East Lancashire councils contest claims they used regeneration fund for demolitions

8:00pm Friday 8th March 2013 in News

THREE councils are contesting claims they misused £3million of government cash to knock down houses without legal authority.

The cash comes from a £35.5m fund set up by ministers when they scrapped Labour's £1bn-plus Housing Market Renewal scheme in 2011. Several East Lancashire councils were furious about the decision when they were part-way through their programme of home repairs, demolition, and redevelopment.

The government gave Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle Councils cash to ease the scheme’s wind-down. Now Save Britain’s Heritage and the BBC Radio Four’s ‘You and Yours’ programme have accused nine councils of using the cash for demolition unlawfully.

In September, the campaign group won to take the councils and the government’s Department for Communities and Local Government to the High Court for a Judicial Review over demolishing more than 5,000 properties.

The sum in dispute for Pendle is £1.4m to demolish 200 homes. Blackburn with Darwen received around £1m to knock down 250 houses.

Hyndburn got £500,000 to demolish 300 properties. Burnley Council, which received £1.5m and is demolishing 750 houses, is not involved in the current legal dispute.

At the High Court in September, the DCLG accepted it had made mistakes. Nine authorities have continued demolition programmes, say-ing the government’s over-sight was not their fault.

Pendle housing regenerat-ion manager Julie Whittaker said: “We’ve taken a balanced approach with housing market renewal and a mix of complementary activities. We are not in breach of any legisl-ation in the way we have spent the money.”

A Hyndburn Council statement said: “The BBC programme is badly researched and mis-informed.”

Blackburn with Darwen refused to comment but it is understood officials are satisfied their paperwork is watertight.

Comments (7)

8:48pm Fri 8 Mar 13

glossopkid says...

Lets hope the councils are held accountable. I for one won't hold my breath.
Lets hope the councils are held accountable. I for one won't hold my breath. glossopkid

11:03pm Fri 8 Mar 13

fireonthemountain says...

Yep - agreed .

Trouble is , what's the punishment ?

A fine ? - Paid for by the ratepayers .

Will heads roll ? - of course not ,
well not without a generous payout and pension , and an offer of another job on the council gravy train .

Pathetic isn't it ?
Yep - agreed . Trouble is , what's the punishment ? A fine ? - Paid for by the ratepayers . Will heads roll ? - of course not , well not without a generous payout and pension , and an offer of another job on the council gravy train . Pathetic isn't it ? fireonthemountain

2:01am Sat 9 Mar 13

english rose 1 says...

If the Council's are proved right (which is the likely outcome) wiill heads roll at 'Save Britain's Heritage' and Radio 4 ???
*
What is the punishment ?
*
Another job on the gravy train and generous pension ?
*
And will glossopkid & fireonthemountain lose their jobs ?? I hope so !
If the Council's are proved right (which is the likely outcome) wiill heads roll at 'Save Britain's Heritage' and Radio 4 ??? * What is the punishment ? * Another job on the gravy train and generous pension ? * And will glossopkid & fireonthemountain lose their jobs ?? I hope so ! english rose 1

8:32am Sat 9 Mar 13

Rumpole says...

Seems the councils have a problem following the legal process!

And if one manure grown flower gets her nose any further up someones rectum that person will be able to walk while sitting down!
Seems the councils have a problem following the legal process! And if one manure grown flower gets her nose any further up someones rectum that person will be able to walk while sitting down! Rumpole

12:19pm Sat 9 Mar 13

Wishingwell says...

english rose 1 wrote:
If the Council's are proved right (which is the likely outcome) wiill heads roll at 'Save Britain's Heritage' and Radio 4 ???
*
What is the punishment ?
*
Another job on the gravy train and generous pension ?
*
And will glossopkid & fireonthemountain lose their jobs ?? I hope so !
Councils need to be held to account. They pay themselves salaries that bare no relation to the surrounding private sector jobs and they administer ever more complicated, politically engineered regulations at their convenience to suit themselves and their careers.
[quote][p][bold]english rose 1[/bold] wrote: If the Council's are proved right (which is the likely outcome) wiill heads roll at 'Save Britain's Heritage' and Radio 4 ??? * What is the punishment ? * Another job on the gravy train and generous pension ? * And will glossopkid & fireonthemountain lose their jobs ?? I hope so ![/p][/quote]Councils need to be held to account. They pay themselves salaries that bare no relation to the surrounding private sector jobs and they administer ever more complicated, politically engineered regulations at their convenience to suit themselves and their careers. Wishingwell

6:33pm Sat 9 Mar 13

King Fabulous says...

fireonthemountain wrote:
Yep - agreed .

Trouble is , what's the punishment ?

A fine ? - Paid for by the ratepayers .

Will heads roll ? - of course not ,
well not without a generous payout and pension , and an offer of another job on the council gravy train .

Pathetic isn't it ?
Surcharge them and make them personally liable, It happened to Lady Porter the leader of Westminster City Council in the late 80's, She was handed a bill for £27,000,000 and promptly fled to Israel
[quote][p][bold]fireonthemountain[/bold] wrote: Yep - agreed . Trouble is , what's the punishment ? A fine ? - Paid for by the ratepayers . Will heads roll ? - of course not , well not without a generous payout and pension , and an offer of another job on the council gravy train . Pathetic isn't it ?[/p][/quote]Surcharge them and make them personally liable, It happened to Lady Porter the leader of Westminster City Council in the late 80's, She was handed a bill for £27,000,000 and promptly fled to Israel King Fabulous

7:50pm Sat 9 Mar 13

fireonthemountain says...

Excellent plan King Fab .

I wonder what made Rosie-baby
so prickly ?

I assume she "works" for The Council ,
so surely can't want two rate payers to lose our jobs .

I wonder why she was up and about at 2 a.m ?

- on the champagne perhaps , celebrating . Another week - another thousand quid - one week nearer her
massive index linked pension .

- perhaps dreamed up another way
to fleece the ratepayers while cutting services .

- or maybe takes that long to work out her expenses .
Excellent plan King Fab . I wonder what made Rosie-baby so prickly ? I assume she "works" for The Council , so surely can't want two rate payers to lose our jobs . I wonder why she was up and about at 2 a.m ? - on the champagne perhaps , celebrating . Another week - another thousand quid - one week nearer her massive index linked pension . - perhaps dreamed up another way to fleece the ratepayers while cutting services . - or maybe takes that long to work out her expenses . fireonthemountain

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