corrupt council waste more money whilst closing willfield

SIX council officers suspended on full pay in a row over demolition contracts have been paid almost £185,000 to stay off work.
Figures obtained by The Sentinel reveal the sum of £183,858 has been shared between the workers from Stoke-on-Trent City Council's regeneration directorate since their suspensions in September.

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   Concerns: Stoke-on-Trent South MP Rob Flello

The authority has set no date for when the payments could be stopped. And it says it has no rules requiring a decision to be made within a set time.
Three men are currently on police bail after being arrested as part of a police inquiry into alleged corrupt tendering practices.
It is understood the council has delayed its action to prevent intrusion on the criminal investigation.
It is not known whether any of the arrested trio are among the six suspended.
Stoke-on-Trent South MP Rob Flello raised concerns about the authority's contract systems in 2009 after being approached by local businesses.
He said: "I'm very concerned that at a time when the city is in need of every penny, we find there is a huge wage bill being run up for people who are suspended from work.
"I'm also concerned it has taken a very long time to deal with matters.
"I'll be asking questions of whether any unnecessary delays have been caused by the police and, if so, whether they will be reimbursing the council."
It has also emerged that former councillor Brian Ward, former cabinet member for regeneration, was kept in the dark about the reasons for suspension and was not told whether the staff would be paid while off work.
He said: "Part of it is understandable, because the confidentiality was important at that early stage.
"Some complex investigations take a long time and I don't think the public will decry that.
"But they will want some indication of how long this is going to take."
The council's tendering practices were put under the spotlight in 2009 when it awarded a £1.1 million contract for the demolition of the former Westcliffe Hospital, in Chell, despite the bid being three times higher than competitors.It eventually re-awarded the contract at £341,000.
Former councillor Alan Rigby raised concerns at the time.
He said: "It's disgusting that it has gone on for this long and cost the council this much money. I'm looking forward to the outcome."
A separate internal inquiry into the Westcliffe deal found procedures had not been properly followed and staff failed to spot the wide variation between the highest and lowest bids.
At the time the council pledged to retrain staff, but said there was no evidence of corruption.
Government watchdog the Audit Commission has also called for improvements in the way the council awards contracts.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said its investigation was continuing.

re c a b funding cuts

maybe if the c a b did what its name suggests and looked after the citizens of stoke on trent rather than giving over most of its time and resources to asylum seekers and immigrants then maybe it wouldnt need as much money to survive on.Anyone who has had the misfortune to visit c a b in hanley will know that there are 2 different waiting times one for the citizens of stoke on trent and one for immigrants most of which cannot even speak english

update on paedophile living on chelmsford drive bentilee

please be aware that mathew sutton convicted peado is living very close to the childrens play area although i cannot give out his actual address i have to make everyone aware that he lives to close to the childrens park which is situated between chelmsford and beverly drive so watch your kids

Bentilee Death Knell

Lets look at the facts Labour screwed all of us over the closure of Mitchell high school.Labour have lied through ther back teeth and got elected under false pretences by claiming that they would keep willfield community centre open.What next.If you think that is it you are deluded Bentilee is the jewel in the Death crown of the labour council.Your local councillors do not care about you.I have tried to ring Alison Wedgewood my local councillor only to speak to her pa.WHERE IS THE LOCAL in local councillor Wedgewood.Historically your local councillor lived near you so had an insight into your community.Apparently not so anymore she lives in hollington which is at least 30 minutes drive away from us.The average house price in hollington exceeds £500000. the crime rate is virtually 0 i wonder how many convicted peados there are in Hollington.Whilst we have one living on chelmsford drive opposite a childrens play area.

park hall turned into gypo camp for a week

Park Hall Country Park as we all know is an idylic oasis of outstanding beauty starting at the top end of bentilee estate where people walk there dogs children play and many people enjoy the peace and tranquility.Well that peace was shattered on july 2nd when around 30 gypo vans turned up and parked there for a week leaving behind them a tip with the grass churned up and litter strewn around everywhere.What i really fail to understand is why did it take the authorities a full week to move them on.Could it possibly be that the local labour led council cares more about so called ethnic minorities than the indigenous people of stoke on trent.