Filling the Gap Programme

[Inspector Knacker]

It would be interesting to impose the locations of these providers on a map of the town.

[fred c]

We pay professionally qualified people to look after the health and welfare of our young people, I would presume those professionals have all of the details of the youngsters most in need of a nourishing meal / meals, surely the decision on who to feed and how best to do it should be left to the professionals and not a bunch of councillors who share the £42,000 out as they see fit.

[jeffh]

It would be interesting to impose the locations of these providers on a map of the town.

Grouping by Wards we get -
Burn Valley            £450.00
De Bruce                   £2,913.75
Fens                              £-   
Foggy Furze           £1,560.00
Hart                             £-   
Headland & Harbour     £3,130.00
Jesmond                     £7,100.00
Manor House             £11,470.00
Rural West                    £-   
Seaton                    £-   
Victoria                   £3,870.00
Unknown                  £7,573.12

The Unknowns are -
Positive Parents Group
Hartlepool Youth Service
Children's Food Trust

It's surprising that Seaton didn't receive any funding as the Jutland Road area is in the Seaton Ward, unless of course OFCA extends up to there.

See Manor House is clearly the largest recipient - to spend £11,470 in 6 weeks is £2000 / week or £400 per day - seems an awful lot

[Inspector Knacker]

Now if the councillors representing the wards, purely for purposes of clarity, were imposed alongside, we'd surely get an even better picture overall.

[jeffh]

Now if the councillors representing the wards, purely for purposes of clarity, were imposed alongside, we'd surely get an even better picture overall.

.....so join up the dots 

[Inspector Knacker]

I have😃

[jawsbbc]

The 'Rifty Youth project' got the largest amount...WHY?  I guess that the SCABs must have another holiday booked sometime soon!  Anyway, if we analyse the recipients against the amounts given to them, then perhaps a pattern might emerge!  As Riddler5 has just pointed out, 'Grange Primary school and Kilmarnock Road FRC are over the road from each other, how does that work out?'  Imo, perhaps a subtle way of securing votes at the next local elections!  Then there's ' ... the Salaam Centre is once again a favoured recipient of the Council's largesse. ...'.  A 'captive audience'...with 'guidance' perhaps, from the Iman, on who to vote for!  Then there's OFCA......no comment!  Hartlepool United Community Sports Foundation....again, imo, anything that happens between HBC and 'Pools' will be construed, imo, as dodgy.  West View Project...a lot of money to them, imo, so is West View classed as a deprived area?  Is the WVP making an impact?
Hartlepool Action Recovery Team... I assume (probably incorrectly) that this is a drug rehabilitation project.  If so, then they probably need a lot more money!
Childrens Food Trust....is this something to do with food banks...or the Holiday Hunger Scheme?  If it's the latter, then remember...'where there's a scheme, there's usually a scheming Labour councillor!  Does anyone here know anything about the other recipients...and, of course, if and how they are connected to HBC and their councillors?   

Hartlepool Action Recovery Team... I assume (probably incorrectly) that this is a drug rehabilitation project.  If so, then they probably need a lot more money!  THIS NOW RUN BY HBC        AS FOR THE REST OF THE RECIPIENTS  THEY ARE ALL CONNECTED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER BARRING A FEW                 

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/opinion/mike-hill-mp-children-living-in-poverty-should-shame-us-all-1-8728540

I think we can give up any hope of Benny sorry Harry, oops I mean Mike being critical of HBC.
From his lack of performance so far, it appears he still thinks he is working for the union and not a politician that is supposed to do rather than just moan and turn a blind eye.

I had little hope and that has now been abandoned.
Roll on the next election.

[Inspector Knacker]

Passed him with another bloke at teatime and you know when you look at someone and momentarily think, I know your face.
Low impact, low profile, he's taken the role of MP to a new level of obscurity. I don't see him rocking the boat, a perfect candidate for the councillors.

[pensionater]

Some very bad losers on here.

[not4me]

Some very bad losers on here.

We're all losers under the present imbeciles

[DRiddle]

As far as i can see, and i think if there's one thing i've been consistent on over the last 5 or 6 years on here it's saying it as i see it, Mike Hill has done two things which have caught my eye since being elected MP.

The first was when he had a pop at 'opposition councillors' for being... opposition councillors. I can't speak for anyone else, but i personally am proud to stand up to the crazy decisions which go on in Hartlepool Council. It might be very hard to STOP them, but highlighting the inept, illogical, ill thought out actions of a 'select few' in the chamber is very important. As far i'm concerned the vast majority of the local Labour group will forever be tainted due to the 'Wilcox issue'. And for a member of her majesty's parliament to attack the people involved in helping to highlight that 'issue'/scandal/fraud/corruption/false accounting/deception/lies/theft of public funds' doesn't sit well with me. Mike Hill should really be shaking hands with the likes of Steve Latimer, Paul Thompson, Geoff Lilley and others and thanking them for shining a very bright light on a very murky issue.

Secondly, judging by the article in The Mail linked in above, Mr Hill seems to have an issue with the people who frequent this forum. He states quite clearly in his article

It's pleasing to see that Hartlepool Council take this issue very seriously and that funding for the "filling the gap" scheme was increased this year from £25,000 to £42,000, with 18 organisations benefiting from the cash. But I was stunned to see on the internet that posters were very disparaging about what they dubbed 'the holiday hunger scheme', criticising a scheme that gives a meal to the neediest children really is beyond contempt.

You don't need to be a genius to work out the 'internet posters' he refers to are the people commenting on here. Just do a search of 'holiday hunger scheme' and you'll see that this forum is pretty much the only place on the internet that the Hartlepool council 'filling the gap' scheme is referred to in those terms.

So, what we have is an MP in one of the most socially deprived boroughs in the whole of northern Europe, spending his time having a pop at Paul Thompson et al. as well as people who post on here.

Personally i'd have hoped he'd be justifying his income by trying to tackle; high unemployment, high teenage pregnancy rates, child poverty, educational underachievement, lack of investment in our area, drugs, crime and a whole bunch of other important issues.

Alas, it seems a weekly newspaper column having a few digs at people who dare to challenge the Labour group will be how he justifies the money and future gold plated pension pot.

Same old same old.

[mk1]

Same old same old.

They are very afraid of the revelations on this site. That is why their running-dogs spend so much time trying to either knock it off-line or infiltrate it.
A check on the  set of  'ordinary people' who always pop up on The Mail Facebook page being positive about Labour will explain a lot.

[steveL]

Mike Hill needs to talk to the Food Bank who, after criticising last year's scheme, found themselves excluded from this year's. Their chief concern was that they were not convinced that the benefit was 'going to the right people' and I myself can vouch for prepared bags being opened and pilfered at Owton Manor Community Centre.

Then, of course, there's the issue of Cranney awarding money to his own OFCA, which is run by his wife. No council worth its salt would allow him to be involved in making such a decision . . . read the Nolan Principles which lay down that councillors should never put themselves in a position where their decisions even could be viewed as partial.

. . . and then we have the Rifty receiving a sizeable sum from this scheme but then itself 'sponsoring' the Rift House Fun Day. Does giving free burgers to everyone who wants one constitute supporting those kids most in need?

Opposition Councillors have never opposed this scheme. What they have done is say that any money/benefit should be directed to those kids already receiving free school meals. Post Wilcox, anything left in the hands of her chief supporters Cranney and the SCABS will always be suspect. As it is, the money is simply awarded to organisations for them to spend as they wish with no audit of how the money was spent, what kind of meals were provided, how many and to whom? As we know, under the present scheme, it's quite possible to provide a Pot Noodle, a bag of crisps, a Mars Bar and a fizzy drink in a location festooned with Horse s**t and still claim that you are helping the needy.

Incidentally, Mike, saying as we now know you read this forum, the Holiday Hunger Scheme is a council tag used when the scheme was first mooted. We can't claim credit this time.

I was told when he first surfaced that Mike Hill was a decent bloke and after Wrighty decided to jack it in, realising that he had no credibility left, there was a glimmer of hope for a new beginning. It didn't last long....... Hill's decision to immediately distance himself from a rogue, local Labour Group which has hijacked the Labour brand as a means of feathering their own nests has put paid to any hopes.

I was told that Wrighty's swan song was to warn Labour North to stay away from the local council when deciding on a replacement candidate describing them as 'poison'. Alan Clark lost out as a result but, having benefitted from Wright's belated spurt of wisdom, Hill has failed to heed the message. This latest utterance shows that he is no better than Wrighty himself and quite gutless.

It's a pity really.

There is a queue of potential supporters ready to give him their backing if only he had the courage to use his position and do what he can to help clean up the local group.
 

[fred c]

Like most on here I was prepared to give Mike Hill the benefit of the doubt and truly hoped he would give it a real go as the towns 'New MP', unfortunately his decision to turn a blind eye to what goes on with the CABCabal, almost as soon as he took office confirms what we, the cynics feared...... we have Another 'Soft Member'

£42,000 pounds, dished out by councillors to 18 different organisations, some with councillor connections is reason enough to be cynical about the Hunger Scheme........ the sentiments behind the scheme can't be faulted, there are kids going hungry, there are kids who go without, but the overriding factor, as it was with Wilcox and MRA......... is the simple matter of accountability, as council tax payers we should expect accounts and costings for our £42,000....... not...... We spent £42,000 pounds on kids dinners........we can't be expected to just say.... Ohhhhh Ok ......thats champion....... not with the money grabbing track record of some of the towns political finest..... and that Mr Hill... Is why we are cynics.