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| HOLIER THAN THOU ATKINSON! |
Shane Carter writes
"I have total sympathy for the Grenfell survivors and for anyone who has lost family or friends or been in any way affected by the fire.
I fully appreciate that things are impossible when it comes to dealing with the Council and the TMO.
It is well known that I have no time for the TMO and regard it as a miserable, incompetent and deficient housing management contractor.
I am not a Christian but am pleased to hear Bishop Tomlin say that no one was excluded from the service. I was very disappointed to hear Councillor Robert Atkinson say on BBC Radio London that Elizabeth Campbell had been asked not to attend and he thought that she had made the right decision; adding "she has work to do."
I was particularly struck by a point that the Bishop made during his address to those gathered at the service - we should all try to love each other- a truly Christian sentiment that we should all aspire to regardless of religious beliefs.
When I listened to the media comment about Elizabeth Campbell not being welcome at the service, I came to the conclusion that she was "unwelcome" just because she is the Tory Leader of RBKC.
Declaring her unwelcome at an interfaith service says more about those who want her excluded than it does about anything she has or has not done.
I have twenty years ' experience working in social housing in London mainly for Labour Councils.
I can assure anyone who is dissatisfied with the RBK&C response to this situation that the London Labour Councils in which I have worked would have done no better in the aftermath of Grenfell Tower.
Housing Organisations and Councils are only as good as the people who work in them.
I am not a Christian but am pleased to hear Bishop Tomlin say that no one was excluded from the service. I was very disappointed to hear Councillor Robert Atkinson say on BBC Radio London that Elizabeth Campbell had been asked not to attend and he thought that she had made the right decision; adding "she has work to do."
I was particularly struck by a point that the Bishop made during his address to those gathered at the service - we should all try to love each other- a truly Christian sentiment that we should all aspire to regardless of religious beliefs.
When I listened to the media comment about Elizabeth Campbell not being welcome at the service, I came to the conclusion that she was "unwelcome" just because she is the Tory Leader of RBKC.
Declaring her unwelcome at an interfaith service says more about those who want her excluded than it does about anything she has or has not done.
I have twenty years ' experience working in social housing in London mainly for Labour Councils.
I can assure anyone who is dissatisfied with the RBK&C response to this situation that the London Labour Councils in which I have worked would have done no better in the aftermath of Grenfell Tower.
Housing Organisations and Councils are only as good as the people who work in them.
I can assure you that the calibre of Councillors and staff at RBK&C and the calibre of TMO workers is not all that different to any other local authority in London."
As usual, common sense from Shane
ReplyDeleteAs pointed out before, the decision not to invite the Conservative councillors came from the Survivors and the Bereaved Families and was nothing to do with the Bishop or with Labour. I am sorry Shane is unable to empathise with them.
ReplyDeleteThat is nonsense. The Labour Group led by Atkinson stirred up the various Grenfell groups into asking that Conservative councillors not be invited. It was politically engendered and motivated.
Delete17:26 There is a significant difference between you and Shane Carter.
DeleteShane identifies himself whilst you lurk behind the cloak of anonymity.
No one has worked harder than Carter to expose the TMO's incompetence. You need to select your targets with more care...oh, and tell us who you are...if you dare!
Very unlikely to have been Atkinson, more likely our MP who spends a lot of time with the survivors and the bereaved people. Except that she wasn't at the House of Commons hearing last Tuesday organised especially for Grenfell United to tell MPs of their experiences; about 50 turned up but no Kensington MP.
Delete17.26. "As previously pointed out," I most certainly empathise with teh Grenfell Survivors, bereaved relatives and any one affected by the fire. Seems you need a lesson in basic comprehension.
Delete@20.33 and 2.01 below. Does our MP tell the survivors what to do. I hope they realise that they are being used.
DeleteAtkinson and Dent Coad are exploiting the situation for their own ends.
DeleteI am a survivor from the fire. Emma and Robert are not doing anything to help me. They just want to moan about how bad the Council is. Helping me get a new place is not top of the list.
DeleteRBKC supposedly would have bought 300 properties by Chrismas at a rate of two properties a day....
DeleteSo 22.16, why do you think Robert Atkinson and Emma Dent Coad have "done NOTHING to help" the desperate survivor at 19.04?
DeleteHas he or she asked either of them for help?
DeleteI am sure that 19.04 has asked for help. 19.04 says that Emma and Robert are not doing anything to help. They just moan about the Council. Others have said they are using the survivors.
DeleteI would suggest it might be a good idea to give all of the parties in opposition some support in terms of a Secretary and researcher . This would ensure that no matter how small the representation , the opposition would be effective . Why has the Conservative administration refused requests from all parties for this - even in the wake of Grenfell . Not very democratic is it ?
DeleteIts absolutely ridiculous to suggest Emma and Robert have done'nothing' to help the survivors - you may feel they haven't helped you - but i know a long list of Grenfell Survivors that would contradict what you say .
DeleteDidn't Theresa May say she was taking charge and all the survivors would be rehomed in 3 weeks ? We have a Conservative Government and a Conservative led Council - they are the one's in charge - they are they one's to blame - .
DeleteWas on the silent march on Friday Night - not a Tory Councillor or former Mp in sight - don't think anyone told them not to attend - where were they ? Probably down the Maxilla having a barbecue with the Goldsmiths, guffawing about the 'poor ' outside , whilst slaking their thirst with a nice little bottle of 'champers '.
DeleteDon't be boring 13:18
DeleteCllr Blakeman would never have behaved as Cllr Atkinson has done. She is a decent human being and would cogently and intelligently persuaded survivor groups that Cllr Campbell be invited. Atkinson is a little man in every sense of the meaning!
ReplyDelete18.33 I also hold Judith Blakeman in very high regard. She is a decent, highly principled, person who cares about the community. I cannot say the same of all RBK&C Councillors.
DeleteI would be very surprised if anyone directly affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower got any comfort from excluding any Tory Councillors; including Elizabeth Campbell. If anyone got pleasure from excluding another human being from the service at St Paul's , it might be time for that person to ask "why" and address their inadequacies.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteJudith Blakeman is definitely a cut above Atkinson and Dent Coad.
DeleteUnlike other Councillors I could mention, Judith did not continue enjoying her holiday when Grenfell went up in flames, nor has used any Grenfell survivors for her own ends, nor has she been abusive to a Tory opponent.
DeleteThere you have it Ruby. Socialism is the most important overriding principle even if it means being underhanded with the survivors. God help us all.
Delete21.21 - Apart form calling the Conservative group 'murderers ' at the full council meeting .
Delete00.38 Neo Liberal Conservatism was the most important overriding principle in this disaster . Everyone else clearing up the awful Tory mess - and they still try and score silly points with unabashed public school arrogance - still don't know what they are doing.£420,000 to the Opera for a fire escape. Requests for the Maxilla to be reopened so the 5 year olds don't have to look at ' the Tower ', rejected - yet lets have The Goldsmiths sup Champagne in it - whilst those who care show their respects on the silent march in zero temperatures . Let them eat cake . Conservatives - Cold, Heartless, Uncaring , Selfish, Not Bothered are they . Have they come up with their plans to build on the site yet - i'll bet they have .
Delete18.33 - Bunkum - I can tell you now the survivors were 'not for turning ' in there feeling's towards Elizabeth Campbell - I'm sorry but you are still not getting the point - these feeling's will be there for generations . The genial paternal face of Conservatism went down the pan with Grenfell - the truth is out - one Law for those more well off in the borough than those who have less. The place, RBKC was run with the same kind of authority as 'Mugabe'. Lots of 'mistruths ' 'i mispoke' 'i misheard ' , I listen but I don't hear '. RBKC was run as a private fiefdom for corruption - you know who you are - and the cold hand of justice awaits . Unless of course there's the usual 20 year cover up - Hillsborough style.
Delete00.38 Conservatism is the most overiding principle , meaning we ignore survivors and see how much we can make out of this with our property developer accomplices - whilst ignoring survivors - how are all those poor people still in Hotels - whilst the Goldsmiths Quaff Champagne in the ashes of the Tower .
DeleteWhen Emma Dent Coad was on the TMO Board for four years she could have broken ranks to bring down the TMO. Why would a Socialist collude with a Tory Council in the oppression of working class tenants beats me.
DeleteSocialism is as much a joke as Conservatism.
Wait until the public inquiry - i think you'll find her position was 'waved away ' by those in charge of the Committee . Don't think EDC could ever be accused of 'colluding ' with those on the right . Go check your facts .
Delete13.16 Why did the Conservative administration - who set up the TMO - Never audit it properly. Why did they allow millions to be paid to consultants , instead of an extra 5k for flammable cladding for the Tower . There are suggestion in some places that this disaster was merely Capitalism gone mad . I know of lots of Tories who look at the site as a planning opportunity .The TMO was a puppet of the Conservatives Group . A managed decline of council assets - then sold off to the lowest bidder - and then hey ho - no ' oiky' council tenants to worry about - Had Dame Shirley been giving them tips ?
DeleteAs Conservatives we believe in no social housing - why should we pay for that lot to have subsidized housing. No one has ever helped me ( apart from my parents ) And we certainly don't believe in social housing in the most desirable parts of K and C. When are you lot going to understand we don't live in a equal society and i for one resent subsidizing anyone ( apart from my kids ).
DeleteWhat about the 'Royals ' then ?
DeleteWe need that land for more luxury flats - i can't get as good a price for my offshore tax funds - if these undesirables, with their pathetic little banners hang around much longer . Well done Theresa May and Alok. Before long we can move this lot to Bradford or somewhere - and get on with the real business of making money .
Delete13.39 Quite right - we have no reserves now - so we need to put in place some austerity measures to recoup that lost money !
DeleteNo matter how much this lot stamp and shout - our Conservative postal vote will make sure we retain power. We have lots of Tory voters abroad that do not want to see this ' rabble' given a voice. Business as usual i'm afraid for you lot . Go and buy a house with your own money.
DeleteTory is over.
DeleteAre Grenfell residents being used by left wing activists and politicians?
ReplyDeleteHave Grenfell residents been burnt to death by a 40 year old self serving Conservative administration.
DeleteToo right - can you imagine if the Conservatives were still in charge of Fire Regulation in the Borough - agghh - they are ! Can i ask if you'll be voting Conservative this year. Come home to 'real' fire - VOTE CONSERVATIVE !
DeleteAre Rock Fieldling Mellon and Paget Brown still drawing salaries ?
DeleteI am afraid our MP is attempting to use them, as are Justice4Grenfell, who have hi-jacked their name and is run by Socialist Worker and Revolutionary Communist extremists, with the assistance of our MP. I do not believe Atkinson is involved in any of this exploitation.And Grenfell United have distanced themselves from all this nonsense.
ReplyDelete11.10 I am not surprised that Dent Coad is trying to use the Grenfell Survivors for her own ends.I have seen left wing politicians use CND and Anti-Apartheid activists in the past .The trouble is that those who are used are taken in by left wing politicians and think that the user is on their side. Politics is a filthy business.
DeletePoliticians using the survivors stinks. They're the lowest of the low.
DeletePolitician's burning children to death in their beds is much worse.
DeleteI heard that Cambridge analytica - has links to the right wing Breibart .
Deletehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/23/donald-trump-cambridge-analytica-steve-bannon
DeletePolticians not protecting the less vunerable at the behest of their mates property profits is contemptible .
Delete12.11, 12.25, 13.03, 13.04, 13.08 comes across as manic.
DeleteEr its different people .
DeleteI can assure you that the calibre of Councillors and staff at RBK&C and the calibre of TMO workers is not all that different to any other local authority in London..
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right! All of these human dross wallow in the depths of the bottomless fetid Local Government employees swamp. They never get fired from anywhere; if they can't be moved horizontally to another Borough and continue as if nothing had happened, they return to the swamp and luxuriate there, with their mates, for a while, on full salary, allowances and expenses. It is in effect a job for life...
How can WE change this?
DeleteSee off Dent Coad and Atkinson for starters.
DeleteThink of the bereaved survivors before anything. It's Christmas for God's sake. Offer love, compassion and support.
DeleteStop playing politics with suffering people's destroyed lives. It is wrong that not all could come and grieve and that some were excluded by discrimination.
The left wing dregs are playing politics with desperate people's lives by using them.
Delete@23:13 That would be disastrous because self-serving Conservatives are incapable and don't do anything for us.
DeleteYou're wrong 23.13. Getting rid of the self serving, self possessed and silly game playing duo, Dent Coad and Atkinson does not mean that the replacement would have to be a Tory. What is wrong with Labour selecting an ethical human being to stand for election
DeleteSB is right. Had it not been for local government and TMOs, most of these people would be unemployed and unemployable. Hence the never ending horizontal shifting of these good for nothing people. Their inefficiency follows them like a fetid little fart - it just won't go away.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteEmma Dent Coad MP has an office worker specifically dedicated to assist Grenfell Tower Survivors and Bereaved Families. If the Survivor above has not contacted her office, he or she should do so now and will receive the assistance required. What Emma and Labour councillors cannot do is magic new homes out of thin air, given that the Conservative Council ignored their proposals over many, many years on how to provide more social and affordable housing in the borough.
ReplyDelete08.20. I am the person who has criticised Emma Dent Coad and Robert Atkinson for not helping me to get a new place. I knew neither of them until my home went up in smoke They have had their chance and blown it. So much for having a Labour MP.
DeleteI live in the 'South ' of the Borough for 30 years and have never met any of my Conservative Councillors -
DeleteI doubt what you say...do you want them to have a cuppa with you?
DeleteYup
DeleteEr - it wasnt Robert Atkinson who asked 'Dizzie ' to not attend it was the residents by their own volition . I think this is called listening to residents .
ReplyDeleteYea 'n' and you don't invite the 'murderers' or their accomplices ' to the funeral of those they killed. Anyway gives her more time for the opera.
ReplyDelete0059; Some were excluded because the survivors lay the blame for this mess at the door of those excluded.
ReplyDeleteSo Councillor Emma Dent Coad MP bares no responsibility for what was wrong with the TMO just because she is Labour.
DeleteShe was on the TMO for four years from 2008 to 2012
She knew that it was corrupt and not fit for purpose.
She was not responsible for any operational decisions regarding the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.
I'll tell you straight if no one else does. She feared that the Tories would privatise the social housing stock if the TMO folded. There was a rumour going round to this effect. She could not bare to see the last rump of Fabian Socialism in K&C privatised. If she had done her bit to make sure the TMO went down the tubes, especially as she knew that the TMO bullied tenants and was not fit for purpose, then Grenfell would not have been refurbished by the incompetent TMO and the penny pinching Council and 71 people might be alive today.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and Emma did not know that a faulty fridge-freezer would cause a fire and turn Grenfell Tower in to an inferno with 71 people dead and god knows how many with no home.
You Tory swine sickin me. I was refugee from Iran. I come to UK 6 years ago and got myself a flat in the Tower. Ok I had no money so council pay me. Then I get brochistis and have to go home to my country so I rent my flat out. Now the tenant don't pay my rent and he wants to claim all the stuff survivors get instead of me getting. It's not right. This Tory Gov is like fascist.
ReplyDeleteEr if you had bronchitis and you really were a 'scrounger ' or a real person , why would you not use the NHS, instead preferring to spend what money you had on a flight back to Iran - where allegedly you fled from in the first place ?
Delete14.58 Sounds like right wing 'breitbart' or ' Britain First ' trying to stir up hatred .
Delete14:58
ReplyDeleteAre you feckin' serious? You come here, scrounge a flat, don't pay the rent and then go back 'home' and sublet at a profit (I assume) taxpayers property.
You are the reason why Brits are swinging to the right.
No Irishman would write 'feckin' - FAKE PQST
DeleteI don't think these comments are genuine, they are just there to inflame the ultra-right. And I don't think the so-called survivor complaining about the lack of help is genuine either. He would have been assisted if he had actually contacted either Dent Coad or Atkinson. Everyone who has asked has been helped. If he is genuine, he is just making a generic complaint about the slow pace of rehousing people.
ReplyDeleteYou would, wouldn't you!!!!!!
DeleteAnonymous16 December 2017 at 11:10
DeleteI am afraid our MP is attempting to use them, (the surviors) as are Justice4Grenfell, who have hi-jacked their name and is run by Socialist Worker and Revolutionary Communist extremists, with the assistance of our MP. I do not believe Atkinson is involved in any of this exploitation.And Grenfell United have distanced themselves from all this nonsense.
16.50 FAKE POST
DeleteNothing fake about it. It is there
DeletePaget-Brown, Feilding-Mellen and Lightfoot are all still drawing their salaries. They have to attend one meeting every six months to qualify. That is why Paget-Brown and Lightfoot were at the last Council meeting. We won't see them again before May. Feilding-Mellen snuck into a meeting of the Investment Committee - which no one from the public ever attends - just to make sure the money keeps rolling in. Disgusting, all of them.
ReplyDeleteSame old , same old . Noses in trough.
DeletePiggy has resigned, Rocky & Lightfoot are deselected so why are they still drawing their salaries?
DeleteDear Dame,
ReplyDeleteWould one of your correspondents explain why there are so many disparate groups representing Grenfell people?
Is this an example of the left wing top dog mentality?
When people want control and cannot get it they form another group just for themselves and control that group instead. Surely, the left wing must know by now that this plays straight in to the hands of the divide and rule Tories. I
17.09. How does EDC manage all of these Groups?
DeleteIs she in all of them?
Does she prefer one lot to the other?
Has Victoria Borwick any official links to any of these groups or just the Goldsmiths quaffing Champagne in the Maxilla
DeleteWhat an inane comment 07.29. Victoria Borwick does not represent anyone anymore. Emma Dent Coad is a Councillor for Golborne and a Member of Parliament of sorts.
DeleteWhich Group does she support?
Which one is she less than keen on and why?
She supports Labour of course.
Delete08.14. Which Grenfell group does Emma Dent Coad represent.
DeleteJustice4Grenfell.
Grenfell United
or some other splinter group.
The Marxist one. She claims she is left wing but she does not think like a left winger.
Deletehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5185181/Hooded-gang-storms-celebrity-party-near-Grenfell-Tower.html
ReplyDeleteMany people who have contributed on this page have not taken heed of what Bishop Tomlin said during his address to the congregation at the interfaith and non- faith service at St Paul's last week. He advocated that we should "value" each other. Advocates of Socialism should have been pleased with that sentiment because sincerely "valuing" everyone's contribution is a socialist principle.
ReplyDeleteI have worked hard for my money. Now Labour plan to divert, through punitive taxation, my savings to support a load of scroungers who should never have been allowed in the country in the first place. We look after these 'refugees' at the expense of our own people
ReplyDeleteIf Grenfell tower is how you look after your ' own people ' then no thanks .
DeleteI have worked hard for my money . I don't want it squandered on Fire Escapes for the Opera when we have homeless citizens living on our streets.
ReplyDeleteMost should not be here or in K&C
DeleteWhy ?
DeleteUnfortunately the economic situation has been brought about by 40 years of Conservative mismanagement . If they had properly maintained RBKC assets , instead of bunging their mates cushy 'consultancy 'jobs at well over the going rate , they might not have had to empty the council coffers . This was a Conservative disaster .Inept failed out of date economics .
ReplyDelete21.48 Unfortunately 'valuing ' everyone's contribution - does not include those who have colluded to make this disaster happen the first place . This is the administration that said ' we listen but we don't' hear '.If only they had listened.
ReplyDelete01.05. Such right wing hatred.
ReplyDelete07.04 and 07.07. A main class war socialist.
If it makes the pair of you happy, what can I say.
Try masturbation instead.
If only EDC had "listened" when people told her about the TMO. We might not be where we are today. It is difficult to value her contribution. Masturbation might be better
DeleteUnfortunately the reins of power lay with Victoria Borwick and the Cons. Let's kill the elephants .
DeleteIf only Paget Brown , Feilding Mellon, Lightfoot, and all of the ruling Conservative administration had listened to the residents. Who signed off on the internal cladding eh ! ' This is another fine mess they have got us into .
DeleteUnfortunately Emma Dent Coad and Judith Blakeman were both complicit in tenant management and its failings. If only they had done things differently, we might not have the TMO today.
DeleteI don't want my money spent on possible 'murderers' who turn up to Council meeting once every 6 months just to draw a salary .
ReplyDeleteanon 7.10 Methinks you are mistaken . comments on 7.04 and 7.07 are merely statements about taxation and economic mismanagement - where does the 'class war ' come into it ? You just can't face the truth .Why don't you go and try a bit of 'onanism ' - might relieve all that stress you seem to be bottling up.
ReplyDelete07.14 Economics is not an exact science but your rantings do not reach the dizzy heights of economic analysis. If you do a GCSE Adult Education Course in Economics at K&C College they will teach you how to do basic economic analysis. It seems you cut your teeth in a Trotskyite summer school.
DeleteLSE actually.
Delete08.11 LSE, I don't think so.
DeleteThe reason why the TMO consistently got North Korean-style votes each year for it to continue to manage the council housing stock was because the alternative was transfer it all to either Notting Hill Housing or Catalyst Housing, neither renowned for their care for their tenants. Plus the myth that it was a "tenant-led" organisation. In fact it is/was a "tenant-led-by-the-nose" organisation, entirely run by its executive team. The most notorious of this team was not Robert Black (who delegated and did not know what was happening) but Sacha Jevans, who still remains in post (as does Robert Black, a very expensive supernumary doing nothing for lots of money).
ReplyDelete08.26 well said.
Delete8.26 As Black was the CEO, he should have known what was going on in the TMO and everything that Jevans did. If he did not know what was going on then he should not have been there.
ReplyDeleteJevans will have to be dragged screaming from that job. No one else is going to give her a job after this.
Has Birch gone yet?
Is Maddison still there?
Isn't Robert Black supposedly assisting Sir Martin Moore-Bick with the Inquiry.
DeleteBlack is supposed to be assisting the Inquiry. How many Assistants are assisting him and how much are they all being paid?
DeleteBirch and Madison have gone, with money. Black and Jevans are still there.
ReplyDelete@17:29 Who are you and how do you know?
DeleteMr Maddison is still on the KCTMO website as shown below:
Assets and Regeneration
The Assets and Regeneration function within the TMO is led by Peter Maddison.
We are responsible for the full range of property management services including:
Strategic Investment and Asset Management
Capital Investment
Planned Maintenance
Responsive Repairs
We are responsible for the long-term condition of TMO managed Council properties, which means ensuring that major works and maintenance are carried out in a cost effective, timely manner.
Major works are undertaken under the capital investment programme and include improvements, modernisation and programmed repairs to homes. The Assets and Regeneration team is responsible for all the work from initial surveying and consultation, to appointing contractors, managing and the monitoring of works on site and receiving feedback on completion.
The management of mechanical and electrical maintenance is also carried by the team including maintenance of communal and individual heating systems, drainage systems and lifts. It is also responsible for day to day repairs, aids and adaptations and voids.
17.29. Any idea how much Maddison was paid to go.
ReplyDeleteThe TMO leaks like sieve. When we find about the pay offs for Birch and Maddison, it should stop the TMO from paying Jevans and Black large sums to go. Why have the Councillors not insisted that Jevans is shown the door?
ReplyDeleteWhen you say "When we find about the pay offs..." has anyone asked for this information already? Do come back and let us know if so.
DeleteI would like this information. Unfortunately, details of expenditure incurred by the TMO, in its capacity as a Company, cannot be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Delete21.45. The TMO has more secrets than Freemason Hall.
Delete@06:19 Is that an assumption or do you know more for sure?
Deletei know for sure.
Delete@08:16 Can you think of a way to spill the beans? Not necessarily here but whatever effective method that may be? Media is always interested sensational info. Make us happy for 2018!
DeleteRe Robert Black helping Sir Martin Moore-Bick, wasn't Cllr Blakeman sacked from the TMO Board for speaking to the police and thus undermining the TMO's "wish to act in a co-ordinated way"? She must have scuppered that attempt at a cover-up.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Peter Maddison and Sasha Jevans still in work at the TMO -
ReplyDeleteWere this the pair who were found guilty of bullying Grenfell Tower residents about the refurbishment works?
RBKC informed us:
ReplyDelete"THE KCTMO DON'T THINK THEY HAVE DONE ANYTHING WRONG"
Its all in the hands of the solicitors.
Such psychopathic organisation!
DeleteI just don't get it. The Tory Prime Minister told the Commons just days after the fire that the TMO was not for for purpose. I think we are all agreed about that. The TMO is not fit for purpose because its management are not fit for the purpose of running a TMO. Therefore, Black, Jevans, Maddison and Matthews need to be got rid of and replaced with some competent people until the TMO is dissolved.
DeleteWhy has our Labour MP not done anything to get rid of TMO management so that temporaries can be appointed?
16.49. Done nothing wrong, eh. It is not the first time that I've heard Robert Black say that.
Delete@21:52 TMO will be going but we had to put a stop to it at the AGM for now unfortunately. We needed time to think how the housing stock will be managed first which is a complex matter. Strange but true.
DeleteBut we are lumbered with the TMO indefinitely.
Delete@23:21 Not indefinitely. We are still with TMO for now. Do not despair. Desparation attracts negativity. Know that it will be done.
DeleteBARBARA MATTHEWS - Does anyone have any direct examples of complaints about Barbara Matthews they can share here, our experience of her work has been appalling.
ReplyDeleteThe Matthews woman is in charge of Leaseholder Services and is responsible for service charge overcharging on a massive scale. Her work is appalling as is the work of Ward, Wood and Cunningham. Needs to be investigated by an Accountant that can do figures.
DeleteHas BARBARA MATTHEWS - been investigated? Has anyone successfully investigated her activity and complained about her conduct?
Delete10.00 I am sure people have complained to the TMO about Leaseholder Services (BARBARA MATTHEWS and others.) I know that I have. It does do anyone any good complaining about Leaseholder Services because Matthews Wood, Ward and Cunningham beat about the bush to hang on to their jobs instead of admitting that they are not capable.
DeleteDoes anyone have any experience of the three stage KCTMO complaints process for KCTMO staff?
ReplyDeleteMany of us have and complaint department blatantly lies in writing too. You know I think we ought to compile a repair complaints list. Some have been complaining about repairs for many years. These are very easy to find. Just speak to random tenants. It won't take long to find such cases.
DeleteFrom The Times
ReplyDeletehttps://outlook.live.com/owa/?path=/mail/sentitems/rp
From The Times
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/07b94c2c-e5cf-11e7-a07e-b2db9e9d66b2
This tells the investigation exactly what it needs to know: REMUNERATION was his only reason for doing the job
Delete@17.06
DeleteThat's right.
How dare he think about his coffers in retirement when 71 people have died on his watch.
No wonder that this Elaine woman is telling people the TMO has done nothing wrong.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/07b94c2c-e5cf-11e7-a07e-b2db9e9d66b2
ReplyDeleteCan anyone post this article?
DeleteDid you know that the TMO paid £ 11, 000 in to the pension pot of Yvonne Birch when she decided to go?
ReplyDeleteI think it is time to withhold from paying the rent collectively.
DeleteThis is what they had to say about Robert Black in Scotland on the Sunday Herald
ReplyDelete16th June 2017
Scots boss of company responsible for Grenfell had share in £760,000 salaries
17 comments
By James Hamilton
THE Scottish boss of the management company responsible for Grenfell Tower took a share of £760,000 in salaries for managing properties in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Four members of senior management at Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO), including chief executive Robert Black, shared the sum, although a breakdown is not known.
Mr Black took office in 2009, following his role as executive director of Services at Circle Anglia, which is responsible for services for 45,000 homes across seven companies.
According to reports, the father-of-two lives in a £1 million house in South East London with his wife of almost 20 years.
He attended Gray’s School of Art (RGIT), which is part of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen between the years of 1977 — 1982, gaining a diploma and post-graduate degree.
Herald Scotland:
Previously, he attended Whitehill Secondary School, a comprehensive, non-denominational secondary in Dennistoun, Glasgow, from 1971 to 1977, according to his Linkedin account.
In a financial breakdown, the accounts show KCTMO turned over £17.6m last year and recorded total income of £4.4m, up from £3.5m in 2015.
Accounts show that the company had previously been slapped with enforcement notices from the fire brigade following a blaze at a neighbouring high rise block.
Following a fire at Adair Tower, put down to arson, KCTMO was ordered by London Fire Brigade to provide self-closing devices “on all flat front doors and to improve fire safety in the escape staircases”.
Fire authorities also issued the same enforcement notice for the nearby Hazelwood Tower, according to KCTMO’s latest published accounts.
Accounts for the year to March 31 2016 also show Grenfell underwent a £10 million refurbishment, with the cash used for the installation of insulated exterior cladding, double glazed windows and a new communal heating system.
Overall KCTMO was handed £11 million last year by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to manage its housing stock which consists of 6,900 rentable homes and over 2,500 leasehold properties.
17 comments to follow
Comments
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Malcolm McCandless16th June 09:37:03 BST
Obscene.
Last Updated: 16th June 19:27:58 BST
charles gray16th June 11:19:19 BST
To say the least, Malcolm ! I wonder how Mr B. manages to sleep !
Last Updated: 16th June 19:28:04 BST
george paterson16th June 11:32:30 BST
charles gray When he looks at the financial rewards from his shareholding portfolio he won't bat an eye and probably sleep with deep satisfaction.
Last Updated: 16th June 19:28:10 BST
John McMahon16th June 21:04:10 BST
I think we'll find the use of these panels was perfectly legal. |Government in the last 7 years have blocked legislation to improve safety........I suggest you direct your ire towards those responsible
colin alexander16th June 11:44:40 BST
It's also obscene that Martin Armstrong CE of Wheatley Group housing here in Glasgow and now spreading across Scotland like a corporate housing empire is on a remuneration package of a quarter of a million courtesy of the SNP Scottish Govt funding his massive salary and his massive business empire with our houses and our money.
No surprise for me that as soon as UK Labour brought out policies such as a pay differential cap that the SNP haemorrhaged votes to Labour.
The SNP were just lucky this time that the incompetent Kezia Dugdale of the anti-Corbyn, Scottish Red Tories told people to vote Tory.
160 million of our money given to help people buy houses?
Why? If people can afford to buy houses then they shouldn't be getting extra help when vital services are struggling
That's money that could be spent building houses for rent for people that can't afford to buy houses.
160 million extra for our NHS.
This is not an SNP bashing article: they do deserve credit due for houses for rent that are being built and for ending the right to buy Tory policy.
I voted SNP. But if the SNP don't up their game they will be on a downward spiral.
James Brown16th June 13:22:25 BST
colin alexander says. "I voted SNP."
Aye, right.
Last Updated: 16th June 19:28:36 BST
Paul Brownsey16th June 14:58:54 BST
You think other posters lie?
Last Updated: 16th June 21:31:17 BST
Bob McTavish16th June 16:09:49 BST
Why are you defending a statement that is indefensible?
Last Updated: 16th June 17:16:56 BST
george paterson16th June 21:11:37 BST
James Brown So east to detect a phoney! It's a great ploy to support your actual intentions!.
george paterson16th June 11:28:38 BST
Seems shares and dividends are more important than the lives of ordinary citizens. Interesting, The follow up to this disaster will be a Public Inquiry rather than an Inquest. This, as I understand, means the Government will be in control of any issues rather than a judiciary of legal opinions. Will this be another Hillsborough?
Last Updated: 17th June 08:37:16 BST
Peter Moseley16th June 12:02:33 BST
An inquest is narrower than a public enquiry and does not apportion blame or criminal responsibility which what is needed in this case. A wide ranging public inquiry is exactly what is needed to find cause as well as culpability.
Last Updated: 17th June 09:14:41 BST
Alex Morton16th June 13:18:08 BST
tick up for you, peter. There's a first!
Last Updated: 16th June 19:29:13 BST
Keith McDonald16th June 17:23:41 BST
Totally agree with you Peter.
First time for everything!
Last Updated: 16th June 19:29:16 BST
John. Davidson16th June 18:00:56 BST
Public inquiry forget that. It should be a criminal investigation Peter.
Last Updated: 17th June 14:42:47 BST
Comments
ReplyDeleteKeith McDonald16th June 17:21:34 BST
It would help if the Media stuck to the relevant facts, and stopped trying to be sensational, throwing around figures like this.
What IS important is who is actually responsible and will they be held to account? What responsibility does local and/or National Government have and will they also be taken to task?
Last Updated: 17th June 01:31:19 BST
John. Davidson16th June 17:54:58 BST
From an engineers point of view here folks. Everybody is going on about a sprinkler system . Industrial sprinkler systems would have been deemed to expensive. That is why a system has been developed that is tied into a household water system. It's not a powerful sprinkler . The water comes out as a fine mist which covers everything evenly. I am not for one minute suggesting everybody would have been saved but l am sure more people would have had a far better chance of survival. My concern now is that cowboy companies will spring up offering sprinkler system.
Last Updated: 16th June 19:30:03 BST
[Deleted]16th June 18:22:03 BST
[Deleted]
Last Updated: 16th June 22:24:40 BST
Carolyn Cowan16th June 19:19:44 BST
I completely agree with you
Last Updated: 16th June 21:14:45 BST
george paterson16th June 21:23:04 BST
The cover up has started. Theresa May in real public anger so they trot out the queen and a prince to sustain the power of the Establishment. The queen is more likely to regain Public credibiliy than the coward, May. Theresa no longer in a Jaguar but in a bomb proof Land Rover. Do I detect she is in danger? You had better believe she is. This woman is a liability and will hopefully be gone a.s.a.p. Rejoice all those Tory MPs from Scotland. You are supporting a coward and an incompetent. A "strong, stable " PM ? Aye that will be right!
Last Updated: 17th June 08:38:37 BST
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/15352145.Scots_boss_of_company_responsible_for_Grenfell_had_share_in___760_000_salaries/#comments-anchor
I am disgusted that this Black bloke is grubbing around to protect his pension. 71 people dead with hundreds of Grenfell residents spending Christmas in B&B hotels and he thinks about his pension. It's indecent.
ReplyDeletePensions are part of people'e employment package. When you do a job badly you get the sack and the pension contributions end with the employment. It has always been this way. Robert Black has headed up a failing organisation since 2009. He should get his cards not a pension.
My heart bleeds for Black. If he has to go now, his pension settlement will be reduced by 35%. Small price to pay for the mess he has made of vulnerable people's housing and the loss of lives at Grenfell.
ReplyDeleteGrenfell Tower chief Robert Black refuses to resign because he would get smaller pension
ReplyDeleteDominic Kennedy, Investigations Editor
December 21 2017, 12:00am, The Times
Robert Black, who is still a board member of the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, would lose out significantly if he quit
The Grenfell Tower housing chief has refused to resign because he wants to protect his pension benefits.
A board member who is reluctant to give Robert Black any form of golden handshake was suspended for separate reasons before a meeting at which the issue was expected to be discussed.
Mr Black was chief executive of the company under investigation by police for the alleged corporate manslaughter of the 71 people killed in the fire. He has stepped down from the top job but his continued presence on the payroll has distressed survivors.
The Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which ran the tower, has publicly defended keeping Mr Black, claiming that he was needed to concentrate on helping the police investigation and judge-led inquiry. It emerges, however, that the sticking point was his pension, which would be reduced by 35 per cent if he quit.
The organisation’s board has been secretly considering how to persuade him to leave, including making a top-up payment to protect his retirement income. The company has already paid up to £11,540 towards the pension of Yvonne Birch, the organisation’s executive director of people, performance and governance at the time of the fire. She has now retired early.
There were scenes of fury outside the annual meeting of the management company in October when the crowd learnt that Mr Black was still receiving a salary.
Board members were told that Mr Black was unwilling to resign because his pension lump sum and annual payment would be 35 per cent lower if he took them early.
Ms Birch’s payment was approved by the company’s three-strong appointments and remuneration committee.
The organisation suspended Maria Escudero-Barbaza, a tenant representative, as a director by email on Friday evening. She was banned from attending the board meeting on Monday. She was accused of talking about boardroom business outside the meetings, which she denies.
Ms Escudero-Barbaza, a retired Royal Mail worker, was the last board member representing the Lancaster West estate where the tower stood. She said of Mr Black’s pension: “They are doing something about it and maybe that’s why they didn’t want me at this meeting because they know already I am not going to go for it.”
Judith Blakeman, a ward councillor for Grenfell Tower since 1978, was expelled from the board of the management organisation in October after speaking to the media about management failings. The tenant management organisation was stripped of responsibility for Lancaster West estate by the local council in August.
Ms Blakeman said: “If senior staff are leaving with enhanced payments from the housing revenue accounts that should be run past the residents first because that’s their money.”
The tenant management organisation said that its key function was to assist the investigations: “We are fully engaging with the police and the public inquiry. The board and everyone at KCTMO are determined to continue to be open, functional and offer their full co-operation to all those involved in finding out what happened at Grenfell and to ensure such awful events cannot happen again.”
•The judge heading the public inquiry has asked all organisations connected with the management and refurbishment of Grenfell Tower to outline their roles and responsibilities and state with whom they entered into sub-contracts. Sir Martin Moore-Bick is planning a further preliminary hearing for the end of next month.
@22:14 Thank you for posting
ReplyDeleteI would like to see Robert Black seen off with his pension reduced by 35%. No less than he deserves.
ReplyDeleteSo much for staying on at the TMO to assist Sir Martin Moore-Bick. He stayed on to protect his pension.
13.11. In any other business Black would have got the sack. Instead he is going on about a reduced pension.
DeleteAs the CEO responsible for KCTMO surely Robert Black should be stripped of every penny and benefit paid to him going back years?
DeleteHe won't be needing pension in prison anyway. Everything will be provided and taken care of till he dies. If tptb won't jail him, there is always a self-imposed prison such as cancer. He'll have plenty of time to contemplate on his 'achievements'.
DeleteFOI REQUEST REPLY - RBKC HOUSING STOCK
ReplyDeleteYu, Robin: CP-ICT: RBKC, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
15 December 2017
Dear Sir/Madam
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REF: 2017-1269
I am responding to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which we received on 21 August 2017, for information held by the Council.
Your request is as follows:
1. The total number of tenanted and leasehold properties currently within
RBKC?
We don’t hold this information as we only hold information on the
properties that we manage (see below)
2. The total number of tenanted and leasehold properties currently
within RBKC managed by KCTMO?
General Needs homes: 6618
Housing for Older People 172
Hostels 62
Other (key worker, non-social housing, etc) 10
Leasehold properties 2594
KCTMO also manage the travellers’ site at Stable Way.
3. The total number of properties currently within RBKC under
self-management?
We assuming you are referring to options like TMOs – so all of the above
are managed by a Tenant Management Organisation.
4. The total number of tenanted and leasehold properties currently under
consideration of redevelopment by RBKC within RBKC?
The Council has no current redevelopment proposals affecting residential
property it owns or controls. All previous potential projects are either
on hold pending future review or are deleted.
5. The total number of RBKC housing stock under notification of
regeneration?
None
6. The total number of RBKC social housing stock (homes) that have been
sold to private concerns for redevelopment in the last five years?
None
7. The current total square footage of all tenanted and leasehold housing
stock within RBKC?
The TMO we cannot fully answer this question. Information on the square
footage of their properties is held for some but not all homes.
Complaints
I trust this has satisfied your request. Should you be unhappy with the
handling of your request, the Council has an internal complaints process
for handling FOIA complaints. Complaints are reviewed by the Chief
Solicitor and Monitoring Officer or her nominee. A form is available from
our website to lodge your complaint [1]http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/councilanddemocra...
Please contact us if you do not have website access and we can provide you with a copy of the form. Following this review, should you still be
unhappy with how your information request has been handled, you have a
further right to appeal to the Information Commissioner who is responsible for ensuring compliance with FOIA.
Yours faithfully
Robin Yu
Information Governance and Management Officer
Shared ICT Service
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX
Tel: 020 7938 8226
Dear Grenfell leasefholders, If you are having difficulties with TMO regarding negotiation, I have a proof that TMO makes it up as they go along regardless of existing contract so if you are unable to demand what you want, they are discriminating you. If you want to discuss, tell me how I can get in touch with you.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Dent Coad doing about the TMO Pensions' Gravy Train? It takes Blakeman to speak about anything of any importance.
ReplyDelete@09.36 knowing EDC she won't do anything to see off a working man.
DeleteDid you all get a letter from RBKC & TMO re: invitation to a consultation on 10th Jan? They now say, cannot guarantee if they can stick to MMA but service will continue by handing it over to the Council.
ReplyDelete@18:15 can you please post the letter on FTHN?
DeleteThe TMO is handing everything over to RBKC at the end of January. So many of the best staff (the lower orders) have left that they cannot now deliver under the terms of their contract with the Council.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know that the TMO is handing over the management of Housing to the Council?
DeleteAs long as Black, Jevans and Maddison and Matthews are not handed over to the Council as well.
@19:31 Black, Jevans, Maddison and Matthews will not be able to do the job from their prison cells.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine Black and Maddison sharing a cell in Pentonville?
DeleteBlack might ask for a transfer to Barlinnie.
Delete@09:08 How about a transfer to Wandsworth prison?
DeleteI think they still have slopping out in HMP Wandsworth. Black and Maddison slopping out together, yeah that's right.
DeleteThe TMO Board finally recognised that it is not fit for purpose. The handover to the Council is temporary, pending the outcome of the consultation with residents as to how they wish to go forward. The senior management team will not be transferred. The worry now is how much they will be paid to go away, if the Birch and Black examples are followed.
ReplyDelete09.28. Happy Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThe TMO Board suspended the woman Board Member who opposed any payments to ameliorate Robert Black's loss of pension rights. How do we know that they have not done a deal behind this good woman's back to make good Black's pension losses.
Glad to hear that this Jevans, Black, Maddison and Matthews are not being transferred to the Council. Are they getting generous severance pay? I bet they are but they shouldn't get a penny. It is not unlawful to sack incompetent people from their jobs. They should have all got the sack because anyone who knows anything about their bullying of tenants knows of their legendary incompetence.
Emma Dent Coad MP should follow Harriet Harman's example. Harriet, at every turn in the media and in parliament, exploited the pension settlement that RBS paid to Sir Fred Goodwin, Fred the Shred. The Court of Public Opinion made sure that Fred the Shed had to repay a large amount of his enhanced pension back to RBS thank to Harriet Harman's campaign.
ReplyDeleteEmma Dent Coad MP should start by demanding, in parliament, that Birch repays the £ 11, 000 enhancement that she retired on. I know £ 11, 000 is a drop in the ocean to Emma Dent Coad but they should not get any frills for leaving the TMO and for destroying people.
Merry Christmas one and all
ReplyDeleteLet us all hope Emma Dent Coad starts doing the work required to sort out the financial gains senior management may hope and try to take when they leave KCTMO.
Robert Black, Barbara Mattews, Peter Maddison, Sacha Jevans
23.24. Emma Dent Coad has been a major disappointment.
DeleteShe had ‘form’
Delete23.24 useless but she thinks she's doing a good job
DeleteDon't worry Emma Dent Coad has the parliamentary constituency of Kensington on loan. The very constituency that is in her DNA. She will be out at the next election.
DeleteIs it true that when the housing is given back to the Council Black, Jevans, Maddison and Matthews will not be transferred to the Council but they will remain on the TMO's payroll in order to receive their salaries and make pension contributions?
ReplyDeleteGravy train tell me it's not true that they are going to be paid when the housing is transferred to the Council.
DeleteAre the tenants on the TMO Board still going to be paid their expenses allowance?
DeleteIt is time for all of them to be honest and to declare to the DwP that these payments are not really expenses. None of them incur £ 140 a month in expenses. Some Board Members with Pensioners Bus Passes brag that the TMO expenses allowance pays for their fags.
Gravy Train.
DeleteDoes anyone know how the Birch's £ 11, 000 pension supplement was calculated?
Sounds about right. Black, Jevans, Maddison and Matthews staying on at the TMO pretending to work after the Council has taken over and still getting paid.
I think more about what we are getting rid of, corruption, lying, bullying, incapable staff, than what we are getting. Neither the Board or Executives must be allowed to profit and that includes Black.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Dame,
ReplyDeleteI hope you've had a restful break and your staff are recovered.
Dear Dame, please can we find a way to curb wicked people being wicked here? Hateful lies have being spewing out while you've been away, from people pretending to be Iranians and Irish or pretending to have ever met someone in receipt of state benefits, let alone listened to a word such a person might say, and then confusing job seekers allowance with an old age pension. It all takes up so much space!
With very best wishes for 2018.
11.20 We do not need any more politics of the underdog. EDC
Delete11.20. Many of the Council tenants on the TMO Board are on means tested social security benefits, (Income Support, Pension Credit, Income Based JSA, and Working Tax Credit with Housing Benefit).
ReplyDeleteSocial Security and RBKC Housing Benefits need to consider how much of the generous monthly stipend paid to TMO Board members really is expenses and how much of it is, in reality, an income that should have been calculated when determining means tested benefits.
19:25 What on earth else would anyone do it for? Meagre for meagre
ReplyDelete19.31.
DeleteScrew the residents,
get an expenses allowance,
and tell the social a tall story
Nicholas Holgate had to go on the orders of the Secretary of State for running a dreadful relief effort for Grenfell victims.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Barry Quirke, the boy sent from Lewisham to save the Borough, failed to ensure that his minions paid £ 140 so that those in B&B could have a decent Christmas Dinner. Quirke should now do the walk of shame.
Quirke is totally unimpressive.
ReplyDeleteI know Quirke of old. He has never impressed me but he is fireproof because the Secretary of State would have to admit that the made a mistake sacking Holgate.
ReplyDeleteQuirke should be out. if he cannot make sure that £ 140 is doled out to the Grenfell people for Christmas day lunch the he is not up to much at all.
DeleteMore poor people burned to death in their homes, this time in New York.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Campbell is impressed by him.
ReplyDeleteWill KCTMO staff and management be "decanted" into RBKC?
ReplyDeleteLetter from Kim Taylor Smith received this morning setting out the transfer of KCTMO services to RBKC.
Under the Transfer of Undertakings Public Employees (TUPE)regulations the staff of the TMO have to be transferred into the employ of RBKC. This means that they are then only entitled to the statutory minimum redundancy and pension payments, which means no 37% pension enhancement. And it means BKC can then give notice after 6 weeks to any former TMO staff they wish to get rid of. But the transfer will not happen take place before 1 February 2018, by which time the TMO Board will have approved massive handouts to "let go" of all its most senior staff.
ReplyDelete12.45 Exactly what I thought.
DeleteTUPE stands for Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations.
I hope the TMO Board does not give "massive handouts" to get rid of the bullies. Black, Maddison, Jevans and Matthews should leave with their P45's. The Birch got £ 11, 000
DeleteCome on, we have to make this 200!
ReplyDeleteApparently Jevans has not been seen for some time. Maddison went some time ago. Birch has had a generous payout for early retirement to spend more time with her grandchildren. Which leaves Black and Matthews. Did Black get his 35+% pension enhancement at the last TMO Board meeting?
ReplyDeleteBARBARA MATTHEWS MUST BE HELD TO ACCOUNT
ReplyDelete