How Wirral Council likes to treat its tax payers.
We never thought we’d see the day when we’d be quoting Lenny Henry. However we were in the Leaky Towers parlour reading The Sunday Times and something he said resonated with us as it was a neat summation of a dramatisation that we’d received of the ongoing Wirral Council whistleblowing saga involving Nigel ‘Highbrow’ Hobro and friends. Henry is talking about his role in the Bertolt Brecht play ‘ The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui’ which is a satirical allegory of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany prior to World War 2.
Henry comments : ‘If good people do nothing. , terrible things happen. There are parts of the play where if somebody would go ‘No I’m not going to do that,the play would end’
As you will discover Mr Hobro presents us with yet another play without end.
A pantomime in three acts
Act 1 Blind Man’s Buff
Act 2 Pass the Parcel
Act 3 Musical Chairs
Dramatis Personae
Bob Neeld WBC accountant
Diane Bradbury formerly appearing in WBC Regeneration Department now Head of Commercial Waste in WBC!!
Peter ? colleague of Diane Bradbury (now retired)
Several members of the Independent Panel
The Aspire Trust (in Liquidation ooooo!) and the Aspire Creative Enterprise ( in liquidation tooooo!!) Both in liquidation from January 2015 with Parkin S Booth who also are kindly appearing.And behind the curtains…….. Headmaster S Peach formerly of the Olderhaw School and subscriber to both Aspires.
Act 1 : BLIND MAN’S BUFF
The several attendants of the Independent Panel are spun round three times with blindfolds attached by DB and P. They must make their way towards awarding £15,000 of BIG money to a charitable educational company not fitting the base criteria of the BIG award.The Narrator quotes an officer of WBC :
“ BIG is a business grant intended to be used to help businesses attain sustainability by investing in new plant,….not provide a platform to continue operations whilst seeking other funding services”
Reveal the only forecast provided ( credit sales of £83,000) the projected cashflow, to cries of “Sixth form Business Studies” standard pooh pooh
Bob Neeld: holds up placard for audience “ A quick short response is that the business’s solvency cannot be commented on as there is no history. I cannot judge whether the business plan is sound, the market exists or the predictions of turnover or profit realistic.”
Audience invited to shout-IT MUST BE STONE DEAD THEN!!!
Invest Wirral give independent Panel members another spin just for good measure.
Narrator (off-stage) cries out…What about the VAT threshold of £73,500? No mention of Vat for a hot-desking operation letting out multi-media equipment. Isn’t that the point of the trading arm Creative Enterprises , to go where the charity Aspire Trust cannot, without fear of Corporation Tax and loss of charitable status .Where have I seen this recently, yes the Lauries and its trading arm!
Meanwhile the independents on the Panel are blind-folded so they don’t see the placard they just are read out the synopsis which says that Creative Enterprises is not a new business after all. Because WBC says it is so.
Audience is invited by Narrator to remember our celebrated panto of “the Emperor has no clothes” where The Emperor, buck naked insists, he is wearing the most sumptuous of clothes.
Audience invited by placard to “BOO” and Narrator shouts
“It was incorporated in less than one month before!!”
The Act closes with the presentation of a giant £15,000 cheque to Mr Hobbs of Aspire Creative Enterprises.
Applause and boos
Act 2 : PASS THE PARCEL
The dramatis personae return to the stage and explain how each of them can’t be held responsible.
The blind-folded independent panel members:
“WE NEVER SAW THE BUSINESS CASHFLOW” “WE ONLY SAW THREE SUMMARIES BY WBC”
They bow and leave the stage
The Councillor with his rubber-stamp (recommended as large and colourful)
I was told that both senior accountants of WBC, Wirral Invest and senior independent business experts all approved this so I took their word. Oh and a couple of my colleagues sat on the Oldershaw Academy Board with Head teacher S Peach , he was a subscriber of Aspire’s two companies (wink wink)
He bows and leaves the stage to a humorous trumpet blow (the more raspberry, the better).Bob Neeld comes to the fore-stage with a Pontius Pilate washing of hands:
“ You saw my email on the placard. I soberly warned and rest my case”
He leaves to a grave blow of the tuba.
Enter Diane Bradbury and Peter and Paula Basnett:
Paula Basnett:
“I am just a marketer. My colleagues have the on-line qualification over-a-couple-of-weeks –low- cost Prince qualification blame them”
Diane and Peter to the front of the stage:
“We have nothing whatsoever to say” and snigger
Exeunt to be replaced by Invest Wirral staff (faces covered by masks)
“We don’t understand accounts it is up to Bob Neeld not to us”
All now have left the stage leaving a giant parcel left in prominent view.
A character with a t-shirt marked “Wirral rate-payer” to enter stage, pick up parcel and leave as lights are dimmed.
Act 3 : MUSICAL CHAIRS
Narrator enters with placard bearing :-
Accounts of Aspire Creative enterprises for 429 days to 31st March 2012
Sales 3,474
Grants (other than BIG) 9,272
Release of BIG 3,541
Depreciation (4,722)
Consultancy (1,500)
Accounts (1,298)
Other (7,044)
Narrator: What happened to the £83,000 sales then?
To the grave sounds of tuba Bob Neeld shouts “I told you so”
Voices offstage “ no-one should hear of this!”
Narrator : “Fast forward to January 2015”
The lights dim and on relighting we are at the offices of Parkin S Booth with a calendar showing January 2015.The functionary of Parkin S Booth :
Both Aspire Trust and Aspire Creative Enterprises both have attended my offices and solemnly declared they have no assets to speak of and owe on each part the sum of £40,000, a total sum of £80,000.
Audience invited to OOOoooo!
Narrator speak: I recall Aspire Trust each year declared their ownership of a artwork valued at £20,000 at 2010 accounts; £50,000 for two by Michelle Molyneux in March 2013
Functionary: “I didn’t hear that!”
Narrator speak: I recall Aspire Trust each year declared their ownership of a artwork valued at £20,000 at 2010 accounts; £50,000 for two by Michelle Molyneux in March 2013
Functionary: “I didn’t hear that!”
Narrator speaks: “Are you as deaf as a post or as deaf as the liquidators of Lockwood Engineering Ltd?”
Functionary: Are you a creditor? If not shut your gob and stop waving the accounts of the Trust at me. I aint getting paid ,so I aint investigating. And there’s that!”
Narrator speaks (hoping for support from the audience): But, but, the more this happens (s206 Insolvency Act) the more stringent banks become and the fewer charities and businesses will be able to borrow. Rules is rules aint that so? Was it not the purpose of BIG to provide cash to businesses that could not get it from banks? How is companies going bust and not declaring their assets going to encourage banks to lend?
(to the audience) : It’s naughty isn’t it children?
From the wings the voice of Councillor Pat Hackett: “You are hurting good people”
Music and enough seats for all bar one
All dramatis personae on stage
Music starts up and all characters go on stage and dance round the chairs. After several rests of music only one character is left standing, with his arms stretched out and wearing the t-shirt “Wirral Rate-payer”
FINIS
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