Wednesday, August 09, 2006Email the Council? Don't bother!
South Tyneside Council failing!
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I am absolutely appalled at the downright failure of South Tyneside Council to reply to my emails requesting information about it's policies in respect of criminal and anti-social behaviour by some of South Tyneside Homes' tenants, and the so called crime partnership with Northumbria Police. I had previously posted in this blog about Inspector Simon Charlton's call for action in respect of a small number of tenants who had been arrested and charged hundreds of times for a variety of reasons, and who, in his opinion, were making life a misery for their neighbours. I also drew comparisons with the successes being achieved in the same areas by North Tyneside Council. With this in mind, I emailed Irene Lucas, the Chief Executive of the Council, along with Paul Wilding, the Chief Executive of South Tyneside Homes, and Cllr. Michael Claire, the Lead Member, on the 21st. June this year. I asked three simple questions;
Since 21st. June I have sent a number of reminders, and also copied in the Leader of the Council, Paul Waggott, and South Tyneside Homes' Board member Cllr. Jim Foreman, as well as Frank Coverdale, the Governance manager of South Tyneside Homes (the latter two have only been contacted today.) It is almost unbelievable that more than a month and a half after originally asking these questions I have still not received the answers! I feel that South Tyneside Council, rightly or wrongly, is failing to address the issue. I am all for giving our strongest possible support to Neighbourhood Policing and I feel very peeved to think that Inspector Simon Charlton has to keep turning up at meetings of the Community Area Forums to give his verbal crime report and realise that little or nothing becomes of his team's efforts. He and his team on the beat are trying their hardest with limited resources to keep our streets safe and build good working relationships within local communities, but as far as partnerships go, this one looks increasingly one sided. There is no such thing as a working one sided partnership! I would like to see South Tyneside Council follow the lead of their counterparts across the Tyne by starting to be proactive with problem tenants who persist in making life miserable for those who are living around them, the problem will not go away by simply staring it in the face (rather like my emails.) It seems there are some within the machinery of our local government who think that I will go away if they coninuously fail to respond to my emails, this is not the case, I will just try harder to get to the truth and be even more obstinate! The Annual General Meeting of South Tyneside Homes takes place on 21st. August in the Town Hall, Westoe Road, South Shields, unfortunately I will not be able to attend because I will be away on holiday again, but I hope that someone poses some awkward questions about South Tyneside Council, it's housing Arms Length Management Organisation, and it's policies towards partnerships with our local police, and whether or not the police will find themselves working alone! Labour - "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" |
About Me Curly Born in 1956 Sanddancer Sunderland fan Male Retailer Former Borough Councillor View my Profile Contact Email Curly south-shields AT blueyonder DOT co DOT uk Got a story? Got a tip off? Got some scandal? Let me know! 07941386870 Search Search this site Comments How do I make a comment on this blog? Links Curly's Corner Shop website Curly's Photoshop My Message Board Shields photo gallery RTG Message Board Sunderland AFC Blog Site Feed Blogroll Me! Past December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 |