Hackney, Council of Chaos

Welcome

2012-04-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

This blog is about Hackney Council's famous incompetence. It contains far too much information about bureaucratic failure and corruption, but we hope that it will remind council officials that they are in fact accountable to us, Hackney's voters and taxpayers.

Hackney residents have long had to put up with a council that rides roughshod over them. This is our way of saying we care.

If you have any links or stories, please contact: residentofhackney@googlemail.com.

Council Pay Shocker

2008-07-26T04:03:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

AS council workers protested over pay last week, it has emerged that a town hall chief pocketed more than £310,000 last year.

Hackney Council's accounts for the last financial year show that the senior officer took home a massive pay-out, which could include redundancy payments, expenses and other allowances.

A council spokesman refused to identify the officer, saying: "The council is not able to disclose details of payments to individuals as these are confidential".

When pressed by the Gazette, he said: "I am not prepared to say anything more.

"You can spin it any way you like."

Penny Thompson, who was the council's chief executive for the first month of the year the numbers cover, received a salary of £164,839.

She suddenly announced her retirement in April after two-and-a-half years in the post

The accounts show that another officer received a payment of between £230,000 and £239,000.

Borough solicitor, Meic Sullivan Gould, quit his job the week before Ms Thompson stepped down and Hackney Homes chief executive, Steve Tucker, also retired during the period covered by the report.

It is believed that the council's current chief executive, Tim Shields, earns between £160,000 and £169,000 a year.

Matthew Waterfall, branch secretary of Unison, the trade union which represents council workers, said: "It is shocking to think that a single council officer should receive such a massive pay-out when our members, some of whom earn less than 12 grand a year, have been taking industrial action to secure a decent living pay rise.

"Taxpayers in this borough should be asking some serious questions of their council about how their money is being spent."

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the public spending watchdog, the Taxpayers' Alliance, added that it was a staggering amount to give someone in one year, especially as many Hackney families are struggling to pay their council tax.

"Whether it's a basic salary, a bonus or a severance payment, it's utterly wrong to lavish so much money on one public servant.

"The council should name who it is, so taxpayers can assess whether they gave good value for money."

At the time of going to press the council had been unable to tell the Gazette what other perks council officers were receiving and explain why more than £10 million in council housing rent arrears was written off.

Judge slams "hopeless" Hackney Council

2008-04-29T04:33:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette :

A woman is celebrating after the threat of eviction from her De Beauvoir home was lifted following a bungled court bid by Hackney Council which a judge described as "hopeless."

Eco-campaigner Michelle Goldberg, 55, who lives in Lawrence Court on the De Beauvoir Estate, breathed easier this week after the council decided not to lodge an appeal over the judgement made against it at Shoreditch County Court a fortnight ago.

The council had alleged she had breached an injunction they took out against her two years ago not to harass "anyone going about their lawful activity in the London borough of Hackney."

But it blundered by failing to specify how the injunction had been breached as well as re-applying for a possession order when they should have applied for a warrant to evict.

The injunction, prohibiting "abusive or threatening behaviour," was also found to be "defective" because of discrepancies between the original draft and an amended version.

The judge threw out the application describing it as hopeless and "incontestably bad" and ordered the council to pay all Ms Goldberg's legal costs.

"The council needs to get it own house in order before it victimises others," said an angry Ms Goldberg this week.

"Non-muslim" father banned from Hackney pool

2008-04-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

From the Telegraph:

A father has described his anger after he and his son were refused entry to their local swimming pool because they weren't Muslims.

David Toube and Harry, five, were turned away by staff from the men-only session.

The council admitted yesterday that workers at Clissold Leisure Centre in Hackney, north London, made a mistake and offered the family an apology.
advertisement

Mr Toube, 39, a lawyer, said they visited the baths at 9am on Sunday.

“I arrived at the pool to discover that they were holding what staff described to me as 'Muslim men-only swimming’,” he said.

“I asked whether my son and I could go as we were both male.

“I was told that the session was for Muslims only and that we could not be admitted.”

Mr Toube then spoke to the duty manager, who confirmed he could not enter.

“I asked what would happen if I turned up and insisted I was Muslim.

“The manager suggested that they might ask the Muslims swimming if they minded my son and I swimming with them. If they didn’t object, we might be allowed in.”

Hackney Council Persecute Pensioner

2008-03-07T22:56:00.000-08:00

From the Sun:

A DEFIANT market trader appeared in court yesterday for selling fruit and veg by the pound.

“Metric Martyr” Janet Devers is charged with failing to display prices in kilos and using incorrect measuring scales.

Her case was brought by Hackney Council in East London – despite a European Commission decision last year to end efforts to make Britain ditch imperial measures.

The 63-year-old was granted bail by Thames JPs yesterday and her case was sent to Snaresbrook Crown Court, where she will enter her plea next month.

Janet, of Wanstead, East London, said: “I was hoping that they would come to their senses and withdraw these charges.

“Unfortunately not. We are dealing with Hackney Council after all.”

Three Star Big Brother

2008-02-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

The council gets three stars out of four. LMAO. From Clives World Order:

Complete Control, 1984

..Or I'm A Libertarian, Get Me Out Of Here!

The dumb dumb local council apparatchiks of our stinking corner of London have become all-powerful and omnipresent. I guess at heart, all politicians and their lackeys have -- to a greater or lesser degree -- God complexes. But this unbearable.

Hackney (sodding) Council has now officially assumed control over every aspect of my life.

I'm woken each morning by its clumsy street cleaners, who while noisy, fail to actually remove any litter.

My street and all those around it a constantly filthy because recycling and refuse collection isn't properly coordinated. Pick-up on our road is Thursday, immediately south and to the right, on Mondays, opposite us on Wednesdays and to the North, on Fridays. Ipso facto, the whole neighbourhood is in a perpetual state of accumulative rubbish. Indeed, many of the flat dwellers simply don't have room for all the recycling paraphernalia, so their stuff constantly lives on the pavement. And what of my neighbour's penchant for discarding TVs, computers, fridges, furniture, carpet and the like by just leaving it on the street..?

Hackney's Planning Department

2008-02-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

Yet more incompetence, this time reported in the Gazette. Give them all OBE's:

PLANS for a new school and affordable housing for the Jewish community in Stoke Newington have been put on hold after council officers failed to produce the correct paperwork at a planning meeting last Wednesday.

The planning application was withdrawn after bungling officials failed to explain why they had not carried out an environmental impact assessment on the development on Lordship Road.

Ms. Devers and the Imperial System, Indeed!

2008-01-25T06:04:00.000-08:00

A letter from America:

Seattle, Washington

Hello, Hackney Blogger!

The story of Ms. Devers and her travails before the Hackney Council were
featured last evening on a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) news show, "As It Happens," that leaks across the border. The piece included an interview with Ms. Devers that touched a nerve on the other side of the world (well, eight time zones distant, anyway), in part because she and I are the same age. "Metric Martyr" puts it mildly, I'd say.

We both grew up learning - and admiring - a Britain for which that inspiring phrase, "so many owe so much to so few" did not describe the apparent
relationship between the residents and the governing body of Hackney. Not at
all your "finest hour" to put up with this crew of people "clothed in a little authority," to borrow from another prominent Brit of yore.

I could relate how metric was tried and soundly rejected here thirty and
more years ago, including the use of shotguns on roadside speed limit and
distance signs, but I have a better idea: Send your delightfully batty Council
here for a vacation or even a lecture tour.

Yes, perhaps they could come to inform us benighted colonials about the benefits and requirements of metric. I'd bet you wouldn't get them back unless they had private medical insurance and perhaps if they displayed the same stupid attitude they'd find out why so many Americans keep guns in the homes and shops.

Don't you have Recall or Initiative and Referendum rights? Good luck casting off your tyranny!

Barry

Hole in Maintenance Standards

2008-01-25T06:01:00.000-08:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

FEARS have been raised over the safety of Hackney Marshes after the ground gave way beneath a 15-year-old boy's feet on Sunday, plunging him into a six-foot hole.

It is believed that the hole may have been caused by tunnelling to bury overhead power cables beneath the Marshes 14 months ago as part of a £50 million project for the 2012 Olympics.

Hackney Council, which manages the Marshes, has been forced to close off two football pitches on North Marsh and carry out inspections each weekend amid safety fears of further cave-ins

Hackney Council charges pensioner with 13 "criminal offences" -does using Imperial scales really make her a menace to society?

2008-01-13T01:13:00.000-08:00

Is persecuting a 63 year old woman for using non-metric scales the best use of council resources? Of course it is, this is Hackney. From the Telegraph:

An extraordinary thing happened one week last September. Gunther Verheugen, a vice-president of the European Commission, announced that Brussels had abandoned its policy of forcing Britain to go exclusively metric.

The British, he said, could use non-metric weights and measures as long as they wished. Indeed he went further. The belief that it was a criminal offence under an EU directive to sell in non-metric measures, he said, was an invention of the "tabloid press", which had "repeatedly and erroneously printed stories" of "people having to buy their food from markets in kilograms rather than pounds".

Mr Verheugen's announcement won front-page headlines in the national press. Yet, only a day later, trading standards officials made a mockery of his statement by seizing two sets of "illegal" imperial scales from a stall run by the sister of Colin Hunt, one of the five original Metric Martyrs, in London's Ridley Road market. This event was totally ignored - except by this column.

Just before Christmas the stallholder, Janet Devers, a 63-year-old pensioner, received a 67-page document from Hackney Council charging her with 13 criminal offences, including use of her old imperial scales. Yet only a month earlier, in a letter to the British Weights and Measures Association, one of Mr Verheugen's senior officials had stated that "use of pre-2000 weighing instruments in imperial-only units" remained entirely legal under EU law, since "the directive does not prohibit the use of such instruments".

Mrs Devers was told the council's costs, for the time of the officials who seized her scales (£68 an hour each, equivalent to £141,000 a year) were already £2,000. Fees for Hackney's lawyers will bring the total much higher - apart from any fines to which she might be liable (up to £5,000 each), for offences which Mr Verheugen insists do not exist.

Hackney pensioners pay more Council Tax than Gordon Brown

2008-01-05T01:17:00.000-08:00

From the Times:

Hackney is a borough of London not exactly renowned for the prosperity of its residents. Yet anyone living in a modest family home in this deprived part of the capital pays more in council tax than the Prime Minister, who lives in a luxurious flat in prosperous Westminster.

In fact, a pensioner living in a Band E property in Hackney on a pension of only £13,000 a year paid £255 more in council tax last year than the Prime Minster, who earns more than £180,000. No wonder reform of this iniquitous tax is low on Gordon Brown’s agenda. But the pressure for change will grow with the news this week that council tax is to rise by an inflation-busting 5 per cent for most people in April.

Hackney Council wastes money on "unnecessary roles"

2007-12-29T04:32:00.000-08:00

From the Daily Mail:

In November alone, Hackney Council and the East London NHS Foundation Trust each offered three separate equality and diversity jobs paying £39,030 each – a total salary bill of more than £225,000.

The phenomenon, which has continued despite a promise by Gordon Brown three years ago to cut non-essential posts, was branded Jobzilla after the all-devouring screen monster Godzilla.

Peter Cuthbertson, research fellow for the TPA, said: 'The public sector is clogged with these ridiculous jobs, draining huge amounts of resources away from essential activities.

"It's insulting to expect taxpayers who struggle to meet the taxman's demands to foot the bill for unnecessary roles."

Taxpayers' cash lost in translation

2007-12-21T03:44:00.000-08:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

TOWN hall bosses have come under fire for wasting taxpayers' money after revealing at least £125,000 was spent on translating council documents last year.

The huge bill run up by Hackney Council accounts for translating the information into some 100 languages spoken in the borough.

The costs have been attacked by the government's Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, who says local authorities are spending too much on translations and not enough on encouraging people to learn English.

She has sent out guidelines to all local authorities to advise cutting down on costs.

Meanwhile, the council seemed confused over how much had been spent and gave the Gazette several figures, some as high as £200,000, before settling on £125,000.

Swimming club welcomed home with slashed pool bookings

2007-12-13T01:49:00.000-08:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

Clissold Swimming Club has 'moved home' to Clissold Leisure Centre.

But a spokesman has admitted club officials are "disappointed" with Hackney Council's decision to offer them exclusive use of the pool on just one night a week.

The centre, in Clissold Road, Stoke Newington, has been closed for the past four years for refurbishment - but now that the work is complete, the club is set to make a welcome return.

Throughout the four-year period that the centre had been closed, the club had been forced to do much of its swimming outside the borough.

Spokesman Kate Cornwall-Jones said: "The re-opening of Clissold Leisure Centre will allow us to swim in Hackney six days a week.

"However, it is disappointing that Hackney Council have cancelled our two whole pool bookings at Kings Hall and are only offering one similar session at Clissold Leisure Centre between 6pm and 8pm.

"Clissold SC is ambitious on behalf of young swimmers in Hackney and to deliver our vision for excellence and increase participation in swimming we need more whole pool bookings at more appropriate hours. We look forward to working in partnership with Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) and Hackney Council to increase the opportunities for local people to achieve their maximum potential in swimming and other aquatic sports.

Christmas Demonstration for Housing

2007-12-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

From an email:

Hi, this is the call out for the next London Coalition Against poverty
demonstration at Hackney,
x

*pls forward widely*

CALL TO ACTION: Christmas Demonstration for Housing
MONDAY THE 17TH OF DECEMBER
6 - 7:30 PM
Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street E8 [http://www.tiny.cc/vdevt]

Contact: 07932241737
londoncoalitionagainstpoverty@gmail.com

Hackney "Scrooge" won't house us: We won't be turned away

London Coalition Against Poverty (LCAP) will demonstrate at Hackney
Council's Cabinet meeting on Monday the 17th of December 6pm to 7.30
pm. As Christmas day approaches its difficult to see the seasonal
spirit in Hackney's Homeless Persons office where homeless people are
daily denied their rights and left without anywhere to go. LCAP will
demonstrate this Christmas to send a clear message to Jamie Carswell
(head of Housing strategy and deputy Mayor) that we will not tolerate
this any more. LCAP will be campaigning for change in Hackney's
dealings with the homeless for as long as it takes.

Come to the picket, there'll be some hot soup, and Christmas festivity.
Dress warm, bring noisemakers and mince pies if you like.

More info:

London Coalition against Poverty (LCAP) has been at Hackney Housing
Needs office since July 2007, and we have seen time and again that
homeless people are turned away unlawfully. By law some homeless
people have to be housed immediately but Hackney Council cares more
about balancing their budget through not housing people then about
their residents needs. They try to delay or stop people making a
homeless application. To achieve this the staff often act in an
intimidating and sometimes abusive way. Because of this "gate keeping"
at the housing needs office many vulnerable people and families are
left on the street or other insecure, dangerous places. When
accommodation or advice on how to find housing is offered by the
council its likely to be out of Hackney, often even out of London.
Hackney Council will be held accountable for their failure to house
Hackney's people.

LCAP demands:

- An end to gate keeping at Hackney HPU

- Stop the intimidation of people that approach the HPU

- Genuinely affordable housing to rent in Hackney - no more people chased
out of the borough

Jamie Carswell is scrooge!
We are the ghosts of Christmas present!

“It’s no secret... it was a fairly chaotic managerial arrangement.”

2007-12-07T01:50:00.000-08:00

From Building:

Hodder soon encountered the sort of problems that go with local government work. “In the early days, there was a constant change of personnel at the council,” he recalls. “Tony Ellison, the chief executive, left, the [in-house] project manager changed. There was a tremendous lack of continuity.”

Kim Wright, director of community and leisure at Hackney, admits: “It’s no secret. There was no overall political control and it was a fairly chaotic managerial arrangement.”

But the real difficulties started in 1997 when Sport England, one of the scheme’s co-funders, designated Hackney a priority initiative area, which meant, according to Hodder, that there was money available to take the budget to £10m. However, what should have been a boon for the project quickly became a poisoned chalice.

“That prompted Hackney, not unreasonably, to rethink the brief,” says Hodder. “I felt there were things that we could improve … the size of the gym facility could be bigger, there was no spectators’ facility. There was quite a lot of public consultation that led to changes – for example, to the changing rooms because of the Orthodox Jewish community.”

There was debate, too, over the scheme’s two 25m swimming pools. Some felt that there should be a single 50m Olympic pool – an idea that was dropped – but one of the pools was stretched from six to eight lanes.

These were substantial changes, but Hackney was keen to start work on site as soon as possible, partly because it had been advised that this would save on VAT. However, tenders for the project came in at £13m, £3m higher than anticipated. The design team and the council came up with a compromise budget of £11.5m, but in the meantime Gleeson, the contractor, was being pushed to get started.

Dalston's Heritage Destroyed

2007-11-30T11:36:00.001-08:00

Dalston Lane's historic buildings were now on the footprint of a proposed 20 storey tower block. They were, in effect, on death row awaiting demolition. The Council made a planning application to itself and, in the face of objections and demonstrations at the Town Hall by the local community, its Planning Committee voted in February 2006 to demolish all the historic buildings.

Hackney Social Services: delays and accusations of negligence

2007-11-30T06:34:00.000-08:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

AN investigation into failings by Hackney social services, which may have contributed to the deaths of two children, has been delayed for the second time this year.

A panel looking into the deaths of Antoine Ogunkoya, 10, and his three-year-old sister, Keniece, who were killed by their schizophrenic mother, Viviane Gamor, at her home on the Pembury estate in Lower Clapton in January, despite warnings from their father, will now report its findings in February - more than a year after the tragedy.

The report, which will look at the involvement of Hackney social services and East London and City Mental Health Unit in the children's deaths, has been delayed once already.

A spokeswoman for Hackney Council said the decision to delay again had been to allow the family of the two children to contribute to the report.

The Safeguarding Children Board, a multi-agency body which oversees child protection, commissioned the independent serious case review.

It was due to present its results in September. Now this second delay has led to fears that other children under care of Hackney social services may be at risk.

The children's father, Gabriel "Jimi" Ogunkoya, who lived with them in Trehurst Street, Lower Clapton, has already accused Hackney's social services of "frogmarching" his children to their deaths.

Council "care packages could be cut"`

2007-11-23T07:51:00.000-08:00

From the Jewish Chronicle:

Families in need hit by budget cuts
22/11/2007
By Dana Gloger
CHAREDI families with disabled children claim that social workers told them their care packages could be cut because a council had overspent.

This follows the JC’s “Forgotten Parents” campaign, which revealed that many large families were forced to cope alone with their severely disabled children.

MP Diane Abbott raised the issue with Jules Pipe, mayor of Hackney, one of the worst-hit areas of NorthLondon.

Mr Pipe refused to comment at the time, but this week Orthodox families said that the situation had worsened following visits from social workers.

Chaya Spitz, head of services at Interlink, an umbrella organisation for voluntary groups in the strictly Orthodox community, said: “People will have a review with a social worker they haven’t seen for two years and the minute they come in the door they are saying, ‘We have to make cuts now because we have overspent’.

“People feel they have to beg and plead to maintain the care packages they have. It’s so depressing.”

A mother of eight living in Stamford Hill, Hackney, who has a 12-year-old son with cerebral palsy, said: “I was terrified I was going to lose the little [help] I have. I only get seven hours of care a week, which is not enough as it is.

“Now people are terrified every time a social worker comes round in case they lose the little care they have. I begged for more help. I am desperate. But they just have their budgets in mind. I survive, but it’s a struggle and I don’t have the strength to fight any more.

Hackney "forgot to renew" council policies

2007-11-14T02:16:00.000-08:00

From Hackney Planning Watch:

We have now received a letter from the Government Office for London. It appears that the Council may not have a legal basis for the policy document that includes the proposed areas of exception.

This is quite a technical point, but a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) cannot make council policy, it can only give guidance on existing policy. The proposed SPD relied on three Council pre-existing Council policies, two of which have lapsed (it appears the council forgot to renew them), the third of which applies only to conservation areas.

Consequently it appears doubtful that the Council can adopt the SPD without first adopting some basic policies.The Council is suggesting that it can rely on a general 'plan for London', the principles of which the Council has adopted, but this seems unlikely (or should I say 'desperate'). The Council intends to continue with its existing proposals.

We have been led to believe that the Council may remove the phrase 'area of exception' which is viewed a problematic, but they are currently committed to the substance of the proposals. The latest proposed timescale is that the report will go to Cabinet in December, but there is every reason to suspect that this timescale will be extended. In any event, our campaign must continue to build in strength.

The accidental lapsing of important Council policies is of course a typical Hackney Council 'cock up', but what does it mean for our campaign? Well the good news is that it makes it even harder for the Council to simply ram through the existing proposals, and consequently more likely that we will, eventually, get them amended.

The bad news? Well it appears the Council no longer has any policy on residential extensions! It is therefore possible that unscrupulous developers with good lawyers can appeal any application (however outrageous) that is rejected on the basis that the Council has no policy grounds for rejection.

Halloween Picket at Hackney Council Meeting to demand housing rights

2007-10-28T02:07:00.000-07:00

From London Coalition Against Poverty:

CALL TO ACTION: Halloween Picket at Hackney Council Meeting to demand
housing rights!

WEDNESDAY 31 OCTOBER
6 - 7:30 PM
Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street E8 [ http://www.tiny.cc/vdevt]

Contact: 07932241737
londoncoalitionagainstpoverty@gmail.com

This Halloween we demand our rights!

'A NIGHT LEFT ON MARE ST' - Hackney council turns the homeless away

London Coalition Against Poverty have called for people to picket the
Hackney Council meeting this Halloween. Hackney Council's Homeless
Person's Unit (HPU) has been systematically denying people their rights.
This picket will demand that the council immediately halt these illegal
and unjust practices.

Come show your solidarity and join in the picket! Come to the picket
dressed as something scary and send shivers up the councillor's spines -
bring noisemakers if you'd like to.

More info:

London Coalition against Poverty (LCAP) has been at Hackney Housing Needs
office since July 2007, and we have seen time and again that homeless
people are turned away unlawfully. Hackney Council cares more about
balancing their budget through not housing people then about their
residents needs. They try to delay or stop people making a homeless
application, and to achieve this the staff often act in an intimidating
and sometimes abusive way. Because of this "gate keeping" at the housing
needs office many vulnerable people and families are left on the street or
other insecure, dangerous places. Hackney Council will be held
accountable for the gatekeeping at the Housing office.

LCAP demands:

- An end to gate keeping at Hackney HPU

- Stop the intimdation of people that approach the HPU

- Genuinely affordable housing to rent in Hackney - no more people chased
out of the borough

LCAP will continue to haunt Hackney Council until these changes are made.

TRICK OR TREAT THE COUNCIL!

You dirty rat: street cleaners prepare to blast Banksy away

2007-10-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

From the Indpendent on Sunday:

Critics call the graffiti artist a genius, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have paid £1m for his work. But Hackney council has ordered its workers to power-hose his pictures out of sight
By Cole Moreton
Published: 28 October 2007

What is the biggest eyesore on the streets of east London? A giant rat with a knife and fork in its paws, apparently. Or a rioter throwing flowers. Hackney council says these subversive images are making the place look dirty and have to go – even if they were spray-painted by Banksy, the art world's most unlikely superstar.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have just paid £1m for some of his work. From Hollywood to Hoxton, art collectors are prepared to pay big money for anything Banksy does, with his most expensive single piece, Space Girl and Bird, selling for £288,000 at Bonhams in April. But Hackney council doesn't care.

National Customer Service Week, 2007

2007-10-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

From ESP visuals:

Was walking back home from Noodle King with Irie and saw this Hackney Council Customer Service card on the street. Made me smile.......I'm glad he appreciates Jules Pipe.

more »

That's 'Councillor' spelt U-S-E-L-E-S-S

2007-10-16T04:53:00.000-07:00

We pay for these people?

Responses from Councillors:

If you are making reference to a Commuity, kindly have the manners tospell their name correctly. It is Charedi with a "C". Many thanks,

Cllr Linda Kelly
Leabridge Ward

_________

Dear councillor Kelly

As the word is a transliteration it is spelt either Haredi or Charedi and we chose to use Haredi as this is what was used by the eminent Jewish scholar who wrote to the report.
I am sorry this seems to have offended you.

Best wishes
Jane

___________

Just for your information and I will not be responding to any more emails. It did seem to offend me, it did offend me. With regards to your eminent scholar, reading through his findings there are an awful lot of spelling mistakes, he should have used aspell check.With regards to the word, Charedi since you all live in Hackney, perhaps you could have asked your neighbour about the correctspelling.

Cllr Linda Kelly
Leabridge Ward
________________

I was about to make the same observation as Cllr. Kelly, but she has beaten me to it.

Maureen Middleton
Cllr.New River
_____________

Thank you for your email, would you allow me to print this on my blogsite - http://thecazenoveblog.blogspot.com/

Regards

Dawood Akhoon

_______

15 October 2007

Re. Planningwatch email dated 14 October

Thank you for the above dated email.

You have raised very important points. I will discuss the issues raised with my
Colleagues and also ask questions to the Planning Officers.

Regards
Cllr.Shuja Shaikh
_______

Haredi Judaism>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaHaredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism .[1] A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi (Haredim in the plural).

Could we perhaps concentrate on the issues raised rather than spelling?

Cllr Linda Smith
________

Thank you for the spelling lesson, spelling is an issue if you aregoing to talk about a Community.The Community referred to in issue live in Stamford Hill and callthemselves Chareidi.

Many thanks

Cllr. Linda Kelly

______

From: "Daniel Kemp" Daniel.Kemp@Hackney.gov.uk

To: "planningwatch" planningwatch@btinternet.com

My understanding is the area of exemption is more simply a nuance ofinterpretation but that the planning guidelines will have to be adheredto so cannot understand the furore.The areas are not within my ward or constituency and so I am notsupposed to get involved, it is not that I am ignoring your emails.
_____________

I have asked Guy if the planning dept could let us know were there had been a legal exention that the staus of property ie single family dewilling conversion or HMO would be usual, it wouldn't bve perfect but might give us any idea of percentages.

Cllr Sharron Patrick

Heartbreaking but true

2007-10-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

If only we had a competent democracy then we might not have to advertise for:

DEMOCRATIC SERVICE OFFICERS
Ref: : CCS119/50211/O (London Borough of Hackney)
Location: : Hackney - London
Rate: £30,594 to £32,961 (Permanent)

CUSTOMER & CORPORATE SERVICES

DEMOCRATIC SERVICE OFFICERS
£30,594 to £32,961 pa inc. (pay award pending)

Hackney is a great place to live and work. We are one of the fastest improving local authorities in the country and are one of the host boroughs for the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.

We are now looking for three new Democratic Service Officers to join our new Services for Councillors team, to serve and support a number of local meetings. It might be a formal Planning or Licensing Sub- committee, a full Council or Cabinet meeting or, one of the Council’s four Area Committees/Forums, but you will be at the heart of Hackney’s democratic and governance processes.

You will be a highly-motivated team player, with sound experience of servicing Committee meetings and supporting the work of local Councillors. You will be focused on the detail, have a pride in your work and be enthusiastic about being part of a team which is committed to the delivery of a high quality service.

You can download an application pack from www.hackney.gov.uk/jobs or call our Response Handling Consultants on 020 7649 6044 or email hackney@tmpw.co.uk quoting reference number CCS119/50211/O and your full contact details.

The closing date for receipt of completed applications is Monday, 5 November 2007.

Through the Local Government Pension Scheme, the Council offer a generous and competitive final salary scheme.

One of the core values of the Council is an unequivocal commitment to the principle and operation of equality in terms of how we deliver the best services to our customers and all the people of Hackney, how we recruit, and how we support our staff. We welcome applications from people who can make that principle a reality.

Unison and Hackney clash on children's staffing reforms

2007-10-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

From Communitycare.co.uk

Hackney Council’s Unison branch is threatening to strike over a restructure of children’s social work in the east London local authority.

Under the plans introduced in May, social work “units” will be created with small teams of “consultant” social workers and other professionals with the aim of reducing management and bureaucracy.

In July, Steve Goodman, deputy director of children’s services at Hackney, told Community Care the units would mean “an end to social work teams” and give social workers the authority to make decisions on cases without referring them to team managers.

The council is currently recruiting for 50 jobs in the units, with top salaries for different roles between £40,000 and £50,000. The first unit is due to be set up in November.

While the council has been keen to promote what they call “reclaiming social work”, Unison says 80 social workers are being forced to “jump through hoops” to reapply for their jobs, with 30 or more at risk of redundancy.

Andrew Williamson, Unison’s co-convenor at Hackney, claimed consultation on the restructure, which began in May, was “an utter farce” and said the assessment process for the new positions was “more than usually required of external candidates”, including psychometric tests.

“Staff are being denied their contractual rights, given offers of alternative employment that are unreasonable and forced to reapply for their jobs,” he said.

Hackneyed thinking

2007-09-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

From The Times:

Exhibitors seem a little thin on the ground this year, but councils are out in force spending thousands on stands to lobby for more money. Take Hackney: posh stand, plasma screen, glossy booklet. Two members of staff. Councillors on hand if someone wants a photo. Why? “The 2012 Games give us a golden opportunity to make Hackney a better place. We will work with partners and organisations to get the best out of the Games for the people who live in the borough . . . ” But would Hackney council tax payers agree?

Pounds, pints and a personal vendetta

2007-09-23T01:19:00.000-07:00

Christopher Booker in the Sunday Telegraph:

Last week I reported how, two days after the media had been claiming victory for the Metric Martyrs and that Brussels had reprieved pounds and ounces for ever, council officials and police officers again swooped on the Hackney fruit and veg stall run by Colin Hunt, one of the original "martyrs", to seize his "illegal" non-metric scales. Because this did not suit the media's new "narrative", only the local paper bothered to pick up the story.

Visitors to Ridley Road market might be surprised to see how many other stalls, mostly run by members of "ethnic communities", are selling in pounds and ounces without Hackney council taking any action.

The body that supposedly oversees enforcement, Lacors (Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services), has issued a "Con-cordat", stating that the law must be imposed impartially.

But instead of insisting on a policy of non-discrimination in Hackney, Lacors has circulated a leaflet personally attacking Neil Herron, director of the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund and Mr Hunt's champion, for claiming that he had "saved the crown on the British pint".

Since Mr Herron has never made any such absurd claim, one must ask whether it is the role of public officials to pursue what appears to be such a scurrilous personal vendetta.

Council payoff to abused siblings

2007-09-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

A WOMAN and two younger siblings have been paid a total of £100,000 in an out-of-court settlement because Hackney Council failed to remove them from their abusive home.

Jennifer Routledge, 39, who was given £57,000, was sexually abused by a stepfather when she was nine years old.

Along with her brother, Anthony, 32 and sister, Amanda, 36, she was also beaten in her South Hackney home and deprived of food.

Landmark left to rot

2007-09-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

CONSERVATIONISTS have raised concerns about the deterioration of a Hackney landmark.

Members of the Central and South Hackney Conservation Area and Advisory Committee (CAAC) are worried about the poor condition of the New Lansdowne Club in Mare Street.

Planning permission was granted in 2004 to turn the grade two listed building, which is on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk register, into a Vietnamese cultural centre on condition it was fully restored.

However, three years on, no repair work has been carried out on the 18th-century building and CAAC members are shocked that it has been left to rot.

One of their number, Louise Oldfield, said: "Ownership of a listed building comes with a responsibility and the deterioration of this building over a few years has been shocking. It's one of the most important buildings in Hackney."

Rossana Tich, another CAAC member, who is also a Hackney Society trustee, added: "It is sitting there rotting. The council is dragging its feet to use its statutory powers."

The Entire London Borough of Hackney In A State Of Disrepair?

2007-09-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

From This is Stoke Newington:

And the hits just keep rolling at the London Borough of Happiness. Is there nobody at Hackney that can get a grip? Click on the photo to read the latest consequence of Hackney Labour “led” in-action.

How much more Hackney Labour know nothing managerialism are residents meant to endure?

£100,000 for abused siblings council failed to take into care

2007-09-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

From The Guardian:

A 39-year-old woman and her two younger siblings have won a total of £100,000 in an out-of-court settlement with Hackney council in east London because it failed to remove them as children from their abusive home.

Jennifer Routledge, who received £57,500, was raped aged nine by a stepfather who was jailed for the crime, and later abused by another who she believed had groomed her for the purpose. She and her siblings were beaten and deprived of food and she left school at the age of 13 unable to read and write properly.

ESTATES SELL-OFF PROTEST

2007-09-14T05:31:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

ANGRY tenants protested outside the town hall this week over sell-off plans which could see estates being built on and council homes demolished.

Jeers and boos greeted, Hackney's deputy mayor, Cllr Jamie Carswell, after the council's Cabinet gave the go-ahead on Monday to the plans to transform the borough's estates as part of a £6.8 million investment programme.

For the past nine months, Hackney Council has consulted tenants over controversial plans to sell off land on their estates to a housing association landlord.

Building resentment

2007-09-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

From Scorn and Noise:

Imagine coming home one day to find that your neighbour had built an extension that was bolted onto the outside wall of your upstairs living room. When you’d suppressed (or not) the urge to dynamite the edifice, you would feel certain that the authorities would take a similarly dim, if less emotional view of the matter.

And so they do: unless you live in Hackney, where official policy allows the council to grant planning permission for structures built on other people’s property.

'One-star' housing boss retires after 26 years

2007-08-31T12:00:00.001-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

THE chief executive of Hackney Homes, Steve Tucker, retired last week after the borough's housing authority achieved just a one-star performance rating earlier this month.

Mr Tucker had been in the post since November, 2005, and worked for the council for 26 years.

Tenants' fury at 'land swap' deal as estate undergoes £1 billion revamp

2007-08-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

ANGRY tenants say they will be forced to suffer the misery of living on a building site after plans for the £1 billion redevelopment of their estate were altered radically.

The blueprint for regeneration of the massive Woodberry Down estate has been re-drawn by the town hall in a land swap deal so that a planned new academy for 11 to 18-year-olds can be re-located.

The academy had been set to be built on the nearby site of the former Woodberry Grove primary school, but English Heritage refused permission as the school is a listed building.

Hackney Council's Cabinet gave approval last month for the academy to be built on another part of the estate earmarked for property developer Berkeley Homes to construct 209 mixed tenure homes.

Non-job of the week

2007-08-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

From Burning Our Money.

This week’s non-job is rather sobering. Given the anarchy sweeping the UK, with gangs attacking children and other innocents, the political classes recognise the crisis on our streets. Calls for more police are one thing. People recognise that police on the beat cut crime. A police presence makes our most vulnerable feel safe and secure; free to walk the streets they have every right to be on. Yet no one is calling for more “community safety coordinators”, bureaucrats with fancy titles whose good intentions feed inaction and ineffectiveness against the scourge of crime on our streets. Every penny siphoned off to town hall apparatchiks fighting crime with bits of paper behind a desk is one less penny put to frontline policing. That’s fewer funds to train and employ new police who can fight crime.

Our non-job of the week therefore comes from Hackney council:

“Community Safety Co-ordinator

£32,961 - £35,593 p.a. inc.

Housing When's a home not a home? When it's a live/work space

2007-08-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Owners of properties designed for home-based workers face eviction, as Lucy Barnard reports in The Guardian.

They're called live/work apartments, and have sprouted in urban centres across the UK. They are targeted at the pioneers of home-based working, and usually feature cutting-edge architectural design.

But now hundreds of purchasers who use them entirely as a residential space, face eviction following a clampdown by council planning departments.

The London Borough of Hackney has already issued 600 "planning contravention" notices, and other councils across the country are watching the situation closely.

Two weeks ago, the 75 homeowners of Union Wharf, a trendy-looking block a stone's throw from Hoxton, N1, woke up to open an innocuous-looking letter from Hackney council.

It was from an official, telling them they were all in breach of planning regulations and had to either leave their homes or apply for residential planning consent within 28 days.

Clissold Costs Spiral

2007-08-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

THE final bill for repairs and improvements to the trouble-torn Clissold Leisure Centre is expected to be £13 million. The building work is scheduled to finish next month.

The latest estimate hikes Hackney's spending on the flagship centre in Stoke Newington to £44 million - four times the original budget.

Some of the money was recouped after legal action was taken against architects Hodder Associates, quantity surveyors Langton Davis Everest, building contractors Gleesons and structural engineers Whitby Bird.

The claims were settled out of court, but the council had to compensate former management company Leisure Connection for the fees and profits lost after the centre closed in 2002, just 21 months after it had opened.

Bike bureaucracy bungle

2007-08-10T12:00:00.001-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

ANGRY cyclists lost out on £50,000 to kit out their estate with secure bike lockers as a result of a bureaucratic bungle.

The Frampton Park Residents' Association had secured Transport for London (Tfl) funding to build 75 lockers at Loddiges House.

But between them, Hackney Council and Hackney Homes failed to return the application form in time.

Roofless!

2007-08-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

A MENTALLY ill man slept rough for five nights in a public park because the council failed to fulfil its statutory duty to find him emergency housing, it was claimed this week.

His case is not an isolated example, according to a homeless campaign group, which has accused Hackney's Homeless Persons Unit of operating a "gate-keeping" policy towards those in urgent need of a roof over their heads.

David Brewster, 54, who is being treated by his doctor for clinical depression, says he spent five nights sleeping in bushes in Butterfield Green, Stoke Newington, after he applied, penniless and desperate for somewhere to stay, to the homeless persons unit.

No, Hackney Council: You’re Not Going To Have My Bank Details

2007-08-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

From This is Stoke Newington:

Guys, love the latest smooth move from our friends at Hackney Council. It used to be that you could pay your “value for money” council tax payments at Stoke Newington Town Hall. As of Monday, 3 September 2007, that facility will vapourise. Thanks for the consultation, Hackney Labour.

Psychotic mother killed children

2007-08-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

From the BBC.

A judge has criticised a council after it allowed a mentally ill woman access to her children before she killed them.

Vivian Gamor, 29, admitted beating Antoine, 10, and suffocating Kenniece, three, in Hackney, east London, in January, the Old Bailey heard.

Judge Peter Rook QC criticised Hackney Council, saying the tragedy could have been avoided and Gamor should not been given free access to the youngsters.

Cleared but still suspended

2007-07-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

From the Hackney Gazette:

THE town hall's standards watchdog has been accused of a whitewash after it went against independent advice and cleared a Hackney councillor of having a prejudicial interest in a controversial development.

Cllr Darren Parker was suspended for three months after admitting making an "error of judgement" by not declaring an interest in the proposal to bulldoze the 19th-century Dalston Theatre and build a 19-storey high-rise block in its place.

Crucially, however, Hackney Council's standards committee decided the 33-year-old's employment with a government body that supported the scheme did not amount to a prejudicial interest.

Stamford Hill deserves better

2007-07-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

From Hackney Planning Watch.

Hackney Council is planning to exclude 38 streets in Stamford Hill from normal planning protection. A period of so-called ‘consultation’ on the plans has already concluded, but most residents had no idea that this consultation was taking place. One councillor has already been quoted in the press celebrating what he described as an unprecedented u- turn in council policy. While the councillor was celebrating, most residents had not even been informed of the proposals. Those who have managed to obtain copies of the ‘draft’ proposals are appalled at the proposal to abandon their streets to unregulated property developers.

The Council already has an appalling record of applying its existing policies and often grants planning permission for front, rear and side extensions that are completely out of character with the existing streetscape, and which in some cases involve the almost total in-fill of rear gardens. Not satisfied with the existing levels of architectural vandalism, the Council wishes to relax even further the rules that they so rarely apply.

Want A Landline? Not In Hackney!

2007-07-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

From I Intend to Escape...

You would have thought Hackney Council and Virgin would have agreed clear working processes to ensure any mechanical faults could be quickly repaired, and tenants would get the service they are paying for. Not so. Two working days notice is required before Hackney will provide Virgin with a key to the roof (that's two days you are paying for a service you cannot use, on top of the week before the engineer can come round)

This time a new twist was added. Virgin informed me I had to request the key from the Council, and they would then pick it up from Hackney on the day of the repair. When I visited by Neighbourhood Office, I was simply told there was no access allowed to the roof of the building, for anyone, due to "problems caused by pirate radio stations operating from roofs".

Demolition of Dalston’s historic buildings: Darren “One man, two votes” Parker to face Hackney Standards Committee hearing.

2007-06-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

From Open Dalston.

An investigation, instigated by the Standards Board for England (SBE), has found that Hackney Councillor, Darren Parker, had a personal and a prejudicial interest when he used his Chair’s casting vote last July to grant planning permission for the demolition of Dalston’s heritage buildings and their replacement with towerblock flats. The investigation has found that Councillor Parker should have withdrawn from and not voted in the meeting. Had he done so the application would have been refused on the balance of votes cast. Hackney’s Standards Sub-Committee is to consider the report’s findings, and Councillor Parker’s representations, and make a ruling on Wednesday 20th June.

Blue boxes for Hackney Yay!

2007-04-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

From Service with a Snarl:

Well done to Hackney Council for introducing borough wide Blue box organic matter recycling. Unfortunately they have omitted to deliver mine and I've been in s stream of 5-10 working days madam, for the past 2 months. Maybe one day, dear old Hackney Council.

Hackney planning dept in complete disarray

2006-12-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

The Local Government Ombudsman criticises the Planning Department for administrative malpractice. Days later, Head of Planning Sue Foster was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List "for services to Planning".

Hackney Council has been heavily criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman for failing to take enforcement action on planning breaches over several years.

Local Government Ombudsman, Tony Redmond, today (22 December 2006) issued three reports on the investigation of complaints against the London Borough of Hackney.

The complaints were made by residents about the Council’s failure over periods of three to four years to deal with unauthorised works carried out to properties adjoining their homes. He finds the Council to be at fault in failing to take enforcement action and recommends in each case that it pays compensation of £500 as well as ensuring any outstanding enforcement action is now dealt with without delay.

Council Cock-Ups See Mobile Masts Go Ahead

2006-07-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

From Workers Liberty. Hackney Council cock-up results in mobile masts being built against residents' wishes.

It seems that here in Hackney, we are not alone in having an incompetent Council when it comes to mobile phone masts and planning permission. After an effective campaign by local residents, Hackney Council refused permission to O2 to erect a mast on London Fields, just metres away from a primary school, a kids' paddling pool, an estate (Wayman Court) and residential streets. But the Council missed the deadline to notify O2, so it got the permission by default.

According to Mast Sanity, several other Councils have been equally crap, and their misdeeds are listed at the end of this post. Strangely, this hall of shame is not particularly reassuring to Hackney residents - but it does expose just how much local democracy is degraded by Town Hall bureaucrats.

Stokefest Cancelled!!

2006-06-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hackney Council forgets apply for the licence necessary to stage one of the Borough's most popular annual events. From Indymedia.

Immortalised in the classic techno anthem 'Hackney Council are a Bunch of Cunts' it seems the bungling bureacrats have let down Hackney residents again. According to today's Hackney Gazette dipstick council officials forgot to apply for the necessary licence leaving the festival unable to go ahead and hundreds of local volunteers having wasted hours of their time.

Organisers are now hoping to re-schedule the event in September which should leave enough time for the muppets at Hackney Council to get their act together.

The statement on the Stokefest website reads

'Stokefest06 will not be taking place on Sunday 11th June 2006 as planned, because Hackney Council does not have a premises licence in place for Clissold Park.

Squatted Café resists Hackney Council Sell-Off

2006-01-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

From the Schnews.

There’s a gold rush afoot in east London, and we’re not invited. Also left in the cold is Sicilian café-owner Tony Platia who, together with other locals in the borough of Hackney, has recently re-occupied Francesca’s Café, his business of 30 years, after being booted out last summer. It was one of many premises sold from under tenants’ feet as the Council scrambled to dispose of their property over the last few years.

Now the shop front has turned frontline, barricaded in the battle to halt an ongoing stampede of investors and speculators, trailing a stench of corruption in their wake that would make Robert Mugabe blush. Tony had right of first refusal and tried to buy his place – but his cheques somehow kept getting lost in the post before they reached the Council. You, too, could get a slice of the real estate pie – if you don’t mind furnishing the right officials with a few back-handers.

Swimmers left high and dry by neglected pools

2005-11-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

Kate Hoey in the Daily Telegraph.

Eighteen months ago I wrote about the scandal of the brand new Clissold Leisure Centre in Hackney, London, which had replaced the much-loved public baths. Opened in 2002, the cost was £31 million instead of £11 million and the contract overran by 95 weeks. The following year it closed, when the electrical plant rooms flooded and the drainage blocked. Since then it has been mothballed and ringed by security guards.

Now, at last the legal battles with the contractors and architects have been settled out of court and scaffolding has been put up to allow the roof to be replaced and other remedial work to be carried out with the money from the settlement. Hackney Council are desperate to re-open before local elections next May but it is more likely to be late next summer, 10 years since the original baths were closed.

A web of illiteracy and officialdom: welcome to Hackney planning

2005-05-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

From Building Design:

All architects will be familiar with the frustration of dealing with local planning departments, so perhaps readers will take pity on a fellow professional who has had a three-month battle with Hackney Council over photocopied signatures and illiterate officialese.

In January, Charles Thomson of Rivington Street Studio was bewildered to discover that a planning application he had submitted was invalid because the signature on it was photocopied, which the council claimed did not constitute a legal document.

He wrote back saying: “Can you confirm to me where you ask for a unique signature and how you determine whether a signature is unique or not? Is this a visual analysis or do you have a specialist piece of equipment? Are you familiar with either a) the attempts by Hackney to develop a user-friendly planning department, or b) the works of Kafka?

“I am enclosing 20 individually signed copies of the front page of the planning application (on the basis that you will almost certainly need more than the three requested, that you may want to verify the signature and that you can afford to lose half the pages and still have spare copies).”

In a separate letter, he wrote to Hackney’s head of planning, Sue Foster, to complain about spelling and grammatical errors in the council’s original letter.

Thomson wrote: “Our postcode is misspelt (not a big issue). ‘Vehicular’ is spelt ‘velicular’. ‘Advise’ is spelt ‘advice’. As this is presumably a computer-generated letter, spelling should be correct. You state ‘your application is invalid for the following reason(s)’ and then don’t give the reasons. The wording, also presumably computer-generated, is ‘application forms in original ink, signature, not photocopied’. This is not grammatical and could mean a) that all copies of the form have to be completed in original ink or b) that none of the forms should be completed in original ink.”

At the time of going to press, Thomson had yet to receive a response. He said: “Bureaucracy in the system allows for poorly written documents to be passed through from planners and they use these rather peculiar devices from time to time as a way of apparently just trying to delay the whole process.”

Hackney Council refused to comment.

London council criticised for planning 'chaos'

2004-02-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

From the Planning Portal:

The London Borough of Hackney has been recommended to pay £11,000 plus legal costs by the Local Government Ombudsman after a series of planning errors forced the premature closure of a factory.

At the time the council acknowledged that its planning department was "in chaos", according to the official report into the events surrounding the complaint.

At the centre of this case was a long-established furniture-polishing business, run by the complainant from a single-story industrial unit with three and four-story buildings on either side, previously used as flatted factories or for warehousing.

First, the council decided to grant planning permission for the conversion of the building to the west of the unit. A developer wanted to convert the building into flats and workshops.

The complainant was notified of the plan and the proposed consent was subject to a legal agreement requiring the developer to undertake works to address pollution from the factory, chiefly fumes.

Subsequently, the development was implemented but without the agreement being signed, the works done or a permission being issued.

The council then considered a planning application for a similar conversion on the other side of the factory.

In granting permission for this scheme, the council failed to consider the impact of the factory or realise it was there.

Hackney Worst Council in England

2003-12-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

From the Evening Standard:

Hackney is the worst council in England for the second year in a row.

The east London borough, run by a directly-elected Labour mayor, has again come bottom of official league tables.

It is classed as "poor" by the Audit Commission alongside Lambeth, Waltham Forest and seven other local authorities in England.

But it is the only council to get only one point - the lowest possible score - for both its ability to improve and the quality of its services.

Criticisms over baby's death

2003-10-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

From the BBC:

Social workers at an east London council have been criticised by a judge who heard that a baby died only six days after it had been taken off an "at risk" register.

Tyrell Rowe, who was 19-months old, died in hospital on 17 October from brain damage after being repeatedly punched in the face.

The Old Bailey heard that after his death a number of other broken bones were discovered which had been caused in the previous two months.

Hackney Council social services had been supervising the baby, but had not examined him during that period.

Hackney poll-fix councillors jailed

2001-06-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Sandra Laville in the Daily Telegraph.

TWO councillors were jailed yesterday for their part in the country's largest vote-rigging conspiracy, which "betrayed democracy" in one of the most deprived areas of Britain.

Isaac Liebowitz, a Conservative, and Zev Lieberman, a Liberal Democrat, raised enough bogus votes to change the course of the 1998 municipal elections in Hackney, east London, by robbing Labour of a stronghold ward. The men created non-existent voters, registered electors at addresses that did not exist and tricked elderly women into signing away their vote.

Special Branch officers, who spent 18 months investigating the matter, described it as "the largest attempt to subvert the democratic process" that they had come across. Judge Jeremy Connor sentenced Liebowitz, 35, to six months in jail and Lieberman, 29, to four months at Wood Green Crown Court, north London, yesterday.

Hapless Hackney faces £40m meltdown

2000-11-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Peter Hetherington in the Guardian:

Rubbish piles up, hundreds face rent arrears misery as officials from other areas try to help sort out years of infighting and incompetence

Rubbish piled high in black bags and boxes outside houses and shops awaits the elusive council dust cart. The grubby streets, swirling with the remains of bursting refuse sacks and last week's takeaways, are rarely swept. "It's easier to spot the rats than find the binman," jokes an elderly woman, laden with shopping bags, as she stumbles between the high rises.

Around the tower blocks, in an area dominated by council housing, the walkways are crumbling and the window frames rotting. "In 20 years we haven't had a lick of paint," yells Rose Richardson, a 78-year-old who chairs a community association on the Trelawney estate. "They make promises, but they always put it back. They treat us terribly badly."