FAT CATS GETTING FATTER

TAMESIDE COUNCIL FAT CAT

Is it really any wonder that more and more people are turning to UKIP in a desperate attempt to bring some semblance of sanity to local and national politics?

The other day I was reading the ‘Town Hall Rich List’ which The Taxpayer’s Alliance have produced from FOI requests. It might come as a surprise to some readers but the figures obtained for 2012 shows that here in Tameside we have a CEO with a total remuneration package of nearly £200 grand and a further 11 unnamed council bosses who are earning well over £100,000 each! - In fact, altogether they cost us £1.5million a year!

So, it’s well worth remembering, when they close your local Community Centre, Library, cut Youth Services, or fail to fill-in the pot holes that are knocking holes out of your 'pride 'n joy'; that in this age of so-called austerity the same people who are making these decisions are at the same time milking the system.

Not for them a pay freeze or a drop in numbers, oh no! - and even on the rare occasion that they do ‘move on’ or take ‘early retirement, their severance package is more than double of that which most Tameside residents earn in a calendar year.

So, next time Cllr Taylor gets on his soapbox banging on about 'fairness' it might be an idea to ask him to explain what is fair about these Town Hall Fat Cats taking more than their fair share?

LIFT A STONE IN TAMESIDE...and see what comes crawling out.

When one reads some of the reports regarding what purports to be the administration of our justice system, it really makes one wonder of these magistrates are actually living on the same planet as the rest of us or whether they are working under orders to keep the prison population down for ulterior reasons.

Last week, The Reporter carried a story of a School Bursar (That’s an official who has charge of funds, particularly in a university, college, school, or monastery) who, over a period of 6 years stole £57,000 of Tameside taxpayers money!

In admitting 5 counts of fraud and 1 count of theft, it was reported that she had syphoned off thousands of pounds by dishonestly cashing 80 cheques and used the schools ‘credit card’ to make personal purchases.

 

And the punishment for this sustained dishonesty?  …A two year suspended sentence and £200 court costs!

In passing sentence, the Magistrate, Mr Maurice Greene, said, he was taking into account her early guilty plea and that she had showed genuine remorse.

Now unfortunately, that was where ‘The Reporters’ coverage stopped. The paper completely missed the obvious, more relevant questions that this crime had unveiled.

So, let's examine the result. ...Her early guilty plea? …This thieving cow had been stealing money for over 6 years! If it hadn’t been for the fact that the school's new Bursar spotted the financial anomalies after the thief had left her post; and after which our fabulously famous ‘beacon status’ council had then decided to carry out a full audit, she would not have been caught, admitted her guilt, or shown 'genuine remorse'! ...Not then, not ever!

That then brings us to the question how did she get away with this serial embezzlement for 6 years?

"TAMESIDE AUDITS ARE US-  Buy 2 pay only for 4!"

Who within Tameside Council was responsible for signing off the schools annually audited books? Why have they not been sacked?

In common with every other facet of ‘Public Spending’ financial pressures are growing on local authority maintained schools because the need to reduce costs and waste is becoming greater. Therefore the capacity for local authorities to finely monitor and support financial management in schools is that much the greater.

So, what was Tameside Council’s Auditing Team doing whilst this long running theft was going on?

Surely, if the school in questions financial anomalies could be so easily revealed by a new School Bursar, why were these ‘anomalies’ not spotted during previous audits during the 6 year period of embezzlement?

As seems to becoming the norm with Tameside Council, there seems to be more questions than answers emanating from these stories; obviously, weak financial management and weak academic performance now appear to be going hand in hand in our borough! (It might be seen as an inconvenient truth, but it still remains the fact that Tameside council was regarded by OFSTED as the worst performing local authority area in Greater Manchester and the 5th worst nationally. ...We now know why!)

This crime and following financial scandal, for once can’t be placed at the door of the Coalition or ‘the cuts’ or be passed off as ‘subjective’ because as council bosses well know; even if our local councillors do not, the Department for Education has a limited role in relation to the financial management of individual schools.

The financial management lies with schools themselves, with local authorities who are responsible for exercising effective oversight.

Oversight, it this case being the operative word!

Now, let's see Tameside's PR department 'spin' their way out of this one. ...We await an explanation.

“PERNICIOUS, CALLOUS, CRUEL AND ABOVE ALL SPURIOUS” – Yeah, right, Stuart!

What the hell is it with these so-called TV personalities?

 

It’s almost like someone opened Pandora’s Box and all the sleazy, creepy ones have all suddenly jumped out of the offenders’ wardrobe!

It started with ‘Uncle’ Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson) whose career was ruined after he was accused of child abuse in 1983.

Since then, there’s been a whole host of TV Soap Stars who have had their collars felt for one reason or another!

Remember the Brookside actor Brian Regan, who went from soap star to cocaine courier after his time on the small screen ended.

More recently though, things seem to have accelerated somewhat, starting with the alleged misdemeanour's of Michael Le Vell, (Coronation Street’s Kevin Webster) who was arrested on suspicion of committing a sexual offence involving a young girl. That scandal was quickly followed by humiliation involving the street’s’ longest surviving actor, William Roache (Ken Barlow) who, despite surprising many fans last year when he claimed during a TV interview with Piers Morgan that he'd slept with up to 1,000 women, was charged with raping a schoolgirl more than 45 years ago.

Now, Stuart Hall, after strenuously denying any wrongdoings, by bombastically saying, “the charges against me are pernicious, callous, cruel and above all spurious!” It was revealed on last night’s news that the once giggling presenter has now pleaded guilty to 14 charges of indecent assault against children as young as nine.

But this is not the first time that the veteran broadcaster has acted in a fashion not befitting a man who was held in high esteem in the public eye!

In the early nineties, he was charged with shoplifting from his local Safeway. He was acquitted of stealing a jar of coffee, batteries and packet of sausages. However, it didn’t prevent his being dropped by the BBC only to be snapped-up by North West rival channel Granada, who paired him with Bob Greaves for the imaginatively-titled GRANADA TONIGHT.

He's not laughing now!

He had also been involved in several failed businesses. Some of you might recall that he was the man who ran 'SHIT' Travel' - what a great venture that was. (Stuart Hall International Travel, which must qualify as the acronym from hell).

But now, the 83-year-old has been branded an “opportunistic predator” by prosecutors after he changed his plea to guilty on 14 charges relating to indecently assaulting 13 girls over a period of 20 years. …Oh how the mighty have fallen!

A GOOD NIGHT FOR UKIP

It might be too early to predict, but it would seem that the game being played by the Conservatives as well as the Labour lots particular penchant for playing the man not the ball, has actually done nothing but boost the growing popularity of UKIP!

UKIP opponents say, “Oh, they’re a one trick pony, it’s all about the EU!” but it’s not! UKIP are much more than that!

Personally, I’m sick of being conned, lied too and manipulated by a professional political class who refuse to listen until they see a situation which might threaten their careers and gold plated pensions. And if I needed a prop to prove my point, you only had to listen to Tory grandee Ken Clarke, who the other day denounced UKIP as “clowns” — and thus throwing a major insult at the hundreds of thousands of ex-Tories, who hope one day to return to the fold, when and if Tory policies return to true Tory principles.

Talk about Tory arrogance! The British people have had enough of the ‘Jam tomorrow’ promises and the total inept Labour party, with more borrowing more debt policies.

Today’s local election results also tell me that I’m not alone, many more voters are sick of it too; not just today's Tories, but of Labour, of the LibDems, all these prima donna’s , these clowns who seem to think they have some god given right to tell us what to say, think, do, drink, smoke, eat, believe. We’ve had enough of career councillors too; who over their years in office appear to be more interested in feathering their own nests, wasting money on vanity projects, the trappings of office and imposing politically correct drivel on council taxpayers.

Someone from the politically unbiased media was reported as saying that voting UKIP was “stealing Tory votes”… well that’s wrong! Clearly the political class and their flunkies in the mainstream media still don’t understand what’s going on. 

Voting UKIP isn’t a protest vote: it’s a quiet, restrained and very British revolt.

Basically, we want the control of our country back and faced with a choice of Tory, Labour, LibDem and UKIP, to vote for other than UKIP is now a no-brainer.

HYDE MARKET, FRIDAY 26 APRIL 12.30 LUNCHTIME … IT SHOULD BE BUZZING!

Welcome to Hyde's bustling new £1.3million 'Market' Place

Have you ever watched a lively 'Market Town' prosper and then watch it slowly starve itself to death? 

Have you ever wondered why it’s failed? Or do you know what has gone wrong?

Maybe, like many of Hyde’s residents you even offered constructive feedback to the council and its councillors only to get a nasty look in return. 

How is it that we can see the self-destruction - while the council seem to be oblivious

Why? - Because we see it from the perspective of a customer. The council is engulfed in an emotional world of "It's ours - it must be beautiful". Or maybe they keep telling themselves, "There’s now’t wrong w’it Market, we spent a lot of money fixing up this place - people will see it our way - eventually".

So why has Hyde’s market failed?

Well, I suspect that the market’s owners; Tameside council, followed a marketing strategy of hope.

Well, hope is an admirable personal quality councillors, but it’s a lousy marketing strategy.

The campaign to encourage smokers to move smoke away from children seems to be going well too!