A Public Scandal

[not4me]

In a nutshell:

"There is something suspect and deeply offensive about a Labour Leader continuiing to defend a fellow labour councillor who has been happily paying her own staff less than the minimum wage while family members have been flaunting their Rolex watches on Hartlepool's poorest estate."
http://www.hartlepoolpost.co.uk

[Vincent]

I think Wilcox is one of those stupid mugs who takes advantage of the situation she is in by sucking the system dry whilst she can but in my mind she has and is being tutored and manipulated by that master  - Cranny.

He has shown over and over again how to milk the flood of ratepayers money pouring out of HBC into charities / CIC's

Teflon Cranny is the one this site should be after

[norfolkngoode]

I think Wilcox is one of those stupid mugs who takes advantage of the situation she is in by sucking the system dry whilst she can but in my mind she has and is being tutored and manipulated by that master  - Cranny.

He has shown over and over again how to milk the flood of ratepayers money pouring out of HBC into charities / CIC's

Teflon Cranny is the one this site should be after

Without a doubt.

He is the puppet master.

[jonno]

I suggest that as well as the protest about MRA  a standard letter is needed to be wrote up allowing space for people to put there names and address on. If the letters are placed in public places such as shops ect then you are likely to generate  more interest than only a protest . Also the council can not ignore the volume of letters all requesting the same answers . This would be fantastic media coverage  as it is the public who request answers . 


Jonno

[marky]

The bigger story is that something needs to change with the way public funding is handled in Hartlepool. For years, Governments of both colours have tried to create the impression that they are addressing deep-rooted unemployment and deprivation by inventing all kinds of schemes to channel money into local economies.None of them have proved to be particularly successful in regenerating local economies and personally, I see them mostly as PR exercises which allow Governments to claim that they are 'doing something' for deprived areas.In practice, what has happened is that a sub-industry has developed around these funding streams and the more cynical types have attached themselves to these funding streams like leeches for personal gain.We have more than our fair share of such leeches in Hartlepool and they fall into various categories.

   
• Those 'Walter Mitty' characters who have latched onto the Community Interest Company phenomenon believing themselves to be the new Peter Jones.
• Those who manage community groups and CICs.
• Those who use the existence of Community Groups and CICs to provide secondary services to them.Funnily enough, a lot of them have turned out to be Councillors.

If you go to a bank with a business idea then you'll find it to be no easy task. You'll need to provide a viable business plan, demonstrate solid market research and provide a projected cash flow forecast.

None of this seems to apply to a local councillor with 'a bright idea'. Public money seems to be made available to such people on a wing and a prayer. It's no surprise than to find that so many 'bright ideas' from councillors result in short-lived companies that achieve little more than providing those councillors with a nice income for a short period of time. The company folds and the councillor moves on to his next idea without blinking.

Likewise, managers in this area do not appear to have to prove they possess the relevant previous experience or knowledge and, when things go pear shaped, all that is needed is a talent for producing promises and committments.

The more subtle hide their financial gain through a paper chase of companies or by not declaring their interests in companies.

Check out the number of councillors who earn a good living from the funding streams thrown at local economies by central Government. Sometimes the money comes in directly but mostly it bounces around the 3rd sector for a while before finally settling in some councillor's bank account.

I doubt if Hartlepool is the only culprit but the town does seem to have developed the art of the funding leech to its highest level. 

[jonno]

yes you are right, I was very surprised to find out that Hartlepool Children Services staff are provided with a card  account for  Cafe 177. Why just at the cafe and not use other cafes ?

[steveL]

I was in Cafe177 recently and was quite impressed. I'm not quite sure what you mean by a card account, but I assume it means free Lattes for Children's Services Staff which seems to be against the spirit of the place. It's important that such places are self-supporting as far as possible and freebies for council staff would seem to be an unnecessary perk.

[fred c]

Marky is right about the public funding of various bodies by HBC, if there is nothing else that comes out of the Manor Residents debacle it should be that HBC have a "Root & Branch Reform" of the public funding system in Hartlepool.

There needs to be an accountable system that funded organisations have to follow, & there needs to be properly Audited Accounts by a certified Accountant,(& not a councillor doing them) at the end of every year........... No Audited Accounts......... No Further Funding.

Most of us would have though that process should actually be in place now....... Obviously Not.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Oh, the irony ... 

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/under-fire-councillor-backs-motion-1-5761007

[pensionater]

The worrying fact is that despite the allegations and the proven discrepancies the accounts are still open.Surely these should be frozen till an investigation is carried out.In most instances 2 signatures are needed before any money is released,so what were the signatures of the people who opened the second account which Wilcox reckons she knows nothing about .

[steveL]

"Manor Residents' Association has never paid below the national minimum wage and that will come out at the review hearing next month."

Well she's done it now - if the hearing goes against her that will make her a liar - officially

Word is that the plan is to make out that Lynda Gooding's contract was to work fewer hours thereby upping the hourly rate to the minium wage. As I said previously, lies flow freely these days.

Interesting that the council motion talked not only of Managers but of Trustees which would include Stephen Akers-Belcher. Interesting too that CAB tried to hijack the motion and switch the attention to the 'living wage'. He has promised the rest of the labour crew that their own allowances will be tied to an increase to a 'living wage'.

[fred c]

"Manor Residents' Association has never paid below the national minimum wage and that will come out at the review hearing next month."

Well she's done it now - if the hearing goes against her that will make her a liar - officially

Word is that the plan is to make out that Lynda Gooding's contract was to work fewer hours thereby upping the hourly rate to the minium wage. As I said previously, lies flow freely these days.


Sounds like a good idea..... Mrs Gooding works X number of hours & gets paid the National Minimum Wage for doing so............. Then works Z numbers of Hours for nothing.

Caring Sharing Voluntary Sector.......... My A**e



Interesting that the council motion talked not only of Managers but of Trustees which would include Stephen Akers-Belcher. Interesting too that CAB tried to hijack the motion and switch the attention to the 'living wage'. He has promised the rest of the labour crew that their own allowances will be tied to an increase to a 'living wage'.

[testing times]

"she was awarded £3,395.92 in compensation, £3,196.16 for loss of earnings and £916.12 for not having been given a written statement of employment by the charity.She was also awarded £687.09 for not being paid the minimum wage after it emerged during the hearing that she was being paid less than the legal low of £6.19 an hour.
Gooding said she was paid £200 for 37 hours work a week by the charity, equating to £5.40 an hour. "Until the hearing I wasn't aware that I had been getting less than the minimum wage," she said.
Gooding was also awarded £259.74 for unnotified deductions, because the charity had been deducting national insurance even though she was not paid the minimum wage, and £350 for the loss of her statutory rights."

And are we also to believe that the unnotified deductions, the absence of payslips, the delays in payment, the lack of a written statement of employment etc were all also untrue?

Manor Resident's submission to the Tribunal arrived late yet we are told we must now believe that the submission to last week's second Tribunal was sent by 2nd class post and 'went missing'.

Now think on this. If your submission  to the first Tribunal had arrived late, would you not make doubly sure that any submission to a second Tribunal arrived in good time even to the point of hand delivering it yourself?

Secondly, if the case is being handled by solicitors then the solicitors would be the ones handling the delivery of any submissions. Would they use 2nd class post and leave it to chance?

This woman is a liability and everytime she opens her mouth the credibility of the local labour group sinks further down the pan.

[grim reaper]

When this is all over and the involved parties have got their come-comeuppance, someone should write a book about how easy it is to obtain millions of pounds, in times of so-called austerity, with no questions asked (or at least, no answers given!). 
This debacle has laid bare the myth that Labour is the party for the working class;
A party that understands the conditions for the low paid and acts on their behalf...NOT.
It is plain for all to see the reason why, after 50+ years of Labour in this town and many, many years of Labour governments, Hartlepool is still classed as a backwater.
Despite our so-called MP shouting the odds at the Tory govt. and telling them what they should be doing for Hartlepool and the economy, WHY didn't HE and his government do something for Hartlepool, when in power? 
Because the modus operandi of them all is when in power, FILL YER BOOTS!!

Toss 'em some soundbites now and then and scream how the Tories are doing nothing for the poor North-east...that'll keep the voters happy.
Don't forget those hoary old chestnuts the loss of the shipyards, the mines, the steelworks etc. That'll get the blood up of the Labour voters.

Well Mr MP, by your tacit support of various people under suspicion in Owton Manor;
By your lack of support in keeping a viable A & E in Hartlepool;
By your total lack of initiative in turning around Hartlepool and fighting its corner, I will never again vote Labour and 75% of the people I speak to feel the same way about you and Labour in this town.
The goons now running HBC council act as though it's a pantomime. 

As I've said before on here, we need a change, both in the running of this town and the country.
And the answer ISN'T more of the same Labour/Tory bullsh*t.

I really do despair.

[Fight4whatsright]

It must of been hard for Mrs Gooding to go through her tribunal case alone without having Wilcox appeal against her case. Now Wilcox stands up against people been paid under the minimum wage.... This i find hypocritiical when she herself pays people what she wants when she wants and by what means. Giving employees cheques for their wages well after there due date then to find that no where in the town will cash the cheques as they have had problems with Manor residents in the past and then submitting your cheque to the bank to realise its bounced twice. Its appaling behaviour and no one should be subjected to.