Video of Decembers meeting

[DRiddle]

https://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/info/20004/council_and_democracy/495/full_council_meetings_-_recorded_footage

Two 'good bits' in my opinion. One, the last 30 minutes in which the PHF and Indy councillors debate the issue of preventing councillors from committing fraud.

And two 'George Springer versus Stephen Akers-Belcher' talking about asylum seekers. I can't remember when that bit was, I was too busy laughing to make a note of the time.

By the way, when people shoot at you, they mean business . . . Just incase you ever though someone shooting at you was just having a laugh.

[DRiddle]

Oh and also 44 minutes and 44 seconds in, Cranney answers a public question. I challenge anyone to watch it without (a) laughing (b) cringing and (c  ) being thankful you weren't the poor teacher given the task of teaching him English.

[jeffh]

Oh and also 44 minutes and 44 seconds in, Cranney answers a public question. I challenge anyone to watch it without (a) laughing (b) cringing and (c  ) being thankful you weren't the poor teacher given the task of teaching him English.

As far as I can remember he didn't answer the question - he waited for the time out from our Ceremonial Mayor, then exited stage right smiling

[Land Phil]

What is a stain visitor ?

[admin]

https://youtu.be/mGwsfcI2SSQ

[kevplumb]

thanks for that admin
I couldn't get it to go fullscreen
sounds better as well

[Lord Elpus]

How on earth have we got to the situation were we have such people running this town.  I'm not anti Labour, just against the halfwits who are currently running the Labour Group.

CAB, SAB and Cranney all seem to seriously struggle with english as thier first lanuage.

As for the comments by SAB re George Springer, what a prize plum SAB is.

They even make Carl Richardson appear intelligent, which is quite a feat in anyones book.

Also why is the quality of the recording so shight?  Graeme Measor did better recordings with a small video camera.

[fred c]

As Charlie Brown famously quoted......... " GOOD GRIEF"

Whilst my one big regret in life was in not gaining a decent education, I had to leave school & get a job, I have difficulty in understanding how anyone who aspires to enter public life seem unable to string more than 2 or 3 words together, seriously, we have at least half a dozen councillors who are unable to enunciate words in a coherent manner & several who would struggle to spell Bob, Backwards.

The only way they are going to be sure of controlling Craney is to tie him to the chair, he was a whisker away from loosing his heed again, interesting psychological point by Dave Riddle when he referenced 'Bully'....... my old Dad always said.... "once a bully always a bully"

[steveL]

I think it's pretty clear from the video that the official line is to dump all responsibility onto Wilcox in the hope that it will all go away and that this is a joint approach agreed between CAB and the Poison Dwarf - it's not going to work.

The chief line of defence adopted is that it was the council audit of Manor Residents which led to referral to the Police by the Council. This is a complete fabrication by Wells. The audit by the Council merely recommended several procedural changes at Manor Residents, such as the use of payroll software. Among it's many complacent failings were that it failed to pick up on the plethora of bank accounts that Wilcox was running. There was actually a six-month gap between the council audit and the referral to the Police during which councillors were told that there was nothing seriously wrong with Manor Residents accounts which couldn't be rectified by minor changes in systems and procedures.

Note that it was during the Tribunal cases that Wilxox's failure to pay Tax and National Insurance contribution to the Inland Revenue was first officially acknowledged - months before any council referral to the Police and yet the council continued to plough taxpayer's money into Manor Residents.

Remember too that it was CAB himself who told the council chamber that the 'duplicate' accounts submitted to the Charity Commission was the  result of an error by the Charity Commission itself - again, a complete fabrication.

Noticeable that Gill Alexander got herself in a right mess over council scrutiny of accounts switching from 'not having the power' to confirming that the council not only insists on 3 years accounts before awarding any new contract but on receiving annual accounts from any organisation receiving funding from the council.

As James Black pointed out, in the case of Who Cares (NE), a newly set-up company, there were no previous accounts, only the accounts of the organisation that had run the pilot Connected Care project - which was Manor Residents. Those accounts were described during the court case as being 'Shambolic' yet the annual submission of those same, 'shambolic' accounts, which Alexander admitted were obligatory, appear to have passed by the eyes of the council's Chief Financial Officer without comment.

Like with all such organisations, Manor Residents accounts were supposed to be agreed by the Board of Trustees, which included Stephen Akers-Belcher and Paul Beck; one of the responsibilities of Trustees is to ensure that the financial management of such organisations is being properly carried out - hence the pathetic attempt to deny that they were ever Trustees.

There are lots of things here that show perfectly just how corrupt and self-serving Hartlepool Council has become.

One last point, Cranney was within a whisper of throwing another wobbler but he lacks the intellect to resist his natural tendencies for much longer. He's had a good screw out of it over the years, but he knows that the walls surrounding him are about to implode and I would predict that we will be looking at another councillor arrest before the end of 2017.

[kevplumb]

quote= steve L " I would predict that we will be looking at another councillor arrest before the end of 2017"

can't think of a more deserving cause unless the chuckle brothers got lifted as well 

[steveL]

Just by way of an addendum:

Alexander also stated that the police investigation into Wilcox wholly covered the Who Cares (NE) operation which is totally untrue - it's an assumption on her part and as Chief Executive, she should not be presenting her assumptions as facts. The arrest and subsequent charges related solely to Wilcox and Manor Residents and extended into Who Cares(NE) only to the extent of Wilcox's administration of the payroll. It did not extend to Who Cares (NE) as an operation nor to the two other Directors, Kevin Cranney and Ray Harriman who, at the time, was Wilcox's partner.

Six Board Members of Who Cares(NE), one of which was Christopher Akers-Belcher, resigned en masse from Who Cares (NE) after experiencing difficulty obtaining any financial information from the founding Directors, Cranney, Wilcox and Harriman, after the same three refused to hold regular board meetings and after Cranney wrote them a letter telling them NOT to ask Harriman for any financial information - he wanted financial control kept strictly between himself and Wilcox without involving Harriman or the board members. Even so, no alarm bells were rung within the Civic Centre and it stood ready to award a third-year contract to Who Cares(NE).

That third year never happened after Wilcox's arrest but you have to ask yourself why not if the council truly believed that there was no cross-over fraud happening at Who Cares (NE)? The position that there was nothing wrong at Who cares (NE) but we aren't prepared to offer them a 3rd-year contract is more than a little incredulous.

This does show, however, just how much Gill Alexander is engaged in the damage limitation exercise and her personal philosophy that 'some stones are best left unturned'

This is not a council operating in the public interest but a council in denial and determined that the less that is revealed about its corrupt practices the better.

There is very little time left for senior council officers to opt out of the present corrupt culture and to start revealing what they know. If not, then they should be thinking seriously of early retirement before becoming collateral damage. themselves.

[marky]

You're not going to get this council to admit to any wrongdoing. The town is being run by the cast of Shameless. Their moral compass is totally f**c***.

I watched the video and listened to RMW talking of 'robust procedures' that prevent people with dubious business records or environmental transgressions being awarded council contracts yet a councillor who narrowly escaped jail after £380,000 went astray from a company that he ran, who was pursued by the Department of Trade for his incompetence, banned from being a Director for 5 years and found guilty of environmental licence breaches was still awarded a £640,000 council contract without the council's stipulated requirement for a 3 year accounts history.

Corrupt doesn't really cover it.

[akarjl]

C Riddle deserves recognition for turning stones despite Alexanders thoughts......

The common traits of fraudsters section was brilliant- basically described half of the inhabitants of the kremlin. At the mention of "living beyond means" and " mouse" Cwistopher actually appeared to snuggle into his orangutang who was shuffling about in his all too small chair obviously seething.

The Orangutang showed publicly what a buffoon he really is, a pathetic attempt at deflecting attention away from him,hopefully the microscope held by various bodies will be turned on him and Mr and Mrs.......best get the soap bars hidden in the showers at Homehouse.......

[notenoughsaid]

         
    Having watched the above video I would like to congratulate and thank the councillors on the left of screen,D.Riddle, Cllr. Thompson and the others who spoke. 
    It was a pleasure to hear such direct proposals being submitted and watching the actions of people who clearly had things on their mind squirm. I formed the opinion that it is easier to spot a "squirm" from behind !!!  The body language was remarkable to watch.   Well done chaps.

    Older readers may have been reminded of a guy called Magnus PIKE,  he had grey hair and  waved his arms as he spoke on the TV.  and again like Cllr. Cranney was hard to understand.    Great performance by him!!!    The town deserves better.   



     

[jawsbbc]

cab cranney james  constantly talking nudging each other pure sickening to watch
how come the public cannot talk but they can chatter when another councilor is speaking