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7 Feb, 7 tweets, 4 min read
Last year 16 Tower Hamlets elected politicians broke lockdown restrictions together, a day after their Council reminded them of the rules
4 at least wore masks, 1 later apologised & some had a work related argument to attend event
But what happened?
democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/ieListDocument…
1/
In the two Standards Advisory Committees (last July & last Thursday) that the Mayor, Deputy Mayor & 14 Cllrs broke the rules to attend a party to celebrate the Milligan statue removal, crowding together, most not wearing masks on the evening that Health & Wellbeing Board was
2/
discussing the impact of COVID on the BME community
The complaint I made was not even mentioned as a case worth discussing
Screenshots of summary
Outcome, was the party attendees got a letter
But no publicity, outcome buried in the detail of an appendix
democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/s179…
3/
So why should elected politicians take any account of the rules if there are no sanctions?
Police also did not want to get involved, they were present as well
Having said that it is difficult trying to do work in lockdown & needing to communicate with others so I have walked
4/
around an area pointing out issues with residents (wearing a mask)
But given criticism many in Labour made of Dominic Cummings last year!
What should our expectation be?
This is the summary from last July Standards Advisory C'tee, Pt 3.5 also
democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/ieListDocument…
5/
I hate doing this but the government get a lot of blame for COVID (& rightly so) but what about local government, especially as since 2013 Local Health has been a Council responsibility for which the Mayor is also responsible?
@EastEndEnquirer @RachaelBurford @ELAdvertiser
6/
One good thing about COVID is that Council meetings now recorded & available online to check afterwards
towerhamlets.public-i.tv/core/portal/we…
7/

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More from @Andrewwood17

Andrew Wood Profile picture
8 Feb
How many residents died in Tower Hamlets care homes last year & why?
I had to produce this graph as O&S report tonight does not I think fully explain what happened & misses some key data
COVID deaths based on COVID being stated on the death certificate
democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/s180…
1/ Image
But as you can see from the graph non-COVID deaths also peaked April
& much higher than 5 year average of deaths in care homes 1.5 in TH 2015-19
So more people dying then normal it appears in March to early May
But report for tonight O&S Health & Adults Scrutiny Sub-C'tee only
2/ ImageImage
looks at COVID deaths (where COVID stated on death certificate), reminder at this stage very few tests available to care homes
But report does raise a number of key Q
28th Feb 2020 TH CCG says well prepared
1st TH cases 9th March
1st COVID death in a TH care home 24th March
3/ ImageImageImage
Read 12 tweets
Andrew Wood Profile picture
5 Feb
5 Ballot papers on the 6th May 2021 elections & referendums
In Tower Hamlets there will 2 referendums taking place also on the same day as the Mayor of London & London Assembly elections (this is now confirmed as all happening on the 6th May)
towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/council_a…
1/
All registered voters in the borough will be able to take part in a referendum on the Executive Governance Model
towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/council_a…
A smaller number of registered voters living in the Isle of Dogs will also be able to take part in a Local Neighbourhood Planning Referendum
2/
on the @IsleofDogsForum plan, see map for those allowed to vote, more details to follow
towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/council_a…
There will also be 3 ballot papers for:
- the Mayor of London
- the 14 Members of the London Assembly that represent London’s 14 Constituencies (Tower Hamlets is in
3/
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Wood Profile picture
3 Feb
Last week at the Audit C’tee the Head of Internal Audit at TH Council said “it is my opinion that I can provide Limited
assurance that the authority has adequate systems of governance, risk management and internal control”
This follows major problems with our financial
1/
accounts, we have still not closed the 2018/19 & 2019/20 accounts due to a range of issues found with them
“as well as the breaches of law in relation to Pensions Administration”
But the most shocking (for me) was the new fact revealed that our circa £2.7 billion of assets
2/
are only recorded in an Excel spreadsheet & not a dedicated system (my jaw dropped when I saw that)
We appointed new auditors for the 2018/19 accounts & they found a range of problems which also affected 2019/20 as well
The Council has brought in a number of excellent senior
3/
Read 8 tweets
Andrew Wood Profile picture
2 Feb
I had 2 different COVID tests today both negative although both results not conclusive:
- a walk in lateral flow test at Canary Wharf that was v quick & easy except for putting the swab up my noise 😝
- an anti-bodies test (via a pinprick of blood) that I paid for at @BupaUK
1/
The Canary Wharf NHS free test was at level 2, Jubilee Place, Canary Wharf, E14 5NY (the M&S side)
Currently a walk up rapid test site
Open 07.30am to 4.30pm daily
There was a short queue when I arrived but moved quickly
Having a smartphone with you made it very easy
When I
2/
filled in the webform when there it asked various questions e.g. age, location, ethnicity, sex so that they could track nationally the results all done by bar code
I could not remember my NHS number but the system obviously matched my name, address, DoB to my NHS records later
3/
Read 8 tweets
Andrew Wood Profile picture
1 Feb
ASDA Crossharbour planning application update
Two main changes:
- 25% affordable housing (up from 17%)
- Won't now re-provide the petrol station on site
Details here
crossharbour-dc.co.uk
25% affordable is similar to many other developments approved around 2012-16, but later
1/
developments got closer to the policy required of 35% e.g. Skylines
But ASDA is financially difficult as need to be built in two phases, need to build new ASDA store + new primary school + 20,000 sq ft community hub for TH Council + £50m CIL meant I did not expect them to
2/
deliver 35% but I wonder if 25% is developer thinking they cannot sell apartments for as much post-COVID as pre-COVID? In 2015 Council underestimated price of apartments sold in the future
But there should be a late stage review which means if apartments sold for more then
3/
Read 7 tweets
Andrew Wood Profile picture
29 Jan
New COVID drop-in rapid test centre now open in Jubilee Place, Canary Wharf
Has opened in the former Schuh unit in lower Jubilee Place mall (opposite Pretty Ballerinas and Black Sheep Coffee) today
It is the lowest level of the mall in which M&S is
towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/health__s…
1/
located but one level down
It will operate 07:30 – 16:30 every day for use by key workers, those who cannot work from home and their households
Please note the following before accessing the testing centre:
Testing is being made available for key workers including public
2/
sector, construction, retail etc who otherwise cannot work from home, and therefore must travel to work, along with their households
Testing is provided for people who are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. If you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 you must use the
3/
Read 5 tweets

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