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Wednesday 11 November 2015

GRENFELL ACTION GROUP CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF THE KCTMO


If the KCTMO were a privately held company it would be the subject of a police investigation.

For years it has been riddled with dubious practices. 
The Council, rather than dispassionately investigating the stream of complaints, chooses to turn a Nelsonian eye. 

Grenfell Action Group, in a call for action against endemic malpractice within the TMO, has launched a campaign calling for an impartial and independent investigation.
It calls upon other resident associations to join with it.
Read what GAG says HERE

198 comments:

  1. Reginald Bellringer12 November 2015 at 07:50

    I implore every one to read what GAG is saying about the TMO. It is everything that I have been saying about the TMO for years. It is time for Robert Black, TMO Chief, to consider his position and hand in his notice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. More of the same please12 November 2015 at 08:04

    Councillors Feilding Mellen and Paget Brown would do well to take heed and do something pretty dam quick.

    I remember when residents petitioned for two Extraordinary General Meetings of TMO members back in 2008 and ordinary residents, just like the Grenfell People, brought the place to its knees. We need more of the same today every bit as much as we did then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's it. GAG should get up a petition for an Extraordinary General Meeting to show Black where power lies.

      Delete
    2. Lets not kid ourselves, the only real outcome from the events that led to those three EGMs was a steely determination on the part of both the Council and the TMO to never let it happen again.

      The TMO under Black took decisive action (arguably the only decisive action they took) to ensure that members can never again hold the Board or Executive to account by fiddling the company's rules.

      Which clearly suits Black, the Executive team, the Board and the Council.

      Delete
    3. Optimistic Realist12 November 2015 at 14:35

      If enough Residents Associations get their backsides in to gear then it should be possible to get enough signatures on a petition to call an EGM. I think the decision to put a stop to EGM's was done by Helen Evans and this suits Black and other TMO unemployables just fine.

      Delete
    4. The changes to the company's rules were introduced by Evans in 2008 and have subsequently been tweaked twice under Black.

      Delete
    5. You now need the signatures of 500 members to call an EGM. That's certainly not an impossible target. There are plenty of large estates - Lancaster West, Swinbrook, Silchester, Worlds End - were collecting a couple of hundred signatures isn't particularly difficult.

      The biggest problem you are likely to encounter is the simple fact that most residents are not members. The TMO membership still numbers below 5000, which given the number of adults living in TMO property exceeds 20,000 is quite simply best described as piss poor.

      Delete
    6. I might have known that Black would have tweaked the rules, not once but twice, to make sure that the TMO was fireproof from a showdown at an EGM and to make sure his salary was secure.

      Perhaps those requesting signatures for a petition on the large estates mentioned above, could get a TMO Membership Application Form signed by everyone signing the petition. That being so, every signatory to the petition would be a member of the TMO by the time the petition was sent in. That would be one in the eye for Robert Black.

      Delete
    7. I might have known that Black would have tweaked the rules, not once but twice, to make sure that the TMO was fireproof from a showdown at an EGM and to make sure his salary was secure.

      Perhaps those requesting signatures for a petition on the large estates mentioned above, could get a TMO Membership Application Form signed by everyone signing the petition. That being so, every signatory to the petition would be a member of the TMO by the time the petition was sent in. Now that would be one in the eye for Robert Black.

      Delete
    8. EGMs are entertaining but achieve nothing.

      They rely on the Executive and the Board giving a damn what the members say and they clearly don't.

      The Executive are perfectly happy with the status quo and the Board is largely made up of the vegetative and led by a compliant petunia.

      Anyone intent on getting rid of the TMO should campaign for just that.

      Rather conveniently the Council's "test of opinion" is due shortly.

      Delete
    9. I have lived in a Council flat for 15 years and my opinion has never been solicited. So much for the Council testing opinions on the TMO.

      Delete
    10. I have lived in a Council flat for 15 years and my opinion has never been solicited. So much for the Council testing opinions on the TMO.

      Delete
    11. The Council are obliged to carry a "test of opinion" every five years. They do. They just do it in such a way that most tenants and leaseholders have no idea it's taking place or understand what they're being asked. If the Council made any effort whatsoever to ensure that tenants and leaseholders understood what was going on the end result would have led to the TMO's demise many years ago.

      Delete
    12. 12.09: another example of the Council deciding that the TMO is here to stay with no justification for the decision. Councillors wake up- the TMO is hated by the many not the few.

      Delete
  3. Dear Dame.

    You do a marvellous job. Why didn't you reproduce the incisive brilliant article written by the Grenfell Action Group instead of incorporating a link to that article in your cover story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THE DAME'S GO TO PERSON12 November 2015 at 09:26

      Good idea, but it would have not fitted. A quick click on HERE and you are there

      Delete
    2. Indeed, sometimes the ins and outs of space on blogs must be considered. Hence the various links.

      Delete
  4. Disgusted of Kensington and Chelsea12 November 2015 at 09:59

    The Dame says that if the TMO were a privately held company its activities would be of concern to the police. The TMO reports its enemies to the police. In 2008 the TMO reported three elderly tenants to the police for dishonesty. The police found no evidence of dishonesty on the part of those arrested. One of the TMO's victims suffered a stroke shortly after being dragged to the cells. May those responsible have it on their consciences for the rest of their days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The TMO is full of dirty secrets. A lot of TMO people should be made to explain what Grand Union Homes was all about and what happened to all the money that the TMO gave to it.

      Delete
    2. Grand Union Homes and all of the money siphoned off should be one for the police. Perhaps, the Dame could ask Victoria Borwick MP to get the bottom of this.

      Delete
  5. I take my hat off to the Grenfall Action Group for telling it like it is when it comes to the TMO. I was particularly struck by the phraseology in the Action Group's article. I have often used very similar language when making complaints to the TMO. I most certainly support the call for another investigation in to the TMO and think it might be helpful if I explain the reasons why there has been no improvement at the TMO following Maria Memoli's investigation.

    Maria Memoli's Report on the TMO was an exceptional and outstanding piece of work setting out 28 recommendations for improvement. It should be cause for serious concern that the Government's Housing Inspectorate awarded the TMO a three star rating and an extra £ 6 million of funding rating when Maria Memoli found so much wrong with the TMO within a short period of time of the Government's three star accolade. When Greg Hands was elected Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham, I approached him about this matter and he declined to take this matter to the Minister for Housing.

    The reason the Council and the TMO learned no lessons from Memoli's investigations is because the powers that be in at the Town Hall did not receive the report or its recommendations in an even handed way. They had the effrontery to say that the "Report did not meet expectations" (I do not know what they expected) and they went a stage further by suppressing the publication of the Report until the day after the TMO's next Annual General Meeting. I realise that the Council probably suppressed publication of the report because it realised that Juliet Rawlings and Robert Black would not have been able to cope at an Annual General Meeting with residents holding the Board and its staff to account over the shocking revelations unearthed by Maria Memoli. Amongst other things, the Memoli Report revealed serious systemic failures at the TMO, along with rude, unhelpful or incompetent staff, and Board Members receiving favours. One former Company Secretary told me there was no evidence of Board members receiving advantages from the Company. This claim did not stand up to investigation when I received leaked information that a former Board Member received counselling from a private therapist at the expense of the TMO.

    If Council commissions another independent investigation in to the TMO, it must have no expectations, publish the report immediately and except its recommendations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The only reason the Maria Memoli report was not what the Council expected was because the Council had been reassured that there were no actual problems within the TMO and that the noises emanating from residents were merely the misguided and malicious view of a troublesome minority. The report was expected to find nothing wrong.


      Unfortunately for both the Council and the TMO Maria very quickly confirmed otherwise - the TMO really was as bad as residents claimed with some behaviour bordering on the criminal. That was certainly the opinion of the ex-copper who helped Maria - many of the issues residents had highlighted were serious enough to merit a Police investigation.

      At that point the aim of the exercise quickly changed from using the report to prove everyone so wrong (which was no doubt the primary reason the Council had commissioned it in the first place) to burying it as quickly as possible and then pretending it never happened.

      The sad thing of course is that things have not changed since 2009. Take a look at the report (from 2009) and consider the fact that 75% of the issues described in the report are still a problem today.

      Delete
    2. More details of criminality at the TMO.......12 November 2015 at 14:51

      Anon at 14.24: I've heard before that the ex-copper who assisted Maria Memoli found evidence of criminal activity and this information was suppressed by RBKC. Please give the Dame chapter and verse.

      It is now out in the open that two Board Members abused their position of trust by spending company money on themselves and their mates. The TMO made them pay all the money back and said it was ok. Is this what you are on about or did the ex-copper find out something else.

      Delete
    3. Shane says Greg Hands MP declined to take the matter of the TMO getting three stars to the Minister. Did Greg Hands MP give any reason for his refusal? Seems odd.

      Delete
    4. Political Theorist the Tory way12 November 2015 at 15:50

      Ex TMO employee is perhaps being a little naive. Hands did not want to show up his RBKC Tory Council chums with the Minister. I bet if someone went to him with dirt or corruption on Labour run Hammersmith Council today he would break his neck to bring good news to the Minister's door.

      Delete
    5. Exactly. Greg is a distinctly political animal.

      His latest newsletter focused on supposed cuts to services in Labour-run Hammersmith and Fulham.

      Has he ever focused on similar cuts to services in Conservative-run Kensington and Chelsea? No.

      Did he ever focus on any of the cuts to services implemented by the former Conservative administration in Hammersmith and Fulham? Of course not.

      He is blind to the colour blue but clearly turned on by the colour red (ooer). Perhaps he's a Taurus?

      Delete
    6. About fifteen years ago a TMO Housing Officer was convicted at West London Court for claiming Income Support and not declaring her earnings from the TMO.

      Delete
    7. The Political Theorist at 15.50 hours above has a perfect understanding of Tory Party morality.

      Delete
    8. Dear Dame,

      Would you care to comment on Sir Merrick Cockell's failure to ensure that the TMO Board called a public meeting one year or so after the publication of Maria Memoli's report so that TMO residents could hold the Black Administration to account for not changing the culture or improving the standard of work at the TMO?

      GAG is right . We need another investigation in to the TMO which will be very expensive. The cost of the Memoli Report was charged to the Housing Revenue Account which means that hard pressed tenants paid for it in the rent.

      Delete
  6. The observation on the TMO's complaint department is pretty much spot on.

    That team isn't there to deal with customer complaints in a fair and even handed manner. They're there to keep the number of complaints down to a level that won't alert the Council to what a complete mess they make of everything.

    As a result complaints become "inquiries" without the knowledge or consent of the person making the complaint and they then find themselves not only seeking resolution to the original problem but having to convince the TMO to treat the matter as a complaint in the first place!

    It's a farce. And were it not so serious it might be funny.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sunlight through Black's window, now there's a good idea

      Delete
    2. You'll need a brick to let any light in through that window!

      Delete
    3. There is a dark cloud over all of the windows at the TMO. No sunlight there even though it is a lovely bright morning.

      Delete
  8. Greetings and felicitations to her graciousness the Grand Dame, and many thanks on behalf of the Grenfell Action Group for responding immediately to our request for help in drawing attention to our latest blog calling for an open and independent investigation of KCTMO. Unfortunately we are temporarily shorthanded at GAG central and our networking capacity is not as effective as this very important issue demands.

    Thanks to the Dame's prompt intervention our visitor numbers shot up last night and today ensuring that our call to action is now getting plenty of exposure and will hopefully lead to action from a number of qurters, and sufficient pressure brought to bear on RBKC to force them to act. As a number of comments on the Dame's blog have pointed out, trying to force an EGM at the TMO is unlikely to lead anywhere useful, which is why we are pressing for another RBKC investigation along the lines of that conducted by Maria Memoli in 2009.

    Memoli's report was indeed devastating, and should have led to fundamental and lasting change and improvement in the TMO's operations. The fact that it didn't is an indictment of RBKC and is, in our view, evidence of an endemic culture of collusion between RBKC and KCTMO which serves only the vested interests of both bodies.

    PS Have just read the Dame's latest blog on the 'terror' unleashed last night against the absent McConville and her Westway Trust confederates. I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my chair. There's a lot to be said for humour as a satirical weapon, and the Dame is certainly a Master (oops I mean Mistress) of the art of satire. Well done Dame. Another direct hit!

    Francis
    on behalf of Grenfell Action Group

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anyone truly interested in what a shower the TMO are should take a look at another article on that website:

    https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/west-london-citizens-and-kctmo/

    The stats related to repairs are dreadful but sadly entirely believable.

    To quote:

    * 71.2% of Council residents surveyed said they had a "repairs/conditions" issue.

    * When asked to give details of the issue 70.7% had a problem related to the TMO.

    * 43.4% of (TMO) respondents complained of the slow response time to get repairs done.

    This is despite the TMO taking all repairs in house a couple of years ago in order to "improve" the service. But the service hasn't actually improved. Taking it all in house has merely allowed them to cover up the mess just that little bit better.

    Previous repair contractors had a habit of letting the cat out of the bag and pointing the finger at where blame for a truly dire repairs service lay: the TMO. Not much risk of that happening when the repairs contractor is a wholly owned subsidiary!

    What is most baffling is how any sane Councillor can look at those stats and not conclude that the time has come to call time on the TMO.

    There is no good reason to stick with the TMO. There are numerous alternatives, many of them proven to work in our neighbouring boroughs - Westminster, Wandsworth, even Hammersmith and Fulham. But no, Council tenants in Kensington and Chelsea are stuck with a third rate service for lack of political will and courage on the part of our Councillors and MPs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That page asks the question:

      "why, a number of years after the TMO underwent a root and branch reform under the strict supervision of the Council, there appears to be no evidence of any improvement in their performance, specifically in their response to, and delivery of repairs, and no sign of adequate maintenance of the housing stock which it manages on behalf of the Council?"

      The answer is quite simple: there was no real root and branch reform of the TMO, merely the illusion of reform.

      Those who saw the TMO's lauded "improvement plan" up close at the time realised the truth immediately - it was little more than lies and misdirection. The "improvements" proposed would improve nothing, change nothing, the TMO would remain, at heart, exactly the same.

      The organisation did not reform, the culture has not changed, in fact in many ways it is much, much worse. It was nothing more than a PR exercise on the part of both the Council and the TMO to placate and mislead residents.

      And given that this question is being asked all these years later suggests it worked very well. A master stroke on the part of Merrick, Black and Daintith!

      Delete
    2. The contributor at 17:04 has provided evidence of serious resident dissatisfaction with the TMO Repairs' Service courtesy of TMO Repairs' Direct. Just like the contributor at 17:04, I have often posed the question "WHY STICK WITH THE TMO?" when it has been a disaster since inception. No Council Officer, No Royal Borough Councillor nor for that matter any employee of the TMO has ever managed to provide a cogent answer as to why residents are lumbered with the TMO and are made to suffer when alternative housing management models are on offer for all to see in neighbouring local authorities.

      Keep up the good work 17:04. It comes to those of us who wait.

      Delete
  10. The TMO are sticking pins in vodou dollies of the people who have written on this blog..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Victoria Borwick MP is clearly a different type of Tory. She is sensible and practical. I hope that she will be able to influence RBKC to ending the unmitigated disaster of tenant management which has turned out to be nothing more than an expensive vanity project for inadequate officials and Board Members neither of whom would receive any recognition in any other role.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The TMO has never been about tenant management. Tenants have never had any real influence over what the TMO does. The tenants on the Board are effectively hand picked to ensure that they have absolutely no idea what real tenant management looks like and are likely to simply play along. The TMO approaches the meek and compliant for election, they give the competent and self-assured a wide berth.

      And they don't even know how a real company is supposed to be run - the tenant Board members who sign off the company accounts every year are financially illiterate and the Executive has repeatedly failed to provide them with relevant training. Those tenant board members are compliant to the point of sheer recklessness (should the shit ever really hit the fan).

      Delete
    2. Here, here 10:57. I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies if the Tenant Board Members who currently sign off on the Company Accounts are just financially illiterate. I remember a former TMO Board Member who was illiterate in every sense of the term and was admitted to the inner sanctum of the TMO Board. I hear that he made progress with reading and writing in one of Her Majesty's prisons.

      Delete
    3. What did this former TMO board member go to prison for? How long did he or she get?

      Delete
    4. 9 years 4 wot?

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    5. The crime is too horrible to mention. You don't get a 9 year stretch for pinching a loaf from Tesco if you are starving and broke.

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    6. I've just read in the paper that a man got 7 years for rape. God knows what this TMO man did to get 9 years.

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    7. Don't forget a caretaker on one of the estates got in to trouble for being a "peeping tom" about six years ago.

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    8. The peeping caretaker worked on World's End. He got off on looking through chinks in peoples curtains at them having it off.

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    9. I used to be on the TMO Board. A former Board Member, not the one sent to prison, was reported by a member of staff for sexual molestation. The TMO allowed this highly valued Board Member to remain on the Board.

      Delete
    10. How can we be certain that the TMO is not full of sexual deviants today. They haven't done very well in the past

      Delete
    11. I live on World's End. I knew nothing about the Peeping Tom caretaker. He might have been watching me on the job.

      Delete
  12. I used to work at the TMO. The bosses hate bad publicity. They are very sensitive to criticism especially when it is true.

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    Replies
    1. How right you are that TMO bosses hate bad publicity and are very sensitive to criticism. Just read the comment by 15.30 below. It appears to be from within the TMO or written by a Councillor who supports the TMO and swallows what the TMO says.

      Delete
  13. Most of the complaints being raised here are past history and relate to a dysfunctional old board and a dysfunctional old executive team. Neither exists now. Why don't you come to the Residents' Conference and the AGM to raise these concerns instead of hiding behind anonymity and the Dame? Raise them in the correct forum and your complaints will be addressed. There is no point harking back to old battles - this is quite irrelevant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mr Black

      Thank you for this!!!

      Delete
    2. The complaints about the repairs service seem pretty current to me.

      When was that survey by London Citizens carried out? Unless it was many years ago the statement "when asked to give details of the issue 70.7% had a problem related to the TMO" is pretty damning.

      Delete
    3. Why do you think people are complaining here? It's not because we love the Dame so much (although we do) but because attempting to discuss issues with the TMO, let alone complaining about them, has become akin to talking to a wall. A completely futile exercise and a waste of everyone's time and energy.

      Delete
    4. The Residents Conference and AGM (which are in fact the same thing) is an annual event. Are you seriously suggesting that the appropriate forum to discuss issues and concerns with the TMO is at an event that occurs just once a year?

      Delete
    5. The next TMO AGM is in the autumn of 2016. If anyone at the TMO thinks this is a solution to tenant dissatisfaction then they should be put out to grass. People are complaining here because they have complained to the TMO and been shafted.

      Delete
  14. Name withheld for fear of victimisation13 November 2015 at 20:24

    If the TMO had a modicum of dignity, their Anonymous Correspondent at 15.30 would have put their name to their posting. It is ironic that this person complains that those who have RECENTLY been treated disgracefully by the TMO are "hiding behind The Dame" when the correspondent concerned chooses to hide behind an anonymous posting. The intelligent way to proceed would have been for Robert Black to have written with his own name, holding out a genuine olive branch to all of those complaining about the Organisation which he runs. If the TMO had dealt with all of these people's RECENT complaints properly in the first place, there would be no need for anyone contacting The Dame requesting a platform for their grievances. The genuine grievances set out by GAG are not historic, they are real and current and the TMO have seen off those who have deigned to complain.

    The TMO Executive has no one but themselves to blame for the prevailing situation.The aggressive tone taken by the correspondent at 15.30 is indicative of the contemptuous way the TMO treats people who stand up to its bullying. The TMO Board, its Executive and its Officers are as dysfunctional today as they were under previous administrations. It is simply delusional for 15.30 to pretend otherwise.

    As previously mentioned on this blog, the TMO did not change the culture in the aftermath of the Memoli Report and its staff continued being high handed, "rude and incompetent" telling "brazen lies and falsehoods" to this very day as set out in GAG article. I cannot see the point in anyone attending the TMO's AGM or the Residents' Conference to try and sort anything out, people who speak up at these events are silenced or sidelined in the very carefully managed proceedings. What is needed is another independent investigation in to the place similar to the one carried out by Maria Memoli 2008 /2009.

    If Mr Black and his Team cannot stand the heat then get out of the kitchen.

    ReplyDelete
  15. If 15.30 is a TMO or Council person writing then a FIRST has been achieved.

    A FIRST because the TMO/ Council is now admitting for the FIRST TIME that former TMO Boards and Executive Teams were "dysfunctional". So can we conclude that :-

    The Board headed up by Juliet Rawlings MBE during nearly all of Gordon Perry's tenure at the TMO was "dysfunctional."

    If this is a TMO/ Council person commenting then there are serious matters to be investigated.

    ReplyDelete
  16. How did a dysfunctional TMO with a dysfunctional Board and Executive get three stars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can hide a lot from auditors. If rumours are to be believed some TMO staff are experts at hiding things from both auditors and the Council. Very possibly the only thing they are expert at.

      Delete
    2. It is alledged that approximately three years ago The Director of Assets and Regeneration instructed his team to hide money from RBKC auditors. They were forced to oblige.

      Delete
    3. Robert Black tries to argue that everything people are saying happened a long time ago. Hiding money from the Council's Audit happened on his watch.

      Delete
    4. I've lost count of the number of Directors of Assets and Regeneration who have come and gone at the TMO since 2008. Which one was it involved in hiding money from RBKC's Bean Counters? Did Mr Black know about it?

      Delete
    5. Does Mr Holgate, Town Clerk and Director of Finance, know about this?

      Delete
    6. 23..26 There is no smoke with out fire. It was more than just an allegation.
      08.54 You're a right one. I love your reference to RBKC's Bean Counters, I haven't heard that expression for years.

      Delete
  17. GAGGING for an investigation14 November 2015 at 00:25

    The TMO is now paying the price for seeing off so many people with valid complaints. We want a stop to the TMO decreeing what is and what is not a complaint.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For the sake of clarity I am happy to reveal that it was I who edited and published the GAG blog graciously flagged by the Dame on our behalf.

      Before appealing to the Dame for her assistance I copied the link to the GAG blog in question to a number of senior officers at the TMO - specifically to Siobhan Rumble, Neighbourhood Manager for Lancaster West and Income Manager for Kensington & Chelsea TMO (ie rent arrears collection capo), to Janet Seward TMO Policy & Improvement Manager, to Chief Executive Robert Black and, of course to Complaints @TMO.

      I also sent the link to Judith Blakeman, one of our local Labour Councillors who who also sits on the TMO board and to Lady Borwick's Parliamentary Private Secretary John Sweeney.

      The attempt in the comment at 13 November 2015 15:30 to discredit the GAG blog, the Dame, and the many readers of the Hornet blog who subsequently commented positively on this issue might be from any one of these TMO sources, or might be just some mischievous fool of no consequence and with no interest other than to provoke the good people who responded so positively to our attempt to again draw attention to this important issue.

      Francis
      Grenfell Action Group

      Delete
    2. Francis,

      I doubt there is anyone who has had to deal with the TMO who read your blog and didn't find themselves nodding in agreement.

      The TMO is quite simply led, run and staffed by people who take responsibility for nothing. As a result problems simply fester as no one feels any urgency to address them. Unfortunately some of those problems are very serious indeed and could potentially lead to disaster.

      Just one example: several of the estates in the south of the borough have fire safety related issues which the Fire Brigade have asked the TMO to address. The TMO have promised to do so (thus averting being served fire safety notices) but have subsequently done nothing. On one estate the RA has been pursuing the TMO about these issues since 2012. Who is aware of all of this at the TMO? Well Robert Black and his Executive Team are (as they have been copied in on numerous emails) as well as all the relevant technical staff. Have any of them taken ownership of the issue and demonstrated any determination to resolve it? No, of course not, the issue is allowed to persist and there is no sign that it will be addressed any time soon. Lets hope we won't have any serious fires on any of those estates because it appears that someone's death is possibly the only thing that might stir the TMO out of its extreme complacency.

      Delete
    3. KCTMO does a dirty job14 November 2015 at 11:45

      11.03 If the TMO gets fed up with you copying your emails to the Executive Team, pointing out systemic failures, it will respond by blocking your emails from being accepted at all e-mail addresses within the business with the exception of the e-mail address for their useless complaints section. If this happens, you could always send hard copies of your emails in the post to Robert Black, Anthony Parkes, Sasha Jevans, Yvonne Birch and Peter Maddison. So long as this correspondence is brought to the attention of the Executive Team, they will be unable to shift responsibility to their minions in the event that someone dies owing to corporate negligence. I fear that a tragedy will occur before someone at RBKC concludes that the TMO is not fit for purpose.

      The Cremorne RA was bullied in this way when they were told that emails sent to any TMO e-mail address, other than the Complaints one, would not be answered. Why? Because they dared to attempt to represent the interests of residents who did not want their estate and homes demolished. Mr Black knew which side his bread was buttered and sided with the Tories. This Tory Council hopes that their developer mates will clean up, getting rich, by pulling down perfectly good homes and building new ones for the penthouse monied classes.

      Delete
    4. Nichk Pagett Brown has a column all of his own in The Link Magazine to perpetuate his own political interests to TMO residents. This publiication is paid for by residents to be informed on services not for the council to canvass for votes.

      Delete
    5. 11:03 The TMO have already been served a notice by the Fire Brigade. The TMO has not complied. Thousands of residents are at risk as smoke pours through meter cupboards from one flat to the other. If a fire should occur the disabled, elderly, young children will perish in the other homes in the same building through smoke inhalation.

      Delete
    6. It sounds like only a matter of time before someone at the TMO is charged with Manslaughter. Whether the Council likes it or not, the Council, not the TMO, needs to call a meeting so that residents can discuss their concerns about the TMO directly with Councillors. It might be an idea to exclude anyone from the TMO attending the meeting especially as the TMO is known to intimidate those who speak up. Provided that the Councillor who hosts the meeting is not someone who thinks Council tenants keep coal in the bath the meeting could be a success with tenants having much to gain. It would be onerous for the Councillor taking on this role who would have to keep tabs on the TMO to make sure that every issue reported at the meeting is followed up.

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    7. The Tory councillors protect the TMO. TMO directors pander Councillors. It is very convenient for councillors to have an organisation that can be used for political ends.

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    8. 23.36: Clearly a very right wing place. The TMO gives Paget Brown column space in its tenant magazine.

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    9. 23.26 What do Labour Councillors do to make sure that the TMO is not "protected." Blakeman and Coad have failed.

      Delete
  18. Sunshine at my window at dawn14 November 2015 at 06:08

    Tenants all over the Borough have trouble with the TMO. People come to this blog because they are at their wits end with the TMO after banging their heads off brick walls.

    So many people, including GAG, have copied their correspondence to various senior people in the TMO including Neighbourhood Managers, the Income Manager, Janet Seward, Robert Black and Councillors past and present, not just the ones sitting as Board Members. It is a pity that despite the best efforts of so many tenants experiencing difficulty with the TMO, and the involvement of so many TMO senior personnel, nothing improves or changes.

    Francis, please be assured that the disingenuous correspondent at 15.30 above has not succeeded in discrediting the marvellous work that you are doing or in tarnishing the good name of GAG. If memory serves me well, about twelve months ago, the good people of Grenfall approached the Dame over the TMO's attitude to them about the windows.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sunshine at my window at dawn is an optimistic light making one feel on top of the world.

      The TMO hasn't quite seen the light for years.

      Delete
  19. If you Complain or Challenge. If you represent the interests of the most vulnerable. You receive intimidating correspondence from Theresa Brown TMO Director of Housing. She fabricates unsubstantiated allegations of bullying and inappropriate behaviour towards TMO officers. You are not permitted to engage with TMO officers. You are not permitted to address correspondence directly to officers. The work that you undertake on voluntary basis is undermined. Your tenancy is alluded to.The services to the community you serve are affected. All because you have exercised your legal right to hold the TMO and our Councillors accountable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Next year we can vote in the Council Consultation to get rid of the TMO.

      We should organise...

      Delete
    2. Why do so many unsuitable people get jobs at the TMO? I've heard about Theresa Brown. I'll be ready for her if she starts.

      Delete
    3. She worked for Hammersmith and Fulham as an engagement expert. The irony !!!!! She is Robert Blacks new golden girl.

      Delete
    4. It is widely known amongst RBKC officers that very few TMO officers have technical training in their field. We have a landscape gardener managing technical projects totalling near a million pounds. Live wiring left exposed, bollards in the middle of zebra crossings, concreted heating access panels, etc,etc This all with public money.

      Delete
    5. 23.41 Black should have competency tested everyone working at the TMO when he took over in 2008. I told him that provided he followed proper procedures, he could get rid of incompetent people without having to fork out at a Tribunal. Did he listen, no.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous above says that Theresa Brown is Robert Blacks Golden Girl. TMO staff call them the Black and Brown Team.

      Delete
  20. 23.31. I heard that she worked in Resident Engagement at a housing place in Holloway not Hammersmith. It's easy to confuse Hammersmith with Holloway.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Shaky and Vulnerable15 November 2015 at 10:16

    If the TMO Executive is not feeling shaky and vulnerable by now then it needs a reality check. TMO Executive Teams, past and present, have seriously upset a lot of tenants. This litany of incompetence and irregular practice is more like the Peoples Republic of Lambeth in the 1980's not the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea in 2015.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lambeth Council brought in Heather Rabbatts, (a Barrister, former Director of Personnel in Hammersmith & Fulham and former Deputy Chief Executive of Merton) to sort out a miserable failing Council. She exposed corruption, fraud, incompetence and malpractice. At the end of her four year stint, Lambeth Council was fit for purpose.

      RBKC would do well to realise that the time served housing workers at the TMO are not up to the job which is why London Citizens have turned up some worrying trends in their survey results. The Executive Team at the TMO today are in the same position in that their predecessor Executive Teams were in 2001 and 2007 with high levels of unhappiness amongst tenants in particular those at Grenfell. Robert Black has had seven years to turn the TMO round.

      It is time for a change, bring in a professional manager to sort out housing management in Kensington and Chelsea. Give that person the power to competency test the staff, get rid of those who fall short of the standard required and to create a climate where disciplinary action is pursued against those workers with a bad attitude and those who express unacceptable pejorative views about tenants.

      Delete
    2. Straightener No 217 November 2015 at 12:37

      "Straightner" above has a point. Joan Hanham took this approach with children's education. She brought in a guy to turn education in the Borough around because the education service that the Council inherited from the Labour run Inner London Education Authority was substandard. He did a fabulous job and there were many tears and casualties along the way but we ended up with a very good education service. The guy who took on the role didn't have a friend in the world by the time he finished. Can't remember his name.

      Delete
    3. Chief Straightener18 November 2015 at 09:10

      The TMO needs a straightening more today than it did under Kingsford, Perry or Evans. I hope it gets one for all of our sakes. Robert Black must have the hide of a rhinocerous.

      Delete
  22. "An expensive vanity project for inadequate officials and Board Members neither of whom would receive any recognition in any other role."15 November 2015 at 15:10

    I think whoever wrote the quote above sums it up perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The comment is spot on. Brilliant.

      Delete
  23. I used to work at the TMO. When I started Perry was in charge and when I left Black was in charge. The TMO will be more concerned about who has written on here rather than what anyone has had to say. The managers will spend hours debating who might have said something. Trying to resolve anything will not be on the TMO's radar. They will be very unforgiving towards those they suspect of putting their heads above the parapet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We all know how spiteful the TMO is. It will implode one day.

      Delete
    2. Why waste time improving services when it's easier to simply shoot the messenger?

      Delete
  24. The TMO could have saved itself a lot of trouble if it had treated people decently when people first reported a problem or complained about something. There are so many skeletons in the TMO's cupboard from 1996 to this day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm a member of the Respect Party. You need George Galloway in K&C to deal with the TMO and put an end to all the crap.

      Delete
  25. You complain. It is not logged as a complaint but as a service enquiry. Thereby docking the figures. You receive an answer full of falsehoods.

    If the matter has been outstanding for more than a year, it is no longer a complaint and you have to start again.

    Thousands of residents and associations disengaged.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is indeed the strategy. The TMO are so keen not to have any complaints logged as complaints that they even logged a letter of complaint from one Residents Association with "THIS IS A FORMAL COMPLAINT" written across the top downgraded to an "inquiry"!

      Delete
    2. Whims and fancies.18 November 2015 at 18:24

      The TMO is unethical shower of Gauleiters with grossly over the top salaries.

      The TMO's Complaints Procedure narrowly defines the term "complaint" so that the TMO can deceive Councillors and everyone else in to believing that it receives less complaints than it really does.

      Classifying a residents complaint as a "complaint" instead of an "inquiry" is by and large down to the whims and fancies of the official in the Complaints Team processing receipt of the complaint and to a lesser extent the view taken by the official answering the correspondence. The trouble with this approach is that there is a total lack of consistency in deciding whether a resident's correspondence falls within the scope of the Complaints Procedure or not.

      I have even known one official of the TMO state that my complaint was an "inquiry" and another TMO official state that the same correspondence was a "complaint" which later led to my "complaint" being upheld. We had none of this nonsense until Black started at the TMO.

      Delete
    3. Miss Janet Seward of the TMO told me back in the summer that the TMO Board had approved a New Complaints' Procedure. She told me that the staff would need training and the new policy would be implemented in November.

      Does anyone have any experience of this New Complaints' Procedure?
      Does anyone have any advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of the new procedure?

      Delete
    4. 15.34. The TMO wanted thousands of residents and residents associations to disengage. So it cooked up a complaints procedure which was more about making sure that no sh*t landed on the TMO's doorstep rather than resolving anything.

      Delete
    5. 18.50. Janet Seward is an excellent Public Relations Officer. She seems to be a very nice person who cares. She is very good at placating people who are having problems with the TMO. However, she does not seem to be able to change anything long term.

      Delete
  26. This new complaints procedure will be for the benefit of Robert Black and his managers not the tenants. You have been warned.

    ReplyDelete
  27. You complain. The complaint is then downgraded to an enquiry. They take five to ten days to log it. Another minimum ten days to answer it. Then they do not address your questions. You send it back A futile exercise. No one is accountable.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Yes. If you then complain to counsellors or the MP you are labled as aggressive and threatening. Theresa Brown sends you a letter. You are not permitted to engage with any officer. Only to write to the complaints team. This is a way avoiding being accountable to those taxpayers who fund the TMO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am very concerned about what I have heard and read about this Theresa Brown. Just who does she think she is?

      Delete
    2. Janet Seward is very good at what she does. She reacts to matters brought to her attention by members of the public and smooths things over. She's very good at protecting the TMO and is good for the TMO. I don't know what the TMO would do without her.

      Delete
    3. Robert Black's new golden girl.

      Intimidating and bullying residents into disengagement being her speciality.

      Delete
    4. Theresa Brown. Director of Housing.

      Delete
  29. Yes. If you then complain to counsellors or the MP you are labled as aggressive and threatening. Theresa Brown sends you a letter. You are not permitted to engage with any officer. Only to write to the complaints team. This is a way avoiding being accountable to those taxpayers who fund the TMO.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Don't be cowed in to silence by the TMO20 November 2015 at 08:18

    Perhaps, the Grenfall Action Group (or any other group of people on any estate) who are dissatisfied with the TMO could petition Councillors and Victoria Borwick MP outlining their grievances concluding their petition by expressing a lack of confidence in Robert Black and the TMO Executive Team. I think Victoria Borwick MP would be very concerned at the TMO's practices and its bullying of people who will not be cowed in to silence.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The TMO only takes notice of the uppity. They want ever one cowering

      Delete
  31. The problem is that Maighread Condon Simmonds who is on the TMO board runs the TMO.

    Nick Paget-Brown has in own column for political propaganda on the Link magazine which is paid for out of the public purse.

    The special political interests of these councillors such as selling social housing to developers is propagated through the TMO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This has putrid whiff.

      Delete
    2. Condon Simmonds has been on that TMO for far too long. The smell of her shenanigans on the Cremorne has never cleared.

      Delete
    3. Protecting those that canvass for her by squeezing TMO officers.

      Delete
  32. A cathartic enema for the TMO.20 November 2015 at 18:34

    The word on the street is that the TMO is ghastly. The word Inside Housing is that the TMO's Executive Officers are unemployable. If any of them applied for a job in another housing organisation they would not even get an interview. So they go on doing their highly paid jobs badly treating their customers poorly. We are stuck with them until the Council wakes up.

    The Dame will remember that a few months after Sir Pooter took over as Leader of RBKC, Martyn Kingsford, then TMO Chief Executive, did the walk of shame to the Town Clerk's office and later tendered his resignation. We can only hope that the same thing happens when Paget Brown is no longer in charge and hope that this time the axe swings more brutally purging the TMO of a pretty useless lot leaving service users suitably cleansed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The TMO is very constipated in thoughts deeds and actions.

      Delete
  33. Voting these counsellors out would be a start.

    Tim Coleridge,Nick Paget-Brown, Maighread Simmonds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why do you want Maighread Condon Simmonds out ?

      Delete
  34. I worked at the TMO at the turn of the century and decided that Housing was not for me. Way back then the staff were unofficially encouraged to enjoy their battles with customers. The management were hell bent on showing anyone who complained who was boss. No one has had the sense to stop the open warfare with customers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have had many conversations with good officers who have left.

      TMO officers have been forced to lie to RBKC auditors.

      When TMO officers join they are usually well meaning and professional. They soon learn about the edict from the councillor on the board Maighread Simmonds who puts pressure on directors to favour those that canvass for her or for serious matters to be forgotten when it involves those she favours.

      They also very quickly learn that other officers have no training in the work they undertake. ie. The disability officer was employed to advice officers on equality legislation so that provision for disabled residents was appropriate. His remit is now to advice the TMO how to find loopholes in order not to undertake adaptations. Disabled residents find themselves trapped in their homes or even in situations which are life threatening.

      There is also a landscape gardener heading a department that includes project managing a large budget which includes engineering matters. Mistakes that include placing residents and the public at risk are regularly covered up and denied despite evidence being to the contrary.

      RBKC officers are well aware of all this and more, yet feel powerless as this situation is defended and pormulgated by Nick Paget-Brown and Maighread Simmonds who is on the TMO board.

      Delete
    2. Shocking.

      Has she done anything else?

      Delete
    3. Maighread has never impressed me

      Delete
    4. I remember Ann from when I worked at the TMO. The worse place that I have ever worked. It treats customers and staff disgracefully.

      Delete
  35. You will have to bring up her unprincipled activities repeatedly between now and the next Council election in 2019 so that the matter stays fresh in peoples minds. She personally canvassed my vote once and I know what she's like.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If the local Labour Party were any good Simmonds would never have been elected in Chelsea (Cremorne) Riverside. Chelsea Riverside may be along the river but it contains two large Council estates, full of Labour voters, and it should be a safe seat for Labour. It's come to something when Simmonds sees off Labour.

      Delete
    2. Maighread increased her share of the vote at the last election which just goes to prove how useless Labour is at mounting a campaign to win the seat back from the Tories. I think Labour is finished if it cannot win in Chelsea Riverside.

      Delete
    3. If labour got their act together with honest credible councillors the south is ready for a change.

      How can we trust a council that demolish residents' homes ?

      Delete
    4. Is RBKC Labour up to getting their act together? I doubt it. It is saying something when Maighread beats them hands down in two local elections and manages to increase her share of the vote the second time she fought the seat.

      Delete
    5. Labour should sort out credible candidates for the south.

      It should at least try to campaign in the south. We did not see a single leaflet during the election. Even the greens canvassed !!

      Chelsea Riverside is so ready for a change given that Cllr. Simmonds openly expresses to anyone who will listen, her deep regret that social housing was not demolished to make way for the Crossrail 2 Station.

      Delete
    6. The trouble with Labour Councillors in K & C is that they are dogmatic not pragmatic. They are theoreticians in search of the holy grail, socialism, hoping for a New Jerusalem or Corbynite Marxism.

      They know the TMO is a disaster and that it is hated by tenants. They have no qualms about allowing this failing organisation to continue because they fear that if the TMO is disbanded the Tories will sell the stock and they will lose their empire of Council tenants. Where would the Labour Party be without Council tenants shackled to the state.

      Delete
  36. Is Maighread Handlebar implicated in instructing the Disability Officer to carry out his duties so that the disabled do not get accommodation they need? Does Robert Black know?

    ReplyDelete
  37. A while back Simmonds said she was going to grass up a woman on Worlds End for working as a pub cleaner and claiming benefit. I bet she doesn't like it when people split on her.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When you grass someone, it comes back on you.

      Delete
    2. If any woman on worlds end has worked on the side as a pub cleaner and been done by the social for it she will now know that it was Simmonds who grassed.

      Delete
    3. Mrs Tory Condon Simmonds was vote catching by letting it be known that she was going to shop a woman to the Social for working on the side as a pub cleaner. I can't imagine Dent Coad or Blakeman ever saying anything along these lines.



      Delete
    4. The Tory, in this case Condon Simmonds, would not think twice about reporting a woman to the social for not declaring her income from a pub cleaning job. It would never do for a good Tory to report a small businessman to HMRC for not honestly declaring his profits from self -employment.

      Whilst Labour does not officially condone ripping off the social Labour politicians seem to think fiddling the social is OK so long as you don't get caught.

      With such dodgy morality, no wonder neither Labour nor Tory politicians in Kensington and Chelsea have the wherewithal to sort out the TMO.

      Delete
  38. The gardening man is used by her to carry out works for individual or groups of residents she favours.

    He has been speedily promoted through the TMO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 12.20 above.

      If this is true it is very serious. Has Robert Black or the Council investigated this allegation and if so how was the matter concluded? Has the Labour Group complained to the Council's Professional Standards Officer or to Nicholas Holgate. If not why not?

      Delete
    2. Don't expect anything from Labour in this Borough. They know that the TMO is detested by people. Yet they give ongoing support to the TMO by allowing one of their Councillors to become a Non Executive Director of the TMO.

      Delete
    3. Too true 08-50. The Kensington Labour Party is very keen on tenant mismanagement and cosigns Council tenants to a lifetime of hard knocks with KCTMO.

      Delete
    4. Imagine 5 years Hard Labour under Jeremy Corbyn + the TMO. It would be too much to bear.

      Delete
    5. Most TMO and RBKC officers are well aware of what Cllr. Simmonds is up to.

      They have no choice but to keep quiet if they want to keep their jobs.

      Delete
  39. All of this about the TMO is very interesting but don't forget that this started off about the plight of Grenfall Tower residents who have been seen of by Black and his sidekicks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Knowing what our elected councillors get up to is very much in the interests of all residents.

      Delete
    2. I thought the Grenfell Tower Residents wanted a full investigation of the TMO as every other TMO residents does.

      We all know the suspect behaviour that is taking place in the TMO totally endorsed by councillors.

      Delete
    3. A shocking state of affairs. William Hill would not give me odds on Black still being in post at the end of January.

      Delete
  40. It still more endemic than Black. Councillors meddle in TMO affairs for their own ends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Malignant Disease24 November 2015 at 20:56

      Rid Kensington and Chelsea of the cancer of Tenant Management.

      Delete
    2. Black is a massive part of the problem because he has solved nothing in all the years that he has been at the TMO.Meddling Councillors do not help.

      Delete
  41. We should all get rid of these councillors at the next election and vote the TMO out at the next consultation that the council hold.

    I believe it will be held next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here, here!

      What a shower these Councillors are. Labour & Tory Councillors should be ashamed for allowing the TMO to mess up housing. Get rid of the lot of them

      Delete
  42. I think we can safely say after reading everything on here that tenants are as dissatisfied with tenant management the Robert Black way as they were with it under Kingsford, Perry and Evans.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I hear that all we need for an EGM are 500 residents' signatures who are TMO members.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It can't be that difficult to achieve.

      Delete
  44. Black has been a real hit with tenants and staff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Black Friday at TMO Asset Management and TMO Repairs Direct27 November 2015 at 12:35

      Peter Maddison has seriously p*ssed off a lot of people.

      He has been a very big success for Robert Black

      Delete
    2. 50 Shades of Black27 November 2015 at 19:44

      The future for tenants is Black. Unlikely that things will get better with Brown

      Delete
    3. I have heard that money has been hidden from RBKC auditors.

      Delete
    4. Theresa Brown does not believe in resident engagement. Intimidating and threatening residents is her game.

      Delete
    5. 12.35 on Black Friday above - Don't forget that Peter Maddison started at the TMO under the current Executive Team. The TMO cannot blame forver former management teams and the Rawlings-led Board.

      Delete
    6. How can residents hope to expose the repulsive Peter Maddison and the other TMO bullies while they are protected by those with power at RBKC?

      Delete
    7. Councillors Dent Coad and Condon Simmonds should be shown up in public The pair of them were on the TMO Board together for at least six years. By failing to address matters of wrong doing by individuals working at the TMO they have been been complicit in protecting the TMO and its staff.

      Delete
  45. Calling Grenfall Action Groip28 November 2015 at 11:11

    Will the Grenfall Tower Action Group please tell The Dame what their Ward Councillors have done to help them with their problems with the TMO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nothing if past experience of councillors is anything to go by.

      Delete
    2. To Judith Blakeman:

      I strongly urge you to consider the latest post on the Grenfell Action Group blog:

      https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/grenfell-action-group-demands-new-kctmo-investigation/

      I would further urge you to consider a supporting post on the Hornet's Nest blog, paying particular attention to the many readers comments which follow that post:

      http://fromthehornetsnest.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/grenfell-action-group-calls-for.html

      Her response:

      Thank you Francis. I have read the blog but, despite your comment on Hornet, this is the first e-mail I have received from you. I am hoping to get a petition from Grenfell Tower residents asking for a full scrutiny of the whole process of refurbishment at the Tower delivered to the next Council meeting and also to place on the agenda a motion asking for rather more than the £50 compensation so far on offer to residents. Both these have been agreed with residents. Eddie, as you know, is away,

      Judith

      My riposte o 16 November:

      The support that you are currently giving to the residents of Grenfell Tower is, of course greatly appreciated. However the blog in question, severely critical of the TMO and referring back to the Memoli Report of 2009, suggests that a fundamental rethink of the management arrangements, and the relationship between RBKC and KCTMO, is urgently needed.

      I hope you will use whatever influence you have to create a stir in council circles.



      Since then nothing. Feel free to draw your own conclusions

      Francis (GAG)

      Delete
  46. Admirer of Francis.1 December 2015 at 20:48

    Keep up the good work Francis. Don't let Councillor Blakeman off the hook. It is good that Judith Blakeman is aware of what people think and that she admits to following this blog

    ReplyDelete
  47. Looks like she is going to be removed from the TMO Board because of her support for the Grenfell residents.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Run with the hare and keep with the hounds2 December 2015 at 08:12

    I shouldn't think Blakeman will be removed from the TMO Board. She knows how to keep the TMO sweet whilst being concerned for residents at the same time.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Admirer of Francis2 December 2015 at 08:21

    Francis is right ! A "fundamental rethink" of the management arrangements at the TMO is what is needed. Will Blakeman succeed in achieving the rethink and reforms that every resident demands? No.! (I may be wrong we shall let The Dame judge in due course.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cllr Blakeman is fully aware of the systemic and widespread abuse of residents in Grenfell Tower. The question is whether Blakeman has the guts to support residents using her position on the TMO Board to call for an independent investigation into the behaviour of TMO Officers such as Peter Maddison, Clare Williams and Siobhan Rumble and help to expose the horrific bullying of innocent Grenfell Tower residents and mis-management of the Grenfell Tower Improvement Works.
      If Cllr Blakeman fails to raise these concerns to her fellow TMO Board members then she will have totally failed her constituents and the TMO will be free to continue to abuse residents with impunity.

      Delete
    2. Peter Maddison is a name that recurs on here. Very worrying.

      Delete
  50. Sticking plaster or cure2 December 2015 at 10:24

    Judith Blakeman's approach with presenting a petition to the Council is good as far as it goes. It is a bit like putting a sticking plaster on the problem rather than devising better management arrangements.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Major surgery option2 December 2015 at 18:14

      Better management arrangements at KCTMO. It needs a complete organ transplant.

      Delete
    2. Clear Out The TMO Management Team.3 December 2015 at 07:03

      It would be better if Judith Blakeman called for another Memoli type investigation in to the TMO. She knows how bad it is. It would be very mealy- mouthed of her if she lets things rest with a residents petition.

      Delete
    3. Good to hear that Councillor Judith Blakeman is helping the Grenfall Action Group (GAG)

      She used to be Leader of RBKC Labour opposition. Can anyone tell me what her successes were when she was Leader of the RBKC Labour opposition?

      Delete
    4. She appears so far to have declined to do so.

      One has to wonder why.

      Delete
    5. Blakeman runs with the hare and hunts with the hound. She listens to residents but never actually upsets anyone at RBKC or the TMO by putting her head above the parapet.
      Sady for Blakeman the problems at Grenfell Tower and with the TMO Borough wide are so bad that residents will no longer tolerate her silence and collusion with her paymasters.

      Delete
  51. We copied recent posts on the GAG blog to all RBKC councillors. Today we were reliably informed that access to our blog from RBKC computers is blocked as spam. That would suggest that we have come of age and have joined the elite group of banned RBKC critics of which the Dame is an esteemed long time member.

    You have to wonder why they fear public lobbying and criticism so much.

    Francis
    Grenfell Action Group

    ReplyDelete
  52. On the Blacklist4 December 2015 at 21:00

    Francis,

    It is the biggest compliment when a Local Authority "Blacklists" an individual or a community group. It took me years to get Blacklisted at KCTMO. I am most disappointed that I have not been Blacklisted at the Council too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert Black has made a cock up of everything.

      Delete
    2. The buck stops with Black. A very complacent but insecure man.

      Delete
  53. Bring down the TMO7 December 2015 at 23:44

    We could perhaps mount an online petition expressing no confidence in Robert Black's TMO? if enough TMO tenants and leaseholders signed it, the councillors would have to take heed.

    ReplyDelete
  54. An online petition expressing a vote of no confidence in the TMO calling for an independent investigation is the way to go.

    ReplyDelete
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