SEARCH ENGINE FINDS STORM OF RESENTMENT

Riverside,

and Google`s

   `sham`

   tax deal

Just like Google`s £150 million deal with the taxman, there is something of a sham about Riverside Housing  Association`s long-standing  “deal” with  many of its  would be crtitics

Google  `s deal ensured   that this giant American multinational company  got the tiniest of  tax bills. Riverside`s “deal” meant that any criticism of this Liverpool association- also a giant-  has been equally tiny.

The allegation of sham about Google has been made  by James Anderson, one of Britain`s biggest Google shareholders following a sudden  storm of  public resentment at the deal. The  allegation of sham about Riverside is made by a leading tenants`organisation, Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation following a long build-up of resentment lasting 14 years.

Now, both  “deals” are starting to unravel. Google`s tax bill could become ten times greater if  the  criticism of sham sticks. For Riverside following allegations of a sham deal, life might now get tougher and its ramshackle organisation and bossy ways  become properly exposed to the public gaze.

The public`s present  “gaze” at Riverside  is tiny and has been tiny ever since it took over Carlisle`s 6,000 council houses in 2002. Like other housing associations, Riverside has been   “protected”  from the public gaze (those embarrassing probing enquiries  such as freedom of information requests) because legally it is not required to deal with these requests.

And although Riverside is a charitable registered society, it  is not democratic. It is autocratic. So  its 50,000 tenants and leaseholders  have  no say in its operations.  

But times are changing.  Mounting criticism of Riverside made   to Carlisle city councillors has meant more public awareness and the organisation`s work is now more than ever exposed to probing  by  the council`s Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

That panel met last week, as  a post on this blog reported. (See “Dean Butterworth and something a bit stronger”). Any new criticism of Riverside to the panel was muted but  for the very first time in  14 years the panel was able to compare Riverside`s work with the work of  other housing associations.

Two other associations were represented  alongside Riverside at the panel meeting .And with the prospect ol further meetings that will  include other housing associations, the meeting marked  an important  step forward in holding Riverside to account,

What then about that allegation of a Google-style sham? Will that opening up of the Overvikw and Scrutiny Panel be enough to eliminate the sham allegation?

Sadly, there is still work to do? Much work to do..

One example of this came with  the council`s deplorable rejection of questions submitted by the Federation for answer at a recent  panel meeting. The council  falsely accused the Federation of using the panel as a platform to make statements of discontent.

And Riverside  seems over-represented in the workings of  both local councils –Carlisle and Cumbria- through its employees who are also council members and  through four  city council members who are also members of Riverside`s governing board.

It was recently estimated that  nearly 12 per cent of city council members had links toRiverside.

But the most  serious example of Riverside`s seemingly over representation in the workings of the council came with the appointment of a city councillor member of the 

Riverside board to be chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

Part of that panel`s work (as  outlined above) is to scrutinise the work of Riverside.

That city councillor held the chairmanship up to fairly recently.

 

     CarlisleTenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803.

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FEDERATION REPORTS ON A YEAR OF SUCCESS

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation

Flooded link...Carlisle Civic Centre recently

New links with the city council aiming for major changes at flawed Riverside Housing Association

Annual report for the year 2015/16  by the Chairman at the annual meeting on January 21 2016

The Federation has had another very successful year with  regular  monthly meetings and committee meetings held in Eastern Way Fire Station. All our meetings have been stimulating and enjoyable and have attracted people from other groups in the city.

The following are the highlights of the year:

Openness and accountability: The Federation  is disappointed at the failure of the government`s plans for increased openness and accountability by public bodies. A gigantic increase of openness and accountability is sorely needed  in the Carlisle area as far as the principal landlord, Riverside Housing Association, is concerned. Riverside, in the view of the Federation is accountable to no one but itself.  It is no longer a housing association but is in effect a profit-making  property development company.

Links with other campaigning organisations: The Federation has continued to strengthen working links with the North West Tenants` and Residents` Assembly. Nationally, housing stock transfers continue to be questioned and successfully challenged, Locally, questions  persist in the city and  district about the wisdom and legality of the Carlisle transfer of its housing stock to Riverside fourteen years ago.

City Council and questions for Riverside:  The Federation has continued to hold Riverside to account with the  very small number of  written questions allowed (two, and possibly  three) about its activities which  are addressed to the  chairman of the the city council Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel a month after each Riverside six-monthly report to the council. This minuscule amount of questioning has now been been further reduced by fifty per cent to only one Riverside report to the panel during 2015.The Federation has protested to the council about this reduction. It followed a deplorable ruling by the council`s Deputy Chief Executive, Mr Darren Crossley  that the Federation`s questions were not  to be allowed. The Deputy Chief Executive  in his ruling said: “The facility for questions is an opportunity for residents to  engage with the council and not to provide organisations with a platform to make statements of discontent”

The Federation considered this ruling to be offensive and  asked that the ruling be withdrawn.The council decided not to withdraw the ruling .

The future of this  panel questioning now seems more hopeful.There has been a surprise change of policy by the council. It  invited two other housing associations to take part in the first 2016 meeting of the panel. This is the first time since the takeover in 2002 that other housing associations have  been invited to panel meetings. This  move appears to  be a welcome end to Riverside`s charmed but flawed solo act  at panel meetings which has lasted 14 years.

Riverside campaign of hostility to the Federation:  The Federation has continued to challenge Riverside`s  campaign of hostility to the Federation which started  when Riverside provocatively and outrageously told the city council that the Federation would cease to exist. This  statement was noted  by the council and entered in the minutes.

Riverside followed this  statement by twice attempting to block the Federation `s participation in the business of the city council`s Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel. Riverside has  still not explained why it wishes the Federation to cease to exist and how it proposes to ensure that the Federation ceases to exist. Nor has Riverside explained its frequent  use against the Federation of its obnoxious Persistent Complaints Procedure.

Council nominees on the Riverside governing board:The Federation continues to challenge the city council arrangement  of four council nominees on the Riverside board. It appears that  these nominees cannot be held to account by either  organisation.The legality, the purpose and the effectiveness of the four nominees continues to be questioned particularly after it was estimated that Riverside had an interest in twelve per cent of the council`s elected members through employment by Riverside or through membership of its governing board,

The tenure of Mr Dean Butterworth as regional director of Riverside Carlisle:  Since Mr Butterworth arrived from Sheffield  two years ago and made various statements about improving Riverside Carlisle,  there  appears as yet to have been none of the promised improvement. Mr Butterworth has  however now  decided not to recognise the Federation.

The Federation has lost count of the  number of times a Riverside non-recognition decision has  been issued.For Mr Butterworth this is his first Federation non-recognition decision. More may follow in the months ahead. Since the takeover of the city council houses in 2002 this is Riverside`s umpteenth non-recognition decision .A bit like confetti, really.

 Mr Butterworth inherited a flawed legacy from his predecessor Mr Patrick Leonard, a fact which was  recognised during the year by Ms Carol Matthews, Chief Executive of Riverside . Mr Leonard`s  flawed  legacy  persists through Riverside`s continued deplorable use of incomprehensible gobbledegook in communications with tenants and others. His legacy also persists in  Riverside`s failure to  adopt an acceptable effective complaints procedure and its failure to to have any democratic arrangements available for effective tenant and leaseholder community representation on the Riverside board. It is a scandal that all the previous tenant  and leaseholder community groups which existed before Riverside  arrived on the scene were abolished at the takeover and their grants terminated.

Mr Leonard`s flawed  legacy also persists through its deplorable bossy culture which has been publicly criticised by a Carlisle city council member. It has been reported that Mr Butterworth  agrees with much of this criticism and  is  actively working to  change this..

Riverside`s excessive rents and unfair charges:A lot of time has been spent challenging Riverside about its excessive rents,  unfair charges and its incomprehensible chaotic business practices.

Lobbying councillors :    The Federation has continued to hold meetings with councillors .An important and significant step forward in lobbying came when Councillor Colin Glover, Leader of the city council agreed to address the Federation. The address- mainly questions and answers- lasted all the two hours of a monthly  Federation meeting. It followed considerable  and admirable work by Councillor Glover in helping to address complaints  about Riverside made to city councillors.

That Federation  meeting was followed by a further similar meeting with Councillor Glover in the Civic Centre attended by representatives of Longtown Action for Heat  and Councillor Heather Bradley, the council`s housing portfolio holder and Mrs Jane Meek, the council`s economic development officer. Councillor Glover has agreed to a third meeting in the near future.

Much or the credit for pioneering these  meetings  should go to Michael Gee, a former city councillor who, as well as attending  Federation meetings was active within the city council in raising concerns about Riverside.

Cumbria Riverside Action Group: Michael Gee has also pioneered awareness about Riverside` failures  through Cumbria Riverside Action Group (CRAG) which has been supported by the Federation since it started about two years ago. This group has links with the Church of England through its Chairman, Canon Michael Manley, Carlisle Cathedral Missioner and Carlisle Rural Dean. The group meets at Canon Manley`s home at the Cathedral every two months and attracts  all those wishing to hold Riverside to account. The Federation Secretary, John Barker is also secretary of CRAG.

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Longtown Action for Heat: Much of the Federation work during the year has involved much active  help for the  very unfortunate tenants of Riverside who live in Longtown.An estimated sixty of them, together with others at Crosby on Eden were victims of appalling Riverside mismanagement following the installation in their homes of dodgy heating systems  which are so expensive to run the tenants cannot afford to use them. Many of the affected properties now have new tenants on short term tenancies but the  properties are  still affected and  Longtown Action for Heat, led by Jimmy Robb and backed by the Federation are tackling this problem together with problems arising from undesirable tenants being  moved into the town by Riverside.

Carlisle South Community Association: The Federation continues to  be actively involved in the work of Carlisle South Community Association   which does excellent work supporting communities, particularly in tackling dog fouling and improving  the facilities in Dale End Park at Petteril Bank. A new group, Friends of Dale End Park, was formed by the association which is now planning further improvements to the park, particularly the provision of  a BMX Track. The association continues to have the active help and co-operation of  the  city council Green Spaces.

Botcherby Forever . The Federation has continued to give active support to those members of Botcherby Residents` Action Group(BRAG) who were banned from BRAG meetings following the takeover of the group  by  a group of Durranhill residents and other residents living outside the original Botcherby estate. These  banned members formed a new community group, Botcherby Forever which meets  monthly helped by the Federation.

Botcherby Forever has spent much of the year helping local author Pat Hitchon who is writing a history of Botcherby, entitled Botcherby ... a Garden Village. Pat has attended all our meetings along with many residents, all very keen to help the planned publication which is expected during 2016. Altogether, Pat has had help from more than 1000 local people, many of them  linked together  through Botcherby Forever meetings which have been a great success and are now held  in Eastern Way Fire Station.

Federation blog: Most of the issues raised in this report have been previously covered by the Federation blog. The blog`s viewing figures have risen consistently since the blog started  in March  2013. The blog is increasingly seen as a very useful Federation publicity and information tool.

The blog is  named Community Voice Carlisle.The link  is:http://carlisleruraltenantsfederation.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks to everyone: I wish to thank everyone who have helped the Federation during the year and thank all who have attended our meetings and contributed to our many interesting discussions and debates.

Thanks too, to Kenny Simpson and George Cornish and other members of Carlisle South Community Association who have helped at our meetings.                                     

Denise Moses, Chairman Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation

CarlisleTenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803.