As the pieces of the jigsaw come together, the picture is scandalous The so-called Arch witchunt is another Tory smear campaign funded by the taxpayer and built on a mountain of lies

To set the scene on another Tory scandal, aided by an incompetent council CEO who is facing multiple bullying allegations and Director's of Arch who are literally playing politics with council tax payers cash, we will give readers an insight into the inner workings of 'Advance Northumberland', or as it was known ARCH.

Arch was maligned by the Tories from the get go, years out from the 2017 local elections. The attacks were part of a political plan to undermine the council's assets. In the case of Cllr Peter Jackson, that was illegal. It breached the Companies Act and it breached his own council's code of conduct. He was a director of a company worth £300m + and he still is although the value is fast diminishing with every political decision. 

Even the council's external auditor has expressed a 'significant concern that value for money will not be achieved' over the coming years. 

Three Tory councillors are playing politics with taxpayers money on a scale never known in Northumberland with no visible scrutiny or risk assessment.  

They've spent over £400,000 on additional audits and private sector investigators. One of the investigators is Crosland Consulting which Arch will absolutely not let anyone see the work they commissioned from this company. 

They spent at least £80,000 of taxpayers money on an investigation that uncovered that Arch bought former CEO house and made money for the taxpayer totally legally, that Ashington Football Club was supported by the town's largest employer Arch and that it benefitted from a spectacularly good bit of business when it sold the original football club site to Asda, that Arch attended events to generate more jobs and business for Northumberland and once bought a £58 bottle of wine in Cannes at an event where a bottle of house wine cost £58 because the town is expensive. They've investigated contractors they don't like politically and at least two come to mind, regularly smearing them through their political contacts in the Times newspaper and in their online blogs. 

So now the case to be presented that Arch is political smear operation today totally funded by the taxpayer of Northumberland and orchestrated by 4 Tory politicians and allowed to happen by a CEO at Arch transferred in from the NHS to do another CEO transferred from the NHS.

It is a smear operation because it seems to have halted its projects. Portland Park - stopped, Pipers Place, Bedlington - stopped, Blyth town investment plan - stopped, Cramlington Manor Walks investment - stopped, Prudhoe town investment - stopped, Hexham town investment stopped and a botched development in Berwick along with silence over the Ramparts EZ. 
Now for some evidence. 
Firstly, what would you say, with your open mind on evidence, if a director of the company had sent an email to someone admitting on 21st June that what was happening in Arch was 'just politics'? 21st June was first day of the official Tory witchunt in the first board meeting, the AGM. 

In isolation maybe that email is not compelling enough for you. 
But what if there was a story in a newspaper which demonstrated that Cllr Jackson was up to no good as a Director of Arch? This is the story in question

https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/call-for-investigation-over-arch-breach-1-9196821

If you read the quotes in the story from everybody but Cllr Jackson who does regularly subscribe to the Mafia code of 'omerta'. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to detect a rather partisan flavour from Cllr Nick Oliver and Cllr Georgina Hill who are both central in the Arch witchunt. They are generally at pains to stress how 'independent' Crosland's investigation is but their comments are anything but independent. 

The inference drawn from the Tory reaction to this story is two fold once you pass their obvious discomfort - a) They won't investigate breaches of company law and b) they ascribe Cllr Jackson's actions as a director as something akin to 'whistleblowing'. He wasn't. He sat on the side lines picking up confidential information and never declaring an interest. He stood up at fundraising dinners attended by property developers and businesses and told the audience what they wanted to hear. That Peter Jackson would scrap Arch.   

The fact is that the only 'whistle' blown by Director Jackson is a dog whistle which was heard loudly by those who would benefit from one less competitor like Arch.

Cllr Jackson never raised a complaint about any action by Arch within the Board. Not a single one apart from an email sent to a director of Arch asking whether Labour councillors had been given Arch houses. Next week a story was posted on their smear sites which repeated the fake allegation. He regularly got sensitive papers as a board member, some of which were leaked, and they were commercially advantageous to businesses and individuals who Cllr Jackson did business with. He never raised a prejudicial interest. 

So why wasn't Jackson investigated because his actions were logged and they were brought to the attention of the company secretary? We'd love to see the Crosland report and if it was independent why keep it secret?

From the first day of the Tory administration on 5 May to 21 June 2017, Arch was operating in a highly irregular way. The Tories were gung ho especially Richard Wearmouth who remember, wasn't even a councillor until 25 May. He wandered around Arch, stopping at workers desks according to staff members. He was described as a 'lurker' over the coming days. The company started ignoring directors instructions and had commenced a 'review of its business' which you may presume was at the 'lurker's' instructions. Given Lurcio (you may remember Frankie Howard) close proximity to the scene and while he didn't become a director officially until 21 June at the AGM, could he and others have been making unlawful decisions? It is a distinct possibility and I wonder what Crosland Consulting would say about that period of time? Is this why the external auditor has issued a serious value for money judgement against Arch? These questions would have been answered if Arch had published their accounts? It's the first full year of Arch under Wearmouth and his board and the accounts have been signed off for over three months yet no tabling of accounts at Wearmouth's favourite committee, Audit Committee? What are they hiding?   

Much has been made of a 'police investigation' at the instigation of Northumberland County Council which is nearly one year old now. The police have categorically said on at least three occasions that 'there is no criminal investigation' despite claims by Tory politicians like Cllr Oliver that there is.

They both can't be right can they? 

Cllr Hills took to the floor in a recent council meeting to berate the new Chief Constable implying that there was a cover up and that was rebuffed by the Chief Constable. There may be unlawful behaviour happening in Arch but it is a reasonable point to highlight that the Northumberland Gazette story demonstrates that Crosland may not be looking in the right area. Why won't Arch act on these serious 'governance issues' since Lurcio is seemingly obsessed by governance during the last administration? Political smears by the Tories? 

Maybe he should be looking at events around 14 Feb 2017 when Arch took the unprecedented step of taking legal advice from the company secretary about the actions of Cllr Jackson? This episode took place right in the period Crosland was looking at so why no reference in his investigation? It is a serious breach by Jackson and could have resulted in his expulsion from Arch if he had responded to a letter sent by the Chair of the company on 16 Feb 2017. Jackson didn't respond and the issue was covered up after the election. But what happened to his prejudicial interests?  

So to the next segment of this expensive tale of political skulduggery. 

What would you say if Arch acted unlawfully when it pulled out of the contract with Galliford Try for Portland Park? 

There is credible evidence to suggest just that. We've already referred to the importance of 21 June 2017 when the new administration picked its directors of the company and the new chair, the secretive and duplicitous Cllr Richard Wearmouth (he was a councillor at this stage). It lodged the new directors at Companies House on 20 June. From 21st June, they could make legitimate decisions but all we've gotten is crude political smears.  

But why do we mention Galliford Try contract? 

The evidence shows that the contract was altered at a cost to the taxpayer of at least £7m but the true figure is being hidden by this branch of the secret council. This all happened prior to Cllr Wearmouth as a director who did not become a director and chair until 21 June. The announcement of the deal with Galliford Try hit the press on 18 June. 

There's no risk assessments given the huge financial hit on the company from such a settlement.

Arch posted a £5.5m profit in its accounts yet it lost more than that extricating itself from the Portland Park contract. How many more 'expensive decisions' by Cllr Wearmouth will be revealed in his first set of accounts?

There's nothing reported to Board meetings and this would be an extreme example of a governance breakdown of epic proportions. Can you imagine if the previous board had done this? 

It's clear that Arch is now being used as a political arm of the Conservative party which is a disgrace and hypocrisy of the highest order. It has been corrupted and it has been used to lodge baseless accusations against Labour politicians without evidence or real foundation. It is a taxpayer funded political smear operation.

  The real scandal isn't a £58 bottle of wine - it's the systematic abuse of power by a small cohort of individuals who have co-opted over £10m of tax payers cash to pursue a vendetta against a company that was set up to generate cash to offset their government's pointless, cruel and totally ideological austerity campaign. 

If they're so concerned about transparency and governance why don't they publish the Crosland Report and why don't they agree to an independent investigation into the matters listed above? 

Another strand of evidence from a third party source, a credible business representative body who stated in an email commenting on the other Tory scandal, the withdrawal of the core strategy

"The negative press, innuendo and lack of detail emanating from the transition to Advance Northumberland has clearly had an effect on the consultation. The apparent quoted ‘49 lines of police investigations’ for over a year with no news or updates have clearly impacted the interest in engaging with the consultation. As such, many believe the withdrawal of the Core Strategy to be political".

This person is not party political and they are drawing similar conclusions to this article. 

If you then consider Board minutes of Arch released under Freedom of Information with sections heavily redacted.

In the Board meeting of 25th May 2018, attended by Chairman Wearmouth, they reported that Hodgson's who were in a high value joint venture with Arch were pulling out of a project in Jesmond because of the negative publicity generated by the Arch witchunt 

This shows that the actions of the directors were costing the taxpayer cold hard cash.  

Hodgson's pulled out because of reputational damage to their company so what about the reputational damage of the Tory witchunt into Arch? So far, the public has been fed a story which is highly 'spun'. It is shocking that senior officers in the council have failed to protect the council from this concerted attack on the previous administration. Remember officers like the CEO were key witnesses to the actions as she was deputy CEO so we're looking forward to hear about what she did when the council was so 'badly run'. Officers have not let the public see any evidence of wrongdoing even though each point raised here has been documented and raised and they consistently lie about the role of Cllr Jackson as a director in Arch? 

So let's have a transparent investigation by an independent credible body. We promise that we will participate fully and I'm sure Arch and the council will do that too.

Or will they?  

Labour Cash Saving Motion Closed Off By Northumberland County Council

The very secretive administration at Northumberland County Hall who have halved the number of Council meetings, halted the open working groups, reduced the number of open scrutiny panels and fill in the time at Full Council meetings with questions and motions to themselves, have through their arrogance got the Council into a serious law-suit that could bankrupt the Council.

The law suit surrounds the removal from inspection by Government of the main planning document for Northumberland, the Local Plan and Core Strategy, every Council must have one to control housing numbers and be in a position to take advantage of well structured opportunities to improve the economy and jobs within the Counties boundaries whilst not damaging those same opportunities for neighbours.

On 5^th July 2017 a motion was put to the Council to withdraw the Core Strategy from inspection. The Council had taken legal advice but not shared it with all members of the Council. An amendment was put forward by Labour to defer the motion until all members had the opportunity to see the advice, as members should only make decisions on behalf of the public in the full knowledge of all advice and take all advice from officers. Officers gave NO firm advice to the Council on that day.

The amendment was defeated and the administration won the vote to remove the strategy from inspection. Therefore a decision was taken by Councillors without them having full knowledge of the implications of their decision making.

The decision has been catastrophic for Northumberland with developers winning appeal after appeal including the disastrous New Hartley planning appeal where an estate is to be built that will double the size of the village without the infrastructure improvements needed to support such a massive increase in population.

Developers who already had applications in train have also been hit by the removal of the strategy and of course are fighting back in legal terms and the Council is faced with a £200M law suit.

On July 2^nd in order to save the Council massive costs and avert a potential huge law suit Labour put forward a motion to reinstate its accepted and consulted upon core strategy. At the meeting ‘legal advice’ was produced that councillors were not allowed to pre-read or take advice of their own on and Labour had to remove the motion on that day. They still haven’t been issued with that advice as the papers were collected in at the meeting, the secrets are never to be revealed from the administration its rather like free masonry.

Twice since Labour have attempted to submit and have heard their motion only to have that route to safety for the Counties taxpayers cut off. The Council is only to be asked to hear three motions at each meeting and there is no opportunity for it to hear an emergency motion in the administrations altered Constitution. They filled the meeting with silly motions in September and have filled the agenda with similar motions for November blocking off the opportunity to reverse the decision of July 2017 or even letting the public hear the story of the mess their Council is in by making that uninformed decision

    

The three Amigos who will be debarred from puplic office first

The case against Leader Jackson, part time CEO Lally and Cabinet member, Riddle (The Defendants) 

The following article is a condensed version of court papers, correspondence to Northumberland County Council (NCC) and its Conservative political leadership over a period of five months. There has been an active conspiracy to cover up unlawful actions. This is why an outside body should mount a FULL, INDEPENDENT INQUIRY preferably a police force. In this article, we have tried to make the information accessible for all but we have faced many hurdles put in place to protect senior officers and the highest politicians in the council namely deliberate withholding of information and downright lies.

We make no apologies for the language in this article. It is meant to be understood.  The claim is lodged by Lugano Developments Estates (LDE) against Cllr Peter Jackson, Cllr John Riddle, and Ms Daljit Lally, an officer and part time CEO. It is alleged that each has caused harm to LDE and unless prevented from doing so threatens to cause further harm to LDE through committing acts amounting to the tort of misfeasance in public office. NCC is vicariously liable for the said torts committed by the defendants. This case means the taxpayer is being held responsible for the actions of Jackson, Lally and Riddle.

 The unlawful acts _________________________________________ In December 2016 LDE submitted a “bespoke” planning application to NCC seeking (a) outline planning permission with all matters reserved for an exemplar Garden Village comprising up to 2,000 dwellings, and space/facilities for employment, commercial, agricultural and leisure uses, and associated infrastructure; and (b) full planning permission for strategic flood alleviation measures and the demolition of a small number of buildings. The planning application was supported by NCC in partnership with LDE with the encouragement of Dept. of Communities and Local Government (DCLG)

The Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) of NCC resolved by 7 votes to 2 that it was “minded to approve” the application subject to the conditions as outlined in the Reports. Authority was delegated to the Head of Planning Services, Mr Mark Ketley, to issue full planning permission (in consultation with the Chair of the SPC) once the conditions had been satisfied, subject only to the application being referred to the National Planning Casework Unit for a determination on whether the Secretary of State wishes to call-in the application. Thus, up until the local elections on 4th May 2017, NCC had been wholly supportive of the DGV and was a visible partner.  However, in those elections Cllr Peter Jackson was elected as the Leader of NCC, as head of a minority Conservative Council. Cllr Jackson, whose family farm is near the DGV site, had at all material times expressed vehement opposition to the DGV Scheme. 

Since becoming leader of NCC Cllr Jackson, acting by himself and through others, has orchestrated a series of actions designed to stop the DGV development. Many of those actions have gone well beyond that which is lawful and give rise to the allegations of misfeasance in public office that will be brought against defendants. 

Shortly after becoming leader of NCC, Cllr Jackson sacked NCC’s Chief Executive, Steven Mason. Mr Mason had been a supporter of the DGV development. Ms Lally was appointed as interim Chief Executive at NCC in place of Mr Mason acting from 4th May. Steve Mason was bundled out of NCC with a payment of £417,000 plus benefits on 25th May 2017 on the day that Cllr Jackson officially formed his administration with the help of independent councillors and two Liberal Democrats. On 5th July 2017 NCC took the unusual step of withdrawing its Core Strategy despite the fact that it had already been submitted to the DCLG. This was not part of the Conservative manifesto. That decision to withdraw the Core Strategy was made at a meeting of the Full Council on 5th July 2017 and was engineered by Cllr Jackson who wilfully misled the meeting by stating that the delay that would be caused by withdrawing the Core Strategy and substituting it with an alternative plan would only be ‘2-3 months’. However, the Head of Planning Services, Mr Mark Ketley had clearly advised Cllr Jackson in terms prior to the meeting that the delay would be at least 18 months to 2 years because of the need for a Regulation 18 consultation. Cllr Jackson’s own briefing notes for the meeting (obtained in December 2017 by an FOI request) clearly indicated that he had been advised that the delay would be two years.

 In Dec 2017, a series of anonymous letters were sent to the council alleging bullying and corrupt practices. More about the council conclusions in another briefing in this series.  On 15th August 2017 Cllr Riddle, the portfolio holder for Planning at NCC, emailed Mr Ketley concerning Mr Ketley’s report dated 14th August 2017 about the alternative Core Strategy required following the aforementioned withdrawal decision, instructing Mr Ketley to “remove the need for any garden village” from the report. At a meeting between Cllr Jackson and Mr Ketley on 4th October 2017, Mr Ketley explained to Cllr Jackson that in his opinion and in the opinion of the other professional officers involved, the planning balance had not changed, and the development would continue to be recommended for approval. Cllr Jackson looked Mr Ketley in the eye and said, “You might want to reconsider that!”. After this Cllr Jackson operated through Cllr Riddle and Ms Lally to bring unlawful pressure to bear upon Mr Ketley in an effort to induce him to alter the planning officers’ advice. As time went on Mr Ketley felt increasingly pressurised, bullied, and threatened by the actions and behaviour of the defendants.

 At a meeting on 1st November 2017, Cllr Riddle told Mr Ketley that Mr Jackson had heard that the DGV development may still be recommended for approval when it was presented back to the SPC, and that whilst he was not going to put the instruction in an email, Mr Ketley needed to find a way to recommend refusal. Mr Ketley was left in no doubt from what Cllr Riddle told him, that Cllr Riddle was making that demand at Cllr Jackson’s insistence. It was apparent that Cllr Riddle knew full well that it was entirely improper. Ms Lally became CEO of NCC on 1st November officially.  At a meeting on 2nd November 2017, between Ms Lally and Mr Ketley, Ms Lally pressurised Mr Ketley by saying that preventing the DGV development from happening was a clear priority of the Leader (i.e. Cllr. Jackson) and that, accordingly, Mr. Ketley needed “to do what (he) needed to do”.

On 20th November 2017 Cllr. Riddle came to see Mr Ketley in his office and again said that he “must find a way to recommend refusal of DGV”. On 21st November 2017, Cllr. Riddle again came to see Mr. Ketley and informed him that Cllr. Jackson was “adamant” that DGV must be recommended for refusal. Cllr Riddle mentioned that Cllr. Jackson had told him (i.e. Cllr. Riddle) to “stay strong”. Cllr Riddle made clear to Mr Ketley that his instructions to press Mr Ketley to change his recommendation about DGV came from Cllr Jackson and also from Ms Lally. On 27th November 2017 Mr Ketley received leading counsel’s opinion to the effect inter alia that the impact of the withdrawal of the Core Strategy was insufficient to adversely affect the overall planning balance currently in favour of recommending approval of the DGV development. 

On Friday 1st December 2017 during the course of a conversation between Cllr Jackson and Stephen Rankin, the brother of Allan Rankin who owns the shares in LDE, Cllr Jackson said to Stephen Rankin, “Your brother won’t like what I am about to do next week”. On Monday 4th December 2017 Cllr Riddle visited Mr Ketley’s office and informed him that on the previous Friday (i.e. 1st December 2017) Cllr Jackson and Ms Lally had discussed arrangements to terminate Mr Ketley’s employment. In the event however, on 7th December 2017 Mr Ketley was removed from any further involvement in meetings or discussions concerning the DGV development. Mr Paul Johnston, who some years previously had worked closely with Cllr Jackson at Castle Morpeth Council, was then appointed to a rapidly created position above Mr Ketley. This has cost the taxpayer at least £95,000. Add this to Steven Mason’s payoff of £417,000, the waste of money spent on the original core strategy of £1.2m and the estimated cost of Jackson’s new ‘Local Plan of £500,000 and over £2m has been wasted on Jackson’s ‘folly’.  Early in the New Year Mr Johnston contacted Mr Ketley to advise him that he was going to undertake a restructuring of the planning department that “might affect” Mr Ketley’s position. Mr Johnston went on to propose that Mr Ketley should leave NCC, and Mr Ketley welcomed the opportunity to do so in the New Year on confidential agreed terms since his position had been made impossible at NCC. This has cost the taxpayer a five-figure sum and has contributed towards the lack of transparency and allegations of a ‘cover up’.

In light of the matters stated above, the defendants are guilty of acting in bad faith and flagrantly abusing their powers and authority as public officers.

Northumberland County Council is facing a bullying epidemic ………… and it starts at the TOP

In May 2017, Peter Jackson and his Tory gang formed a council administration with the help of 3 Bedlington 'Independents' and a pale Tory reject from Berwick. 

From day one, the rules, norms and laws of local government and indeed, the law have gone out the window. Smear has been the order of the day and pressure is regularly placed on officers by senior administration appointments, from both the private and public sector. Under the Tories and led by Jackson, we're seeing the creeping takeover of Northumberland County Council by the culture of 'secondment' from Northumbria Health Care Trust. The CEO is a healthcare 'secondment', working 2 days for the council, the CEO of Arch is a healthcare 'secondment' whose appointment was rushed through in order to start the ball rolling with Richard Wearmouth, the man who seems to have a lot of interests in energy, in the asset stripping of Arch. The Arch witchunt has provided cover for £millions of pounds of taxpayers money being thrown into a hole in Ashington. 

Now for the meat of this story and very shocking it is. Residents of the county should ask themselves if what's happening in their name is acceptable to them. If the answer is yes, residents need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror. Indeed, anyone who thinks bullying is acceptable in any circumstance should review their world view. 

Allegations of systemic bullying have bubbled around this administration and senior Tories and officers since almost day one. The allegations have been covered up and withheld from public view, all with the connivance of senior officers. 

On day one, Jackson went after Steve Mason and within three weeks had agreed to pay him off with £417,000 of tax payers money. Why such a quick departure? By 10th May, 6 days after Jackson won an election, the council's most senior planning officer was told to 'find a way to stop a lawful planning application'. His professional and legal opinion said the council couldn't lawfully stop this planning application in Ponteland. It's the Dissington Garden Village development which borders on interests Cllr Jackson holds. The senior planner left his job in the council after months of allegedly unlawful pressure to recommend stopping the DGV application.

He left with a settlement agreement which cost the taxpayer a further five figure sum. The council is now being sued for near £10m over allegations of bullying, intimidation and corruption with Jackson, Riddle and CEO Daljit Lally (who also works in the NHS) all in the dock as defendants. They all deny the charges but have so far provided not a shred of evidence to substantiate their protestations of innocence. In fact, a key document which is an investigation into...… wait for it.. cue drumroll.... bullying is being withheld from councillors and the public even when the councillors are being asked to provide taxpayers money to pay for the defence of the 'Dissington Three'. More taxpayers cash being poured down the drain. 

This week, a glance at Newcastle Employment Tribunal court lists sees a case heard on 28th Sept. It involves further allegations of bullying and intimidation which names The CEO, Mrs Lally and the head of HR, Kelly Angus who is another 'secondment' from Northumberland NHS. Mrs Angus is an interesting character who sits at the intersection of the bullying epidemic in Northumberland Council. More of that at another time though. There are at least two more Employment Tribunal cases heading for court and at least one of them names, the deadly duo - Jackson and Lally as defendants. Both involve more allegations of bullying. 

There are at least two private legal actions which both involve bullying allegations and shocking allegations of unlawful actions There are at least four other 'senior officers' both past and present considering legal actions against the council for.... bullying. 

There are a growing number of external investigations due to report soon and EY, the council's external auditors have identified 5 serious value for money risks relating to five policies introduced by Jackson and his gang. We wonder when he's going to add 'secondments from the NHS to those serious risks. 

So what have we got?? 

We have a high court action, county court actions, employment tribunals, investigations by the auditor, secret investigations by the council, all tied together by one disgraceful strand - BULLYING under this administration since May 2017. No doubt it will be all dismissed by Lord Haw Haw (Cllr Nick Oliver) as a conspiracy but ask yourself - can everyone be wrong and Jackson and his gang right? Remember we've seen no evidence to declare innocence and we've seen plenty of lies. 

This is why, in all seriousness, an independent investigation, conducted by an outside body into allegations of corruption, unlawful behaviour and actions and..... bullying. If this council, Jackson and his gang are against an independent investigation ask yourself why? What are they hiding? 

If you're answer is don't tackle the allegations of systemic bullying across the council then the mirror awaits you. 

Northumberland deserves better than this.    

How the scales of justice will affect the council budget £24m Tory cuts are the tip of a very unpleasant iceberg.

Jackson and some of his band 

 The first real Jackson budget facing Northumberland is a predictably slippery one. But we should at least be thankful that it's published and not kept away from public view like the Arch accounts after 1 full year of Tory vandalism. 

The top line for the council budget is £24m has to be found at the behest of the twice bankrupt Nick Oliver who now splits his time between dismantling and selling off public assets in Arch and 'fiddling away while the council burns' like Corbridge's answer to Nero. 

So let's look under the £24m figure into the undergrowth where Nick Oliver tries to distract from. Start with the latest external auditor report. 

FIVE serious value for money risks (where is the Chair of Audit I hear you ask) spanning the first year of Jackson and his gang. They are, in no particular order, because they are all serious - The cancellation of the Portland Park project for the new county HQ in Ashington, the cost of the refurbishment of County Hall at Morpeth, the decision to remove the lawful core strategy, the dismantling of Arch and the senior management restructure including the removal of Chief Executive Steven Mason. FIVE significant issues which have and will cost the council significant amounts of money and here's a tip for the readers of this blog - at least one of the audit issues involves an UNLAWFUL act (or acts). All will be revealed in due course.

When you look at EY (the external auditor) report it's enough to set the alarm bells ringing and souls searching. 

How could a council get into this mess in just 15 short months? 

The cancellation of Portland Park project happened within one month of the Jackson gang hostile takeover at Arch and has cost the taxpayer at least £7m to date. £7m to Galliford Try as a down payment on the cancellation/renegotiation of a £32.3m package which would have seen over a thousand good quality jobs in Ashington, helping the High Street and as part of an ambitious plan backed by Tory Sir John Hall to help the town thrive. They've now got a derelict site, no takers for their desperate piece of fake marketing, a cinema and a back of a fag packet plan for unspecified shops to presumably kill off Ashington High Street. 

Arch has gone from a regeneration company to a degeneration company under 'Tricky Dicky Wearmouth', the chair with stakes in more interests than there are weeks in a year. More of that to come in a later post though.

Remember when Jackson and his gang 'spun' their way through Northumberland telling people that new Ashington HQ would cost £80m and he could wave a magic wand, spend £500,000 and turn Morpeth County Hall from a mausoleum into a 21st century office with just a 'lick of paint'. 

Both parts of the 'trick' played on residents turned out to be a lie. 

Firstly, think hard - have you heard Jackson or his band mention £80m since they started on their vandalism of the council and its partners? That's because the real cost was £32.3m which they've already had to pay out a down payment of £7m for nothing at all. Secondly, it turns out the lick of paint now costs over £20m and rising. The Tories are finding this money to make their own 'Morpeth Mausoleum' by cutting £24m of services from the most vulnerable communities across Northumberland and especially targeted in the South East. 

The dodgy decision to remove the core strategy is subject to a legal action and seemingly, it's also being looked at by Northumbria Police. It involves dark dealings, bullying, incompetence, intimidation and criminal actions which residents will see played out in front of them over the next 6 months. What's at stake is £10m of taxpayers cash and the cost of a defence for Jackson and the council's CEO Daljit Lally, an expensive secondment from the hard pressed and under staffed Northumberland NHS. 

One joker said the NHS is understaffed because they've all been seconded to Northumberland County Council. There is also a potential that the council may be found to be vicariously liable for up to £193m of lost value on a planning application targeted by Jackson and his gang. 

EY view of Arch is complex but can be explained simply. The Tories are selling off over £120m worth of assets owned by the tax payer to whoever they wish with zero scrutiny. 

That started in June last year when they decided to stop and flog off investments outside Northumberland. It gave 'Tricky Dicky Wearmouth' a predictable soundbite but what he didn't reveal was the decision started a 'fire sale' of assets worth an estimated £124m. They were land and buildings under the Arch Housing company, Arch Commercial Enterprises and Arch Developments.

We can't scrutinise what's happening as the Tories rush to sell off Arch and turn the rest into effectively a private company with no value to the taxpayer. There are no Arch accounts published even though they've been signed off for nearly two months. We'd urge the Chair of Audit who has taken an unnatural interest in the past operations of Arch to look at the current operations especially how the council can protect its interests given the current structure of the new Arch lodged at Companies House. The Tory actions in Arch have been assisted by CEO Alison Joynson, a doughty community campaigner who opposed Labour's plan to tackle the £6m bill for post 16 transport but also happens to be...…… cue drumroll...…. a secondment from Northumbria NHS Trust. Mrs Joynson may have faced accusations that she was a 'political appointment' given her politically advantageous campaigning for Jackson and the gang in 2015 and 2016 but that remains to be seen. Mrs Joynson is a 'shadowy figure', she doesn't seem to turn up for many Arch Board meetings despite being the CEO. But readers may not know she's also Director for 'Change' and International Projects within the council too along with being second in command to Mrs Lally as deputy CEO. 

We're not sure whether that's a secondment from the NHS or from Arch to the council but you have to admire Mrs Joynson for her work ethic or at least her ability to do four executive roles at the same time. BTW, she's paid £171,000 by the council which also falls within the last 'serious value for money risk' identified by EY. 

We'll finish this section by highlighting one of Mrs Joynson first actions along with the Head of HR Kelly Angus... who is a secondment from the health service. They 'procured' Mr Steve Crosland of Riding Mill based Crosland Consulting to carry out 'investigations' into whatever 'Tricky Dicky Wearmouth' thought was useful in his quest to 'clean up Arch'. After £80,000 spent on Mr Crosland to do his 'Inspector Clouseau' impression and an audit carried out by EY costing an estimated £360,000 (it still hasn't finished like the painting of the Forth Bridge) and a high profile 'police review' started nearly a year ago which has been the centre piece of the Tory smear campaign against Labour politicians and independent contractors, we now await the next expensive, tax payer funded exercise in 'fishing around for no purpose'. As Mr Crosland popped up (he's not surprisingly married to an eminent professional in the NHS) another blast from the past sloped into Arch and Active Northumberland under the guise of a private company called Engage-n-Change. Ken Dunbar was CEO keeping Jackson and some of his current gang under control at Castle Morpeth and a fine job he did too. Now he's a supremo in Arch, arguably the HEAD HONCHO given how thinly Mrs Joynson is spread but he's another 'secondment' this time to Active Northumberland, the council's leisure charity He produced a Crosland type report under the guise of Engage-n-Change which was used to smear Labour politicians by claiming incredulously that the report was 'independent'. One wag observed it was as independent as Cllr Hill, the disgraced Tory spin doctor now masquerading as an 'independent' councillor in Berwick. We presume Mr Dunbar stopped off in Active before he took up the reins (and the 'independent investigations) at Arch. 

The final 'value for money risk' identified by EY is foreshadowed by earlier blogs and the strange case of 'fat cat managerialistis'. Since May 2017, this has spread like a contagion across the council. Jackson and his gang are rumoured to be the hosts and we hope the auditor will be able to administer a serum. We have Daljit Lally at £200k plus a £37k bonus for jetting around the world with her fellow NHS 'refugee' Mrs Joynson. We have the controversial appointment of Paul Johnstone, brought in allegedly to shepherd through the removal of the planning core strategy at the Jackson gang's bidding. He's costing you over £180,000. You've got Mrs Joynson on £171,000 and whatever she's paid at Arch since we can't see Arch salaries anymore in the new era of Jacksonian 'Transparency' in the council. Jackson himself has seen his pay roll in at over £90k despite being an director of an offshore based company, Greenshields Agri and having an interest in at least 5,000 acres of land in Northumberland and Borderlands Scotland. Mr Dunbar is an enigma - all we can find for him is his payment for his 'independent report' into Active worth a cool £26,600 plus VAT. We estimate that Mr Dunbar will be on an equivalent package as Mrs Joynson at £170,000 which could be the reason he's leaving the ship in November. The head of HR Mrs Angus pockets over £90,000 but we shouldn't finish without a mention of the money removing Steven Mason, the former CEO given a glowing testimonial by Jackson and his gang which topped £417,000 and the head of planning who left under a 'settlement agreement' worth a rumoured £50,000. 

So when you see the Jackson 'spin machine' spring into action about the £24m budget cut and how its all Labour's fault think of the eye watering figures revealed above and say to yourself - what if we'd spent that money on services and people not vanity, politics and covering up dodgy decisions.    

Who will be the next Tory leader of Northumberland County Council?

 The Tories told you there would be no legal action - Guess what - another lie from the Cllr for the Isle of Man, Jackson 

High Court of Justice - Business & Property Courts of England & Wales

Claim - PT-2018-000676. 

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part05#5.4C

Same old Tories some people say but that is not true. It's not just Tories that have managed to bring Northumberland County Council to its knees, it's a good old fashioned conspiracy involving the CEO Mrs Lally, Bedlington Independents, the 'unhinged Chair of Audit' Cllr Hill aka 'The Hill tells Lies' and the current leader (of Greenshields Agri) Jackson, the Cabinet member for getting rid of the core strategy, Riddle and the slew of Cllrs representing Ponteland. 

Now the legal action has started and various external agencies are gearing up independent investigations into the questionable actions by the council and a small group of Tory malcontents who have led NCC to the precipice, it seems like an appropriate time to highlight the elephant in the room. 

Who will take over from Jackson and his co-defendants when he is forced to resign? Will the NHS welcome Lally back against the backdrop of a culture of bullying and intimidation the council under her leadership? It's probably easier to highlight those who haven't (as far as we know) engaged in a concerted effort to break the law and waste millions of pounds of council tax payers money. 

The obvious runners and riders who will have to clear up the mess after the 'walls come tumbling down' are 

1.      Glen Sanderson - he's ensured he's been nowhere near the 'witchunts' and although he too voted to withdraw the core strategy last year, we're sure he'll claim that Jackson withheld the legal advice from him too. 

2.      Wayne Daley - he's already started but his transparent move to undermine Hexham's MP over the Bright Tribe fiasco and his 'honest emails' which admit that the Arch investigation 'was just politics' will come back to haunt him. He's also known to crack under pressure and make rash decisions. 

3.      Kath Homer - another safe pair of hands in the Sanderson mould but her 'dodgy investigation' into Active Northumberland undertaken by Engage-n-Change, the so called 'independent consultants' leave open the question why did she pay £26,600 to a director of Arch. But unlike Nick Oliver, the twice bankrupt 'entrepreneur' who is in so deep with the 'witchunt', Kath Homer is only tainted up to the elbow. 

4.      David Bawn - desperately trying to make himself acceptable (see Nick Oliver) to Jackson and if you seen his performance at Full Council, you will see why he couldn't be a leader. A solicitor who puts the solicit in solicitor. 

5.      Tricky Dicky Wearmouth - Two words make him a dodgy choice. Energy Central. He's also overseen a highly partisan investigation into Arch along with his co-pilot in Audit Cllr Hill. Another area where the 'walls are coming tumbling down'. 

Get ready for by-elections galore and fake independents who are propping up Tory unlawful behaviour who will be making statements soon. 

The conspiracy is coming to an end dear resident but unfortunately for you, it will be a dear cost. It could mean bankruptcy which would mean third time unlucky for Nick Oliver, the hapless and lawless 'fall guy'. He's seen two companies go bankrupt now he's going for the hattrick with Northumberland County Council. 

LUGANO GROUP ISSUES WRIT IN THE HIGH COURT

Newcastle property company Lugano Group has now formally served a writ detailing particulars of its claim against Councillor Peter Jackson (Leader of Northumberland County Council), Councillor John Riddle (Portfolio Holder) and on the Chief Executive (Daljit Lally) following documents being issued in the High Court in London. Papers have also been served on Northumberland County Council as it is vicariously liable in the case for their actions.

The Company’s case is that the 3 individuals have acted improperly and unlawfully, abusing their powers and authority as public officers of the Council. It is Lugano’s position that the unlawful conduct of the 3 individuals amounts to Misfeasance in Public Office and as such has caused Lugano a serious financial loss and damages amounting to almost £10 million.

Company owner, Allan Rankin, commented: -

“We have fully and openly detailed our concerns in our previous Letter Before Claim.  Neither the Council nor the individuals concerned have responded to that in any meaningful or material way and our offers to meet on a without prejudice basis have been ignored. In the circumstances, we have now served formal proceedings and will pursue our case with the utmost rigour to ensure these individuals are held to account for their outrageous and unlawful conduct that brings the name and reputation of Northumberland County Council, and indeed local government as a whole, into disrepute.

“We have also referred our concerns and all our supporting evidence to the Police”.

Lugano’s Executive Chairman, Richard Robson, added: -

“Dissington Garden Village is a highly regarded project that will act as a driver of economic growth, a creator of new jobs and a means of delivering much needed affordable homes and infrastructure improvements.  It previously enjoyed the full support of Northumberland County Council and was progressing in line with the Government’s own objective to deliver exemplar Garden Communities until a few individuals sought to unlawfully disrupt the proper planning processes.  Our objective remains to continue to work in partnership with Northumberland County Council to deliver Dissington Garden Village in accordance with the decision of their own strategic Planning Committee; the Government’s Garden Communities Programme and the region’s need to deliver economic growth and homes in sustainable locations and the decision of Northumberland County Council’s own strategic Planning Committee which voted to grant planning permission in March 2017.”