Sunday 28 January 2018

Tameside, the costs add up as receivers take-over

A source close to the levers of power at Tameside Council has told Northern Voices that 'it's a right mess'  in Tameside, since Carillion, a partner to Tameside MBC, suffered the indignity of falling into the hands of the receivers.

This contrasts with the official line put out by the Labour council that it's 'Business as usual' and the crazy claim that Carillion are 'carrying on as normal' after the company imploded.

'Normal business' at Carillion with the company in receivership?  This takes some believing in the present climate.

Up to last week there were 16 sub-contractors working on 'Vision Tameside' services employed by Carillion.  

Northern Voices has had its spies watching the Carillion site in Ashton-under-Lyne town centre, and there's very little movement to be seen.  When NV tried to talk to a security guard he turned tail and ran.

If Tameside council or any of its 'servants' have occasion to want some advice from the receivers, Price Waterhouse Cooper, or make contact in any way, the council must pay a considerable fee for this privilege..

Last week, when the Tory Councillor John Bell asked 'Did Carillion give value for money?', he answered his own question by saying:  'Well we'll never know, because there has been no oversight or proper scrutiny'.

Yet in September 2011, Councillor David Sweeton, executive member for business and community, said: If we transfer workers and services to Carillion,'  this will " protect  jobs, services, and cut costs' ..

Tameside MBC has made similar promises before.  In  the 1990s Tameside Council outsourced all their old peoples' homes to Tameside Enterprises Ltd (TEL) originally formed in 1985 to provide local housing.  In 1993 the company running the homes (TEL) went bust due to financial mismanagement owing £2.2m in debts. TMBC renegued  on its promises to the care workers that they would be redeployed by TMBC if TEL went bust.

Tameside Council's Mantra is 'Vision Tameside', but if this is 'vision' then perhaps, we should humbly suggest, they should go to 'Spec Savers'.

In all this mess the one thing is clear,  Councillor Kieran Quinn's sense of timing in popping his cloggs last Christmas, was perfect.
******

5 comments:

Evan said...

Your reference to Kieran Quinn shows what a bunch of lowlifes you really are.

Beneath contempt.

Steve Starlord said...

It was indeed somewhat prescient of him [Kieran Quinn]. One could be forgiven for thinking he perhaps foresaw the imminent collapse of Carillion on the spiritual horizon. This seeming foresight was perhaps superior to that of his compatriots.

It's just a pity his Tameside Vision was seen through a crystal darkly when it came to giving the building contract to Carillion in the first place. Maybe he should’ve gone to Specsavers.

This headache has been left to his not yet publicly chosen successor to clean-up. So, the headless and seemingly rudderless Tameside Council is in chaos, not that we expect any such news coverage in the impartial New Charter owned-and-controlled Tameside Reporter. Nigel Pivaro is one of ‘their’ few reporters both willing and able to write critical and informative articles.

It’s simply unbelievable that the Tameside Reporter has undeservedly won awards and accolades for it’s poor coverage of local news. It is little more than a mouthpiece for New Charter, and Tameside Council, with little real coverage of local politics and current affairs.

The failure 6 months ago to print an article by Nigel Pivaro in the local Tameside Reporter about Carillion and Tameside Council is perhaps a case in point. It did however, rather surprisingly, appear on their website. Yet not in the paper.
https://tamesidereporter.com/2017/08/carillion-survival-crucial-for-tameside1/
Why I know not. Perhaps it was done to keep him quiet, to stop him publishing elsewhere, and thereby keep the matter relatively quiet and out of the public’s gaze. But now the cat’s out of the bag!

I suspect far more Tamesider’s read the printed copy than read the online paper. I for one only became aware of this article in recent weeks. I am a regular reader (sic) of the printed copy.

I find the news coverage in the Tameside Reporter such as it is, pallid and insipid by comparison with it’s predecessor, when it was ‘independent’ and not in the hands of New Charter. So much for the professed editorial independence after the takeover, oops, sorry, 'rescue'. We’re supposed to be thankful for such small mercies, that a New Charter shining knight saviour came to the rescue of an ailing local newspaper. It should’ve been admitted to Willow Wood and allowed to pass away peacefully. Instead we watch a walking corpse of a paper limping on week after week.

Keep up the good work NV!

Love, Light & Laughter
Steve Starlord

Anonymous said...

As the receivers move in, Tameside MBC held their Full Council meeting tonight, Wednesday 31st January 2018.
Despite the whole Borough now in disarray with Libraries failing around their shoulders, buildings falling into near collapse and roads in a state of eternal pothole disrepair and with uncertainty of staffing levels, school meals provisions, falling markets attendances et al, 98% of the meeting was given to giving glorious eulogies to the late Councillor Quinn.
No mention at all over the sorry state of the region or any basic update or situation report over the predicament that the collapse of Carillion has left the people of Tameside in.
But what would you expect,as always, smoke mirrors and bullshit.
No doubt EVAN was there. !
The Blueknight.

John Pearson said...

Excellent article on NV blog on Carillion in Tameside.

Anonymous said...

The 'lowlifes' are the sçabs who support a council leader and a council that were in bed with a bunch of blacklisters like Carillon. Keep up the good work NV in exposing these hypocrites in the trade union and labour movement.