Denise Lloyd

I knew the following earlier in the week it took me a couple of days to recover from the news. All in it together hey? Ombudsman Fails to Find Fault With Council's Fake Pledge TFA Chief Executive George Dunn The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has expressed its disappointment following a report from the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) which failed to censure Herefordshire Council for raising false hopes amongst its tenant farmers. The TFA had complained to the LGO that the Council was guilty of maladministration for serving eviction notices on around 15 of its farm tenants having previously promised the decision to sell its farms estate would not result in tenants losing their homes and livelihoods. TFA Chief Executive George Dunn said “When the Cabinet of the Council made the decision to sell its 4500 acre estate on 03 December last year, the Leader of the Council, Cllr Tony Johnson, made very clear and unambiguous statements that farm tenants would not face expulsion from their holdings so how can it be that 15 farm families are under notice to quit?†The LGO found that although tenant farmers may have been misled by the comments of the Leader, they were in fact unplanned, unscripted and just badly phrased. “The comments did not come from an inexperienced or junior member of the Council they came from the Council Leader who is an experienced and long-standing politician who is well versed with Council procedure and public speaking. He had been aware of the press reports concerning the potential eviction of tenants occupying on Farm Business Tenancies indeed, he referred specifically to these reports in his remarks. It cannot be concluded that the Leader’s remarks were simply badly phrased. The TFA asserts that the Leader knew exactly what he was saying and what he was responding to,†said Mr Dunn. “This is a simple case of politicians saying one thing and doing another and they should not be allowed to get away with it. The conduct of the Council falls well short of the standards we expect in our elected representatives when conducting public office.†“The Leader must stand by the statements he made in an open meeting of the Council’s Cabinet. The maladministration was not in what he said but in the actions subsequently taken which were contrary to those statements. The Leader should instruct the officers of the Council to rescind all Notices to Quit given his clear and unambiguous statements made on 03 December 2015,†said Mr Dunn. end Ref: MR53 Date: 14 November 2016 Notes for Editors: Direct quotes from the Leader of the County Council, Cllr Tony Johnson, made at the meeting of Herefordshire’s Cabinet on 03 December 2015: “There has been much rumour and I think some conversation on the radio yesterday that this was going to turn people out of their homes etc and that is extremely wide of the mark. What we are talking about is a possible change of ownership of the tenancies not a change of the tenancies themselves. There will be some changes if it moves out of the ownership of this council. But to many people it will arguably be to the advantage of the tenants.†“I must take exception to “kicking in the teeth†that implies that these people will lose their homes, lose their livelihoods or whatever, that is not the case. We are talking about a potential change of ownership if the decision is taken to dispose. There will be new owners. The tenants are protected by the terms of their tenancy and that protection will continue.†“Councillor Price made much of, and quite rightly, our duty of care to tenants particularly the FBTs. I promise Councillor Price and everybody else in this room we will do everything we can to make life as comfortable as possible for those affected in this way and we will be inviting them all to come and talk to us either collectively or individually.†For further information contact George Dunn on 07721 998961 or TFA Communications and Events Co-ordinator Jenna Kirkpatrick on 0118 930 6130.

Yes indeed Meggilleland I know a lot of people who no longer support the NT.

By the seems of it the National Trust(see Meggie....'s post on HC Farms) is another one with double standards oh we will also include the RSPCA who I will not give to I do not need to name the obvious closer to home one! I am certainly a lot more discerning which charity I give to nowadays. Straying slightly off topic ho hey!

Both the Charity Commission like the CQC both need a serious looking into in my opinion. Not at all surprised there are so many people on the make at the expense of somebody else's misery. They have no morals whatsoever.

Shocking - poor chap. Young lads have so many issues to have to work out. I do not think many people really understand just how much they have to go through when growing up and when a relationship goes wrong it can be the final blow. Whereas ladies issues are well documented and openly talked about.

End of the day for yet another great

Poor man whoever he was - one last desperate act

Bad times ahead - the women who voted for him and openly support him are a big worry too!! Interesting first meeting for Theresa May and Trump. Does our dear Queen really have to tolerate a meeting with him?

Missed a really important NOT in the above comment - should read farms does not get the best value ................

I could not get the link to work properly but Powys CC understand the importance of the farms and prepared to invest (note the word) the money to get the farms maintained to a legal standard. I suspect that part of the reason the report carried out on behalf of Hereford CC was banned from public view contained many pages info on how very poorly maintained these farms actually are. Marketing poorly maintained properties including farms does get the best value for the tax payer Councillor Bramer et al

User Actions Following George Dunnâ€@georgewdunn My interview on BBC Radio Wales this morning talking about the importance of County Council farms in W

I wonder how safe M & S is - we will know by a week today.

http://www.fwi.co.uk/business/council-farm-tenants-continue-battle-against-estate-sell-off.htm#.WBxUZmDraCZ.facebook More national nay international bad news for HC

Yes Cambo you and Dippy (where is she/he?) both worked hard to get this building saved from being a pile of rubble - well done both

Taken from the MJ Co Uk - hopefully the full article will follow in due course! Chiefs ‘must put pride on line’ to improve accounts closures "By Sam Clayden | 01 November 2016 Council executive teams must be willing to stake their reputation on the early and quality production of accounts, finance experts have warned.A new report by the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) called on executive teams to ‘own’ the process and argued commitment at the ‘highest levels’ of the authority was ‘critical’." Take note Council Execs total commitment is now sought

You can see why parents think and probably rightly so that it is cheaper to drive their children to school - it's a lot of money for families who are already feeling the pinch to dish out each week

Excellent news looks like they will have to have a rethink on this then

TFA e-newsletter 28 October 2016 Welcome to this week’s TFA e-newsletter. This week’s e-newsletter contains an update on the situation with Herefordshire County Council and their decision to sell the entire County Farms estate, news that the TFA is to meet with Natural England and also that Red Tractor is carrying out a review of its standards. There are some new Briefing Notes and the usual tenancy opportunities. Just to remind members the clocks change this weekend. On Sunday, October 30 at 2 am, the UK will revert to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) by going back one hour, to 1 am. This marks the official end of British summertime. It means that the mornings will be lighter for a while, but that the evenings will be darker earlier. Herefordshire County Council's Sell-Off Hits the Headlines Again The decision to sell the entire Herefordshire County Farms estate made by the Cabinet of the County Council in December of last year, was once again in the headlines as some of the tenant farmers on the estate alleged they had been misled by the local authority. During the Cabinet meeting in December the leader of the Council, Cllr Tony Johnson made the following commitments: “There has been much rumour and I think some conversation on the radio yesterday that this was going to turn people out of their homes etc and that is extremely wide of the mark. What we are talking about is a possible change of ownership of the tenancies not a change of the tenancies themselves. There will be some changes if it moves out of the ownership of this council. But to many people it will arguably be to the advantage of the tenantsâ€. “I must take exception to “kicking in the teeth†that implies that these people will lose their homes, lose their livelihoods or whatever, that is not the case. We are talking about a potential change of ownership if the decision is taken to dispose. There will be new owners. The tenants are protected by the terms of their tenancy and that protection will continueâ€. Despite these very clear statements, the Council decided in February to serve Notices to Quit on all those tenants (around 15) occupying farms under Farm Business Tenancies. All of these tenants face losing their homes and livelihoods contrary to the assurances given by the Leader of the Council. The TFA continues to press the Council to rescind the Notices to Quit. Click here for an interview provided to BBC Herefordshire and Worcestershire by the TFA’s Chief Executive, George Dunn and one of the affected tenants, Steve Clayton (starts 2:07:45 in).

When they have spent the xxx million pounds that they think they will make on the farms which is in effect capital on Adult Social Care as HC say they are going to do then what. Mind you I personally think if they said they were going to spend it on silly expensive roads to nowhere then there would be uproar but they have chosen to go for the sympathy vote by saying Adult Social Care. This Council is spiralling out of control when you have a business spending capital on running costs you are only delaying the inevitable. Herefordshire farmers 'devastated' at eviction notice The council said the sale provided "best value" for taxpayers' money Tenant farmers in Herefordshire are saying they are 'devastated' after being told by the council to leave their farms so the council can sell the land. In February, Herefordshire Council issued notices to 'farm business' tenants, two months after agreeing to sell all of its county farms prompting a petition to be launched in a bid to persuade the council to reverse its decision. The council said the sale provided "best value" for taxpayers' money. The farming estate runs over 4,800 acres (19.42 sq km) of land in a number of locations across the county. Tenant Farmers' Association chief executive George Dunn said the council was 'steamrolling ahead' with no regard for the impact of its actions. "At the meeting of the Council’s Cabinet in December, various assurances were given which are not being followed through. "The Cabinet also said that affected tenants 'would be supported through the process'. If kicking tenants out of their homes is being supportive, I would hate to see the Council taking a hardline!" Life-time's work Steve Clayton, a Rowlestone farmer, said the council had told tenants "no-one would be homeless" but some have been told to leave by September. He told the BBC: "It's a life-time's work. At the moment we just don't know where we are going to be next year." Patricia Morgan, deputy leader of the council, said: "As funding becomes ever tighter, the notices have been issued to ensure certainty for tenants and we will support tenants to ensure they receive the support and help they require." Green Party councillor Jenny Bartlett said an opportunity to look at more creative ways of running the county estate had been missed. "The decision was made with no real consideration of the options put forward by the General Overview and Scrutiny Committee working group, of which I was a member." Clare Greener, NFU Herefordshire county adviser and spokesman, said: "Herefordshire farming families have faced serious upheaval throughout this process, unable to plan for the future, and they will be inconsolable. "We understand there are pressures on council budgets but they are a valuable resource and properly managed can provide sustainable long term income; we remain convinced that they should not just be cashed in."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-37751470

Further proof that Johnson does not know his right from wrong left from right upper from downer can be found on my post 108 on HC Farms where in a public meeting he assures tenant farmers that they will not lose their farms but should they decide to dispose of the smallholdings there will be a new landlord

Yes I would like to see him ruffle Johnson's feathers in the same way he ruffled Helen from Ceredigon - get in there! https://t.co/Tn63hPian7 The follow up article in the Guardian

Excellent programme

An amended PA has now been submitted for this one

and keep him strapped to his chair lest he escapes with the loot