The Halliday Report – Money for the few not the many…

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?

 

 

 

Say ALO , Wave Goodbye

Power Boy Pip’s public services philosophy – not so much arm’s length as throwing them to the dogs and/or Wirral Chamber of Commerce

We are grateful to another contributor with inside knowledge and an enquiring mind. ‘Retired WBC Officer’ writes to us with the following observations:

Hi Guys

 

Reading Granty in the WG (Wirral Globe)  today led me to the following……….

 

http://www.movecommercial.com/local-councils-working-commercially-generate-revenue-bolster-growth/

 

http://www.movecommercial.com/wirral-council-reveals-plans-set-regeneration-company/

 

I was struck by …………..

“A core aim of the team will be to encourage new businesses to set up shop in Wirral, and Cllr Davies believes the borough’s thriving visitor economy, maritime sector and reputation as a leading manufacturing hub will be among its key draws.

 

The company will also champion Wirral assets including the Wirral Waters regeneration zone, Hamilton Square, Woodside, Birkenhead town centre and the revamped Hoylake Golf Resort.

 

Cllr Davies adds: “I’m confident that these plans will enhance the opportunities on offer in areas like Wirral Waters. Obviously we work very closely with Peel and Wirral Waters is an enterprise zone so hopefully we’ll be able to promote that more effectively with these plans in place.

 

“There are a myriad of regeneration opportunities in the borough and I think this new company will be an excellent delivery vehicle to more effectively promote them.”

 

ALOs the new way forward?  Google the recent history.

Soon only the top brass will be employed at local authority,everyone else privatised.

We advise our readers to check out the above the links and we’d be grateful if someone   can tell us exactly what Wirral Council ‘leader’ Cllr Phil ‘ Power Boy Pip’ Davies means when he says:“Risks can be mitigated by looking ahead and using business intelligence and expertise out there in Wirral to ensure that we act in a timely and appropriate way.”

We tried Google Translate but they messaged us back to say they don’t do BS.

However whilst we know that Arms-Length Organisations (ALOs) are not-for-profit companies and, by establishing them, councils retain a discrete degree of control through funding agreements and boardroom influence we think they’re merely a staging post to full privatisation.  So say ALO and you can wave goodbye to public services! We are appalled (but not surprised) that a Labour council would embrace the move towards them quite so enthusiastically.  However we certainly understand why the current Wirral Council  administration would – as whilst they retain a measure of control over services the public accountability would be greatly diminished. And as we know they’re not great fans of any form of scrutiny or accountability.

‘Retired WBC Officer’ is absolutely right when they say that ‘ Soon only the top brass will be employed at local authority,everyone else privatised.’  Indeed it has been Wirral Council’s long stated intention to become a ‘Strategic Commissioning Hub’ . Talk about being hidden in plain sight!

 

What we deeply resent at Leaky Towers is those being paid handsomely for dismantling public services are usually the same municipal mercenaries sitting in waiting to benefit from the deliberately underfunded demise ( see also the NHS).

If you want to know why bullying thrives in organisations such as Wirral Council you need to look no further than the self serving mediocrities making a good living overseeing the destruction of underfunded public services and woe betide any one who questions them!

Notwithstanding the fact that one of the reasons Liverpool’s Director of Social Services Samih Kalakeche  recently resigned included the desire to go travelling – oh to have that luxury!-  we give him kudos for acknowledging that the way things are going social care may not exist soon if we don’t defend our public services.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-38882189

Therefore might we humbly suggest on Wirral that politicians of all parties , council employees , unions and council taxpayers join together in saying ALOs are not the way to go. And yes – that particularly includes Wirral Evolutions…………….