Those who have lost their homes and family members are in a state of shock.
What is their reaction when they see the scenes of violence acted out in the Town Hall?
It's doubtful that they feel it's doing them an iota of good in their time of despair.
In fact, if asked, they would probably wish that these people of violence would desist immediately for they do the cause of those suffering no good at all.
It's doubtful these masked people of violence, terrifying ordinary council staff or smashing up OUR property, have ever done much to remedy the democratic deficit.
This is the question...
ReplyDeleteThe names of the Chief Executive of the TMO and board members who signed off the disastrous work on Grenfell Tower. Yes, point the finger at the Council but Cllrs Dent Coad, Blakeman and Condon Simmonds signed off the cladding work
The question is why do the council sits on reserves of millions, yet fails to properly invest and manage its housing stock. Gross incompetence.
DeleteFor a TMO ex-insider you appear to know very little of how the company actually operates. TMO Board members do not sign off any works. In fact Board members are not meant to be involved in any day-to-day operational matters at all. And those who try tend to find themselves chastised by the senior, "professional", staff.
DeleteThe reason they're at the Town Hall is because the buck ultimately stops with the Council.
DeleteThe Council own the property. The Council were very much involved with the building's refurbishment. They helped come up with the plans for the refurbishment of the building and then signed those plans off, both as the property's owner and as the local planning authority. And should it turn out that the works were not carried out to a suitable standard they'd be guilty of having failed in their statutory role of ensuring that the works met the required building standards as well.
And that's before we come to the fact that they also did as much as the TMO to ignore the concerns of the residents over months if not years.
Methinks someone at the Council now wishes the TMO, including its Board, operated how they were supposed to, rather than how they do - as a mere extension of the Council, which is pretty much all they've been since 1996.
Deleteand why has our MP not condemned the violence aimed at these junior members of the Council staff. She claims to represent the entire constituency but clearly cannot control her Momentum mob
ReplyDeleteShe's out on the streets you idiot trying to co-ordinate the relief effort.
DeleteThe question rests, you prat. Why did she not condemn the violence against junior staff and more to the point, prat, why did she and her fellow board members sigh of the refurb of Grenfell House knowing it was a sprinkler free zone et all. Answer that, you fookin idiot
DeleteI spoke with an FBU rep today. Due to the nature of the blaze,due to the quality of the inferior cladding,sprinkler's would have been no good as there would have been enough water to contain that kind of blaze.I can't answer your question above as I am not on the board or council.
Delete'Would not'apologies for typo at00.27
DeleteDame maybe not but the council have been free to intimidate residents, also with subtle threats & allow developers to do the same.
ReplyDeleteAs usual Dame, great work with everything!
Yes - one of the candidates who stood as an Independent in Stanley Ward said to me that at the count Paul Warwick said to him ' Ill see you on the street '. Wouldn't it have been better to try and understand why they were compelled to stand against them. Absolute contempt for resident views.
DeleteThis is what happens when you fail to listen to people who have been under the cruel cosh of this administration for years. Complete lack of awareness from Nick Paget Brown - his comments today about the sprinklers infuriated the local community. Rock Fielding Mellon is a disgrace - i hope he feels guilty every time he looks out his window. Councillor Lightfoot hoarding money in the council coffers whilst the council cuts corners on health and safety. The culpability of Conservative Councillors allegedly fawning over property Developers , whilst ignoring those in need. A bunch of self interested self important dilettantes. Resign the lot of you
ReplyDeleteSome of the people at the town hall have lost relatives and they are desperate for some answers. The response from the council infuriated them. They did not storm the building - they walked in - only when the Police formed a cordon did it kick off. If they Health and Safety rules at Grenfell Tower has been adhered to . they wouldn't be at the Council en masse.
DeleteCome on, they are mainly Dent Coad's Momentum supporters looking for a chance to streetfight. These are the sort that peace and lightness Corbyn has as his vanguard.
DeleteBet Borwick's relieved - she couldn't handle this, She would have been overwhelmed by all the cameras and attention.
DeleteBet KCF Conservative Association will not be welcomed with open arms to the conference this October.
Tim Coleridge - lets not let him off the hook.
ReplyDeleteand let's not let Emma Dent Coad off the hook. She signed the Grenfell Tower works off KNOWING there were no sprinklers or alarms...incredible!
DeleteIn what capacity is she supposed to have signed off the works?
DeleteShe hasn't been on the board since 2012, well before these works to Grenfell were dreamed up.
And TMO Board members for all their many, many faults don't sign off any works to any buildings. There are "professionals" to do that.
Dent Coad was on board when tenants were complaining constantly about safety issues like lack of fire alarms. And, if the Board were consulted maybe they should have resigned en masse?
Deletesorry...not consulted.
DeleteI have a feeling you don't have much experience of what actually dealing with the TMO entails.
DeleteThe TMO do not provide any contact details for any members of the Board, whether resident, Council appointed or independent. Residents and RAs are expected to NOT contact Board members directly and Board members are advised not to talk to residents or RAs. Yes, really.
If you're a resident or an RA you are supposed to talk to customer services or a member of staff. They are the only official contact point for everything.
What members of the TMO Board get to see is therefore very much controlled by the staff. The papers tabled at Board meetings are written by either members of staff or the Council. All policies and strategies are dreamt up by either members of staff or the Council. Board members never write anything, rarely propose anything and certainly never table any papers at Board meetings they have written themselves. As has already been noted repeatedly elsewhere the Board is a sham.
If a resident or RA wishes to complain about a fire safety issue like fire alarms they will, in the first instance, complain to a member of staff, possibly a senior member of staff, possibly a technical member of staff, but a member of staff nonetheless. There is no guarantee that the member of staff will then pass that complaint "up the chain" and certainly no guarantee that it will be brought up at a Board meeting (guess what's likely).
Councillors serving on the Board are of course a different matter. Their contact details are available from the Council website so a resident or an RA could always contact them directly about any concerns they might have. They might then raise the issue with the most senior staff directly or at a Board meeting. But this has always been frowned upon and Councillors are clearly discouraged from doing so (as has already been noted elsewhere). Sadly even if a Councillor brings an issue up at Board there is only a very slim chance that the rest of the Board will treat the complaint seriously. The resident Board members wouldn't generally know any better. And even if they do they will probably be placated/fobbed off in some way by the staff.
Fire alarms are actually not an issue I would have expected residents or RAs to complain about. Some tenanted properties have had mains powered smoke and heat alarms fitted but most have not. None of the estates have communal/central fire alarms. It is unlikely they would complain about something they don't have and are unlikely to ever have. What they are probably complaining about however are broken fire doors, damaged emergency lights, vandalised dry risers and poor fire escape signage. All of which can be found in abundance. But if you can provide a citation I would certainly be interested in taking a look.
If I were a board member of a company that did not allow me oversight I would resign. By staying, impotently acting in a non role, I become the problem. It's that simple.
DeleteIdeally, yes. In practice, no.
DeleteEven if the whole Board resigned tomorrow and refused to get back on the only seat likely to remain vacant for very long is the one Council seat allocated to the Labour party. The TMO would quite happily operate under that regime.
Ultimately the only party in a position to make a meaningful change to the way the TMO is run is the Council, and thus the Conservative Party. But they've always been perfectly happy with the arrangement up to now. Will that change?
As a council employee I can fully understand why these people are so unhappy. It seems perfectly reasonable to protest at the Town Hall and demand answers and it's a little unreasonable to think that finding the doors shut, that they'd just turn back around and march off.
ReplyDeleteWell said.
DeleteYou are probably not a Council employee and if you are I doubt very much you were on the front line when the mob broke in. I have heard of other front office junior staff say they were terrified. There is no justification in terrifying young and guilt free staff
DeleteStop telling porkies
I understand that people are angry and quite rightly so. However, violence will not resolve anything even though they might think that their presence may speak volumes. This must be communicated to those that are affected by the tragedy. The only way to get justice for the Grenfell residents is to corner in those that are responsible with facts. It can't lie and this is the direction and focus it needs to move. TMO problems have been like a terrible oven grime you cannot shift but we now have the world focused on our landlord and the Council. I say, strike the iron while it's hot. Make them accountable!
ReplyDeleteSensibly put
DeleteI have read somewhere that the Council operates an arms-length-management. Very convenient, as often there is nobody at the end of the outstretched arm - nobody to take responsibility, blame or initiative..It is nothing but an awful mess, run by non-professionals.
ReplyDelete