Details sent to Junior Minister Andrew Stunell about failure to protect public funds and the safety of children by Stockport Council

The request was successful.

Dear Department for Communities and Local Government,

I recently supplied the Junior Minister, Andrew Stunell, with details of a worrying case of failure to deal with a multi million pound project in a professional manner, failure to comply with Fraud and Financial Irregularities policies and the failure to comply with the contaminated land regulation BS 10175, despite Stockport Council insisting that it had. This is with regards to the Harcourt Street School at North Reddish, Stockport.

Please may I see any documents from Andrew Stunell or his staff or superiors regarding how he has or intends to look into this matter - emails, notes of meetings, notes of telephone calls, minutes, letters, memos or any other written documents with regards to what action he proposes to take.

If you wish me to refine my request in any way, I am happy to discuss the matter and to simplify things if possible.

Yours faithfully,

Sheila Oliver

CLG-FOIAdvice,

To Sheila Oliver

Thank you for your email of 15th June.

We have been attempting to allocate your Freedom of Information request to
the relevant business area within CLG. Unfortunately we can find no record
of the correspondence you refer to. Would it be possible to resend this
information to this CLG-FOI Advice Team email address and we will ensure
it receives our urgent attention.

Kind regards.

FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973

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Dear CLG-FOIAdvice,

Thank you very much for your kind response. I deposited the information in the office of Andrew Stunell, MP, now junior minister in the Department of Local Government and Communities. I made it clear that this was being given to him in his role of junior minister responsible and not in his role as an MP. I shall go back to his office and ensure his staff let you have the relevant details. Obviously, this will lead to a delay in responding which I am fully aware is not your fault and I wouldn't be objecting to any unavoidably late response.

Kind regards and warmest best wishes

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Oliver

CLG-FOIAdvice,

To Sheila Oliver

Thank you for your email.

Once the relevant details are received CLG will respond to your Freedom of Information request.

Kind regards.

FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973

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Dear CLG-FOIAdvice,

Many thanks for your kind and prompt response.

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Oliver

Sheila Oliver

Dear CLG-FOIAdvice,

I have visited his taxpayer funded office and given them details of this FOI request. I don't think I can do any more, but will if you think there is more I can do. I think the ball is in Mr. Stunell's court now.

Kind regards

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Oliver

CLG-FOIAdvice,

To Sheila Oliver

Thank you for your email.

The Department will consider your FoI request if we receive relevant information from Andrew Stunell's constituency office in connection with his Ministerial role

Kind regards.

FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973

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Sheila Oliver

Dear CLG-FOIAdvice,

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Oliver

Dear Department for Communities and Local Government,

I have received a reply from Junior Minister, Andrew Stunell, to my home address by post.

He declines to take the matter any further.

The issue involved includes a cost increase in a project from £5.5 million in October 2005 to £8.6 million by June 2006 with no explanation of the rise in cost, the compulsory purchase of land without holding a public inquiry when a statutory objection was received from someone with an interest in the land and failure to comply with BS 10175 which Stockport Council claimed to have done, which meant that eventually when it was complied with the counciltaxpayers faced a large, last minute bill for contamination remediation. Complying with BS 10175 would have found the contamination at the outset.

Yours faithfully,

Sheila Oliver

CLG-FOIAdvice,

Dear Sheila Oliver

Thank you for your email of 19th October 10.

You have raised several points in this, and other emails. We aim to let you have our considered response no later than 5th November.

Kind regards

FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973

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Dear CLG-FOIAdvice,

Many thanks. There need to be answers to what has gone one here. Just because this is a ConDem council, things mustn't be swept under the carpet.

The latest outrage is the Council has submitted a planning application to change the nursery school to a nursery class. They are refusing to answer questions on the planning application, which is completely illegal in planning terms because refusing to give details of planning applications is a recipe for corruption. The "consultation" with parents about the closure of the nursery is still ongoing and the final decision lies with the Schools Adjudicator and not the Council.

In addition, the ConDems have announced nursery education for 2 year olds in deprived areas, and this area is very deprived. How on earth will they deliver this if they change the nursery school just to a nursery class? I am sure they are having to make this change and to change the Learning Resource Centre at the primary school to a classroom (also part of the new planning application) because the school never was big enough for the children who needed to attend at any point in the process, and for saying so I have been publicly branded vexatious and they have refused to reply to any questions on the subject (FOI or Council meeting) for many years, even though the Information Commission has said in writing that they should.

What on earth is going on in ConDem Stockport?

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Oliver

Dear Department for Communities and Local Government,

Mr Stunell is the minister responsible for what has been called the social and economic cleansing policy, which would mean that possibly hundreds of thousands of people will no longer be able to afford to live in certain cities and will have to move. As the Guardian says, the politicians responsible for all these ConDem policies, which will have such a detrimental effect on so many people's lives, need themselves to be above reproach.

I am very interested in your reply and await it eagerly. I don't think a whitewash would suffice in this instance.

Kind regards

Sheila

CLG-FOIAdvice,

Dear Sheila Oliver

Further to our email of 20th October I apologise that we will still not be in a position to respond to you on the 5th November. We are in the process of investigating what correspondence the Department has received from you, and what action has been taken on it.

We will respond to you as soon as possible, once we have this information.

Kind regards

FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973

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Dear CLG-FOIAdvice,

Thank you. I am happy to wait if it means I am given a proper answer.

There is also a court case, sub-judice until the week after next, which has probably wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money. As soon as it is no longer sub-judice, I will be sending the details far and wide. You might want to ask Mr Stunell about that too.

These politicians, who are bringing in policies which will remove hundreds of thousands of people from their homes under the social cleansing proposals or will lose apparently 1.6 million jobs (possibly your's and possibly mine, )need to be above reproach and to be seen to be above reproach.

Kind regards

Sheila

Dear Department for Communities and Local Government,

Could I please have a reply. Andrew Stunell is much despised nationally because of his negotiating of the coalition agreement and stance on student fees. I provided him both as my local MP and as Local Government Minister with evidence of presumed wrong-doing by his close political cohorts on Stockport Council. I merely want to know what action, if any, he took. To be honest, I assume he did nothing.

Please let me know the answer and I can then disseminate that information to the various enemies of Mr Stunell. Anyone in high public office and responsible for taking action which will detrimentally affect hundreds of thousands of people needs himself to be seen to have acted completely above reproach, even when his political chums are involved.

I think I have given you a fair interval in which to respond.

Yours faithfully,

Sheila Oliver

CLG-FOIAdvice,

Dear Sheila Oliver

Further to our emails of 20th October and 3rd November I apologise that we are still not in a position to provide you with a substantive response. We are still checking to see what correspondence the Department has received from you, and what action has been taken on it.

We will respond to you as soon as possible, once we have this information.

Kind regards

FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973

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CLG-FOIAdvice,

1 Attachment

Dear Sheila Oliver

Please see the attached letter in response to your communications to this Department.

Kind regards

FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973

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Dear CLG-FOIAdvice,

Thanks for your reply. I posted the details in the post box of Andrew Stunell's office addressed to him as junior minister. He employs taxpayer funded elves. I think they have the ability to get post from the box and show it him, so I assume he saw everything and decided to take no action, which is completely as I expected. That is fine - that is all I wanted to know.

With very warmest best wishes

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Oliver

Dear Department for Communities and Local Government,

I shall today re-post information about the abuses at Stockport regarding the school on the toxic waste dump issue and the town hall protester, both of which issues are being kept secret and both of which had unnecessarily cost the taxpayer huge sums of money, and pop them through Mr. Stunell's letterbox.

I shall address the matter to Stunell both as my local MP and in his role as Junior Minister. I shall keep the press and his many enemies informed of his response should I ever get one.

I did get a letter from him last week but, bizarrely, it simply said I should do voluntary work. I have worked with the dying at the local hospital for a decade.

As Mr Stunell had to apologise to Gus O'Donnell for his election purdah mistake - very serious I am sure you will agree - I have some very strong doubts about how he does his job.

I shall keep this site posted about his reply too.

Kind regards

Sheila Oliver