Is this for real?

[steveL]

"Coun Kevin Cranney, chair of Hartlepool Borough Council's Regeneration Services Policy Committee will be given a tour of the facilities before cutting a ribbon to declare the building officially open.

He said: "I am a big believer in apprenticeships and it's great to see Hartlepool-based firms creating exciting job opportunities for local people. The construction industry is vital to this area and it's important that we have people with the right skills and commitment which are key to our future prosperity."

Proof that a parallel universe exists......

It's true, Kevin Cranney is a great believer in apprenticeships, work experience, the Future Jobs Funds, or indeed any of the schemes we've had over the years which can be a source of cheap labour.
His Mattress enterprise, for example, made good use of work experience kids and all under the guise of him providing skills training to youngsters. As we now know, very few mattresses were ever recycled. Instead, they were allowed to accumulate in what became known as the rat ridden Cranney's Mountain for which he was eventually fined by the Environment Agency.

What he did do was use public money to set up his mattress venture on land which he owned and for which he then charged the Mattress company (a community interest company) £13,000 a year in rent. He also got a loan from a Government backed agency to purchase a conveyor system and then defaulted on the loan.

. . . and this is the man being given a guided tour of this new enterprise and asked to cut the opening ribbon.

oh, did I mention that the Department of Local Government and Communities is looking into Cranny's 'business' activities.

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/job-hopes-soar-for-hundreds-of-people-with-hartlepool-apprenticeship-programme-1-7561296#axzz3qt9CYXlM