there".

Perhaps Nige should be having a quiet word with m'learned friends?

Incidentally, BCA has been having a lot of problems hiring licensees lately. Is it any wonder if this affair is typical of top management's behaviour? Oh, and these geniuses also made a complete pig's ear of the recent replacement of the landlord at The Midland, Bearwood!

2 BCA is also said to have been bullying staff and threatening them with a "gross misconduct" charge if they post ANYTHING about #Catgate. And we learnt yesterday that an extremely popular staff member resigned on Friday in disgust at BCA's conduct. What a Company!

3 If one ignores the alleged sub-plot to defenestrate Nige, the real reason McMeeking, Manwaring and Walker is using for the eviction of the cats is said to be that BCA don't want the cats somehow messing-up the new carpets and furnishings. How different from 2017 as pointed out by "Singer of Songs" on X (Twitter):

Earlier #Catgate posts below ...

LATEST NEWS AS AT FRIDAY 26th JULY - INCLUDING BCA'S BIG LIE!

The golden rule when politicians and business folk are caught out is to lie, and that is precisely what Black Country Ales has done in #Catgate - their "top" [sic] management's decision to evict the pub cats from The Wellington Pub in Birmingham City Centre.

Yesterday, The Skidder was informed that Area Manager, Anthony Walker, had said that Malt and Hops are to be evicted since the management did not want them soiling the new carpets! As we shall see, this appears to be the real reason this (now) greedy pubco wants to put two fingers up to its staff and customers who are overwhelmingly hostile to the cruel eviction.

It gets worse. Firstly the three guilty men responsible for this obnoxious decision (pictured) have hidden from the media - including The Skidder - rather than having the b**** to try and defend the indefensible. This was a further email I sent to Black Country Ales yesterday which, again, received no reply:

L-R Angus MacMeeking, Anthony Walker, Graham Manwaring

Email - 25/07/24

"For the attention of Graham Manwaring and Anthony Walker

THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - PRESS ENQUIRY

It is disappointing that the two of you are blanking media enquiries about your nasty decision to remove Malt and Hops from The Welly.

I was in two pubs (not BCA ones) in Brum last night and this outrage was a major topic of conversation. As one bloke said, "BCA has managed to unite the entire Brum pub community against it". BCA was also compared to Ryanair for its utter contempt for its customers.

Rumours abound and I want to give you another chance to "man-up" and start answering media and other enquiries.

Rumour 1 - that The Welly is to undergo a major refurb and you intend to make it more "corporate". Indeed it was said this goes for the whole BCA chain which is moving from a friendly outfit to a corporate behemoth. Is this the direction of travel? And can we expect Doom Bar at The Welly anytime soon?

Rumour 2 - notwithstanding the upset you have caused the staff at The Welly you have ordered them to stop posting pics of Malt and Hops on Instagram/Facebook.

It was also claimed that BCA does not actually own Malt and Hops. They are registered to an individual. If this is true have you contacted him for permission to re-home the unfortunate creatures?

Have you looked at the Google Reviews for The Welly? I am not just talking about the ones in the last few days which are unanimously hostile to BCA but going back in time. Some of us were looking last night. It is quite clear that Malt & Hops are extremely popular and feature most favourably in almost all the reviews. Why are you ignoring your customers?

It is not cowardly to reverse a bad decision. It is cowardly to stick with one."

Last night Black Country Ales top management finally put out a mealy-mouthed and disingenuous statement including a massive lie about the death of a cat:

FACT CHECK:

1 There is an long history of cats at The Welly. Before Malt and Hops there was the wonderful Welly. Cats did not "come in" with the virus;

2 One of three cats died with the implication that the environment is, somehow, dangerous. This is an outright lie by McMeeking, Manwaring and Walker. A person known to me and with Welly connections posted in reply:

"Also a f***** lie!!!!! The third cat lived at another pub for a bit, and then was re-homed when The Woodman closed. He is very much alive!

And:

"Absolute complete and utter b******! There was no dead third kitten."

Having just lost our beloved 18 1/2 year old cat I am even further outraged that the management could use a mythical DEAD cat to try to justify this insanity!

3 There is a smear that the cats are somehow a hygiene problem. As above the Google Reviews are overwhelmingly positive about their presence. Indeed some people visit the pub BECAUSE of the cats! The Welly does NOT serve food. It allows customers to bring their own. I have enjoyed pints of beer and sandwiches in The Welly for YEARS without harassment from cats. And whilst I don't support a dog ban either, Black Country Ales boast that at least 48 of their pubs are "dog-friendly". Try eating in a pub with a dog nearby and see what happens!. Also, anyone who knows you can take your own food into The Welly will already know that cats are present. I know of no-one who has avoided the pub because of the cats. This is just a pathetic comment intended to deceive.

4 The licensee of The Welly is the legendary Nige Barker - probably the man who has done more to keep real ale in Brum from the dark days of corporate keg than anyone else. And he is known well beyond our City for his championing of pubs and real ale. Whilst it is true to say that Nige is not, himself, a "cat-person", he has played host to Welly, and then Malt and Hops, for YEARS. The Management allege that he backs the decision. Sources close to The Welly claim that BCA management put the arm on him and, as one informant told me, "gave him no choice". What a Company to work for if management have to bully Nige and other staff to force through their crazed diktats.

5 Many people who live in flats keep cats permanently indoors. As a long-standing cat-owner, none of the Welly cats have ever appeared to be distressed, and the present incumbents are in magnificent condition.

When caught out with their big lie the management trio simply removed it from their Facebook "statement". They think their customers are stupid already, but did they really think no-one would notice?:

Now you see it, now you don't ...

But I am told that the battle to save Malt and Hops is lost. The macho management trio is doubling down on the decision, and the cats are going next week. They simply cannot get away with this!

Finally, in my original post I opined that the beer brewed by Black Country Ales is not great. One person posted on social media:

"If [Black Country Ales are] looking to give customers a better experience - keep the cats and ban Black Country Ales beers!

Oh, and we are hosting visitors to Brum tomorrow and our foursome were looking forward to a trip to The Welly. We are going to The Colmore instead. Why don't you join us?

THE ORIGINAL POST:

I have never taken LSD but imagine the effect is akin to walking into The Prince of Wales pub in Birmingham (the one behind the ICC). This Black Country Ales hostelry is decorated in the appalling "house style", but the intended effect is amplified here by the pub's small footprint. One is greeted upon entry with myriad psychedelic swirls of colour causing a bilious effect before one has touched the fine products on sale.

Prince of Wales, Cambridge Street, Brum

Alas, the style [sic] has been rolled-out across the burgeoning Black Country Ales estate, and you are likely to encounter it in the majority of their usually excellent pubs. Mostly the paisley psychedelia is matched with hideous nicotine-coloured faux "wooden" pannelling - the colour being reminiscent of pub ceilings of yore.

Black Country Ales, brewing in Gornal and now boasting an estate of over 50 pubs, is a great local success story. To my taste its brewed beers are inconsequential - Bathams or Holdens it ain't. But, apart from the decor, most of the pubs are great with a splendid choice of beers always available in addition to the own-brand stuff. These are real - usually wet-led - boozers. In Sandwell there is The Midland in Bearwood. which is coming back to top form after a change of landlord. Stu at The Three Horseshoes at Hill Top, West Brom is always welcoming and its well-worth a visit. For geographical reasons I seldom get to the superb Rising Sun in Tipton - a watering-hole favoured by Sandwell Tories although I expect they now hold their gatherings in a telephone box.

[A reader has correctly pointed out that BCA run two other pubs in the Sandwell poverty ghetto.]

Despite my comments above, The Prince of Wales in Brum is friendly and usually boasts a fine array of ales but, of course, BCA's jewel in the crown is The Welly - Birmingham's famous and best pub. This place - actually "The Wellington" - has been a major part of my life history - long before BCA took it over. It is not to everyone's taste. Visitors using the tradesman's entrance can be disconcerted by the infamous "Rat Alley". The pub also has an unpleasant odour which offends some sensitive souls. But what a classic! Captained by the legendary Nige Barker with a brilliant crew, this place is the real deal. BCA made an inspired decision to add a "roof terrace" - not quite one overlooking a Florentine Piazza as it only affords panoramic vistas of the aforementioned Rat Alley - but its much-loved. And believe me, you would be amazed at the number of weekenders arriving in our bankrupt City whom I have directed from New Street Station to Bennetts Hill. It is THE first port of call for any beer-drinkers in town.

BUT ...

The Welly has been blessed by lovely pub cats. The present incumbents - although not for long if BCA gets its way - are Malt and Hops. These characters bring great joy to the staff and customers alike, and have become minor social media celebs. The pub's advertising board says it all:

And visitors DO come in and ask where these lovelies are if they are not immediately visible (though they may be hiding under coats by the bar!) And here the beauties are:

Many folk around the WORLD have loved seeing Malt and Hops on social media, and one featured in probably one of the greatest pub cat photos of all time with super-staffer Matt:

Now the brewery management has inexplicably demanded their eviction. No-one who uses the pub can tell me the reason for the nasty and pitiless decision.

The mainstream media report that they cannot get any answer from BCA and neither can The Skidder. An email to the area manager on Monday received no reply:

"THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - PRESS ENQUIRY

I have seen much on social media tonight that BCA are seeking to remove Malt and Hops - the Welly's favourite cats.

Can you please provide an immediate statement for Skidder readers why BCA are apparently taking this extraordinary course of action?"

If you are "managers" please at least have the guts to explain decisions!

In the meantime, a grassroots campaign has started to reverse the absurd decision:

PLEASE HELP US SAVE MALT & HOPS!

There is also a petition if you cannot contact Black Country Ales directly:

The link to the petition is here:

https://www.change.org/p/stop-malt-hops-getting-evicted?source_location=search

Black Country Ales was started by a really great guy called Angus McMeeking. He has built a magnificent chain, and has enormous wit and charm. Physically (so I understand), and metaphorically, he has b*lls. Angus has stepped down from day-to-day management of the wonderful business he has created. Angus - PLEASE - now is the time to step back in and stop this nonsense!

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.

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Tuesday, 23 July 2024

Sandwell Labour - IT's a mystery

One of the reasons Labour Birmingham City Council went into the local government version of bankruptcy was the disastrous implementation of an Oracle Fusion IT system. Bent Labour Sandwell Council is also trying to roll-out an Oracle Fusion set-up and, guess what, its not going according to plan ...

When the plot was formed by the corrupt Council to unlawfully fund McNally's crazed case against The Skidder the (then) highly-controversial legal supremo, Surjit Tour, not only used public money to unlawfully fund the disastrous case but also deliberately tried to smear me in the official court papers (known as "Pleadings") without putting his lies in a formal witness statement (an ongoing issue). As part of the smear, Tour and his fellow plotters stopped me contacting bent Sandwell other than through a "single point of contact", and then told the High Court that they had been "forced" to do this by my mythical "misconduct". Needless to say, this was not pursued on my application to strike out the absurd claim at the first opportunity, but did not become an issue again since the case fell at the very first hurdle. Because of the unlawful funding the taxpayer had to cough-up £100,000 due to its malicious behaviour. Nevertheless, bent Sandwell insists that the "single point of contact" system remains.

Sandwell has refused to let the publicly-funded and vastly over-staffed press office deal with my journalistic queries, but I am the only journalist in the whole world facing this discrimination. Now, and not for the first time, Chief Exec Shokat Lal, has decided to take the proverbial as will be seen below. Whilst he ensures other "press enquiries" - i.e from pet propagandists in the mainstream media - are dealt with in a timely manner you will see below how I am treated very differently.

I received information recently on what seems to be a strange top-level appointment even by bent Sandwell standards. Of course, I cannot simply write up unverified rumours and so I did the proper thing and asked SMBC to confirm or deny the facts. It may be that my information is entirely incorrect, but the point here is Lal's reaction.

Here are the actual emails. Please note that I am still unaware of the truth or otherwise of Ms Davey's alleged appointment, but she has not chosen to respond either. Accordingly, the information received is entirely UNPROVEN and should NOT be regarded as a statement of true facts. Of course, I shall keep Skidder readers informed as the story evolves.

Email to SMBC point of contact for the attention of Shokat Lal and copied to the Labour Leader of the Council, Kerrie Carmichael - 18th July, 2024

"Dear Mr Lal, Ms Carmichael,

THIS IS NOT A PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION - PRESS ENQUIRY

THIS IS A PRESS ENQUIRY AND NOT A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

I am informed that Alice Davey has been appointed as Director of IT and Transformation on a six-figure salary plus LG pension:

Part One

1 Where was this post advertised?

2 How many applicants were there for the post?

3 Was there any external process in Ms Davey's appointment and, if so, what?

4 What IT qualifications does Ms Davey currently hold?

5 What experience does Ms Davey have of managing IT Services during her career to date?

Part Two

Oracle Fusion has been a major problem for SMBC as with Birmingham City Council (and is now ["seemingly" - Ed] part of Ms Davey's remit). I am informed, rightly or wrongly, that on 8th July you emailed all employees stating that the implementation of the new Oracle system has been delayed from July to October. Is that correct? Does this mean additional costs for the taxpayer?

Please respond by 10.00 am Monday 22nd July.

Julian Saunders"

Readers will note that Mr Lal would be in a position to answer Part Two immediately.

Sandwell response - 18th July, 2024 (my emphasis added):

Dear Mr Saunders

Thank you for your email below, which has now been forwarded to the relevant persons.

The Council will endeavour to respond to your enquiry within the next few weeks.

My Response - 19th July, 2024:

This was a press enquiry. I have a deadline for Monday!

Sandwell response - 19th July, 2024

Dear Mr Saunders,

Unfortunately, the council is not able to response [sic] within those timescales. A response will be provided at the earliest opportunity.

My Response - 20th July, 2024:

Noting that Mr Lal is apparently incapable of dealing with this press enquiry in a timely manner perhaps you can forward it direct to Ms Davey who should be in a position to answer Part One immediately.

FOR THE TIME BEING - IT REMAINS A MYSTERY!!!!

LEGAL NOTICE (Version 4 from 8th October, 2023.)

In most cases we try to give the subjects of these blog posts the opportunity to comment on our journalism pre-publication to ensure the accuracy of our work.