PHF Press Release

[admin]

Just for Info#:received this morning

Press Release
The spokesman of Hartlepool's second largest political group is calling for all council funding of a local community group to cease until changes are made to its management.

Putting Hartlepool First Councillor, Geoff Lilley says that it would defy common sense to go on handing over public money to Manor Residents Association, an organisation managed by Cllr Angie Wilcox, a woman who has now been labelled by a court Judge as 'dishonest'. Cllr Lilley is also calling for all Trustees of Manor Residents, which include fellow Councillors Stephen Akers-Belcher and Paul Beck, to resign

"These three Councillors all voted in the council chamber to condemn those employers who fail to pay their staff at least the minimum wage and yet at the same time, Wilcox was going to the length of falsifying records in an attempt to deny Lynda Gooding her compensation after the association they were responsible for did just that.

"It is now very clear that the Trustees have singularly failed in their own duty to ensure the proper management of the organisation. They should make their last tasks to be the sacking of Angela Wilcox as Manager and the prompt payment of Lynda Gooding of her compensation. They should then immediately resign.

"Lynda Gooding should never have been put through the stress of an Industrial Tribunal and to force her to go through the experience a second time was unforgiveable.

"The Chief Executive, Dave Stubbs has stated that the council cannot insist on management changes but that is precisely what the council did at the Phoenix Centre when it was in trouble. On that occasion, the council insisted on a complete change in management and Trustees before any more money was handed over."

[grim reaper]

Spot on, Mr Lilley. And not before time.

As I have indicated before, it isn't just councillors that should be in the 'firing' line, senior council officers should be sacked too.

A finance dept. that allowed 'the mob' to override standing orders regarding disbursement of large sums of OUR money.

A legal dept. that allowed the foregoing.

A chief exec. that has overseen all of the shenanigans and backed them all to the hilt.
Just WHY is he so keen on keeping the status quo with Labour councillors???   

Let us hope that this bandwagon rolls on and the police are eventually brought in to lift the rocks that these people inhabit.

[Hartlepudlion]

I am afraid that this release shows the wooliness of PHF's thinking.

From what organisation(s) are they asking Cllrs/trustees to resign from?
If it is from MR then it is tantamount to giving them a "get out of jail" card. Surely, PHF should be calling on all Cllrs who have had any involvement with MR, past or present, to resign from the COUNCIL. OTHERWISE NOTHING WILL CHANGE.

As for the Phoenix Centre, it is my recollection that everything was hushed up and Housing Hartlepool took over thereby absolving the Council of any responsibility. Do we want this to happen again with MR!

[marky]

I don't really follow your logic. There's no reason why trustees can't be held to account after they have resigned, especially the councillors. Surely the point is for them to resign now before they do any more damage. Likewise, I take Lilley's point about the Phoenix Centre is to contradict what Stubbs said last week that the council can't insist on changes in management when in fact they have done so before.

Your comments seem a bit churlish to me. Labour are in denial while the Tories have stayed conspicuously silent on the matter and both did their best to thwart calls for the public inquiry. From where I'm sitting, PHF (and Brashy) are the only ones trying to get something done about the situation.

[Hartlepudlion]

Well Marky I have to disagree with you.

Trustees who resign will just be replaced by other Labour cronies so no change there. If Cllrs resign then we will have a big by-election (5 or 6) which will give us all a chance to change things.

Don't like having to defend Stubbs (another Labour stooge) but HBC passed the buck to Housing Hartlepool over the Phoenix Centre. They did not change the management.

I also have to disagree with your final statement. This site and many of us have done far more than PHF so far in bringing the failings of this Council to the attention of others. Do you think MR would have been found out without this site? I do, however, have to agree with you that the West Park Tories have done nothing. Fisher is a very big disappointment - it seems he has reverted back to his Labour roots and follows the party line.

[fred c]

"The Dear Leaders"  Consort wont even resign as a trustee of MRA, so why would you think he would resign his position as a councillor

[testing times]

I can see reasons why both of you are right but I think there is a long way go on this one and who knows what the eventual outcome will be.