THAMES WATER BRINGS SEWAGE AND DEAD RATS INTO FLATS

Tommy Stadlen, the well-known technology investor, briefed the FT over Thames Water's gross dereliction in maintaining infrastructure. This has resulted in an in-depth analysis by the FINANCIAL TIMES

Stadlen, another victim of the floods, should be thanked for alerting the FT to Thames Water's appalling stewardship of our one-time assets.

Will the article embarrass Thames Water's board? 

Probably not: after all, the TW chairman, Ian Marchant, seemed quite unembarrassed at being fined £10 million for corporate miss-selling whilst CEO of SSE, the Scottish utility. 

Thames Water has agreed to an Independent Expert Group reviewing its performance at the time of the July 12th floods. 

The chairman is Mike Woolgar. Mr. Woolgar works for WS Atkins. Atkins benefits from £50 million contracts with Thames Water. 

We must assume that Mr. Woolgar will be totally impartial.

Willis Towers Watson, Thames Water's brokers have already pre-empted the results of Mr. Woolgar's group. 

All claims are being rejected by WTW who say there was no negligence on the part of Thames Water!

RBKC & THE STRANGE CASE OF THE WORKARY

                Cllr Faulks left and Fletcher right

THINK, in its typically forensic way, has looked into the backgrounds of some of the 'entrepreneurial characters' who certain Councils have gone into partnership with....it makes mysterious reading.

You can read HERE

The Workary case is one for the Scrutiny Committee headed by that fireball, Cllr Marie Therese Rossi.

It is astonishing The Workary has been given Carte Blanche by RBK&C to wipe out a competitor.

For a Business Rates paying business to be put out of business by a competitor given a 'sweetheart' deal by the Council sounds like a case for the Local Government Ombudsman.

 

NO SAGE MEMBER HAS SKIN IN THE GAME

Mitchie, Boris's Commie adviser with Fidel in the picture

It is an education looking at SAGE membership. 

Each member is dependent on the taxpayer for his/her living. PUBLIC SECTOR...none have had to struggle to run a business.

With that security closing down the economy is never going to damage their way of life.

One, Professor Mitchie, the well-heeled granddaughter of the late Lord Aberconway is a committed communist; a leading funder of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and an admirer of China.

Her specialty is mass control of the population.

This is how she described China, 'China has a socialist, collective system (whatever criticisms people may have) not an individualistic, consumer-oriented, profit-driven society badly damaged by 20 years of failed neoliberal economic policies

Not one word about the regime's brutality.

SAGE is now a laughing stock and sanguinely the British people will ignore them.

Justin Downes wrote to Felicity Buchan suggesting that the Prime Minister should not take advice from a Stalinist.  

Buchan replied, " I am sure that she would not let her political views influence her advice to the Prime Minister".

NORTH SHROPSHIRE WANT THE BACK OF JOHNSON AND HIS 'GROUPIES': TIME FOR SUNAK

The result in North Shropshire is not just about Johnson's leadership but about the third raters he surrounds himself with. 

One such is Oliver Dowden who specialises in political platitudes.

"fed up and gave us a kicking but Boris has the leadership to see us through this period".

They either don't get it or worse, believe it,

SAINT-GOBAIN CO PRODUCED CYANIDE GAS BY PRODUCT

 

"As a business, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and solutions that have a positive impact on each of us and provide wellbeing, quality of life and performance, all while caring for the planet"

Those who died in the Grenfell Tower and those inhaled the toxic fumes of a Saint-Gobain product would have a very different take on these weasel words.

There is never a point in suing a French multinational: they have too many friends in high places maneuvering on their behalf.

Celotex, is said to have cut test corners to satisfy the greedy demands of its French owners, Saint-Gobain. 

THINK has the details. The intense heat produced the same gas used by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

CYANIDE GAS 

RBK&C COMMS DEPART TELL THE DAME WRAP UP WARM & GO STEADY WITH THE POL ROGER

 

         Comms Department on another Planet

RBK&C's Communications department scrabble around to look for 'stories' to bore and annoy us with.

The Dame was disappointed not to be told by the Comms Team to be sure and put on her Damart panties to combat the chills ahead or warn her not to imbibe too much of her seasonal Pol Roger.

The true cost of this extraordinary wastage is a well-guarded secret but back of the envelope calculations based on salaries, pensions, establishment costs would put the cost well in excess of £1million.

THINK has done work on this workshy bunch: it makes interesting reading

THINK

DON'T DO AS WE DO: DO AS WE SAY

 

To describe Bailey's party as a 'serious error of judgment' was an insult to those of us who stuck to the rules like sheep. The real error of judgment was ever thinking Bailey could be mayor of our great city: such a dimwit!

The Dame once endured a lunch with Bailey. He babbled on talking a lot of annoying nonsense.

Everything wrong with the Conservative Party is manifested in its inability to find quality people.

FLOOD MR WOLGAR WITH QUESTIONS ON THE FLOOD DISASTER

 On the 13th Jan 2022 @ 6.00pm Felicity Buchan will be hosting a virtual meeting to question Mike Wolgar, a member of the Independent Review into the July floods. You will find full details on the notice below

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR DETAILS

 

CLLR FAULKS; THE WORKARY AND A VERY DAMAGED SMALL BUSINESS

       THE WORKARY PARTNERING WITH THE COUNCIL

Dame, thank you for allowing me to put my position. I thank 'Surveyor' for his lucid analysis of how Council favouritism has more or less put me out of business.

Cllr Faulks makes this claim, "We are here to help support our businesses and self-employed during this unprecedented time"

That claim rings hollow. 

Cllr Faulks was persuaded by this successful entrepreneur, David Fletcher, to use council properties free of Business Rates and at below-market rents. He is a lucky man.....

On the other hand, the Council expects me to run a competitive business whilst paying £25,000 a year in Business Rates and a full market rent for a prime location. Even though I charge very little I am unable to compete with the Council's business partner, The Workary. 

As a result twenty-five of my long term co-working tenants have had to leave. One asked Faulks what he should do... she recommended another co-working office!

Her other bizarre advice was that I should adjust my rates to compete with the Workary...and she is supposed to understand business?

Justin Downes

                   David Fletcher, Owner of the The Workary Group of  Co- Working spaces

Surveyor11 December 2021 at 17:24

I wonder if it would help to look at this dispassionately and to try to look at the numbers, so far as they are available. 

To make a rationally based judgement, we really need some more numbers (like what rent Workary are paying the Council) Perhaps the Dame could ask Councillor Lady Faulks to respond with a reasoned and factual response?
The facts so far as we know them. Mr Downs is saddled with non-domestic rates of about £25,000 a year. 

A hefty burden for a small business. 

The Chelsea Library Complex is rated at £120,000. 

It is many times the size of Mr Downs’ small office of about 120 square metres, but benefits from a favourable treatment as a public library. 

So, it pays non-domestic rates of about £60,000 a year. 

Less than two and a half times the rates that Mr Downes pays for a building many, many times larger. 

It would appear that the Workary is not paying rates at all. 

Why is this? It is because public libraries benefit from a special rating concession. The Council seems to have passed this benefit on to the Workary. 

If anyone wants to look this up, see the Rating Manual for Valuation Officers Section 6 Part 3, Section 620. 

This concession has caused problems when a local authority, for example, delegates the Library function. 

In this case, the Serviced Office provided by Workary, should have been assessed by the Valuation Officer as a separate hereditament and as a commercial enterprise. 

You would have expected the Council to inform the Valuation Officer of the situation and to arrange for a separate entry to go into the List. 

If this has not been done, it should be corrected as soon as possible, and back rates paid either by the Council or the Workary Business. 

I am not sure what happens at Workary’s other branches, but the situation is likely to be the same.
So, what about the Workary and why is the Council giving them what appears to be such a ‘sweetheart’ deal, that is putting the competition out of business? 

The pitch is that it is offering space to young entrepreneurs starting out in life and to not-for-profit organisations. 

This is a fiction. 

The Workary is a highly successful large business established by David Fletcher some few years ago. 

It has numerous branches and is far from the ‘pitch’ for if you look at its website it boasts that its services are available to people who are part of big companies, freelancers or just getting started (comes last in the blurb!) 

So, it looks as if the Council are living in a parallel universe and totally unwilling to accept that it is subsidising a commercial business that is putting its own local businesses out of business. This is what appears to be the position, but please Dame, ask Councillor Lady Faulks to respond.

CLLR CAMPBELL RUNNING TO CATCH THE GRAVY TRAIN

                           another useless quango

It's a badge of honour for the Dame she thwarted Merrick Cockell, a previous RBKC leader, in his efforts to become a 'new aristocrat' like Milordy Moylan.

Cllr Campbell, a protegee of the expense claiming magician  has taken a leaf out of his book. Rumours abound that she plots to become Lady Campbell of Freshwater.

If you cannot recall  Cockell's greed  this makes useful reading 

GREED & LOATHING

                                            Vapid Woman 

Cockell managed to boost his allowances to over £112,000 a year garnished with excessive luxury expense claiming.

Is Campbell trying to emulate her old master by building a parallel career with another useless quango, Central London Forward....a successor to closed down London Councils?

Pompously, Central London Forward claims its remit to improve every area of Central London's residents' lives,

Whether third rate councillors can make any difference to our lives lies a bigger question.

Is Campbell even the right person to be pushing herself forward?

She will go down in the history of London  for two things: 

• as Cabinet Member of RBK&C at the time of the Grenfell, inextricably bound up with collective Cabinet decisions involving the Tower
• And, more currently, the July floods that decimated homes and disrupted residents' lives

Campbell will try to deflect blame to Thames Water. 

That won't wash. 

In 2007 floods of similar magnitude hit the Borough. 

Campbell was a councillor then who joined the chorus of 'Thames Water, you must do something".

Fourteen years on? Nothing has changed. 

So when Campbell claims, "Our goal is to improve the lives of our residents by working together to drive inclusive growth within the Central London area, to ensure our resident’s access the skills, jobs, homes, and support required to benefit from Central London’s dynamic economy"  take what she says for what it is..... pure bullshit.

Campbell has form and history for letting residents down on a grand scale. 

She should not even be the Leader of our Council.

WE ARE ALL " OFFENDED" NOW

Speaking of silly, offended councillors...

Dear Dame

This past weekend I read a piece in the Mail on Sunday about Zara, our local clothing store on High Street Kensington. 

Apparently, Zara allows men who “classify” as women into the women’s changing rooms. 

The author of the piece, Charlotte Griffiths, spoke to the manager of the store who responded: "We have to be very careful, it's a very sensitive time and it's very easy to offend people. We just have to try not to upset anyone and play it on a case-by-case basis.”

Last Saturday evening the popular Indian restaurant just off High Street Kensington, Dishoom, had a two hour wait for a table. 

The restaurant does not take reservations after 6pm and patrons are required to line up in the restaurant and are not permitted to leave while they wait for their table, even if the wait is two hours. 

That is unless they are Muslim. 

The hostess informed me that the party of three ahead of me were Muslim and so were permitted to leave the restaurant rather than wait two hours in line with the rest of us, "because the serving of alcohol offends them". 

The waiting area is near the bar and their right not to be offended had to be respected (although clearly they were not so offended that they still chose to eat in a restaurant that serves alcohol).

Dear Dame....what happened to fabled British Common Sense?

ANDREW NEIL LECTURES US ABOUT "HEALTH SELFISHNESS"

 

              Overweight and Overbearing

In the Daily Mail, Andrew Neil ranted about the selfishness of vaccine refusniks.

He may be right: he may be wrong. 

Has he ever thought about the selfishness of those who overeat, drink too much, and take no exercise? 

Mr. Neil, those who indulge themselves as clearly you do, end up plundering precious and limited NHS healthcare resources....now that really is selfish.

So don't lecture the world about the 'selfish unvaccinated': set an example and keep yourself healthy. 

The young/and or fit/ shrug off most health calamities: but not the elderly/and or unfit. 

Do yourself a favour, Mr Neil and take care of your health.

.

THE COUNCIL AND ANTI COMPETITIVE PRACTICES

The Workary in Chelsea Old Town Hall is the sort of business everyone wants to own. 

Other businesses have to pay commercial rents and huge Business Rates: The Workary pays no Business Rates and nominal rent for prime space in Chelsea....all thanks to Cllr Lady Catherine Faulks, the (£47,000 a year) Lead member for economy (and, one assumes local business)

Thanks to the Council's largesse The Workary offers clients desk rentals for a mere fraction of rates charged by overhead burdened competitors. 

It claims RBK&C is a 'partner' in its business.

When this breach of competition was pointed out to Cllr Lady Faulks she seemed incapable of understanding the anti-competitiveness the Council was party to.

Justin Downes owns a medium sized co-working space. He charges a very modest amount because he enjoys helping companies grow. He continues the story...

" many companies have grown out of my co-working office and many have asked me to be involved. Latterly, tenants were coming to me saying that The Workary was offering massively discounted rates. When I investigated I discovered that the £27,000 a year I pay in business rates was obliquely supporting a competitor!

And that competitor was able to drive me out of business because it was a Council 'partner' and not paying Business Rates or a fair rent.

To add insult to injury the advice I got from the very foolish and unbusinesslike Faulks was whether I would like advice from the Notting Hill Business Centre!

I won't be continuing sadly"

ANOTHER DAY: ANOTHER PARTY

The Dame was one disappointed old hag. She was so looking forward to gatecrashing Chez Faulks.

The maidservant had laid out all her party frocks and there was a frisson of excitement in the air. 

Suddenly she heard the news that charming Kwasi Kwarteng had another engagement.....

The Dame's fury was assuaged by news that the Tories were having an even bigger bash in Earls Court tomorrow night.  'I will be there' the Old Thing mused, especially as she could meet some powerful local political figures...Mr Hands...Miss Buchan and soon to be ennobled, Cllr Campbell!

Excitedly she heard that the latest event would be at a church, St Cuthbert's. 

She had heard that the Anglican Church was the Tory Party At Prayer but was this not a bit OTT?

The Dame is a Pol Roger girl so was disappointed to read...

"We will be serving Prosecco (kindly sponsored by Bosco Del Merlo) and mulled wine along with seasonal nibbles and mince pies, to the accompaniment of a Brass Ensemble"

THE CONSERVATIVE 'NOTTING HILL SET' PARTY ON! LORD AND COUNCILLOR LADY CATHERINE FAULKS TO HOST SUPER SPREADER BASH

 

 

STOP PRESS

It seems This Is North Kensington has heard about the Bash. Let's hope the Northern Hordes don't descend on the Faulks demanding 'Cakes and Ale' and Political Party Bags

THINK PIECE

Dear Dame,

We know you like a good old 'knees up' but don't you think you should turn down the invite to the Campden Hill Conservative Party thrash at Lord & Cllr Lady Faulks Ladbroke Road mansion? 

                                                                   A Political Hostess

After all, Mr Johnson wants us to avoid spreading the Omicron virus. 

If it does go ahead-and it should never have been thought a good idea-please act with decorum. 

No flirting with the waiting staff....pleaseeee

Kindest Thoughts

Lady ******s

CLLR IDRIS ROBUSTLY DEFENDED BY RESIDENT ASSOCIATION:THE DAME EATS HUMBLE PIE

 

A little while ago the Dame attacked Cllr Idris for being indolent.

She has just received an email from a senior member of a local resident association.

In this email, every point of criticism was refuted. 

The Association poured praise upon this councillor for her commitment and hard work on behalf of residents.

Sometimes the Dame gets it wrong as she has in this case.

She hopes she will be given permission to reproduce this glowing testament to Cllr  Idris. It is really a credit to the councillor.

Apologies, Councillor.

FELICITY? IN YOUR WEEKLY ROUND UP.... APOLOGISE, PLEASE

 

We understand you owe loyalty to Johnson for promoting you but these constant embarrassments reflect upon you; albeit as a very junior member of his government.

Sunak's day is coming soon and about time too.

Your constituents have had their lives turned upside down yet your colleagues in government and their advisers felt compliance was for the 'Little People'.

You need to apologise to those you represent for this gross spectacle.

THAMES WATER AND A QUESTION OF LEADERSHIP

 

                                               Thames Water's £400, 000 a year two day a week chairman

Just months ago thousands of our Central London homes were deluged with thousands of gallons of thick, brown untreated raw sewage.

Homes became uninhabitable and families rehoused. Treasured possessions were lost forever.

Many were seriously affected by the toxicity of the raw sewage and became seriously ill.

Thames Water, the mainly foreign-owned utility, blamed climate change: a blatant lie!

Fourteen years ago the same area of London was flooded. Thames Water was castigated by the council and urged to invest so this would never happen again.  

You can see the detail on the link below.

LINK

Thames Water made a promise it never intended to keep and in July, fourteen years on, a similar catastrophic flood took place.

Guess who castigated TW then? Yes, Cllr Campbell...now leader. So,14 years on she is still chasing TW!

In cases like this one needs to examine leadership or lack thereof....

The £400,000 two day a week chairman is one Ian Marchant. Mr. Marchant was once CEO of SSE. Under his leadership thousands of customers were mis-sold products/services. SSE was given a fine running into many millions. RIP OFF MERCHANT

Yet, after all that, it was decided by the Board of Thames Water that this accountant was Fit and Proper to be chairman!

On the subject of Fit and Proper it is common knowledge that Mr. Marchant is seriously ill; so ill that he is confined to a wheelchair.

Being confined to a wheelchair is absolutely no bar to being an effective and efficient employee. 

However, the circumstances are far different if that person is so seriously ill that he cannot lead a company like Thames Water fighting battles on every front. We have not been told the state of his health: it's a closely guarded secret.

In this set of circumstances, it is only right and proper for the leader to stand aside and his deputy, Nick Land take over.

Felicity Buchan has asked what short/medium and long-term measures are in place to protect her constituents.

No answer came the stern and useless reply!

 

THE PM PLAYS BOBBY FOR THE DAY

Some few years ago the Dame accompanied her dear friend, the Duchess of S****, to a select Kensington dinner party. Who should appear amongst the distinguished guests but then Lordless Danny 'Boys' Moylan. 

The Brum bullyboy lectured the guests about the talents of his then boss, Johnson. To the horror of the Italian Ambassador present Moylan declaimed the buffoon would be a fine Prime Minister. 

"That could never be: he has no dignity"  A shocked Excellency declared.

Looking at the picture above how right His Excellency was.

MORE FLOODING AHEAD FOR JULY VICTIMS?

 

It is in the nature of things that basement-dwellers are often the least well off and the more likely to be hit by the incompetence of Thames Water.

In 2007 similar floods took place to those in July. The current leader, Cllr Campbell, was around in those days.  

Despite her and colleagues' posturing and the same old 'things must change' mantra nothing has.

Felicity Buchan tells us "Thames Water has agreed with me that they hold an inquiry into how they performed."

Note, "how they performed". Nothing about whether they could be to blame or even the terms of reference.

This is why Thames Water is so relaxed about allowing their insurers to turn down claims: they know the outcome of the Inquiry before it even sat down.

The Inquiry will cost £250,000. Just think how many non-return valves could be fitted for the money down the drain? 

BUCHAN & FAULKS DON'T RATE BUSINESS RATES AS A VOTE CATCHER

Dearest Dame, 

I own a business in the Borough employing 6 people. I am contemplating closing it down

Business in our Borough brings jobs and economic activity but is weighed down with rents and worst of all Business Rates. 

I pay a rent of £60,000 a year and around £27,000 in Business Rates so before I start sending out invoices I have an overhead of nearly £100,000 a year

This government has been in power for 11 years. 

In all those years it has done nothing to help businesspeople like me yet claims to be the party of business.

And why would it? There are no votes in easing the burden of business rates. Even Labour wants to scrap them.

This is why the likes of our MP, Felicity Buchan and our 'Business Genius', Cllr Faulks just pay lip service to reform. 

They could not care less despite the fact that our hard work provides employment and economic activity.

Our MP, Felicity Buchan, seems more concerned with political advancement and the less said about Councillor, The Lady Faulks, the better. Faulks creams off £45,000 a year on the Council just because she is a friend of the Leader!

No one seems to know what business nous she has apart from property hunting for billionaires.

What a mess!

Yours sadly, dear Dame

(name redacted)

THAMES WATER POURS SEWAGE ON INQUIRY: HIDING BEHIND TOWERS WILLIS WATSON

With great gusto, an 'independent' Inquiry into what caused the catastrophic floods in July was announced....

Expensive members were appointed with Ofwat acting as ringmaster

This, 14 years after a similar flood disaster occurred in K&C as a result of negligence by Thames Water.

This Inquiry is a waste of time, money, and energy. 

The letter below Thames Water's insurers makes that quite clear.

The insurers have already decided claimants have no Common or Statutory grounds for compensation.

Come on, Felicity, come back from Norway and sort this damned mess out! 

click to enlarge

A RESPONSE TO CLLR SCHMETTERLING

Cllr Dori Schmetterling is well-intentioned newcomer to the Council. Naively he put himself in the line of fire in claiming K&C Council Tax is in the lowest quartile for council tax.

What Dori fails to grasp is that this sort of benchmarking requires a 'like for like' analysis. 

He may as well imagine he is a gazelle whilst shouting at the elephant and hippo "I am in better shape than you"!

What Dori needs to get his head around is this... a council's aspiration should be based on the best low-cost and efficient administration based upon what it has to do.

RBKC has a very high residential density in a very small geography. No other council compares with the compactness and huge wealth of this Borough.

It is also a very low-cost area to service with huge economies of scale compared with Councils with sparse geographies, distributed housing, and the absence of income streams like parking and penalty revenues to subsidise Council services such as dustbin collection and road maintenance.

Revenues from parking and penalties account are huge-something like 30% of RBKC revenues (including Council Tax).  RBKC is of course a transit Borough in London. 

All manner of people pass through; stop and pay huge parking charges to the Council and penalties for overstaying. 

On 25.11 The Taxpayers Alliance claimed that K&C doled out more tickets than any other Council.

Residents Permits generate a further £12m a year.

No wonder the shops are struggling to get customers with that sort of customer harassment.

It is a scandal. No possibility of highway robbery like this in Somerset or Devon or the Yorkshire moors.……and rich people in RBKC educate their kids privately so economies in public education. Plus high levels of employment so fewer people on benefits and not paying Council tax

What  Councillor S and others of his mindset needs to get their brains around is:

* We are supposed to be a Conservative Council

* What it should be doing is doing things EFFICIENTLY

  and then decide what they should NOT BE DOING 

Then he can start making a very long list of things that should not be a burden on Council tax. eg

* all the Nanny State initiatives like Safety Alarms and 'sitting out' benches

* all the vanity projects like Holland Park Opera and Exhibition Road

* all of the personal ambition projects like Holland Park School

* all of the misguided projects that belong to the private sector (Cockell's credit cards and 'paid for' care services that I seem to remember)

And after Dori has figured out what should be done and what should not be done, then he can take the organisation apart in Hornton Street and put together a structure that is fit for purpose - and save £ millions on staff costs and strip out all the job creation staff

ALARM! MORE WASTE BOUGHT TO YOU FROM RBK&C!

 

Councillors? This panic alarm may be free in your minds but it is actually paid for by hard-pressed taxpayers facing roaring inflation and income decimation.

Any politician with a modicum of commonsense would have asked him/herself...."who can I get to pay for this as a PR exercise?"

The answer would have been a bank or perhaps a Waitrose. Instead, the Council decides to splash our cash. 

It makes one despair!