IDS defeats Waltham Forest Council attempted cover up

The Waltham Forest Guardian reports a victory for local Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith against the Labour-run Council.

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham has upheld a complaint by IDS over the council’s refusal to publish a report into private contractor EduAction. The council between 2004 and 2006 paid the company £240,000 from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) to help 100 vulnerable children under the Youth At Risk programme. Whistle blowers have shown that the money didn't reach the children and that the Council was in a state for financial chaos. 

Andrew Kilburn, was the Council's Chief Executive brought in after the scandal and who was pushing for thorough investigation. He has now gone. The perverse consequence that hee has been the one forced out of a job is a pretty alarming signal to Waltham Forest residents that there remains something seriously rotten about their culture of their Town Hall.

IDS says:

“The public has a right to know what happened with these contracts – particularly in the wake of Andrew Kilburn’s departure.

“There are questions that need to be answered. The council cannot put this off any longer – it must now release the report so that we can get to the bottom of this.”

The sooner the transparency revolution, demanded by Eric Pickles, reaches Waltham Forest the better.