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Local Council c***s


NorthernLights

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Angus switched to Tory control in May. Absolute shambles so far [emoji38] They've managed to f**k up the recycling centres and close numerous other services, including help for the deaf and potentially a dementia day care service. Three of them were elected on "No to a second referendum" with literally no other policies and now genuinely have no idea what they're doing.

One must also add that our new MP is airheaded fuckwit Kirstene Hair.

Tremendous [emoji38]




Our new conservative/Labour/Lib Dem:

Threatened to close half the schools in Perthshire (without explaining where these pupils will go)

Took a day off from council business to protest outside an SNP conference with Murdo Fraser

Closed almost every fucking road in Perth at once to carry out roadworks

Planning to close a local nursing home without saying what will happen to residents

Immediately pushed through a controversial housing scheme in Scone and refuse to release anything under the FOI relating to this.

Have managed to understock salt for winter....again.

And after local conservative councillors claimed the SNP Council had overspent on the Christmas lights, went one step further this year but asking both East 17 and Alesha Dixon to perform, probably costing us more money.


Also we’re one of 5 local councils in Scotland Financially struggling (fantastic)
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23 hours ago, jupe1407 said:

Our lot sound even less organised. We've still got 3.5 years left of this farce :lol:

Are you in the Carse of Gowrie ward? I seem to remember ripping the pish out of the local Tory Councillor in the Courier a while back. He was an utterly duplicitous c**t. 

I am. 

Mac Roberts was the previous incumbent for the Tories now it is Angus Forbes. Both utter shits but Forbes far worse.

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I am. 
Mac Roberts was the previous incumbent for the Tories now it is Angus Forbes. Both utter shits but Forbes far worse.


That's him, Mac. My Uncle lives in the area and has worked with him on occasion. I believe his nickname is the "Arse of the carse". Forbes is worse!? Fucking hell. Perhaps Mac was just an idiot.
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Mac was daft and an uber Brit but at least was also lazy and entirely uninterested in being a Cllr so had no pretension about him.

Angus is thick as f**k, doesn't hold a single conviction but smarms about the place trying to get involved in everything and making an arse of himself every time. I think he has visions of being Murdo part 2. He tried to befriend me on FB the fucking weirdo.

I also have corroborated reports that he is a "pest"

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Rotten Boroughs is always a good read in the Private Eye.  A few weeks ago they reported the sad passing of a former leader of Sunderland city Council, Paul Watson.  the comms section of the local paper was edited to remove any references to his affectionate nickname of 'Stabber'.  He obtained this charming sobriquet from an incident when, upon learning his social club was to be burgled that night, he and a friend lay in wait and attacked the intruders.  During the confrontation one of the burglars was stabbed by Watson and later died.  His trial collapsed when the surviving burglar changed his story.  During his time on the Council he oversaw the police and crime panel, which consisted of him, his wife Cllr Susan Watson, his sister Cllr Celia Gofton (mother of TVs Lauren Laverne) and Cllr Amy Wilson, who used to work as a barmaid in the social club Stabber protected so bravely.

Trebles all round!

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In terms of local council scandals, the statutory notice scandal in Edinburgh is probably the worst I've heard of in Scotland.  Following the tragic death of a waitress in Ryan's Bar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/811988.stm) the council put in place a scheme to ensure that Edinburgh's many historic buildings and tenements were kept up to proper maintenance standards.  The council property services department would inspect communal buildings and areas and if repairs were required the council would issue a 'statutory notice' requiring all residents to pay for the work.  The large number of tenement flats, often rented out, meant that there was the danger of stairwells and roofs falling into disrepair.  At the time the inquiry said that there could be up to 5,000 buildings in Edinburgh falling into disrepair (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1386006/Girls-death-brings-call-for-building-safety-audit.html).

So far, so good eh?  Public buildings falling to pieces, endangering the public - that's why we have councils and governments.  However, as the 2000s wore on the scheme began to attract some grumblings - residents complained that they were stuck with huge bills, some were forced to sell their flats rather than pay the five or six figure repair bills.  Businesses couldn't afford them and had to close.  The BBC investigated and found that some of the repair work was unnecessary and was below the required standards.

However, investigations also showed that the money being spent on statutory notices was increasing - from around £9m in 2005 to £30m in 2010.  Other journalists and investigators began to look at the property services department in the council, finding that there seemed to be little oversight of the scheme, that there were lax processes in the accounting around it and also that some documents relating to it had been destroyed.  There were also gaps in funding, with nearly £27m claimed from the council before residents had been billed for it, effectively putting the council at a loss. 

In 2010, the whole thing began to crumble when a whistleblower wrote an anonymous letter about council employee Charles Owenson, saying he was showing favouritism to a particular contractor, ABC Ltd, in terms ofwork.  An investigation began, during which time it was found that the book used by the property care department to record hospitality and meetings with contrctors had gone missing.  Emails were found from the property services department to the contracting company, one of which read "“How about ****** givin us free transport down to Gullane and back with a courtesy stretch limo. We are looking for free transport and some liquid refreshments.”.  It was found that members of the property services department had building work done on their house free of charge by ABC Ltd, that they were given football tickets and had trips to lap-dancing bars all paid for by the contractors.  

At this point police action was inevitable and two council sorkers, Owenson and his colleague James Costello, and the two contractors, kevin Balmer and Brendan Cantwell, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.  A number of other employees were sacked but not prosecuted.  ABC Ltd, which at it's height turned over £4m a year, employed over 70 people and took around 95% of it's business from council work orders, went into liquidation.  I've never heard of anyone else being looked at, although several whistleblowers said that the ABC scandal was the tip of the iceberg.  Of all the scandals I've heard about in Scottish politics, this is the most Sopranos like,  I can just see the council staff being lead into the backroom of the Bing while the kickbacks pile up.

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In terms of local council scandals, the statutory notice scandal in Edinburgh is probably the worst I've heard of in Scotland.  Following the tragic death of a waitress in Ryan's Bar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/811988.stm) the council put in place a scheme to ensure that Edinburgh's many historic buildings and tenements were kept up to proper maintenance standards.  The council property services department would inspect communal buildings and areas and if repairs were required the council would issue a 'statutory notice' requiring all residents to pay for the work.  The large number of tenement flats, often rented out, meant that there was the danger of stairwells and roofs falling into disrepair.  At the time the inquiry said that there could be up to 5,000 buildings in Edinburgh falling into disrepair (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1386006/Girls-death-brings-call-for-building-safety-audit.html).
So far, so good eh?  Public buildings falling to pieces, endangering the public - that's why we have councils and governments.  However, as the 2000s wore on the scheme began to attract some grumblings - residents complained that they were stuck with huge bills, some were forced to sell their flats rather than pay the five or six figure repair bills.  Businesses couldn't afford them and had to close.  The BBC investigated and found that some of the repair work was unnecessary and was below the required standards.
However, investigations also showed that the money being spent on statutory notices was increasing - from around £9m in 2005 to £30m in 2010.  Other journalists and investigators began to look at the property services department in the council, finding that there seemed to be little oversight of the scheme, that there were lax processes in the accounting around it and also that some documents relating to it had been destroyed.  There were also gaps in funding, with nearly £27m claimed from the council before residents had been billed for it, effectively putting the council at a loss. 
In 2010, the whole thing began to crumble when a whistleblower wrote an anonymous letter about council employee Charles Owenson, saying he was showing favouritism to a particular contractor, ABC Ltd, in terms ofwork.  An investigation began, during which time it was found that the book used by the property care department to record hospitality and meetings with contrctors had gone missing.  Emails were found from the property services department to the contracting company, one of which read "“How about ****** givin us free transport down to Gullane and back with a courtesy stretch limo. We are looking for free transport and some liquid refreshments.”.  It was found that members of the property services department had building work done on their house free of charge by ABC Ltd, that they were given football tickets and had trips to lap-dancing bars all paid for by the contractors.  
At this point police action was inevitable and two council sorkers, Owenson and his colleague James Costello, and the two contractors, kevin Balmer and Brendan Cantwell, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.  A number of other employees were sacked but not prosecuted.  ABC Ltd, which at it's height turned over £4m a year, employed over 70 people and took around 95% of it's business from council work orders, went into liquidation.  I've never heard of anyone else being looked at, although several whistleblowers said that the ABC scandal was the tip of the iceberg.  Of all the scandals I've heard about in Scottish politics, this is the most Sopranos like,  I can just see the council staff being lead into the backroom of the Bing while the kickbacks pile up.

I got lumped with a £3000 bill for statutory chimney repointing in Leith.12 flats × £3000 = £36000 for one chimney breast !
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10 hours ago, Loondave1 said:


I got lumped with a £3000 bill for statutory chimney repointing in Leith.12 flats × £3000 = £36000 for one chimney breast !

At least a few council workers got a night out in a titty bar though.  Look on the bright side.

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One of the guys involved in the statutory repairs scandal drinks in my local. He's usually quite coy about the whole thing, left by 'mutual consent' and so on. He opens up a bit after a few drinks.

It wasn't just a few bad apples, the whole department had their fingers in the pie. In what I'm sure is just a massive coincidence, the guy I know had his whole house ripped apart and redone about 10 years ago.

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On ‎28‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 22:39, ICTChris said:

Rotten Boroughs is always a good read in the Private Eye.  A few weeks ago they reported the sad passing of a former leader of Sunderland city Council, Paul Watson.  the comms section of the local paper was edited to remove any references to his affectionate nickname of 'Stabber'.  He obtained this charming sobriquet from an incident when, upon learning his social club was to be burgled that night, he and a friend lay in wait and attacked the intruders.  During the confrontation one of the burglars was stabbed by Watson and later died.  His trial collapsed when the surviving burglar changed his story.  During his time on the Council he oversaw the police and crime panel, which consisted of him, his wife Cllr Susan Watson, his sister Cllr Celia Gofton (mother of TVs Lauren Laverne) and Cllr Amy Wilson, who used to work as a barmaid in the social club Stabber protected so bravely.

Trebles all round!

Quadruples, shirley?

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In terms of local council scandals, the statutory notice scandal in Edinburgh is probably the worst I've heard of in Scotland.  Following the tragic death of a waitress in Ryan's Bar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/811988.stm) the council put in place a scheme to ensure that Edinburgh's many historic buildings and tenements were kept up to proper maintenance standards.  The council property services department would inspect communal buildings and areas and if repairs were required the council would issue a 'statutory notice' requiring all residents to pay for the work.  The large number of tenement flats, often rented out, meant that there was the danger of stairwells and roofs falling into disrepair.  At the time the inquiry said that there could be up to 5,000 buildings in Edinburgh falling into disrepair (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1386006/Girls-death-brings-call-for-building-safety-audit.html).
So far, so good eh?  Public buildings falling to pieces, endangering the public - that's why we have councils and governments.  However, as the 2000s wore on the scheme began to attract some grumblings - residents complained that they were stuck with huge bills, some were forced to sell their flats rather than pay the five or six figure repair bills.  Businesses couldn't afford them and had to close.  The BBC investigated and found that some of the repair work was unnecessary and was below the required standards.
However, investigations also showed that the money being spent on statutory notices was increasing - from around £9m in 2005 to £30m in 2010.  Other journalists and investigators began to look at the property services department in the council, finding that there seemed to be little oversight of the scheme, that there were lax processes in the accounting around it and also that some documents relating to it had been destroyed.  There were also gaps in funding, with nearly £27m claimed from the council before residents had been billed for it, effectively putting the council at a loss. 
In 2010, the whole thing began to crumble when a whistleblower wrote an anonymous letter about council employee Charles Owenson, saying he was showing favouritism to a particular contractor, ABC Ltd, in terms ofwork.  An investigation began, during which time it was found that the book used by the property care department to record hospitality and meetings with contrctors had gone missing.  Emails were found from the property services department to the contracting company, one of which read "“How about ****** givin us free transport down to Gullane and back with a courtesy stretch limo. We are looking for free transport and some liquid refreshments.”.  It was found that members of the property services department had building work done on their house free of charge by ABC Ltd, that they were given football tickets and had trips to lap-dancing bars all paid for by the contractors.  
At this point police action was inevitable and two council sorkers, Owenson and his colleague James Costello, and the two contractors, kevin Balmer and Brendan Cantwell, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.  A number of other employees were sacked but not prosecuted.  ABC Ltd, which at it's height turned over £4m a year, employed over 70 people and took around 95% of it's business from council work orders, went into liquidation.  I've never heard of anyone else being looked at, although several whistleblowers said that the ABC scandal was the tip of the iceberg.  Of all the scandals I've heard about in Scottish politics, this is the most Sopranos like,  I can just see the council staff being lead into the backroom of the Bing while the kickbacks pile up.


Lads
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On 29/11/2017 at 18:13, Henderson to deliver ..... said:

One of the guys involved in the statutory repairs scandal drinks in my local. He's usually quite coy about the whole thing, left by 'mutual consent' and so on. He opens up a bit after a few drinks.

It wasn't just a few bad apples, the whole department had their fingers in the pie. In what I'm sure is just a massive coincidence, the guy I know had his whole house ripped apart and redone about 10 years ago.

Yeah, the people convicted were alleged to have had repairs done on their houses or new kitchens put in and the like.

I'd be amazed if nobody higher up had some sort of idea of what was going on.

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In terms of local council scandals, the statutory notice scandal in Edinburgh is probably the worst I've heard of in Scotland.  Following the tragic death of a waitress in Ryan's Bar (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/811988.stm) the council put in place a scheme to ensure that Edinburgh's many historic buildings and tenements were kept up to proper maintenance standards.  The council property services department would inspect communal buildings and areas and if repairs were required the council would issue a 'statutory notice' requiring all residents to pay for the work.  The large number of tenement flats, often rented out, meant that there was the danger of stairwells and roofs falling into disrepair.  At the time the inquiry said that there could be up to 5,000 buildings in Edinburgh falling into disrepair (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1386006/Girls-death-brings-call-for-building-safety-audit.html).
So far, so good eh?  Public buildings falling to pieces, endangering the public - that's why we have councils and governments.  However, as the 2000s wore on the scheme began to attract some grumblings - residents complained that they were stuck with huge bills, some were forced to sell their flats rather than pay the five or six figure repair bills.  Businesses couldn't afford them and had to close.  The BBC investigated and found that some of the repair work was unnecessary and was below the required standards.
However, investigations also showed that the money being spent on statutory notices was increasing - from around £9m in 2005 to £30m in 2010.  Other journalists and investigators began to look at the property services department in the council, finding that there seemed to be little oversight of the scheme, that there were lax processes in the accounting around it and also that some documents relating to it had been destroyed.  There were also gaps in funding, with nearly £27m claimed from the council before residents had been billed for it, effectively putting the council at a loss. 
In 2010, the whole thing began to crumble when a whistleblower wrote an anonymous letter about council employee Charles Owenson, saying he was showing favouritism to a particular contractor, ABC Ltd, in terms ofwork.  An investigation began, during which time it was found that the book used by the property care department to record hospitality and meetings with contrctors had gone missing.  Emails were found from the property services department to the contracting company, one of which read "“How about ****** givin us free transport down to Gullane and back with a courtesy stretch limo. We are looking for free transport and some liquid refreshments.”.  It was found that members of the property services department had building work done on their house free of charge by ABC Ltd, that they were given football tickets and had trips to lap-dancing bars all paid for by the contractors.  
At this point police action was inevitable and two council sorkers, Owenson and his colleague James Costello, and the two contractors, kevin Balmer and Brendan Cantwell, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.  A number of other employees were sacked but not prosecuted.  ABC Ltd, which at it's height turned over £4m a year, employed over 70 people and took around 95% of it's business from council work orders, went into liquidation.  I've never heard of anyone else being looked at, although several whistleblowers said that the ABC scandal was the tip of the iceberg.  Of all the scandals I've heard about in Scottish politics, this is the most Sopranos like,  I can just see the council staff being lead into the backroom of the Bing while the kickbacks pile up.

Its a long time ago but i don't remember ever seeing a breakdown of costs or indeed a "bill".Just a letter through the door demanding £5000 or some other ludicrously arbitrary sum.Mine was all tenament roof repairs and chimney stuff so you couldn't even see what they had done.Roof was still leaking when i sold it....
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2 minutes ago, Loondave1 said:


Its a long time ago but i don't remember ever seeing a breakdown of costs or indeed a "bill".Just a letter through the door demanding £5000 or some other ludicrously arbitrary sum.Mine was all tenament roof repairs and chimney stuff so you couldn't even see what they had done.Roof was still leaking when i sold it....

I think some homeowners got together and requested breakdowns.  The BBC produced a documentary at the time where they got independent builders to inspect the work done and found it was unnecessary.  They also found that the contracters had claimed to have used top of the range materials and billed as such but had actually used a load of cheap crap.

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I think some homeowners got together and requested breakdowns.  The BBC produced a documentary at the time where they got independent builders to inspect the work done and found it was unnecessary.  They also found that the contracters had claimed to have used top of the range materials and billed as such but had actually used a load of cheap crap.

That will explain the leak then.I can still see the good side of the system though as you could force a repair to be done even when your feckless neighbours in a stair would rather the roof fell in before they agreed to anything.
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That area is rife with pedestrians that think they have the right of way just by stepping onto the tarmac ; you would be doing a public service in most cases.
It was more of a go at areas like Arthur's Seat. That and the council's lack of transparency with some of the roads still be 30mph zones, because a fair few drivers will stick to 20mph on Ferry/Telford/Costrophine Roads. 

pedestrians do have right of way just by stepping onto the tarmac. Except in urban clearways.
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