The things we do for you people – like reading a turgid INTERNAL AUDIT REVIEW INTO PAYMENTS MADE TO FORGE HOUSE ASSOCIATES LTD of a Sunday afternoon. Our first observation is that Forge House Associates Ltd is an exercise in nominative determinism that wouldn’t be out of place in a Charles Dickens novel.
Our second observation is that it’s the usual Wirral Council evasions and obfuscations where you get the general impression that SOMETHING’S NOT QUITE RIGHT. But then what do you expect from a report written by Chief Internal Auditor Mark ‘Knobhead’ Niblock? A parallel universe where everything is done correctly and yet still manages to be a monumental cock up.
Due to the strangulated language it’s left to the reader to join the dots and reach the conclusion that NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE DOING . Nevertheless it is still evident that what’s going on here is a spectacular systemic failure – particularly a failure of scrutiny and a failure of due diligence.
One recommendation that had the steam coming out of our ears was this :
We can only presume Wirral managers will be told that to ensure ‘efficiency’ and ‘effectiveness’ that they : i) Try Google ii) Try Google
However what had us banging our head against the wall in sheer frustration was contained in ‘Appendix 2 – Timeline of events relating to Forge House Associates LTD to the referral to Internal Audit on 16 January 2019′
Here we learn : “The Senior Accountant confirmed that the spend relates to the Growth Company, The Transformation Team is currently responsible for getting it up and running and when it becomes an actual functioning entity the responsibility for spend will be transferred to economic and Housing growth. Although Economic and Housing Growth are accountable for the spend, they do not have control or any real knowledge of what is being processed and paid against the code.The Senior Accountant confirmed that in preparation for the budget monitoring meeting, the transactions report was examined relating to the Economic and Housing Growth budget, for any errors/miscodes etc…
One large spend related to DWF LLP (Legal Services) who the Senior Accountant knew of. However, the other large spend was for Forge House Associates Limited and the Senior Accountant did not know who this company was and what services they actually provide. Therefore, the Senior Accountant tried to obtain this information from the company website, using google as the search engine. The Senior Accountant could not find a website for the company.
During the meeting the Senior Accountant, Assistant Director – Regeneration & Inward Investment, Lead Commissioner – Place and Investment and the Economic Development Lead discussed the fact that they do not know who the company is and what they do and they agreed to look into the matter further.
You do the math – all those highly paid public servants acting like incompetent tin pot property tycoons…at our expense. But then this is what happens when it’s NOT YOUR MONEY that’s being frittered away. No wonder Halliday found the perfect safe haven in Wirral after facing no sanctions after he fled City of York Council.
What’s more, are we the only ones asking what exactly did the people of Wirral get for the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS that was lavished on Halliday during his increasingly questionable time at Wirral Council?
Wirralleaks 
Thanks for the Sunday read and time spent dissecting the waffle report, you read a few pages then you switch off.
We got Sweet Fanny Adams and over £200k spent for not even a bit of building work, get me a job at Wirral Council I’ll knock you up a few plans, talk shit in meetings and wrap it up in a few months for 20k a month. Are the management so gullible that he wrapped them around his finger like he can walk on water – play with the big boys and you will get your fingers burnt.
My Lord,
You mention nominative determinism and Charles Dickens. I thought that I would mention Charles Dickens and Vincent Van Gogh.
Did you know that the famous empty chair that Van Gogh painted was actually inspired by an illustration in the Illustrated London News of Charles Dickens empty chair (next to his desk after his death) Charles Dickens death that is, obviously.
What has all this to do with Wirral Council? Absolutely fuck all….haha..
(Kisses to the Aussie) xxx
Oh I don’t know , you may just have inspired a regular Wirral Leaks feature ‘The Empty Chair’.
The retirements ,the resignations ,the deselections but not the sackings obviously…
All these highly paid financial executives meeting and, apparently, admitting that they did not know who Forge House Associates were or what they did for the council!.
The council had of course been shoveling large sums of OUR cash into Halliday`s bank account since at least January 2018.
And so the financial scandals at Wallasey Town Hall and the total ineptitude of its well remunerated senior officers goes on and on and on…….
All these numpties protected by the L.G. Old Boys` network; never disciplined; never sacked but possibly pressurised behind the scenes to leave with a lavish pay-off and a First Class ticket on the L.G. Gravy Train Express.
The game works because of corrupted elements within a hirearchial organisation that go unchecked and not corrected or repaired. This then leads inevitably toward tyranny. This Council has been tyrannical for a great deal longer than most simply because corrupted parts of the hireachy have become viewed as a sort of normal behaviour. And so, because the abnormal has gradually shifted toward a deluded inward belief that ‘all’s well’ and being an accepted form of normality, the entire structure from top to the middle end of the hirearchy has now been allowed to disintegrate into anarchy where pretty much anything goes.
Throw in the long practiced ‘Crowding The Dock’, that’s sustained many successful Crime Families and subversive enterprises, and before to long, because everyone has a dark secret, a skeleton in the closet or some sin involving past pecuniary advantages, it then becomes nigh on impossible to get anyone onto a Jury that ain’t been at it and hasn’t been involved in at least one burial of a dead corpse within the hirearchial organisation.
And that is it. Nothing more. Nothing less. And should one of its many wheels fall off one of its many axles, the participants into this highly successful criminal enterprise will simply say, ‘I honestly can’t remember’. Thereafter, nothing happens because nobody actually can recall anything about anything.
This absolutely nails it.
And there’s nothing particularly surprising when any hierarchy becomes corrupted at some stage by something. Whether it’s a family, a business, the Council or any other hirearchy you can think of, corrupted elements always appear. It’s simply inevitable that people placed within hierarchy’s can behave badly. They will inevitably do something that potentially can disrupt and corrupt.
The tyranny arises when nobody does anything to correct the corrupted elements from within the hierarchy. And it’s this, more than anything, that failure to clean your room and put your house in order that’s allowed abnormality to wreak havoc on this Council
Some might say, well why do the Councillors and Officers continue to stand for election or remain in post and desperately cling onto what power they think they have. Well, just like Tony Blair, who’s got half an eye on The Hague Courts, they need to remain connected to the tyrannical hirearchial game because they know that while they’re still in the game they’ll receive protection from the many others who’ve been exposed to corruptive elements and are thus rendered incapable of doing anything to hurt them.
And round and round it goes. What’s surprising, particularly to me, is just how robust and resilient this tyrannical structure of people has become. Yep! All things considered WBC is a highly unusual abnormality that just keeps on rolling along.
We reckon geography ,stupidity and complicity play a part.
Who da House? Who da House
House is da WBC, da WBC
Forge da House, Forge da House
Forge da vat for da Halliday in da sun
Forge da House, forge da House
Forge da House for Da pretty car
Da Halliday gonna beat da rap
Close dem company but no break dem law
Dem is da pretty gang dem
Take the shilling and pay no mind
Forge da House,forge da House
Ain’t no boy do count Der cash
Go Forge da house be Associate
Be real , be Forge House Associate
Fraud!
Criminal act?
Police been informed?
You would think filthy Phil would be duty bound to bring the police in
Do the right thing Phil and report it
to the police
I used to say this Pete: ‘Get the Rozzers in’ (Still half think it)
Don’t hold up much hope now. I think the answer lies with the previous post…
Get the rappers in.
(0r the National Crime Agency…… ouu)
Wirral Council and Merseyside Police are like that *crosses middle finger over forefinger*
G’day Petiekins
Sorry mate but that would just be pointless.
“Highbrow” got a crime number over the Wirral “Funny” Bizz £2,000,000.00 knock off scandal and then when he asked what they were doing they said they wouldn’t talk to him that he was no longer the claimant the Clowncil had taken it over.
Go on Petsie guess?
No case to answer.
Just sayin.
Ooroo
James
I went to “Highbrow’s house when the police were interviewing him and they wouldn’t let me in.
I think “Highbrow” is right there will be a revolution at some point.
Have you ever dealt with Davies Davies Tour Adderley Basnett Ball Armstrong Jones Jones Foulkes Green Gilchrist Wilkie Norman Blott Burgess?
I rest my case.
Keep thinking and talking about it Pe . X
Pete on
I suspect, as with Halliday`s performance in York City Council, that the council hierarchy would be reluctant to involve the Gendarmes in case they uncover dirty dealings involving the existing cabal of senior officers. and serving Councillors.
“Let`s just sweep it under the carpet Old Boy. The local voters won`t have a clue what`s going on because the local media is in our pocket. Drinks all round.”
Wow!!!
The Wirral Globe has at long, long last printed an article about Halliday`s misdemeanours both in York and here on the Wirral.
As we predicted first the Echo then the Globe . No mention that we’d reported the latest development weeks ago.
Pingback: Halliday and Our Last Hurrah! | Wirralleaks