Bank Holiday Bulletin Board

With His Lord and Ladyship still on what the latter lamentably calls a ‘vacay’ the faithful retainers at Leaky Towers have been asked to publicise the following in their absence.

Firstly we’ve been asked to give 2 local petitions some exposure:

https://www.change.org/p/wirral-council-stop-development-on-bidston-hill?utm_source=embedded_petition_view

The so called “LEISURE PENINSULA ” council want to sell off  land Bidston Hill for housing

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/funding-for-new-ferry-gas-explosion

The decision of no government funding to re-build NEW FERRY – central government may be selective when it comes to funding such disasters but from what we’ve seen we  have to say Wirral Council don’t seem to be cognizant about how such disaster funding actually works.

Secondly here’s a reminder and further news about the Defend Our NHS Wirral meeting on September 7th

Dear friends of the NHS

This is to remind you of our public meeting in Birkenhead on Thursday 7^th September.

We’re pleased to say that we will be joined by national campaigner Steve Carne talking about the STPs and NHS reinstatement.

The need to share information and alert the public is ever more urgent. Please circulate this message and the attachment. The NHS is on its knees and we need to fight desperately to save it.

Please see the revised notice for the meeting, which is attached, and this welcome news below from the Latest edition of Private Eye. The STPs are now called in true George Orwell style ‘sustainability and transformation partnerships’. ‘And’, by the way, is the only word in that title which does not mean the opposite of what it says:

·      ‘Sustainable’ = slashed budgets and services.

·      ‘Transformed’ = cut, demoralised and damaged beyond recognition.

·      ‘Partnership’ = developed in secret, operating in secret, condemned by local councils, a total lack of public/patient consultation, and the only happy partners are Richard Branson and a series of US ‘healthcos’.

 The STPs must be stopped, opposed, reversed and the damage undone.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting, to which ALL Wirral councillors and MPs are being invited.

Best wishes on behalf of DONHS

More about STPs? http://www.stopthestps.org.uk/home/4593142849

More about DONHS? https://www.facebook.com/groups/defendournhs/

The Appalling

 

 

As you can see we’re delighted to have made the hallowed pages of Private Eye . The latest edition of the satirical magazine features a Rotten Boroughs article concerned with ‘the appalling Jim Crabtree’. Wirral Leaks readers will be very familiar with the torrid tales of ‘Crabby’ and Cllr Louise Reecejones as they unfolded on this blog . However the article is a neat summation of the story so far………

We’re just grateful we got an acknowledgement as a source  – something the Liverpool Echo  journo who previously flagged up our stories to Private Eye regularly failed to do.

From our point of view the really scary thing is we don’t think that Crabby was the most ‘appalling ‘ Wirral councillor of recent times. Indeed we maintain that some of the most ‘grossly offensive and indecent’ offenders  are still in power and making ‘appalling’ decisions about OUR LIVES. Clearly Crabby wasn’t considered important enough for the local Labour cabal to throw their seemingly limitless PUBLIC resources and extensive political influence behind him to save his sorry backside.

It must be galling for Crabby to be publicly (and justifiably) pilloried whilst his former colleagues keep on trousering those allowances and acting all important ,especially when -like Reecejones – he knows exactly what they’ve been up to…….

Treena’s Misdemeanour

 

Private Eye magazine have compiled an interactive map  (see below) which is the result of Freedom of Information Act (FoI) requests to the 377 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales that process council tax payments.

They requested data relating to council tax payments due in the 2015-16 tax year and specifically asked how many councillors received reminder letters, how many were summonsed to court, how many of those cases went ahead and how many councillors were subsequently banned from voting on their council’s budget.

As you can see if you click on the map there is one Wirral Councillor who is named and shamed.

http://www.private-eye.co.uk/councillors

That is Labour councillor Treena Johnson. Yes ,  we have a councillor called Treena.

As Her Ladyship said : “Treena? – sounds as though one of Barbie’s best mates has thrown off the shackles of female oppression and run off to join the Wallasey Constituency Labour Party to fight for equality!”

Apparently Cllr Treena was summonsed after a Council Tax payment of £332.99 was not made . Interestingly we also learned that the “Local Government Finance Act forbids councillors from voting on the council’s budget – and determining the council tax – if they themselves have missed payments for two consecutive months and have not taken action to remedy the problem. The act states that such councillors either have to stay away from the meetings or, if they want to show up, they must stand up before their peers and explain why they cannot vote. Failure to take those steps is a criminal offence and can result in a maximum fine of £1,000 at a magistrates’ court.”

However Cllr Treena wasn’t barred from voting as she paid the money that was due to Wirral Council before she got to court. No doubt this was an oversight , a misunderstanding  or an unfortunate mistake on her part and in the scheme of things nothing approaching the misconduct of some of her Labour councillor comrades. However it is still a bit of an embarrassment isn’t it ?.

Wirral Toady

 

Toad of Town Hall

When we consider the  nepotism, cronyism  and obsequious careerism that pervades Wirral Council (and indeed within other parts of the ‘Wirral Partnership’) we could be forgiven for thinking the Wirral Council newspaper publication should be called  Wirral Toady and not Wirral Today.

Yes folks – they’ve finally decided on a title for their tatty rag as this extract from this leaked Stressed Eric Exec View staff newsletter reveals –

Hello,

I finished my latest set of roadshow meetings with staff last week. Thanks to everyone who came along.

I felt that I, and you, got the most out of those sessions where lots of varied questions were put forward and we could have a proper, open conversation.

It’s always interesting and useful for me to hear about what’s important to different staff groups in different areas.

Devolution was a common topic, as was the budget and whether we’re likely to see any change in our financial situation under the new Prime Minister. Questions around the future direction of the council, how we are progressing with our 2020 pledges and whether there are any plans for major restructures of the authority in coming months also came up.

There were a number of questions about the new publication we’re planning to produce so I thought it might be helpful to reflect on some of the discussions.

(There’s a lot of background information to the publication which is included in the Cabinet report, so I won’t go over that again. The Cabinet report is here.)

Fundamentally, the aim is to increase how informed our local people are. Last year’s residents survey showed us that a lot of people want more information about services and their communities. This publication, Wirral Today, will provide this.

We’ve opted for a printed publication that will be delivered through the letterbox of every home and business and copies will be available in places like libraries and train stations.

It might seem an unusual step to revert to a printed product, and even I queried this at first. However, there is a lot of research and evidence from other councils that shows residents who receive information from their council, directly to them at home, are more informed about local services and are in turn, happier and more satisfied with their area and their council.

An online-only approach won’t work in the same way, but we will have a website and social media that links to and supports the publication.

It’s important that staff, teams and managers from across the council submit ideas for stories and features. No-one has a monopoly on good ideas so it’s vital that everyone feels they can, and knows how to, contribute.

There is a dedicated email address where you can submit ideas for stories or features and it’s WTNews@wirral.gov.uk Soon you will also be able to make suggestions and submissions through the intranet too. Our Communications and Marketing team are working on the publication and they plan to visit teams to talk about how you can be a part of the process. If you’d like them to visit you, email WTNews@wirral.gov.uk 

It’s really important that this publication includes information from our partners and community groups so we’re working on how we pull all that content together now.

Once again, thank you to everyone who came along to a staff roadshow. I’ll be doing another set in the early new year sometime, as it’s important for us to carry on the conversation.
 
If you have any further questions, comments or suggestions for me in the meantime, you can email ericrobinson@wirral.gov.uk

Now we have to say Stressed Eric has gone up in our estimation as he seems to be demonstrating a new found flair for comedy.

‘It might seem an unusual step to revert to a printed product, and even I queried this at first’ he says whilst failing to add  …..‘ but then Martin Liptrot told me to get back in my corner’.

He then goes on to say – without the slightest hint of irony :’No-one has a monopoly on good ideas so it’s vital that everyone feels they can, and knows how to, contribute.’  

But surely this is what this publication is all about – managing  the message and controlling the public. To the power abusers of Wallasey Town Hall Wirral is a giant Monopoly board or as someone much cleverer than us once said  – “a monopoly on the means of communication may define a ruling  elite more precisely than the celebrated Marxian formula of monopoly in the means of production” .

Having said all that we’re still looking forward to the first edition of  Wirral Toady , sorry Wirral Today  and the endless possibilities for satire it is sure to provide.

We predict the front cover of the first edition will be about how well Wirral Council is doing  supporting disabled people or children or combatting hunger. Any other suggestions send to : Wirralleaks@gmail.com

Meanwhile here’s Wirral Council’s fortnightly appearance on Private Eye’s Rotten Boroughs page and their take on Wirral Today. 

 

WIRRALGATE! – Secrets and Lies

As we ponder the fallout from the Thynne 2 report we note that Private Eye magazine have this week written a less than flattering account of Wirral Council. The article focuses on the inglorious record of the Local Government Chronicle giving awards to local authorities “heading for (if not already up) shit creek” and as an example  goes on to question the secrecy surrounding the Standards Panel  where Thynne 2 was discussed.

For an eye witness account of the “bureaucratic machinations” surrounding the Standards Panel meeting look no further than the latest post on John Brace’s blog .

However as we promised we’ve given Thynne 2 the once over and as ever with such reports it provides us with more questions than answers. Nevertheless we thought we’d unpick what we could in a systematic way and deal with the leading players and outstanding  issues from the report in the following separate blog posts :

Foulkesy the Fibber  – the man and the motivation behind the lies

George Davies Dodges the Bullets – but for how long?

Green and Yellow – does Cllr Jeff Green deserve an apology?. In a word : No.

Double Echo – the tale behind a recording of a recording

Code of Silence – how councillors abuse their power to protect each other

The Notorious Two – the surprise witnesses who brought about Thynne 2

The Prefab Four – the anonymous men who hold Wirral’s leading politicians a hostage to fortune

It’ll End in Tears – who’ll be crying all the way to the bank and who’ll be in despair about the death of accountability? Wirral Leaks predicts some further twists and turns in this sordid saga despite the best intentions of Wirral Council to ‘move forward’ as fast as they can write a few cheques out!.

 

Welcome to Murkyside

And so it’s a Murkyside takeover in the latest edition of Private Eye’s Rotten Boroughs section with dishonourable mentions for Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson and our very own Wirral Council “leader” Power Boy Pip Davies.

Of course the star of the show from our perspective is Rotten Boroughs regular Kevin Addled and the revelation that he apparently has “agreed a “voluntary” departure package – thought to be worth more than £100,000″.

We’ll be bringing you further details and commenting on his departure package very,very soon.

But in the mean time – let us suggest that Mayor Joe and Power Boy Pip put aside their personal rivalries.

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/handbags-at-dawn-on-animal-farm/

What they need to do in the greater interest of Murkyside is to finally acknowledge their commonalities. Forget about bloody Reno – the only twinning that needs to be going on is between Wirral and Liverpool and particularly their respective figureheads.

Consider this:

Firstly – their ambition far exceeds their intellect,integrity and talent.

Secondly  – they have deputies that are a complete liability.

In Mayor Joe’s case it is a deputy (Cllr Ann O’Byrne) who drove away from a car crash

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/calls-liverpool-deputy-mayor-resign-10168900

In Power Boy Pip’s case it is a deputy (Cllr George Davies) who tried to drive away from a car crash known as Wirralgate! – although shamefully it seems you won’t be reading about that in the Liverpool Echo any time soon……………….

Rotten To The Core

Private Eye magazine is going to have to re-name its Rotten Boroughs column “Rotten Wirral” the way things are going – so regularly are Wirral council failings recorded in that hallowed tome.

We know that suspended Wirral Councillor Jim Crabtree likes to court the press so no doubt he’ll be delighted to find out today that finally he has national press coverage of his exploits/exploitation.

We note that the Eye article quotes from the Liverpool Echo without acknowledging that it was actually Wirral Leaks that broke the story and that essentially without the leak to us it would have been covered-up,glossed over and forgotten about.

However unlike Cllr.Crabtree we’re not proud – as well we know that pride comes before a fall.We also note Eye rang the beleaguered councillor  “but he hung up”.

Let’s hope Cllr.Crabtree receives similar treatment and that he is eventually hung out to dry – just like he and his colleagues have done to so many people over the years who dared to challenge the bullying,manipulative and utterly corrupt regime that runs Wirral Council.

Christmas Tradition

As Wirral Leaks crashes through the quarter of a million hits barrier whilst being on WordPress we celebrate the age -old Christmas Tradition of  Wirral Council appearing in the Christmas edition of Private Eye. Let’s face it Rotten Boroughs is to Wirral Council what stuffing is to turkey.

The article itself  titled “Stella Performance” takes centre stage with a box and a cartoon all of it’s own. As the title suggests the story concerns Wirral Council’s globetrotting exploits from the wooing of Shiu  to the beano in Reno.

Private Eye writes :

“Despite all the evidence that Wirral Council was being had , it’s regeneration director Kevin Adderley insisted all ” due diligence” had been done,while council leader Phil Davies pathetically insisted: This is not a myth ,they are real companies with real investment plans.” Alas,nothing has been heard of Ms.Shiu since. Never mind,Onward!”

The story may well not be new to Wirral Leaks readers but it’s certainly the first time we’ve seen Addled and “due diligence” in the same sentence (shurely shome mishtake?!)

And we must say the word “pathetically” clings to Power Boy Pip like a limpet to a sinking ship. Leader? – the only way this guy leads the people of Wirral is up the garden path. Witness his pathetic history – ” There’s nothing we can do – they’ve all  left…” he said wimping out after it was revealed that council officers had departed cheque in hand after failing to tell councillors that oops! they’d run up £30 million +  in toxic debts. Byeeeee! And didn’t he chair a disciplinary hearing when he exonerated and let off  two of the main protagonists involved in this financial mismanagement?

As Private Eye says: I think we should be told!

Witness also his ongoing support of Foulkesy and Georgy as Wirralgate unravels…..”I can’t defend that” he apparently said after hearing the Wirralgate recording.
Oh but he has and will continue to do so as long as he clings (pathetically) on to power ( cont. p.94).

Pie In The Sky

Miraculously Private Eye magazine recently covered a story about Wirral Council that did not feature in Rotten Boroughs!

This story was instead in “Nooks and Corners” which records the magazine’s concerns about Britain’s architectural heritage.The case in point here being a pair of  semi-detached Victorian mansions ,54-56 Park Road South,Birkenhead.

Private Eye reports :

” This had been used as the ESWA Sports & Social Club …until it closed in 2012. The following year the houses were bought by a developer .Soon after they were burgled,and 24 hours later they went on fire,the fire services suspecting arson. The shell of the two houses now stands open to the sky and surrounded by hoardings. The plan,apparently is to convert the structure into apartments,but so often in the Wirral a fire is followed by demolition….In London, the house would be graced with a blue plaque and cherished. But poor Birkenhead is different”

Poor Birkenhead is indeed different – not only is the continuing drive to turn the surrounding area into “Flatland”  with a high density of apartments housing a transient population (see also planning applications in the close vicinity for more apartments on the plot of the now closed Cole Street School and part conversion of the Queens Hotel) but the dereliction and decay elsewhere in Birkenhead continues unabated.

Following our “Talking Crap” story

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2014/08/08/talking-crap/

a concerned Birkenhead resident has been in touch with more crap for Birkenhead Constituency Committee to consider. The resident has long had concerns about the continuing deterioration of wasteland at the corner of Oxton Road and the appropriately named Balls Road (East) and have sent us the following pictures (although they advise that the pictures do not do justice to the swarms of flies and bluebottles):

Our source asks us how do we think the Birkenhead Constituency Committee and Wirral Council would respond to this appalling site/sight?

Unfortunately we suspect it would go something like this:

“We are proud to announce an exciting new development with our partners Steal Holdups International and mysterious foreign investor Pho Ni. We have carried out extensive consultation with the local population – ignored their concerns and decided that what’s best for them is to convert the site to 21st century state of the art “community hub” including all the up-to-date amenities that the local populace needs – a nail bar/tanning salon, a bookies, bingo, a chippy and a needle exchange.

We welcome that the futuristic artist’s impression have drawn interest from the local community and in the modern tradition of giving such iconic buildings a nickname such as “The Shard” or  “The Gherkin”  we understand the scheme has been named  by local people as ” Pie In The Sky”

We spoke to local resident who told us : ” It was quite handy for dumping stuff and taking the dog for a quick dump.Yeah you could say it was a dumping ground.But lets face it love , it’s all me arse isn’it?….there’s about as much chance of this happening as Wirral Council being an open,transparent ,fully functioning ,ethical and efficient organisation”

Rotten Boroughs AGAIN !

…..And Wirral makes another of it’s regular appearances in Private Eye’s infamous Rotten Boroughs column – How much do they spend on “Reputation Management” and “spin”… hardly money well spent surely? And we all know how it ended for Malcolm Tucker 😉

Doubtless Mr Norman will appear over in Weightman’s or another solicitors firm or LA very soon