H&F blow £16,000 in attempt to deflect police

Your Council is spending over £16,000 investigating itself in an attempt to deflect the police investigation which was launched into the scandal of a the "VIP homes list" that was allegedly promised to residents of the West Ken & Gibbs Green Estate in return for a "yes" vote in the Council's "consultation".

Even without these alleged shady activities a large majority voted against the plans which the Council now wishes to pursue anyway. Standing between them and the lucrative development, however, is the small matter of a High Court Case after a Judge ruled the legality of their approach to be open to question.

Instead of waiting for the police to get on with their job, after they were handed a dossier containing numerous accounts from residents, some of which you can read here, our Council have instructed accountants Deloitte to do it instead, at a cost of £675 per day.

The full bill will be £16,875. Which might sound like a lot, because it is. But the Council are getting bang for buck as I also understand that the police have placed their investigation on hold pending what the Council chooses to share with them about the Deloitte investigation.

So for £16,000 of your money they get to kick things into December, when the Deloitte report will apparently be ready, and manage to halt a police investigation.

Clever chaps. 

BBC Politics on H&F

In the dock: H&F Council pleads innocence

H&F is so full of controversy much of the Sunday Politics programme was all about us today, with two pieces covering the growing scandal over the West Kensington & Gibbs Green Estate which now involves a police investigation and High Court battle along with the proposed closure of all of our hospitals.

On West Ken, the BBC interviewed several residents who gave personal and worrying accounts of the practices the Council first of all denied it was engaged in, and now admits it might have been. Instead of waiting for the police investigation to run its course, our Council has spent large chunks of your cash on its own investigation run by accountants Deloitte. They used this investigation to justify not participating in the programme.

Man in the spotlight: Stephen Cowan

Not so Stephen Cowan, the Labour leader of the Opposition, who appeared in the studio to raise serious questions about the legal issues these practices raised. Although he had to concede that if the Council get through the High Court action they would be able to press ahead regardless.

On hospitals we heard from Dr Mark Spencer of NHS North West London, the bureaucrats wanting to close our hospitals, whos "consultation" was demonstrably biased and one sided, argue that politicians had gotten it all wrong. He used the term "reconfiguration" which sounds nicer than "closure" and said the pesky politicians should jolly well explain to people that the doctors knew best. He couldn't have been more condescending.

The hit list

He was also demonstrably untruthful and disingenuous, responding to presenter Tim Donovan, who incredulously asked him how he could possibly be supporting closures of all hospitals in Ealing and our own borough, an area the size of Leeds, by saying no decisions had been taken - before going on to sing the praises of that self same decision.

Which made the response of Liberal Democrat studio guest Paul Burstow MP, a former Health Minister until the last reshuffle, so amusing. What was lacking in NHS North West London was "credible leadership". Ouch. While Tory Mike Freer MP told those driving the changes to "get down off their high horse" and explain themselves. Kerpow.

Dr Mark Spencer: We know best, plebs

What was most worrying about the Condescendor in Chief Dr Spencer was his claim that all local GPs in the area were supportive of the changes. Is that really the case? I suspect not.

Murder in Fulham

Police have launched a murder investigation following the stabbing of a man in Fulham.

Officers were called at approx. 18:55hrs on Thursday 25 October to Fulham High Street, SW6 following reports of an assault.

London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance also attended and discovered a man, aged 65, suffering from stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 19:36hrs.

Next of kin are in the process of being informed, formal identification awaits. A post mortem will be scheduled in due course.

Detective Inspector Craig Bradley of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command leads the investigation. He said:

"I am appealing for any people who were in the area and witnessed this incident, or the events leading up to this incident, to come forward and speak to my team.

"At this early stage it is unclear what the motive for this incident was - if you saw anything, or have any information which may help the investigation, please get in contact."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 0208 345 3715 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A man, aged 27, was arrested near the scene on suspicion of murder - he remains in custody at a west London police station.

Inquiries continue.

London: The dashboard

Fancy a quick dashboard view of how your wonderful city is doing? Take a glance at this genuinely fantastic site developed by University College London:

Council instructs Deloitte to investigate housing allegations

Myers Letter Re EML Deloittes
More tax payers cash is lining the pockets of accountants as our Council has just responded to the legality of its actions over the West Ken Estate being ruled open to question by a High Court Judge not by simply co-operating with the police or answering the allegations in court, but by instructing Deloitte to investigate things independently.

The news has just been dispatched to long suffering residents and their supporters by identikit letters, one of which is reproduced above. It starts with the euphemistic "..you may be aware of concerns received by the Council regarding the allocation of council houses if the Earls Court regeneration project goes ahead".

Er, would those be the concerns this Council has routinely dismissed out of hand until a High Court Judge got involved? It would indeed. Though interesting they now say "..if the ... project goes ahead". That "if" seems to grow by the day, as does the bill.

Not H&F Council

But in a piece of comedy gold the letter goes on to say "in the spirit of transparency, I attach a redacted copy of the Investigation Remit as devised by Deloitte and accepted by this Council." (see below)

In the spirit of what?! Could this piece of In the Thick of It stardust have been sprinkled by the magnificently named Melbourne Barrett, per chance? The official who sought to bar residents from seeing responses submitted about their own estate, and then disappeared? It surely could.Investigation

H&F Council loses £1m in "careless" tax affairs

Your Council has just squandered one million pounds of your money by dodgy tax arrangements, which were in place under departed Leader Stephen Greenhalgh. That is the same man now wielding the axe over the Metropolitan Police on the grounds that they don't have enough money to pay for them.

Read the full sorry tale here on the Evening Standard website.

Gang mugging on Uxbridge Road

Uxbridge Road at night

This report just in from the local police:

"Between 02:30 and 03:01 on the 14th October the four victims had left a taxi on Uxbridge Road at the junction with Bloemfontein Road when a large group of around 20 black male and black females came towards them.

Approximately 4-6 of the men came over to two of the victims who were slightly ahead of their two friends.

One of the suspects placed his hand in the second victim’s pocket and when the victim told him to stop he was punched in the mouth. At the same time the first victim was standing in the road and can only remember being hit by a bottle over the head and having his phone and wallet taken.

He sustained a cut behind his right ear, cut to his left elbow and left hip and also a fracture to his skull and was taken to a local hospital".

Nice.

If you have any information regarding this incident or have seen anything suspicious please contact DC Berridge on 0208-246-2505, your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800-555-111.

Hospital closures: where does your GP stand?

Here's a recording of local Tory Peter Graham addressing the recent rally against the closure of hospitals in H&F. I described the scene here, as this sole Conservative stood alongside some pretty unusual comrades, which included members of the Socialist Workers Party and the Revolutionary Committee for Health in the Middle East who had come along to pledge "solidarity".

Listen in as one bloke cries "ere, you're a Tory!" to which Peter replies "yes, I AM a Conservative!"

So it was an amusing scene during what was an inspiring march and rally, but do give what he says a close listen. What he's arguing is that if local GPs come out against the plans they have no chance of going ahead. Peter gives more detail on the local Conservative blog here.

So why don't you ask your own GP where they stand next time you go to see them?

West Ken/Earl's Court: LibDems enter fray

Vince Cable: Coalition heavy hitter

Vince Cable has been drawn into the increasingly dramatic and fraught battle over the future of the Earl's Court redevelopment. Coming days after a High Court Judge said that the legality of our Council's approach was open to question, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly has written to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills outlining her concerns at the economic impact on London of the loss of jobs this would entail.

Caroline Pidgeon

Ms Pidgeon, in her letter to Mr Cable which you can read below, argues that the loss of exhibition space as the existing buildings are removed would be profound, and quotes the "thousands of small businesses" who rely on the space as a "marketing platform".

She also can't resist a swipe at our local authority, saying that it is "a matter of regret that these economic concerns do not appear do have been given appropriate consideration by the local planning authorities". Welcome to Hammersmith & Fulham, Caroline. 


Ms Pidgeon concludes by asking the Secretary of State to urge his colleagues to "call in" the application, which would mean excercising a possible power of veto. So now we have gone from a position where H&F have blustered their way through local residents, insisting all the way that they would do it come what may, to a very real threat to the scheme from both the High Court, and potentially the Coalition Government itself.

Dark days ahead at Hammersmith Town Hall, but that glimmer of light for little people like these may just be glowing a little brighter this evening.

Earls Court Opportunity Area - Letter to Vince Cable