Two weeks ago I noticed a meeting listed on the Council’s web based calendar for Monday 6th December. It was listed as a special meeting of Overview and Scrutiny to be held at East Ham Town Hall in committee room 1. There was no agenda and the page displayed the usual message that the agenda would be posted six days prior to the meeting.
Interested, I checked the page every day and, up to and including the day of the meeting, no agenda was posted. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the meeting but I checked the page the next day and a new message had been placed stating that no documents are available for this meeting.
Intrigued I called the Head of Overview and Scrutiny and asked if the meeting had taken place. I was told that the next meeting of O & S would be held on 24th January. I asked again if Monday’s meeting had gone ahead. I was told that the last scheduled meeting of O & S was held on 22nd November. I asked again and was told that the entry on the calendar was a computer error. Long story short, I never really got a straight answer.
I checked the calendar about 30 minutes after my conversation and the entry had been removed. Fortunately I made a note of the web-page’s URL [http://mgov.newham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=435&MId=8925]. I checked the page and was informed that the page does not exist.
I went down to the Town Hall this morning and asked the receptionist if she could check if a meeting had taken place in committee room 1 on Monday. After checking her screen, her response was: “There’s nothing currently on the system but that doesn’t mean to say that it wasn’t used for an unlisted meeting. Councillors hold meetings here all the time that are not on the system”.
I don’t accept that the original listing for the meeting was a “computer error”; I called members’ services and asked how meetings get listed on the web-based calendar. It seems that the public calendar automatically picks up on meetings that have been manually inputted in the diaries of various departments etc. So, someone must have scheduled this meeting – there must have been some reason to hold a “special” meeting of O & S. And, someone must have made the "no documents available entry" - it’s hard to believe that no-one checks the calendar and thereby allowing a “non-meeting” to sit on the schedule for over a week, and for a day after it “didn’t” take place.
I also find it odd that all trace of the meeting has been removed. Where meetings have been cancelled or postponed the calendar reflects that:
I’ve been informed that, at the last General Committee meeting (GC) for West Ham Constituency Labour Party, a former Newham councillor asked about the comedy mayor of Westfield’s latest plan to throw £40 million of other people’s money at the Olympic Stadium and members were informed that the proposal will be “scrutinised” by the Chair of O & S. My guess is that (and I accept I could be wrong) this was the meeting to do that. Not that any real scrutiny would have taken place. It’s so that, if quizzed as to whether or not the comedy mayor’s latest lunacy has been subjected to scrutiny, the Chair, scrutiny members, the comedy mayor and his advisors can swear, hand on heart, that it has.
Ain’t democracy grand!
6 comments:
Get a life you are a nut job, have you got nothing better to do with your time? Do you work? Do you have a job? Or are you living off the state you waste of space!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a wonderful comment from anonymous - typical of the gutless slime that supports the lack of transpaency and openess in Newham.
For my own part, carry on the good work Mike as sooner or later Newham will have to make public the business case for this loan, and the details of whether the people of Newham will be responsible for picking up the tab.
You are clearly hitting a sore spot on the Newham body politic for such comments to be made. With all my time in the Newham Labour Party, I am saddened that the reaction of so many councillors and their supporters is one of resorting to abuse rather than engaging in debate. It's one of the reasons I left after 30 years of membership.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the support.
There are a number of things worth noting about these “anonymous” comments. First, I’d hazard a guess that they’re written by a sitting councillor, and one who is either in receipt of a mayoral stipend or would like to be. I’d argue that this could be supported by the fact that both comments are written on blog-posts about Wales’ current plan to piss £40,000,000 on the Olympic Stadium.
Almost all of the Newham residents I talk to are pretty pissed off about this particular obsession of his and all think the money, if available, would be better used elsewhere (I even had two local beat coppers telling me that the money would be better used tackling street crime).
Of the one or two that generally support Wales’ (yes, there are some out there), I’ve not heard a word in support of his desire to run the stadium.
Run-of-the-mill, backbench councillors are out of the frame because it’s evident on whole that none of them understand what is going on – evident by the fact that they voted in favour of the £40,000,000 “investment” without knowing the details.
Second, if I am right and it’s a sitting councillor, I’d say they are writing the comments out of a sense of guilt; guilt because I’m asking the questions they should be asking.
Third, the comments are supporting evidence that the comedy mayor really is a cu#t. The comments may well be the work of a self-appointed “mindguard”.
Finally, who ever it is they probably think they are a socialist (or give the impression to others they are) but in reality they harbour stereotypical loathing and hatred of those in society who are perceived by the far-right as scroungers and wastrels, thus explaining this fuckwit’s contempt for the unemployed. Currently I’m not unemployed (if I were, I’d be posting far much more on this blog). However, if “anonymous” is so concerned about people poncing off the state, maybe he or she should turn his or her attention to those Newham councillors who are in receipt of the generous mayoral allowances for doing fuck all; councillors Baikie, Corbett, Crawford, Hudson and Desai for example.
I’d have more time for “anonymous” if he or she actually addressed the points I raise on my blog; if I’m wrong, set the record straight. Until then…
Fuck your self you need a fuck don't you shit head.
Seems to me that politicos mouth off about wanting people to be actively engaged but the reality does seem rather different - you have to be involved in the right way and not ask the "wrong" questions and heaven forfend if you happen to disagree. The only reality that seems to matter is that within that giant greenhouse by City Airport - how much more removed from life for ordinary Newham folk can you get? For me this blog is about as near as Newham gets to democracy at the moment I am afraid - Comrade Stalin would be proud of the parlous state of the democratic processes in Newham. Thankfully the Prince of Westfield is not in a position to take up Stalin's adage - one man, one problem - no man, no problem.
From Save The Atherton:
Two weeks ago we delivered the biggest petition that
council have been presented with in recent years -5200 names - one thousand names under new rules triggers a debate in full council. According to Democratic Services - who took delivery of our petition - no other campaign has come close.
We were previously told that the petition had to be delivered two to three weeks before the next full council meeting on 12/12 - this we did.
No prizes for what is coming next.
The earliest we can be put on the agenda is February - after the Atherton is due to close.
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