RBKC REPORTS ON CARELESS CHELSEA CARE

Amusing that Sir Cockle, who proclaims grandly, ' Council business must be conducted openly' does as much as he can to hide yet another of his financial flops! Also interesting to note these two points emerging from the Report and the fact he tries to shove the blame on Mr Holgate-one of the best public finance men around.... anyway here is the link
A million down the tubes

The independent members of the Committee agreed that, in
hindsight, the venture was doomed to failure, from a commercial
perspective, from the start.  It was a plausible notion, albeit rather
optimistic, but the absence of a clear business plan covering how the
company would grow its private business meant that it never
achieved “escape velocity”.  Whilst they accepted the Council’s
deliberate wish to experiment and not to exercise direct control,
they felt that insufficient vetting of the business plan at the start
had been a fundamental mistake.
 
Typically, rather than taking the financial onus for the shambles which he, Sir Cockle, initiated and approved, he tries to shift the blame. Well, the Dame knows that officers from Finance were dubious from the outset about the viability of the project. But then who dares oppose Sir Cockle.....fortunately Cllr Palmer is 'on the case'; so that means danger ahead!



The Committee was pleased to hear from Mr. Holgate that key
lessons had been learnt and that the proposed Staff Mutual for the
Youth Service involved complete clarity at the start about the (more
substantial) minimum trade the Staff Mutual might get from the
Council.  
Subject to the above, the report was received and noted.