Carmarthenshire - 'Cadno and the rule of law' - This week's Carmarthenshire Herald

See below for this week's Cadno opinion piece from the Carmarthenshire
Herald. An interesting article, self-explanatory, and well worth a read;



Carmarthenshire Planning Problems and more: 'Cadno and the rule of law' - This week's Carmarthenshire Herald

Carmarthenshire Planning Problems and more: CPS decision - Y Cneifiwr's analysis. And a complaint to the Wales Audit Office.

Y Cneifiwr; CPS drops prosecution of Jacqui Thompson 

* * *

Further to ''Evidence' accessed from council computer - the Carmarthenshire Herald' I
have now asked the Wales Audit Office to look into the matter. The
email below was sent this morning and also copied to Adam Price AM and
council leader Emlyn Dole.

I have had an acknowledgement from the WAO, so when, or if, there is a substantive response, I will post it on this blog.

To; Wales Audit Office 

Dear Sirs, 

I wish to make a formal complaint concerning the chief executive of
Carmarthenshire County Council, Mr Mark James, relating to the use of
public resources to support a private legal case. 

Mr James made a complaint against me for criminal harassment to Dyfed
Powys Police in April 2016. This related solely to a blog of which I am
the author [http://carmarthenplanning.blogspot.co.uk/], and was in a
private capacity, a position confirmed by the Council press office
itself on 12th July 2017 to BBC Wales
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-40583933]. 

I am in possession of police reports (attached) which state that the
police visited County Hall, Carmarthen on the 18th April 2016 to take Mr
James' initial formal complaint. The same day there was an extensive
search of my blog from a council IP address. At the time, as this was a
very unusual search, I saved the log. I have attached a printed version
for your information. 

I believe that the contents of my blog was either saved or printed, by
persons unknown on a council computer to support Mr James' private legal
action and to supply information to the police for their criminal
investigation. 

On the 20/21st June 2016 there was another similar unusual search of my
blog from a council IP address, this was a few days prior to the police
again attending County Hall to take Mr James' full statement on the 27th
June. This date is corroborated in another police report. Again I
believe this search was undertaken to provide support for this private
criminal complaint. I attach to this email the saved log from this
search, as a file.

Searches similar to these have been carried out before that date and
since, most notably around the time a renewed complaint of harassment
made by Mr James on the 15th December 2016 and a day or two prior to a
County Court hearing held on 23rd March 2017 where Mr James was
enforcing damages personally awarded to him from an earlier court case.
My blog was again used in evidence at that hearing.

I did not save the logs relating to these two instances but I understand
that this information could be retrieved from the council, by
yourselves, if you decide to investigate the matter. 

The criminal charge of harassment against me was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service on the 10th July 2017. 

I would be very grateful if you could investigate this matter. It is
highly inappropriate for the highest ranking officer in a public
authority to instruct another officer to provide information, via the
council IT infrastructure, for a private legal case, not only is it
unethical but it is also an improper use of council time and resources. 

In addition, it is of paramount importance for the administration of
justice, and the right to a fair trial, that the parties are on an equal
footing in terms of representation and resources. For the chief
executive to have access, and to use, public resources in this way is a
breach of both the conduct expected of him as well as the basic tenet of
our justice system, placing myself at a distinct disadvantage. 

With respect, I look forward to your confirmation that you will be
investigating this matter, and I would also be grateful for a brief
acknowledgement of this correspondence and the attached evidence. 

If you require any further information please contact me via this email address, or by post. 

Yours sincerely

Mrs Jacqui Thompson 

10 Attachments;

Blog stats for the 18th April 2016 (6 pages)

Blog stats for 20/21st June 2016 (one file)

Police crime report for 18th April 2016

Police report (following my complaints to Dyfed Powys Police); Relevant dates confirmed on Page 5

Carmarthenshire Planning Problems and more: CPS decision - Y Cneifiwr's analysis. And a complaint to the Wales Audit Office.

Militant Labour | British Labour Party | TV Eye | 1981

Abuse Of An OAP In Carmarthen ?

Planning Benefits....who.: One year and one month on............................: One year and one month on........................ . April - a further addition I had purposely avoided any confrontation with the...

The Breckman Affair

PMQs 12th july 17

Marian Parry Hughes Responds To The AM - Finally.

The Assembly Member for Arfon, Sian Gwenllian, emailed me on the 5th July and sent me a copy of the long overdue response from Marian Parry Hughes, Head of Children and Families at Gwynedd Council.

See my post of the 4th July for more detail -

 https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/arfon-am-ignored-by-gwynedd-head-of.html 

Mrs Hughes begins by apologising for not responding to the AM and states  -

"It certainly wasn't deliberate on my part."

So what was the reason for ignoring the AM for three months then ?

Mrs Hughes goes on to explain that Sharron Carter, Senior Operational Manager, had responded to the solicitor by letter and answered all relevant questions - in March.

The solicitor - after searching their files - state they have not received a letter from Sharron Williams Carter, from the date in question.

And if they had I would not have asked the AM - in April - for help in getting a response now - would I ?

I include a link to my post where Cyngor Gwynedd lost another important letter - one that had been placed in their secure letterbox in the Caernarfon office addressed to Aled Gibbard.

https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/gwynedd-councils-secure-letterbox-not.html

How many letters do Gwynedd Council lose every year ? 
 

Sian, I am very grateful for your help in eliciting a response, finally, from the Department Head.

I am also very concerned that you were ignored by a council employee for three months.

pmqs 5 july 17

Gwynedd Council Personal Information Breach.

Preparing  paperwork for the meeting with the independent invesigators dealing with my stage 2 complaint against Gwynedd council, I was astonished by the council's use of a black marker to censor comments made by managers to other agencies involved with the family.

The investigators were more shocked than I and told me there was no need or reason for council staff to censor and it should not have happened.

Then I discovered Gwynedd council had also sent me the personal information of another person.

Oh dear.

voiceforchildren: Statement of Former Deputy Chief Police Officer Le...

voiceforchildren: Statement of Former Deputy Chief Police Officer Le...: Former DCO Lenny Harper. "With the report of the Committee of Inquiry being delivered on 3rd July I have over the past few we...

pmqs 28th june 17

Cyngor Gwynedd, A Missing Letter And An MP.

And a quick recap....

A stage 2 complaint from 2010 showing serious failings in the Children and Family Department at Cyngor Gwynedd was upheld by Independent Investigators.

From 2014, meetings and decisions made concerning a child's future were being held behind closed doors by managers and a social worker without the knowledge of the parents or professionals involved in the case. 

Worse was the fact that a social worker and other professionals were being ignored....as they raised concerns the child's needs were not being met.

A social worker who acted without thought for the code of ethics that he has agreed to uphold.

Or worse - a social worker who has been instructed by managers to behave so....inappropriately and against the interests of a vulnerable child - the client.

The jury is still out.

A failure of the children and families department to deliver the services granted by Gwynedd social services and when they finally appeared - after having their arm twisted by a solicitor - were shockingly bad.

So bad that a complaint was raised and which Aled Gibbard closed  - against statutory policy - and also without informing anyone !?!?

Kenealy Jones - you said a search was made for the letter to Mr Gibbard he claims he never received. Did you look in the bins ?

I have sighted your email to your colleague, Aled, voicing your concern about where this case could go.

The service(!) provided involved the support worker - yes him of the grunts and no feedback - leaving the client alone in a car when he attended to his own bits and pieces.

You did read the risk assessment, Iolo - yes ?

Is it council policy to leave vulnerable clients alone when in their care ?

All of this even before I asked the #Plaid_Cymru MP, Liz Saville Roberts for support.

Liz, who shook my hand, looked me in the eye and said "vote for me... and contact me if you ever need help".

MP's tut - some of them will say anything to get your vote.

UK Privy Council Members Collude to Cover Up State Child Abuse in Scotland

Director of children’s services at Bury council faces sack for serious misconduct.

The director of children’s services at Bury council is facing the sack for serious misconduct.

Mark Carriline, who earns £110,000 a year, appeared before a disciplinary hearing this week after he and council chief executive, Mike Owen, were found to have ‘deliberately’ delayed carrying out child protection procedures when a councillor was accused of indecent child image offences.

As revealed by the M.E.N, Mr Owen quit on Sunday - the day before he was due to face his disciplinary hearing.

A panel has concluded Mr Carriline was guilty of serious misconduct and has recommended he be dismissed without notice. It is now up to the council to ratify the recommendation.

Mr Owen and Mr Carriline were suspended in February with monitoring officer Jayne Hammond.

Ms Hammond was suspended due to concerns over legal advice she had given regarding the matter. She has been given a written warning.

Mike Owen has resigned from his position as chief executive at Bury Council

But the panel concluded Mrs Hammond did not have direct responsibility for child safeguarding, and an independent report did not find that her legal advice had been wrong, and there was no evidence of ulterior motive at work but there 'were lessons to be learned'.

Mr Owen, who was paid £157,000 a year will not receive any severance package, just holiday money due.
A review this year found Mr Owen and Mr Carriline had ‘inexplicably’ and ‘deliberately’ delayed implementing safeguard procedures when allegations about former Labour councillor Simon Carter first came to light.
 
The then councillor for Tottington, who was on the adoption register at the time, had been accused of making indecent child images in spring 2015 and was convicted the following September.

An investigation found Mr Owen and Mr Carriline had waited up to five weeks to carry out a string of child protection measures that should have been implemented within 24 or 48 hours of the allegations surfacing.

That included taking eight days to inform the school where he was a governor.

Carter was immediately removed from the council’s list of people approved to adopt children, but a report found child protection measures weren’t put in place in the proper time frame.

Former Bury councillor Simon Carter admitted making indecent images of children

In June 2015, Carter admitted 16 counts of making indecent images of children at Bolton Crown Court.
The charges related to the downloading of images. There is no suggestion any children were harmed as a result of the safeguarding delays.

In a statement Bury council said: “A disciplinary panel of Bury Council met on 19 and 20 June to consider an independent external investigation report undertaken by Charles Bourne QC. The report examined disciplinary allegations which had been made against three senior officers of the council following a review into a historic child safeguarding issue.

“The panel noted the resignation with immediate effect of the chief executive and head of paid service, Mike Owen, which had been received on Friday, 16 June 2017 and was effective at midnight on 18 June 2017.

"The panel noted that the council had no choice in whether to accept the resignation as it was a unilateral action on the part of Mr Owen. The panel noted with concern the findings of the Independent Investigation reports regarding Mr Owen’s role in the historic child safeguarding issue under review, but noted that as Mr Owen was no longer an employee of the council it had no jurisdiction to reach any conclusions on the matter.

“In respect of a second senior officer, the panel considered the Independent Investigation Report and heard representations from witnesses and the officer and his representative. The panel considered the recommendations of the report and concluded that the officer was guilty of serious misconduct, further, the officer had failed to maintain trust and confidence of the council and accordingly the panel recommends to the full council that the officer is dismissed from the service without notice.

“Having carefully considered the Independent Report, the evidence and the representations of a third senior officer, Jayne Hammond, the allegations against that officer were resolved by the panel.
"Whilst there were lessons to be learned, Mrs Hammond did not have direct responsibility for child safeguarding, the Independent report did not find that Mrs Hammond’s legal advice had been wrong, and there was no evidence of ulterior motive at work.”

 http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/director-childrens-services-bury-council-13218079#ICID=sharebar_facebook

Lewisham Council Obstruction of FOI Request.

The FOI request was simple, and it was made on 6 Jun 2016.

Over a year later Lewisham Council have failed to comply with their duty under the FOI Act to supply the information requested.

They have offered a number of exemptions, excuses, numerous broken deadlines, even given unlawful excuses not covered under the FOI Act, and delayed and delayed and delayed and failed to reply a number of times.

Eventually after 8 months I was forced to make a complaint to the Monitoring Officer.  The Monitoring Officer has the specific duty to ensure the county council, its officers, and its elected councillors, maintain the highest standards in all they do [11]

However this monitoring officer failed to do her job, she failed to do her duty, she failed to answer nearly every question I asked her, she even went on holiday when she said she would reply. She failed to ensure the Council answer as required to do so by the FOI Act. She has failed to ensure an internal review of the FOI is carried out as required to do.

Unfortunately regulators such as ICO are slow to act and rogue Councils know this and take advantage of it to delay. I have started upon that route, but that is likely to take another two years and there are many steps on that route and the ICO itself claims to be short of staff and is already slow completing the very first step.

One course accessible to me and one of the most powerful is to name and shame.

• Kath Nicholson is the monitoring officer. It is her duty to ensure the Council maintain the highest standards in all they do.
• It is Kath Nicholson who has failed to do her duty as monitoring officer to ensure the Council maintain high standards and reply substantively within a year to a FOI request with the information.
• It is Kath Nicholson who has failed to even maintain a legal standard, never mind maintain the highest standards for herself and nor ensuring the council’s officers maintain highest standards
• Kath Nicholson it seems has set a slovenly, illegal standard and been as awkward as possible.
• Kath Nicholson even actively refused to send the reply to one part of the FOI to the public WDTK website, she maintains she will only send it my personal email, which was given to her in the process of making the complaint and not anything to do with the FOI itself.

The highest standard Kath or the lowest?
                                                                    Kath Nicholson
Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, refuses to answer how Lewisham’s records are filed.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, refuses to say whether there is a digitised index.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer refuses to say whether the records are stored in house or via an external agency where a fee has to be paid.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, refuses to explain what was meant by an odd phrase “to retrieve this information would require manual checks on all such individuals”

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, refuses to do an internal review on the council claim that the 160 page “After Leeways” Report cannot be found in 18 hours despite the fact it is the duty of the Council to do.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, refuses to do an internal review on the council claim that they cannot find a Review of the Child Services from 1990 within 18 hours despite the fact it is the duty of the Council to do so.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, illegally refuses to send a copy of the Chief Executives report to the WDTK website. This was the same report that the Council unlawfully claimed was Confidential and would not be released. they clearly do not want it available to the public.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, refuses to say whether the Elizabeth Lawson “1 year on Report” was not done or it was done but lost, and refuses to do an internal review into this.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, refuses to confirm what documents they hold.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer refuses to answer what the legal reason was to refuse the “Chief Executives Report” or admit that there were no legitimate reasons for refusal.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer refuses to process a formal complaint about the staff involved in the delay of the FOI request and the failure of the Council to answer my requests for internal reviews and further information.

Kath Nicholson, supposed Monitoring Officer, refuses to internally review the whole request some 5 months after it was requested. It appears as though staff have been told not even to acknowledge my correspondence on this request.

*By “refuses” I mean she has not done so after repeated requests, and therefore this is a de facto refusal.

I have good reason to believe that there was widespread child sexual abuse in Lewisham Council, that was covered up at the time.

The actions of Lewisham Council and Kath Nicholson in particular are without doubt deliberately still delaying and covering up.

Perhaps Lewisham Council are using this time to find and shred or destroy or “lose” documents that will incriminate Lewisham Council. Perhaps they are taking steps to reduce their financial liability. That would explain why they feel they can deliberately and openly flout their public and legal duty yet are supposed to be public servants.

Have Kath Nicholson and Lewisham Council gone rogue? Are corporate interests a higher priority than public duty?

Is Kath Nicholson’s job as head of Law in conflict with her job as Monitoring Officer. Quite clearly she is not carrying out her duties properly as Monitoring Officer. Why? Does the Council support her refusal to carry out her legal duty?

Are the Council refusing to do their public duties and acting on some interpretation of their corporate ones?

Is the Council paying people to cover up child sexual abuse?

That is a reasonable explanation that fits the facts.

How sick are the people involved who actively or passively cover up the rape of children? What are their motives? What do they get in return?

A much abbreviated history of the  FOI correspondence with links follows, the full saga can be checked here [1]

2016 Jun 6 [1]

Please could you send me a copy of
1. The dossier “After Leeways, Challenges, Changes and Achievements” published by the London Borough of Lewisham on March 19th 1987
2. The minutes of the Social Services Committee 23rd July 1985
3. Review of Childrens Residential Services believed to be July 1984
4. Chief Executives Inquiry Report, subsequent to Leeways believed to be February 1986
5. Minutes of the Report to Council on 5 March 1986 (This should contain discussion of Chief Execs Inquiry Report)
6. Report of the Elizabeth Lawsons Independent Panel 1 year on from Leeways Report
2016 Sept 26 Answer (paraphrased)   [1a]

1. “After Leeways, Challenges, Changes and Achievements”. Refused as it is not recorded in a readily accessible form, too much time and money Section 12(1)  [1a]
2. Social Services Committee 23rd July 1985 Minutes provided see [1b]
3. Review of Childrens Residential Services believed to be July 1984  – refused not recorded in a readily accessible form – too much time and money Section 12(1)
4. Chief Executives Inquiry Report – Refused Confidential [No legal reason given]
5. Minutes of the Report to Council on 5 March 1986 (This should contain
   discussion of Chief Execs Inquiry Report) There are no records of a meeting on the date you quote.
6. Elizabeth Lawsons Independent Panel 1 year on from Leeways Report – Information not held

2016 Oct 1 [1c] My reply

1. “After Leeways, Challenges, Changes and Achievements” dossier is apparently approximately 160 pages and was the main Lewisham response to the Inquiry into the horrific situation of Lewisham Council having a child abuser in charge of its childrens home who had abused several children. It should from the size be relatively easy to find within your files.
To help me understand could you explain how are Lewishams records from this time filed or catalogued, whether there is a digitised index and also whether Lewishams records are stored in house or via an external agency where a fee has to be paid for searching?
I do not understand what you mean by “individuals” in this sentence “To retrieve this information would require manual checks on all such individuals. “ Could you explain?
2. Thankyou for those minutes
3. Review of child services not able to be found. This was a major revamp only 30 years ago. Is this not able to be found easily within the time limit?
4. “Chief Executives Inquiry Report, subsequent to Leeways believed to be February 1986 This information is deemed confidential, and will not be released”
Could you give the exemption Lewisham is claiming under the FOI Act? I also enclose a link to a document which gives some more detail as to the Report for your information.
5. Minutes of Report to Council 5 March 1986
This is link to a page 19 that has been supplied to me https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2016/10/0… I believe it to be from the “After Leeways Report” but I could be mistaken. It describes this Report to Council. I wonder whether it would be possible to find it with this help. Is it also possible to identify the other 3 monthly progress reports and the meetings that they were supplied to? I realise this maybe taken as a new request.
6. Report of the Elizabeth Lawsons Independent Panel 1 year on from Leeways Report. Did this Report happen or has it been lost?

2017 Jan 23 [1d] My Reply 

You replied to my request of 1 Oct 2016 “Thank you for your recent request. Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, subject to the application of any exemptions/exceptions”
I received a response to part of the request on 4 Oct, but a substantial part has not been replied to.
Nor have I received even a reply to my subsequent emails. If I do not receive a reply I will therefore be forced to put in a complaint against you.
Please tell me who the head of Freedom of Information Department is?
Please could you tell me who the Lewisham Council Monitoring Officer is presently?
Please could you tell me why I have not received a reply to my FOI of 1 Oct 2016 nor subsequent emails?
Please answer my requests as Lewisham Council is required to by law.
I gather that my next stage is to ask for an internal review. If I do not receive reply to my requests by 5pm on 25th Jan 2017, please take this a request for Internal Review [1d]
No further progress has been made on the FOI since Jan 23 despite several requests.

Summary of FOI

The Council

• provided one set of minutes
• refused two large reports that they claimed would take over 18  hours each to find
• refused another report on “confidentiality”,  ie  grounds with no legality in FOI
• maintained one meeting I requested a report for did not happen to which I gave them  information that it did, i heard nothing more
• claimed not to hold another report
• have refused to answer any questions or requests about this since

How would they know they did not hold one report yet they claim it would take them 18 hours to search for another?

Summary of Requests Outstanding

1 “After Leeways, Challenges, Changes and Achievements” dossier is apparently approximately 160 pages and was the main Lewisham response to the Inquiry into the horrific situation of Lewisham Council having a child abuser in charge of its childrens home who had abused several children. It should from the size be relatively easy to find within your files. To help me understand could you explain how are Lewishams records from this time filed or catalogued, whether there is a digitised index and also whether Lewishams records are stored in house or via an external agency where a fee has to be paid for searching?
I do not understand what you mean by “individuals” in this sentence “To retrieve this information would require manual checks on all such individuals. “ Could you explain?
2 Review of child services not able to be found. This was a major revamp only 30 years ago. Is this not able to be found easily within the time limit?
3 “Chief Executives Inquiry Report, subsequent to Leeways believed to be February 1986 This information is deemed confidential, and will not be released”
Could you give the exemption Lewisham is claiming under the FOI Act? I also enclose a link to a document which gives some more detail as to the Report for your information.
[Report still not been provided to this site as requested. Attachments been sent to private email, which I do not wish to open as they may be insecure, whereas on this site it is secure and public and where I requested it and where it is Lewisham’s duty to provide it.]
4 Minutes of Report to Council 5 March 1986
This is link to a page 19 that has been supplied to me https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2016/10/0… I believe it to be from the “After Leeways Report” but I could be mistaken. It describes this Report to Council. I wonder whether it would be possible to find it with this help. Is it also possible to identify the other 3 monthly progress reports and the meetings that they were supplied to? I realise this maybe taken as a new request.
5 Report of the Elizabeth Lawsons Independent Panel 1 year on from Leeways Report. Did this Report happen or has it been lost?
6. Internal review on why all information requested has not been provided or questions even addressed.
–
Kath Nicholson appears to be the central figure in Lewisham as to why the legitimate FOI request is not being processed lawfully or any information is being released nor given about any aspect of the request including an acknowledgment of questions referring to it [16]
It could be seen as worrying that Kath Nicholson has said –
“as local authority lawyers, we are working with politicians and so have to be politically astute, too. My job is to help them do what they want to do. In more than 30 years [in local government], I’ve only said “You can’t do that” once or twice.” [13]
It is also worrying that she admits that her department is not overseeing child protection cases safely –
“The department has 103 live child protection cases being handled by just eight solicitors. ‘An individual solicitor can safely handle between 10 and 12 cases, except my staff are doing adult protection work too,’ says Nicholson. ‘Cases can be hugely complicated, particularly where there are six or seven children in the family.’” [13]
Most worrying is that Kath Nicholson is not doing her job properly as Monitoring Officer, which has widespread repercussions throughout the Council and Lewisham.
The truth about what is child sexual abuse happened in Lewisham Councils “care” is not being revealed because she is not doing that job properly. Perhaps she is helping politicians do what they want rather than do what her Monitoring Officer job is? Perhaps there is a conflict between being Head of Law and Monitoring Officer?
Kath Nicholson, Lewisham Council – Shame on you

Please note that victims of abuse may be triggered by reading this information. These links are generally UK based.

• The Sanctuary for the Abused [A] has advice on how to prevent triggers.
• National Association for People Abused in Childhood [B] has a freephone helpline and has links to local support groups.
• One in Four [C]
• Havoca [D].
• Useful post on Triggers [E]  from SurvivorsJustice [F] blog.
• Jim Hoppers pages on Mindfulness [G]  and Meditation [H] may be useful.
• Hwaairfan blog An Indigenous Australian Approach to Healing Trauma  [J]
• Survivors UK for victims and survivors of male rape or the sexual abuse of men [K]
• Voicing CSA group [L] helps arrange survivors meetings in your area
• A Prescription for me blog Various emotional support links [M]
• ShatterBoys -“Male Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse Inspiring change, Through Shared Experience Whilst Building Connections…Together We Can Heal” [N]

Links
[1] 2016 Jun 6 WDTK FOI to Lewisham Council Leeways Childs Home, 17 Edward Rd, Bromley https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/leeways_childs_home_17_edward_rd#outgoing-549340

[1a] 2016 Sept 26 answer https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/leeways_childs_home_17_edward_rd#incoming-872834
[1b] 1985 Jul 23 Meeting of Social Services Committee 17 pages https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/338492/response/872834/attach/3/Leeways.pdf
[1c] 2016 Oct 1 Q https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/leeways_childs_home_17_edward_rd#outgoing-584348
[1d] 2017 Jan 23 Q https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/leeways_childs_home_17_edward_rd#outgoing-616147
[1e] 2017 Jun 1 Second request https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/leeways_childs_home_17_edward_rd#outgoing-654591
[2] 2016 Oct 1 Cathy Fox Blog  Lewisham Council Chief Executives Inquiry Leeways Childrens Home https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2016/10/01/lewisham-council-chief-executives-inquiry-leeways-childrens-home/
[3] 2014 Nov 24 cathy fox blog Lewisham Leeways Report and Social Services Minutes July 1985 https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/lewisham-leeways-report-and-social-services-minutes-july-1985/
[4] 2014 Jan 21 cathy fox blog Council Response to Leeways Report https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/council-response-to-leeways-report/
[5] 2013 Nov 12 cathy fox blog The Leeways Inquiry Report into Sexual Abuse https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/the-leeways-inquiry-report-into-sexual-abuse/
[6] 2016 Jan 24 cathy fox blog Paedophilia around Piccadilly Part 5 1980s and Operation Circus https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/paedophilia-around-piccadilly-part-5-1980s-and-operation-circus/
[7] 2014 Sept 16 Cathy Fox Blog Paedophilia around Piccadilly Part 3 -Timeline of a Child Rapist 2 – Roger Gleaves https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/paedophilia-around-piccadilly-part-3-profile-of-a-paedophile-roger-gleaves/
[8] 2015 May 6 cathy fox blog Paedophilia around Piccadilly Part 4 Playland Trial and Cover up https://cathyfox.wordpress.com/2015/05/06/paedophilia-around-piccadilly-part-4-playland-trial-and-cover-up/
[9] pic 2
[11] Local Government and Housing Act Section 5  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/42/section/5
[12] Lewisham Senior Managers https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/mayorandcouncil/aboutthecouncil/how-council-is-run/council-structure/Pages/senior-managers.aspx
Kath Nicholson Head of Law Kath has overall responsibility for legal advice to and representation of the Council. It also includes the duties of the Council’s statutory monitoring officer and responsibility for the management of European and national parliamentary and local elections. She manages approximately 50 staff.
Kath is a solicitor with over 34 years’ experience in the public and private sector and holds an MBA in Public Sector Management.
[13] 2013 Oct 14 Law Gazette People Kath Nicholson https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/people/kath-nicholson/5038115.articlehttp://archive.is/HhG3L
leader of a team of 27 fee-earners dealing with child protection, governance, employment, property, litigation and all the other issues that a large inner-city local authority generates. She also found time to co-author a book, A Guide to the Local Government Act 1999, with Trowers & Hamlin partner Helen Randall.
‘As lawyers, we all have to be the goalkeeper who can also take penalties,’ Nicholson tells the Gazette. ‘We have to be proactive while getting the balance right – because nobody wants an overly conservative lawyer. The big difference is that as local authority lawyers, we are working with politicians and so have to be politically astute, too. My job is to help them do what they want to do. In more than 30 years [in local government], I’ve only said “You can’t do that” once or twice.
The pressure is certainly intense. The department has 103 live child protection cases being handled by just eight solicitors. ‘An individual solicitor can safely handle between 10 and 12 cases, except my staff are doing adult protection work too,’ says Nicholson. ‘Cases can be hugely complicated, particularly where there are six or seven children in the family.’
The problem is not confined to child protection, Nicholson adds. Lewisham’s education team is now down to one solicitor, yet more than 90 schools need legal advice on how to become academies. The employment team, moreover, comprises just two solicitors to handle the affairs of thousands of staff. Employment claims commonly arise from the downsizing policies of the council and have included a Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) case that went as far as the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg and this country’s Supreme Court.
[14] Foulston http://archive.is/HKFoQ
[15] 1985 Dec 10 WDTK Special Meeting of Social Services Ctte Minutes  https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/184669/response/473239/attach/3/Leeways%20response%2010%2012%2085.pdf
[16] 2017 Jun 14 WDTK https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/leeways_childs_home_17_edward_rd#outgoing-658043

[A] Sanctuary for the Abused http://abusesanctuary.blogspot.co.uk/2006/07/for-survivors-coping-with-triggers-if.html

Michael Rosen: A firefighter who attended Grenfell tower has writ...

Michael Rosen: A firefighter who attended Grenfell tower has writ...: [This piece of writing is up on the Facebook 'Save the Fire Service' page and begins with ' Sent to us at STUKFS, powerful and e...

British Intelligence bought information about US Child Abusers.

Quality independent media site “Disobedient Media” has received information in response to their Freedom of Information request.

102 pages from the New York State Select Committee On Crime from 1982 have been released [2]

The evidence was given to the New York State Select Committee on Crime, its causes, control and effect on society, in the matter of  “A Public Hearing to consider the Boy Prostitution and Pornography”

Senators Ralph Marino, Abraham Bernstein, Howard Babbush, Owen Johnson, as well as Jeremiah McKenna and Lilli Scott were on the Committee.

Witnesses describe children, probably way in excess of 400, being trafficked round a circuit which encompassed Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, New York, D.C., and Florida, spending a few weeks in each location.

The circuit included bars, burlesque houses
, pornographic movie joints where abusers rang up between cities to arrange a child and paid by credit card. This was linked to organised crime or Mafia. One prominent figure mentioned  in connection with pornography was Michael Zaffarano.

Detectives from Washington DC, Carl Shoffler and Anne Fisher gave evidence and described the network. However the part I will concentrate on for this post is evidence given by Dale Smith. He was an investigator for the Select Committee on Crime and research analyst in 1978 and 1979 investigating juvenile prostitution and pornography in New York [p44]

Smith states that there were two 2 male “call service operations” in Washington, called Friendly Models and Stables. Call Service Operations is the euphemistic term they use to describe prostitution arranged over the phone. The prostitution of children was mixed in with this.

Stables was a male homosexual call service linked to another locally and two in New York. Arlington Police raided Friendly Models and obtained a warrant for the search and arrest of Stables operation [p56].

Robert Koehler was an accountant of several call service operations in Washington. Koehler said that details of sexual proclivities of abusers were sold to agents of foreign Intelligence [p58]
Johnathan Christopher Reynolds III, call service operator of Brians Boys and Fantasies Unlimited in Alexandria, Virginia. He admitted that information was sold to to British and Israeli Intelligence [p59]
 “A Public Hearing to consider the Boy Prostitution and Pornography” Report page 59

So British intelligence, presumably MI6, knew of the sexual abuse of children, of the prostitution of children and did nothing to help. In fact, the opposite. They took advantage of children’s suffering and bought information about the sexual habits of the abusers.

Of course that is exactly what their colleagues in the Security services do in the UK. They are steeped in this aberrant behaviour which they see as normal or convince themselves it is somehow in the national interest. Sickos.

They obtain the abusers information, not to bring them to justice, but to control, by blackmail, the child abusers who are often in powerful positions. Blackmail is just another crime to add to the intelligence services long list.

The children and people that the intelligence services are supposed to protect are the very people they abuse. The intelligence services, stuffed full of people with abnormal, psychopathic behaviours however are realistically immune from prosecution and the law due to inadequate safeguards over the behaviour of intelligence services.

If the security services are not actually running the child abuse networks, then they are neck deep in them.

It was noted in this US Report that the “law appears to have had little effect in controlling the traffic in child flesh”. The Justice system was not interested. That I would venture was because the judges are subjected to the same blackmail by the recidivist “intelligence” agencies.

This situation outlined in the report in 1980 has “developed” in the US until there is now a whole criminal swamp comprising the deep state, politicians and organised crime. They run ratlines of sex trafficking, child trafficking, legal drugs, illegal drugs, organ harvesting, money, weapons, oil, information and anything they can make a commodity. See #AwanBrothers

Democracy is an illusion.

The UK is not far behind. In UK Swamp plc are the deep state, intelligence agencies, banks especially HSBC,  police, judges, politicians. Symptoms are weapons sales to terrorists, prostitution and rape of children, corruption, two faced politicians who continue to harm the people they are supposed to represent.
The question is what are we going to do about it and when?

The full article from Disobedient media follows.
2017 Jun 16 Disobedient Media Disobedient Media Releases FOIA On East Coast Trafficking Networks [1] 
Disobedient Media today releases 102 pages from the New York State Select Committee On Crime. The document describes an investigation into child pornography and human trafficking by two detectives from the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police. The findings were presented to officials on July 26, 1982.

Detectives found that organized crime did play a role in the distribution of child pornography, but that the day-to-day activity in regards to child prostitution appeared to be run by a group of collectors who would, “trade material and trade male prostitutes back and forth.” The investigation revealed that young male and female minors were being transported between California and D.C. along a route known as the “California Connection.” The route was part of a circuit which encompassed Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, New York, D.C., and Florida. According to detectives, clients could call a phone number in Houston from Washington and have a young boy delivered directly to their location. These purchases were incredibly streamlined and could even be made with credit cards which were charged to front companies under various guises such as photography studios, book stores, models, and model agencies.

Minors were also prostituted out of bars. In some cases, there would be as many as 50 to 75 minors at a single bar. Detectives found that minors were from different sections of the country and were generally runaways, some leaving from various organizations they had been placed into by the state. The investigation also noted that the younger children would be placed on narcotics in order to keep them under control, and were told not to talk to the police, and that if they did, they would receive bodily harm or be killed.

One of the key figures in the investigation was William Oates, who ran pornographic film and burlesque houses out of D.C., Pittsburgh, and New York which catered to male homosexual clientele and had live stage performances by dancers who doubled as prostitutes. Another subject of the investigation was Paul Abrams, who ran a call service out of New York, which included male prostitutes and children. Abrams was later arrested and pled guilty to prostitution, but received only probation for his involvement in the felony offense.

Detectives also stated that these call services would supplement their income by selling information on the sexual proclivities of their clients to agents of British, Israeli, and Soviet intelligence services. Intelligence agencies have a documented history of seeking sexual blackmail to exert control over public figures and government assets.

According to investigators, anti-human trafficking efforts were hampered by lack of funding and almost no support from the federal government. Additionally, trafficking victims would often be unwilling to return home and face judgmental scrutiny from their local communities.

The investigation’s content sheds new light on the nexus between human trafficking, organized crime and government agencies.

The document can be found in a searchable format here.

Please note that victims of abuse may be triggered by reading this information. These links are generally UK based.

• The Sanctuary for the Abused [A] has advice on how to prevent triggers.
• National Association for People Abused in Childhood [B] has a freephone helpline and has links to local support groups.
• One in Four [C]
• Havoca [D].
• Useful post on Triggers [E]  from SurvivorsJustice [F] blog.
• Jim Hoppers pages on Mindfulness [G]  and Meditation [H] may be useful.
• Hwaairfan blog An Indigenous Australian Approach to Healing Trauma  [J]
• Survivors UK for victims and survivors of male rape or the sexual abuse of men [K]
• Voicing CSA group [L] helps arrange survivors meetings in your area
• A Prescription for me blog Various emotional support links [M]
• ShatterBoys -“Male Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse Inspiring change, Through Shared Experience Whilst Building Connections…Together We Can Heal” [N]

Links
[1] 2017 Jun 16 Disobedient Media Disobedient Media Releases FOIA On East Coast Trafficking Networks http://disobedientmedia.com/2017/06/disobedient-media-releases-foia-on-east-coast-trafficking-networks/
[2] Disobedient Media FOI release  http://live.disobedientmedia.com/documents/ny-sex-trafficking.pdf
[3] http://thegoldwater.com/news/3842-Nationwide-Child-Sex-Trafficking-FOIA-Exposed
Other notes
Smith assisted NYPD in arrest of juvenile call service operator called Paul Abrams. He pleaded guilty to a felony charge of prostitution and received probation.
1982 updates bar on upper EastSide called Dallas 53rd St near 2nd Avenue, and Follies Theatre 48th West side near Minnesota Strip, live sex shows with underage kids
owner William Oates in Pittsburgh also had Best of Both Worlds

[A] Sanctuary for the Abused http://abusesanctuary.blogspot.co.uk/2006/07/for-survivors-coping-with-triggers-if.html

FTHN: From the Hornets Nest: ROCK FEILDING MELLEN ANOINTED LEADER IN WAITING-TH...

FTHN: From the Hornets Nest: ROCK FEILDING MELLEN ANOINTED LEADER IN WAITING-TH...: Getting into the Jubilee spirit The Dame' s spendthrift young nephew, Ludo, insisted on taking her to that  'fave'of our local p...

Oxford Social Services are Child Abusers: Further Evidence of Oxford Social Services Unbiais...

Oxford Social Services are Child Abusers: Further Evidence of Oxford Social Services Unbiais...: Subject: Review Meeting 5 August 2016 OFFICIAL - SENSITIVE Dear Mr Father of the Children You enquired at ...

Gwynedd Council - The Problem Is Management.

So where were we ?

Ah yes - I cancelled the meeting with the social worker.

The partner had become ill with the stress and nastiness of it all and my daughter had just suffered a miscarriage - all this and dealing with the light and dark side of PDA - it was a relief to use the time to calm down and think...

The social worker turned up anyway.

Lowri Williams, customer care(!) wrote later "...the Service felt that cancelling the meeting was not appropriate,"

Mr Haydon also wrote a report to his managers describing the meeting with me.

Jamie, I have seen a copy of your report and I hardly recognise your version of events.
Will the report be updated to include how you foot shuffled and spent most of our exchange staring at the floor like a scoolboy , mumbling -
"You haven't made a complaint about me, have you ?"

Will you update the report to include the fact that your managers, Melvin Panther and Sharron Williams Carter sent you to my house knowing that I had raised issues with your bad behaviour and the meeting cancelled - without informing you ?

Do you think that is "appropriate" behaviour from your managers, Jamie ?

Jamie, in your report you call me 'agitated' when I answered the door - that was a mixture of horror and anger at your presence until I realised that you had been set up.

What manager would send an employee out to visit someone who was upset and not even advise them ?
Were they hoping for confrontation ?

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2014/09/16/violence-social-workers-just-part-job-70-incidents-investigated/

Have you raised an issue with #Unison that your managers put you in an impossible situation with little regard for your safety ?

I remember saying to you "Jamie, contact your managers. Something weird is going on."

You whispered that you have to wait for them to get in touch.

#Shocking -  from you, Jamie, and your managers.

Cyngor Gwynedd have refused my right to make an official complaint about the incident.

More on Gwynedd Council here -  https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/

Siop Gwynedd's unSecure Letterbox.

In March 2016, a letter addressed to an Aled Gibbard (Senior Operational Manager) at Cyngor Gwynedd was hand delivered to #SiopGwynedd at the Caernarfon offices and placed in their secure letterbox.

It contained confidential and sensitive information relating to an Official Complaint and raised questions relating to a letter from Aled Gibbard dated 11th March.

Mr Gibbard, was dealing with the complaint himself, and, even though repeated reference was made to this letter, alleges the letter was never received.

Margaret Kenealy Jones, refused to acknowledge that hand delivering a letter to Cyngor Gwynedd shop in Caernarfon and physically dropping it into their secure(?) letterbox means it was delivered and... "We have conducted a search; unfortunately this has come back negative....we do not feel that failing to respond to a letter which we did not receive warrants...investigation.

How many letters to the council posted in the secure letterbox get lost each year ?7

Months later, Kenealy assured me in a letter that if the letter was to be re-presented Aled Gibbard would answer the points raised.

Is that offer still available, Mrs Jones ?

More on Gwynedd Council here -  https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/

Ripped-off Britons: “A fat policeman chasing a speeding Ferrari” – Her...

 ...It turned out that less than 6% of the £2bn Diamond was trumpeting was actually corporation tax.  Barclays provided this information in a letter dated 15^th February 2011:

“In 2009, Barclays paid over £2bn to HM Revenue & Customs. Of this, £113m constituted Corporation Tax”

The rest was largely made up of payroll taxes paid by its staff, such as PAYE taxes and national insurance. Barclays claiming credit for taxes paid by its staff is as fatuous as the Department of Health claiming brownie points for billions of taxes paid by doctors and nurses.  Arguing that the Financial Sector can justifiably take credit for the taxes of their employees makes the dubious assumption that if these people didn't work for the banks they would be unemployed and not paying taxes from alternative employment.

Barclays directors presumably plan, on that final day of judgement, to get through the Pearly Gates into Heaven on the basis of good deeds done by their staff.

But let’s not pick only on Barclays.  In July 2007, the National Audit Office’s report, “HM Revenue and Customs, Management of large business Corporation Tax” stated that of the UK’s 700 largest companies, almost a third paid no corporation tax at all. Avoidance is not only endemic, but it is legal. In such companies, anyone who doesn’t do it as far as is legally permissible is not fit to run a company...

 

More -  Ripped-off Britons: “A fat policeman chasing a speeding Ferrari” – Her...:

Child Abuse At Aston Hall,Derbyshire.

More than 100 victims now in Derbyshire's biggest child abuse scandal

By ICrowsonDT  |  Posted: May 29, 2017

  0 COMMENTS   SHARES

Now 105 people have contacted the police to say they were abused at Aston Hall by Kenneth Milner

More than 100 alleged victims of horrific experiments and abuse at a Derbyshire hospital have now come forward - making it the county's biggest-ever probe into crimes against children.

Police are investigating the actions of controversial medic Dr Kenneth Milner at Aston Hall Hospital in the 1960s and 70s, where he is accused of pumping vulnerable youngsters with drugs to correct "deviant" behaviour.

Allegations about his actions were first highlighted by the Derby Telegraph in an investigation. Police have written to victims to say they have identified 58 crimes.

Now, we can reveal 105 people have contacted the police to claim they were abused. Expert lawyers representing them say this is the biggest case they have come across in Derbyshire.

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And one of the country's leading abuse lawyers says it is one of the biggest abuse scandals he has come across in a mental health institution.

The Horrors of Aston Hall

Dianne Collins, of Nelsons Solicitors in Lodge Lane, Derby, represents around 30 people.
She said: "I have never come across a case like this before, it's the biggest we've ever done or are aware of in terms of people coming forward.
 "And I think this is just the tip of the iceberg, there will be a lot of other people out there who have not come forward or who might have died which is very sad because they will not be able to get justice.
"One hundred and five is a very high number and I suspect the national coverage this story has received would have meant more people coming forward."

Dianne Collins

Richard Scorer, who has been described as one of Britain's leading specialists in the field of abuse law, said the Aston Hall case was "major".

Mr Scorer, who works at legal firm Slater and Gordon, said: "This is highly serious and one of the biggest abuse scandals in a mental health institution. It's is very substantial.
"It looks like Dr Milner had a complete liberty to abuse and it appears there were no safeguarding procedures in place to stop that happening. I have represented 168 alleged victims of Jimmy Savile but that was across various institutions but this is just one.

"Somebody like this would have had a lot of power over very vulnerable victims, especially because this was in a mental health setting. They could not leave and anything they said against him would not be believed."
Mr Scorer said they would have been seen as "unreliable".

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Stephen Edwards from Liverpool-based Been Let Down, is representing numerous victims. He said in his career he had never worked on a case with so many people claiming abuse.

He said: "I've never come across or worked on anything on this magnitude before. This is a very unusual case and I imagine there are a lot more than the 105 who have contacted the police. I am aware of people who have for whatever reason not wanted to go to the police or me as a lawyer. I think it's a positive thing that so many have contacted the police."

Dr Milner is accused of restraining young patients and pumping them with drugs and then making them relive past experiences. Some alleged victims claim he sexually abused them.
A letter sent to alleged victims last month by Derbyshire police said they were in the process of recording crime types in relation to the accounts given. It said once all accounts are obtained it would prepare a report for consideration of the Crown Prosecution Service.

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The letter says the police are confident there are sufficient resources for the investigation to continue and more people are contacting them making claims against Dr Milner.

Dr Milner died in 1976. Numerous alleged victims are claiming compensation from the Department for Health for what they say happened to them.

An obituary in the British Medical Journal on January 31, 1976, stated Dr Milner was born on June 26, 1909, and educated at Wakefield Grammar School and Leeds University, graduating with honours in 1933. He gained his medical doctorate there in 1939.

Derbyshire police have issued some helplines for anyone in need. They said, for immediate help and support, people should call the Samaritans on 116 123.

Within office hours, people can telephone health workers Andrew Rayner or Liz Holmes on 01332 623700, ext 31537. If people require support for their mental health outside of normal office hours, they should contact their out-of-hours health service.

 http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/lawyers-say-this-is-the-biggest-child-abuse-scandal-they-have-come-across-in-derbyshire/story-30355797-detail/story.html