megilleland

07/03/2019 - Corporate Fleet Replacement Recommendations Approved (subject to call-in) This proposal is to replace the council’s operational fleet of 34 vehicles with 30 new vehicles on an invest-to-save basis. The existing fleet as a whole is reaching a significant age and vehicles are failing and beyond repair. This has adversely affected service delivery where vehicles are unreliable and have broken down. This is increasing pressure on maintenance budgets and has resulted in the need to use short-term leases to cover vehicle downtime and to ensure service delivery. This proposal will address these risks in addition to reducing future running costs. This invest to save proposal seeks to utilise the annual revenue savings generated by this proposal to fund the capital repayments. Decision Maker: Cabinet member finance and corporate services Decision published: 07/03/2019 Effective from: 14/03/2019 Decision: That: Subject to approval in the 2019/20 capital programme that the procurement and use of up to 30 new vehicles at a cost of no more than £737,582 be approved. Wards affected: (All Wards); Lead officer: Richard Vaughan £24,586 per vehicle. Will they be replacing vehicles as they break down which must be cheaper or blow the whole budget in one go?

Letter in Hereford Times - 8th March 2019 Jonathan Gammond is kind to praise my "intelligent views and independence of mind". But he's wrong to think they ended in 2015, still less that I have taken a vow of silence. It is true that I have always fought against the division, tribalism, shouting and rudeness associated with so much of the Brexit debate, on all sides. What we need are decency, courtesy, warmth and a positive outlook. That has always been my approach as an MP, and it always will be. On Brexit: if people want to catch up on the latest news, there are plenty of national newspapers and media outlets they can turn to. Local papers are, mainly, for local issues. That's why I have always tended to keep my columns in the Hereford Times and other local papers to local issues, such as our recent campaign to save the Broadleys pub in South Wye from closure. But at key moments in the Brexit debate, I have set out my views for Herefordians. So I have written columns on the EU Referendum, on the High Court ruling, on triggering Article 50, on the EU Withdrawal Bill, and on the threat to the constitution posed by some of the Speaker's actions. Anyone wanting to know more has only to spend a couple of minutes online to see that I am on my feet in the House of Commons every week discussing Brexit and taking new laws to prepare for Brexit through the House of Commons; laws without which Herefordshire - and the country - would be ill-prepared indeed. Or they can come to one of my surgeries. Or call me. Or drop me an email, as Mr Gammond has done on many occasions over the past decade, much to my benefit. Jesse Norman MP So he is voting to remain.

Letter in Hereford Times - 10th March 2019 ON a recent visit to the County Hospital I was surprised find half of the main car park covered with portable medical units. After waiting a while for a space to park my car, I managed to arrive for my appointment on time. I guess that part of this problem is due to the demolition of the old huts to make room for the new building. But is the hospital going to be able to cope in the future with the population increasing due to the building of hundreds of new homes, which many could be people retiring, and wishing to settle in our beautiful county? Who can blame them? And they in many instances in become involved. with local activities. In order to earmark land should the hospital need it, the land that comes to mind is the bus station. Move the bus station to next to the rail station. The new Group Surgery could occupy part of what has been the bus station. The proposed new university could be built at Rotherwas with a rail link to the main line which is close by and students would be able to travel to Barry Court Station. This may even help people travelling on the A49 who wish to get to the Aylestone side of the city park and ride, and. arrive at Barrs Court and then complete their journey on foot or by bus. This is just a thought, our leaders will do their best for our city we hope. Ed Thompson

County lines gangs: how drug-running is fuelling knife crime The Guardian have run an article today supporting my views on knife crime, except that they don't go further up the line, where I believe it starts, with illegal immigration and open borders.

With all the news at the moment highlighting knife crime and shootings how does it come to this? My theory is that organised high level crime is where it starts well before it gets to the kids on the street. I believe it is linked to illegal immigration. Imagine you want to get into the UK - unless you are a good swimmer or forger of documents you will be tempted to use a trafficking group who for thousands of pounds will get you across the channel. Arriving and secreted somewhere in the UK your traffickers know your illegal and say to you that in order to earn money to survive and pay them back for their services you carry drugs for them. Seems a good idea until you stray into someone else's patch. The health and safety advice is you need to protect yourself and the recommended form of defence is a knife. You are now have an established source of income and you like to spread the message so everyone can be enticed into have a piece of the cake. By getting children on board and setting up the county lines of distribution is when trouble at the local end begins. Kids involved talking to their friends on how easy it is to get a nice handout for introducing substances to the playground result in arguments and jealously. Jimmy Smith appears to be doing very well at the tuck shop and using a brand new smart phone in the playground. Soon our illegal immigrant is a human resources manager creating his own little empire. Arguments years ago at school revolved around bullying with name calling and the rare fisty cuffs when the gathered spectators would call out "fight fight", until a teacher appeared to bring the situation under control and the offenders marched off to the head teacher for a good flogging. Nowadays matters are sorted out after school hours on the street corner or in the local park with devastating consequences. No policemen to investigate who is involved, no community policemen looking after their patch, no Neighbourhood Watch operating - you are better off asking the local postman what is going on. Everyone is now on their own including the general public. All this can be reduced with proper border controls and we don't want the military helping out or it is going to be machine guns all round. The real problem is we have no idea who is actually here in the UK.

Another empty shop/premises?

While we are in contracts some big numbers here: Contract Title Public Realm Service Contract Brief Description of Contract Highway management services, Highways maintenance and improvement works, traffic management, street lighting, street cleaning, public rights of way, land drainage and flood risk management, associated professional services, parks and open spaces, fleet management, public realm asset management, customer support services, public realm ICT solutions. Supplier Balfour Beatty Living Places Company and/or Charity Registration Number 2067112 Estimated Contract Value £400,000,000 Estimated Annual Value £20,000,000 Start Date 01/09/2013 End Date 31/08/2023 Review Date 31/08/2020 Option to Extend Yes Extension End Date 31/08/2033 Quotation or Tender Tender Funding Source Council funded Register Entry Comments The Public Realm Contract has a minimum term of 120 months (10 years) and a maximum term of 240 months (20 years) if all available extension options are taken. The value of the contract is estimated at between £200,000,000 and £1,000,000,000. The lower estimate is based on £20,000,000 per annum over the first 10 years of the contract period for the core services. On this basis the Contracting Authority’s spend over the maximum term of the contract is broadly but realistically estimated to be £400,000,000. An additional allowance of £100,000,000 has been included for the commissioning of any Non-Core services and any increase in spend for reasons which cannot be accurately predicted at this time. Plus a further allowance of £500,000,000 has been included to cover any usage by Contracting Authorities.

From the Council's 2019 contract register Jacobs Court scaffolding Reference Number: N/A Contract Title: Jacobs Court scaffolding Directorate: Economy and Place Department: Building control Brief Description of Contract: No entry Supplier: Lyndon Scaffolding PLC Supplier Status SME / VCS: N/A Company and/or Charity Registration Number: 934513 Estimated Contract Value: £52,800 Estimated Annual Value: £4,800 VAT not recoverable: N/A Start Date: 22/05/2015 End Date: 31/08/2020 Review Date: 31/08/2019 Option to Extend: Yes Extension End Date: TBC Quotation or Tender: Quotation Nature of Contract: Services Funding Source: Council funded Sector Type: Private Register Entry Comments: This is an on-going maintenance contract for a scaffold to support Jacobs Court that has been determined to be in a dangerous condition. The scaffold was initially erected to make the building safe, and requires monthly maintenance in line with the HSE guidelines.

I have been travelling from Hereford to Bristol daily by car and the amount of litter alongside the highway edges beggars belief - is no one going to pick it up? My route takes me along the A465, A49, A4137, A40, A449, M4 and M32. I also travel down the Wye Valley on A466 and M48. As mentioned every year these routes are gateways for tourists to our English and Welsh countryside and to be greeted by the amount of waste and debris shows a complete lack of respect for it. Once again the verges will be cut and all this litter shredded into the environment to save time and laziness. Parish councils where these roads pass through should try and organise a litter pick to shame those local authorities who appear to do nothing. Obviously the public cannot clear the motorways, so cone off the inside lane until its tidied up. Once the motoring public realise their action of chucking their waste out of the car window and dumping items in lay-bys delays them maybe they will take their litter home - but I doubt it.

Notice that there is spray can carrying **** making his mark in the Newton Farm area on fence posts and garage walls. With the council, housing associations and the police not acting the blight continues. If it comes off this easy maybe the council should have a unit to deal with this common nuisance. And if they catch anyone they can also give them a good hosing down.

Another good piece from The Slog: The Slog digs up the roots of Britain’s population explosion to find the entire political class guilty of dissembling dereliction and reality rejection. Top of the list of miscreants is Tony Blair….but the contemporary Labour/Islam alliance follows the appalling example he set. (extract) Tesco have repeated their calculation that the real UK population is close to 80 million. Will we ever find out the true number?

Reminds me of those satanic cotton mills/warehouses seen in our industrial wastelands.

Mrs May’s favourite lies from the day she walked into Number Ten have been “Brexit means Brexit” and “Honouring the result of the 2016 Referendum”. For these reasons she ruled out various actions, and drew various red lines we must not cross. These were: * Getting a better deal than No Deal * Leaving the Customs Union * Limiting the Irish backstop period * Under no circumstances having a Second Referendum * Leaving on March 29th. What I say and what I do are entirely two different matters - don't you plebs understand? 2020 will be another interesting date with elections due in UK and USA, unless of course Trump is impeached and we as a region of the EU vote only for an MEP. However we can save £4 billion on renovating the Houses of Parliament and turn it into a theme park for democracy - they are already running pantomines there daily.

Mrs May’s favourite lies from the day she walked into Number Ten have been “Brexit means Brexit” and “Honouring the result of the 2016 Referendum”. For these reasons she ruled out various actions, and drew various red lines we must not cross. These were: * Getting a better deal than No Deal * Leaving the Customs Union * Limiting the Irish backstop period * Under no circumstances having a Second Referendum * Leaving on March 29th. What I say and what I do are entirely two different matters - don't you plebs understand? 2020 will be another interesting date with elections due in UK and USA, unless of course Trump is impeached and we as a region of the EU vote only for an MEP. However we can save £4 billion on renovating the Houses of Parliament and turn it into a theme park for democracy - they are already running pantomines there daily.

Parallells here to what is happening or going to happen here in the UK. Maybe someone will impeach Theresa May and her conservative colleagues for their abuse of the citizens of the UK. http://robertreich.org/ Dear Mr. President, While many of us disagree on ideology and values, we agree on practical things like obeying the Constitution and not letting big corporations and the wealthy run everything. Your 35-day government shutdown was a senseless abuse of power. So too your “national emergency” to build your wall with money Congress refused to appropriate. When you passed your tax bill, you promised our paychecks would increase by an average of $4,000, but we never got the raise. Our employers used the tax savings to buy back their shares of stock and give themselves raises instead. Then you fooled us into thinking we were getting a tax cut by lowering the amounts withheld from our 2018 paychecks. We know that now because we’re getting smaller tax refunds. At the same time, many big corporations aren’t paying a dime in taxes. Worse yet, they’re getting refunds. For example, GM is paying zilch and claiming a $104 million refund on $11.8 billion of profits. Amazon is paying no taxes and claiming a $129 million refund on profits of $11.2 billion. (This is after New York offered it $3 billion to put its second headquarters there.) They aren’t breaking any tax laws or regulations. That’s because they made the tax laws and regulations. You gave them a free hand. You’re supposed to be working for us, not for giant corporations. But they’re doing better than ever, as are their top executives and biggest investors. Yet nothing has trickled down. We’re getting shafted. Which is why more than half of us support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed 70 percent tax on dollars earned in excess of $10 million a year, and more than 60 percent of us support Elizabeth Warren’s proposed 2 percent tax on households with a net worth of $50 million or more. You’ve also shown you don’t have a clue about health care. You promised us something better than the Affordable Care Act, but all you’ve done is whittle it back. A big reason we gave Democrats control of the House last November was your threat to eliminate protection for people with pre-existing conditions. Are you even aware that 70 percent of us now favor Medicare for All? Most of us don’t pay much attention to national policy, but we pay a lot of attention to home economics. You’ve made our own home economics worse. We’ll give you official notice you’re fired on Nov. 3, 2020, if not before. Until then, you can keep the house and perks, but you’re toast. Respectfully, America

Parallels here to what is happening or going to happen here in the UK. Maybe someone will impeach Theresa May and her conservative colleagues for their abuse of the citizens of the UK. http://robertreich.org/ (Unable to link as button doesn't work) Dear Mr. President, While many of us disagree on ideology and values, we agree on practical things like obeying the Constitution and not letting big corporations and the wealthy run everything. Your 35-day government shutdown was a senseless abuse of power. So too your “national emergency” to build your wall with money Congress refused to appropriate. When you passed your tax bill, you promised our paychecks would increase by an average of $4,000, but we never got the raise. Our employers used the tax savings to buy back their shares of stock and give themselves raises instead. Then you fooled us into thinking we were getting a tax cut by lowering the amounts withheld from our 2018 paychecks. We know that now because we’re getting smaller tax refunds. At the same time, many big corporations aren’t paying a dime in taxes. Worse yet, they’re getting refunds. For example, GM is paying zilch and claiming a $104 million refund on $11.8 billion of profits. Amazon is paying no taxes and claiming a $129 million refund on profits of $11.2 billion. (This is after New York offered it $3 billion to put its second headquarters there.) They aren’t breaking any tax laws or regulations. That’s because they made the tax laws and regulations. You gave them a free hand. You’re supposed to be working for us, not for giant corporations. But they’re doing better than ever, as are their top executives and biggest investors. Yet nothing has trickled down. We’re getting shafted. Which is why more than half of us support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed 70 percent tax on dollars earned in excess of $10 million a year, and more than 60 percent of us support Elizabeth Warren’s proposed 2 percent tax on households with a net worth of $50 million or more. You’ve also shown you don’t have a clue about health care. You promised us something better than the Affordable Care Act, but all you’ve done is whittle it back. A big reason we gave Democrats control of the House last November was your threat to eliminate protection for people with pre-existing conditions. Are you even aware that 70 percent of us now favor Medicare for All? Most of us don’t pay much attention to national policy, but we pay a lot of attention to home economics. You’ve made our own home economics worse. We’ll give you official notice you’re fired on Nov. 3, 2020, if not before. Until then, you can keep the house and perks, but you’re toast. Respectfully, America

Parallels here to what is happening or going to happen here in the UK. Maybe someone will impeach Theresa May and her conservative colleagues for their abuse of the citizens of the UK. http://robertreich.org/ (Unable to link as button doesn't work) Dear Mr. President, While many of us disagree on ideology and values, we agree on practical things like obeying the Constitution and not letting big corporations and the wealthy run everything. Your 35-day government shutdown was a senseless abuse of power. So too your “national emergency” to build your wall with money Congress refused to appropriate. When you passed your tax bill, you promised our paychecks would increase by an average of $4,000, but we never got the raise. Our employers used the tax savings to buy back their shares of stock and give themselves raises instead. Then you fooled us into thinking we were getting a tax cut by lowering the amounts withheld from our 2018 paychecks. We know that now because we’re getting smaller tax refunds. At the same time, many big corporations aren’t paying a dime in taxes. Worse yet, they’re getting refunds. For example, GM is paying zilch and claiming a $104 million refund on $11.8 billion of profits. Amazon is paying no taxes and claiming a $129 million refund on profits of $11.2 billion. (This is after New York offered it $3 billion to put its second headquarters there.) They aren’t breaking any tax laws or regulations. That’s because they made the tax laws and regulations. You gave them a free hand. You’re supposed to be working for us, not for giant corporations. But they’re doing better than ever, as are their top executives and biggest investors. Yet nothing has trickled down. We’re getting shafted. Which is why more than half of us support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed 70 percent tax on dollars earned in excess of $10 million a year, and more than 60 percent of us support Elizabeth Warren’s proposed 2 percent tax on households with a net worth of $50 million or more. You’ve also shown you don’t have a clue about health care. You promised us something better than the Affordable Care Act, but all you’ve done is whittle it back. A big reason we gave Democrats control of the House last November was your threat to eliminate protection for people with pre-existing conditions. Are you even aware that 70 percent of us now favor Medicare for All? Most of us don’t pay much attention to national policy, but we pay a lot of attention to home economics. You’ve made our own home economics worse. We’ll give you official notice you’re fired on Nov. 3, 2020, if not before. Until then, you can keep the house and perks, but you’re toast. Respectfully, America

A bit of humour on a serious issue from The Slog The following is a script based very heavily on the Harry Enfield sketch I Saw You Coming. Open on exterior shot of pretentious antique shop called I Saw You Coming. Cut to interior of the shop, where a bored proprietor (played by Jean-Claude Juncker) is reading Machiavelli’s Tax Evasion for Dummies. A woman enters, instantly recognisable as Theresa May. She browses briefly before spotting an eleven-storey leaning tower of Pisa made entirely of balsa wood matchsticks. May: This is rather interesting…. Juncker: Oh that? Yes, well….that’s a fine example of 1990s ****. It was made by an obscure Emu called Monnet. Very rare, because it was sold only to a tiny clique in Belgium, and a British enthusiast called Tony Blair. It’s very much a collectors’ item, because even pricks in the currency exchange space rejected it as ****. May: But it is rather nice. Juncker: Oh quite…it does have a certain naive charm. I can see you have a good eye…. May: Oh, thank you… Juncker: What does your husband do? May: He’s an investment banker…..earns absolutely squillions….. Juncker: Ah, right….well I tell you what, I can let you have it for 39 billion pounds, and as you’re the Prime Minister….tell you what, I’ll throw in the sandy foundations for a mere £7 billion a day in perpetuity…. May: I say, that’s very kind of you….why would you do that? Juncker: Well, I saw you coming you see….

Some more videos to watch while waiting at the lights! Rush Hour with No Traffic Lights: Spontaneous Order in Action Want Less Car Accidents? Remove Traffic Signals and Road Signs Lots of Cars and Trucks, No Traffic Signs or Lights: Chaos or Calm? Ford imagines a future without traffic lights or stop signs This Dutch town has traffic lights on the ground because people are staring at their phones

Another piece by John Ward spelling it out what is going on regarding Brexit and the continual disregard they have for the electorate of our country. The People Come Last From The Slog Feb 15, 2019John Ward A threader at The Slog yesterday recommended action by Parliament (or whoever) to kill every tenth Remainer. This struck me as a little extreme, albeit potentially enjoyable. The goings-on at Westminster, on the other hand, were unendurably painful. _ The pain came from various directions: watching the midget bombast John Bercow, listening to SNP rentagobs, enduring Labour hypocrisy, hearing the assertions of third-rate Tory backbenchers and so forth. But primarily, the upsetting part of watching the British political “system” in action these days involves the sheer chaos of it all. Brexit as a crisis has found this out as never before: but if we’re being honest here, the archaic nature of the process at times beggars belief. The interventions, the giving way and the feigned politesse really do rankle in a Parliament more divided than at any time since Cromwell – and (as opposed to the mid 17th century) unable to choose civil war as an option. But the complications we’re seeing on Brexit could only have been created by the Whitehall mind. Just as with Rail privatisation in Britain, a negotiation conducted by bureaucrats (without recourse to Parliament) has produced a stream of illogical mayhem. The architect of this farrago, Oliver Robbins, can sit back and mouth off in Belgian bars: unlike MPs, he will not be ejected from his job. Unlike most workers, he has been paid a whopping bonus for negotiating capitulation to a foreign power – itself in the midst of an existential fiscal and economic crisis. Unlike 1950s born female State pensioners, he can look forward to a gold-plated, index-linked pension. He is the unaccountable authoritarian sociopath predicted by Franz Kafka over a century ago: above the Law, and beneath contempt. But the anarchy he and the Remoaners have unleashed permeated everything yesterday in the Commons. Backstops, alternatives as yet undefined to backstops, No Deals on and off tables, extensions ruled out and factored in, Customs Unions to be left or embraced, Labour factions, Tory factions, potty SNP amendments, Government amendments, Remain amendments, mass abstentions and redoubled efforts by a Theresa May who didn’t even bother to turn up, and gave precious few clues as to what exactly her next effort will be, redoubled or otherwise. How many voters in the UK have the time, motivation, discernment and intelligence to extract something from this palace of gasbags? For myself, I can only offer these observations on the day’s proceedings: * The Corbyn amendment demanding a meaningful vote by February 27th at the latest was defeated. It was important for the élites to do this, because success for Corbyn would’ve made it easier to stop the May/Robbins drift into an Article 50 extension. * A predictable defeat for the Government requesting a majority to retain confidence in Mother Theresa’s current search for a backstop breakthrough. While not legally binding, this does pave the way for Parliament to stop the May/Robbins drift into an Article 50 extension. * If these two outcomes strike you as contradictory, congratulations – you are sane and awake. Beyond this comedy of manners, there is a very real possibility that Robbins and his German ladyfriend in Brussels have concocted a pre-agreed plan (of which May and Hammond will be aware) for an 11.59 pm deal to be revealed some time in mid March. But knowing the European Commission as I do, I am fairly sure there will be a bitter pill to swallow with it, designed to save their already overly crispy bacon. So on the basis that this too will founder, the Remaindeer majority in Parliament will take control away from the Executive, legislate to take No Deal off the table, and mandate the Government to ask for an Article 50 extension. Very, very few people in Britain grasp the profound and potentially calamitous consequences of the Commons seizing power in this way. It could well be that, come March 30th, we will all be citizens of a country where the bureaucrats are engaged in a battle with elected politicians, and elected backbenchers (plus a bent Speaker) are in turn trying to wrest power from the Executive. This would make us easy meat for the vassal-creators in Brussels. Meanwhile, The People are nowhere to be seen in this nightmare landscape.

Not the only council spending council taxpayers' money recklessly. 'Utterly brainless' councillors lavish millions on new deluxe town hall HQs The building boom is putting councillors from Durham to Devon into swish civic centres where they can sit in state-of-the-art comfort while deciding which services to slash. And the cash-splashing comes as council tax payers in parts of the country face an eye-watering hike of nearly 12 percent this year. Wales' Conwy Council has a new £38.5million HQ in Colwyn Bay for its 760 staff - having axed bin collections to just once a month because of a £15.2million hole in its budget. Later this month it is expected to rubber stamp an 11.6 percent hike in council tax. While the authority didn't pay for its new HQ, council chiefs have signed a 40-year lease and will pay £1.5million a year in rent, bringing a total bill of £60million - which could rise as the rent is linked to the retail price index. And astonishingly, it will be the council, not the building's owners, who pay for any repairs. The area's Tory MP Guto Bebb has slammed the deal saying residents would find the deal "bewildering, inexplicable and even reckless". Conwy Council insists it got value for money. A spokesman said: "Conwy County Borough Council is renting a purpose-built office on a 40-year lease with an option to buy for £1 at the end of the term." In County Durham residents are taking their council to court in a bid to stop the authority demolishing its existing HQ to build a new £50million office on a riverside plot in the city centre, close to its World Heritage site. So far more than 800 locals have written letters of objection. In one a resident said: "I can see no justification other than vanity for building in this location. This is an utterly brainless plan." Durham County Council, which has axed more than 2,700 staff since 2011, needs to slash its spending by £40million over the next four years. The council's director of transformation and partnerships Lorraine O'Donnell said: "This will also enable the council to redevelop what is prime land for a business park at Aykley Heads which will create up to 6,000 new jobs and result in a £400million boost to the county's economy." Last May Cambridgeshire County Council told taxpayers its plan to ditch its current HQ in Cambridge for a new building at Alconbury, 24 miles away. It said it would open in 2020, and save £45million in just 30 years. Last Christmas almost 2,000 staff were told they would have to take three days unpaid leave to save the hard-pressed authority £900,000 in wages as it battled to slash spending by more than £14million. A council spokesman said: "Moving the council's HQ from six acres of prime real estate in central Cambridge, even after the costs of the new and smaller building are taken into account, represents a saving in the region of £46million over the next 30 years, all of which will be re-invested in our frontline services." Councillors in East Devon will begin settling into their new £8.7million HQ in Honiton tomorrow in what they claim will be a move that saves taxpayers' up to £6million over 20 years - because their old base in Sidmouth needed huge sums for repairs and running costs. One of the first decisions to be made in the gleaming new council chamber will be to rubber stamp a planned hefty 3.7 percent rise in council tax. In a statement the council said: "Our new headquarters, less than half the size of our old HQ, will save us significant sums in energy and other utility usage and help fund our capital programme." Bet Herefordshire Council will be dreaming up some ivory towers before long. These councils seem hellbent on spending any money they can get their hands on even if it means emptying the coffers.

NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Thursday 7th Feb 2019 COUNTY COUNCIL CEO IN COVER-UP CONSPIRACY Gloucestershire environmental group uncovers long-hidden ‘conspiracy’ to influence County Council scrutiny vote on controversial £600M Javelin Park incinerator contract. CEO of Gloucestershire County Council Peter Bungard may be subject to a charge of ‘misconduct in public office’ after secretly influencing a key scrutiny vote that has led to possibly the most expensive county council waste contract per tonne ever signed in the UK, according to Community R4C, a group campaigning for a circular economy in Gloucestershire. Mr Bungard urgently requested a private meeting on the evening of 19th November 2015 with Scrutiny Committee chair Brian Oosthuysen (aged 77 at the time). Having sworn Mr Oosthuysen to secrecy, Bungard insisted that he must use his casting vote on the committee to prevent scrutiny by the full council of revisions to the highly controversial Javelin Park incinerator contract, “or else it will cost the Council £100M”. Because of the lack of scrutiny, the revised and much increased contract went ahead unquestioned – and is now to cost Gloucestershire taxpayers an astonishing additional 30% (approx £150M) at a time when cuts are being made to essential social services. Bungard received a pension windfall of approx £195K from GCC that same year, awarded by the very same council Cabinet pushing forward the huge contract, and making Bungard the highest paid Council executive in the South West in 2015/16. Mr Oosthuysen went on to become Chair of the Council’s Audit Committee. The matter is now thought to be under investigation by Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Anti-Corruption squad. Community R4C, who have led local campaigns against the incinerator contract on grounds of cost and environmental impact says this latest reported incident is only part of a wider cover up. Legal challenges are now in hand or under consideration against the Council for breaching procurement law and misfeasance in public office. A recent request by locals for an independent public inquiry has been officially rejected by Mr Bungard who claims it would be a waste of the Council’s resources. The original incinerator contract was vigorously opposed by Gloucestershire residents but key financial details were withheld by the Council for several years until, after costly appeals by the council funded by taxpayers, disclosure was forced by an Information Tribunal. The delay allowed Urbaser Balfour Beatty to start work at the incinerator site from July 2016. The Council then tried to keep the £150 million cost increase secret but finally released details just before Christmas 2018 once construction was virtually complete. “The Council has been so very secretive that we did wonder what they were trying to hide, and we were really shocked when we found out about the astronomical increase,” says Sue Oppenheimer, one of Community R4C’s directors. “But the idea that a county council CEO, the most senior local civil servant, would pervert democracy in this way is just appalling. We need an independent inquiry to get to the bottom of this huge waste of public funds and the whole flawed and probably illegal process involved. If not, this could happen again, anywhere in the UK.” Ms Oppenheimer was first to hear the story from Mr Oosthuysen. “I gather he is now in communication with the police about the incident, and rightly so,” she says.“Brian Oosthuysen, now 80, is the most senior elected member of the County Council and commands huge local respect. It seems he has been misled and mis-used by Mr Bungard. Had he and his Scrutiny Committee known then what we know now, taxpayers might not be saddled with a £600M ‘waste elephant’ that discourages recycling, that the public never wanted and the council’s own planning committee refused.” Councillor Oosthuysen was unable to comment due to the police investigation being under way, but expressed outrage at the recently disclosed contract figures and what they imply: “What I can say is that I am very angry that both committees of which I have been chair were deprived of the information necessary to fully carry out their duties.” The Javelin Park contract with Urbaser Balfour Beatty has been surrounded in controversy from the outset with mass protests and even a hunger strike. At a “gate fee” of £189/tonne of waste, local taxpayers are now set to foot a bill of around twice the market rate for incineration, and three times the rate charged to private customers at the same facility. Community R4C has recently filed a High Court claim against Gloucestershire County Council, asserting the council has breached procurement law. Directors say the difference between the original contract and the revised one is so great that it should have been publicly re-tendered, allowing cheaper, more environmentally friendly solutions to be considered. Ms Oppenheimer added: “It may not be too late for the council to salvage something from this mess. If our High Court case finds that the council unlawfully favoured one supplier above market rate, developer Urbaser Balfour Beatty may be obliged to return the difference to the public purse under state aid rules. The contract would then have to be re-examined, and at that point some open discussion about what would really benefit the county can take place. That’s what we want to see. We hope these investigations, both civil and criminal, can help to achieve a better environmental and financial outcome for the people of Gloucestershire, and ensure this awful situation doesn’t arise anywhere else. You honestly couldn’t make it up.” ****ENDS**** EDITORS NOTES: Community R4C’s High Court claim (Details and papers can be found here), alongside calls for an Independent Inquiry, were sparked by the release on 20th December 2018 of documents following a long FOI process (in which GCC had appealed against an ICO notice to disclose). These documents revealed the details of cost increases that had been withheld from Councillors when they were asked to vote on the project in November 2015. Documents available on the Community R4C website show the planned incinerator is very inefficient, environmentally damaging and expensive. Community R4C Ltd is a Community Benefit Society based in Stroud, Gloucestershire registered with the FCA. Set up in 2015 to work towards a waste solution which would serve the community and protect the environment, Community R4C raised almost £100,000 in a groundbreaking Community Share Scheme to facilitate its aims and the building of an alternative waste resource recovery plant – the R4C plant – in cooperation with investors and partners. Community R4C has widespread support, both within and outside Gloucestershire including from well known campaigners for sustainability – among them Jeremy Irons and Jonathon Porritt. The society currently seeks a commitment from the council to work closely with Community R4C to ensure that changes are made to the incinerator contract, including: * removing the mechanism that gives incentives to recycle less and waste more; * ensuring that third party gate fees are equal to those paid by the Council taxpayers; * encouraging greater recycling and waste avoidance; * pre-sorting waste to remove recyclable material; * decommissioning or re-purposing the Incinerator as soon as it is economic to do so. Allegations of criminal misconduct were originally filed with the police in 2017 by local campaigner Jojo Mehta, alleging that public, press and many councillors had been actively misled by a small group of Cabinet members and council officers with regard to key figures in the controversial contract – information which it took a court tribunal to force the council to finally reveal. At the time Ms Mehta was told by the Inspector in charge that while he could see that the contract was severely front-loaded and problematic, there was not sufficient evidence for a criminal investigation, but that she should come back if further evidence emerged. The incident related here was submitted as further evidence, and in December 2018 police confirmed the investigation was being taken on by the local anti-corruption squad. Audit investigation re incinerator contract: In 2017, Community R4C raised a formal complaint about the value for money of the incinerator contract with the council’s external auditor Grant Thornton. Grant Thornton’s investigation remains incomplete, with the council’s audits for 2017 and 2018 still not signed off, and GT also failed to inform the Council’s Audit Committee of the procurement process and the £150 million contract cost increase.

The latest National Audit Office report concludes planning system in England is ‘not working well’ (extracts from The Guardian article today) Targets for new homes are likely to be missed by half of England’s local authorities, according to a damning assessment of the government’s housing strategy, while increasingly profitable building companies are getting away with paying less for infrastructure and more than half of councils have failed to draw up adequate plans to solve the housing crisis. The National Audit Office (NAO) concludes that the planning system in England is “not working well” and says councils are struggling to negotiate successfully with developers, leaving swaths of the country vulnerable to either housing shortages or situations where the wrong homes are built in the wrong places. Since 2010 there has been an almost 40% real-terms cut in spending on planners, according to the public spending watchdog. Government figures show that while the average contributions agreed with developers for public infrastructure such as schools, health centres, roads and social housing remained at about £19,000 per new home between 2012 and 2017, average house prices increased by 31% in that period. The top five developers’ average operating profit margin increased from about 12% to 21%. Planning for new homes Background to the report This report assesses how effectively the Department supports the planning regime to provide the right homes in the right places. More facts and figures of financial sustainability of local authorities 2018 with visualisations from NAO. Information on: Revenue Spending Power Service Spending (net current expenditure) Social Care Reserves Budget vs Outturn (service spending)

Link to above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY_BgnZdwko

This Sceptic Isle - Peter Hitchens Well worth a watch considering the BBC are always brain washing us to remain in.