hyndburn life website
 

Thanks to all who have complained about this site. Hyndburn Life | Hyndburn Life Homepage

As a councillor I have managed to spend some time researching the background to what has been described as a White Elephant.

The background to this is such; the Council is always being given lots of money (from government because it is a poor area) to spend on 'extra' projects. £591,000 of this was used on hyndburn life. Including Pendle life (a joint initiative between the 2 Councils) £937,000 in total.

Hyndburns funds were £266,000 SRB and £250,000 ERDF. Both these could/should have been spent elsewhere. I have to stress, we had this money to spend, it was not external monies we didn't have. Plus £75,000 ODPM (John Prescott's office).

This site was unofficially discontinued by the Council about 12 months after launch. No-one now uses the site.
It is being kept up because both SRB and ERDF can claim clawback of 50% if the conditions of the bid agreement are not maintained. In this case the Council had committed to keeping the site going after the 2 year funding ended.

A member of staff came as part of the bid but this person packed up after 12 months. They were replaced by various temporary agency staff.

The site still has the deceased Labour Councillor Edith Dunston as being the Councillor for Spring Hill, though I have asked for it to be removed immediately.

FACT; This is a wholly Council project. Labour Councillors have met with officers and they have pointed out they advised that the scheme should be rejected. Instead it was passed by PB and his cabinet. Huge chunks of the money disapeared on consultancy (Around £300k).

It is an all to familiar example of how our Tory Council wastes millions. They are already trying to blame everyone else.

£591,000 and the site is shut down after 12 months. There is none of the money left. Members on this site are right, its a scandal.

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Although the term consultancy is used quite widely in IT funding, having worked in IT for 20 years I think you will find when it comes to any form of political involvement with IT consultancy ( regardless of party ) the correct term to be used should be 'back handers' .

I also find it quite ironic that somebody should slag off the tories for wasting money on IT systems given we have a totally useless CSA & Working Tax Credits system which have so far drained us of millions if not billions !!

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...not to mention the new NHS computer system which is already two years behind schedule, beset by numerous problems and has already gone soaring well beyond its projected £6.2 billion cost and is expected to eventually cost a mind-boggling £20 billion.

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A scandalous waste, both as a wasted resource and financially.

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Just makes you wonder how the hell anyone can justify such a waste of dosh on such dross :mad:

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I think it's irrelevant where the money came from, though local incompetance certainly hasn't helped. The money didn't fall of the magic golden penny tree. Somehow, from somewhere it came from us, in the form of taxes.

People die because some parts of the country can't afford drugs, and we waste a whole load of dosh on this big pile of crap.

Shameful.

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Its about time priorities were changed to benifit all not just the few. NHS computer system is a folly. CSA Working Tax credit system designed to drive people to drink drugs and the odd suicide. Hyndburn Life being run with council involvement narrowed its appeal bit like thermal undies for the Namib Desert at the hight of summer.

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I agree on both of the above points but it is not relative here. That is National Government, this thread is about a local Council blunder not national.

I think it is a good example of what is wrong with Councils (and Councillors - not all of course). People (Councillors) who know very little (probably nothing often) about a subject deciding on what we need and spending 100's of thousands of pounds on it. What qualifications do these local politician's have to make these life changing decisions on our behalf?
If you had a business would you allow just anybody to run it for you? Would you heck as like. You would select someone with the experience and skills required for the job. When we vote for Councillors do we ever look into their background to decide if they could run the Borough as it should be? Most people either just vote for the person of a certain political party or whoever has the best leaflet at the time. What a sad way to put people into power so they can spend millions of pounds a year of our money.

Ok rant over.

So what will happen about this Graham?

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If anyone wants, I'll run one for £150K pa including doing all teh articles :D

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Using an expert in the field would make too much sense for HBC.
Beside what would they have done with the remaining £750,000?
(I must need more coffee, I am being far too nice this morning :))

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Cheers mate, I need to oredr a new keyboard now this ones full of coffee!


I think I need to alter my sig now

"expert in the field" - Neil 1st Nov 2006 :)

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The Hyndburnlife website was a joke from day one. Those of us who were there at the time will remember all to clearly how 99% of the people who tried to register on the forum couldn't get access and when those of us who coud finally get in tried to explain the problem to the moderators they said that it was the fault of the would-be members for having "the wrong cookies" !!!:confused:

When people did manage to register it then would not permit them to log-in! The moderators complained that those of us who were there and pointed this out were "spoiling all the fun for others" What fun? What others? The mods appeared not to understand the problems and referred to some obscure technical wizards who had created the site.

I tracked down said technical wizards (It wasn't difficult) and told them of the problems. They told me I had no business contacting them in the first place and should have referred my difficulties (my difficulties ???!!!)to the moderators of the forum but then also told me that I didn't know what I was talking about!

Now I do not claim to be a geek or god or guru like Entwisi but even a numpty like me seemed to know more about what I was talking about than the so-called techno-wizards who created the white elephant!

That money was a total waste and it's a scandal. If HBC had wanted a website they could have had one for a darned site cheaper and one that actually worked! The information pages were never updated. I got tired of trying to inform them of glaring mistakes on those, never mind the links for events and news that led to totally blank areas "to be added later" Who was going to add them? Nobody at HBC seemed to have a clue how! Now to learn that they'd still got Edith Dunstan on there doesn't surprise me at all but it does disgust me.

The money should have been used for something Hyndburn did need and not wasted on such a pile of useless :s_fmad: If this sort of thing happened in industry there'd be an enquiry.

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I do recall having an hour's knock-about fun with Greg on there on one particular evening. I suspect that we all recognised the thing was going to be a waste of time and money.

However, as Graham says, funding for this project came from central government - in other words, the taxpayer, not the council charge payer. This begs a number of questions, among which are:

1) Was this funding optional, or was HBC forced to receive it and develop the website as part of a central government directive?

2) Did the funding come with a list of approved web-site developers and a package showing council officers how to go about commissioning and launching the project?

3) Presumably, HBC & Pendle were not the only local authorities to be involved in this scheme. How have sites with other local authorities fared in comparision?

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Well, I could be wrong - but I was under the impression that money was forced upon HBC purely to spend on IT and the website.

Unfortunatly, this was not like the panopticon project, which thankfully was stopped in time before money could be wasted.

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If the money was forced on us fair enough. It was still incompetance at local level that resulted in it not working though.

It could have been a useful resource for all in the Borough. I've tried looking things up that I needed to know, rather than make a phone call. After a while, because it was so out of date, and badly planned and designed, it's easier to give up, as people have done in droves, resulting in it dying on it's arse.

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Well, Graham is saying that HBC could have spent it on other projects to benefit the area. If he is right, then this really is an awful case of wasted money. I have two further questions:

1) I seem to recall that, at the time of launch, Hyndburn lite was being costed at £125,000. How come the figure is now £591K?

2) Is the Pendle BC site still operational?

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What about the "consultancy" fees :D

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Apparently the dipstick who is responsible for the geeky stuff calls himself Uncle Mike. Sounds well dodgy.:D


Hyndburn Life | Welcome from Uncle Mike

You'd have though that when it was relaunched recently they would have kept on top of the up dating, considering all the criticism it has received.

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I just tried to bring up the list of councillors and got this.

404 Not Found


Perhaps a spy has tipped them off?:)

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You want to put in a tender? :D

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I just had a wander round. It's not the easiest place to navigate but little things like this annoy me.If you view with a white background you won't see what I can see because I have a default purple background on most things.

Can you spot the little oddities? http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/a...1&d=1162381591

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Lets forget it existed and concentrate on what we have. There is no way in a month of Sundays Hynburn Life will ever match what we have here.It may have all the bits of info that they believe we require but we can obtain that on here as the members are a wealth of infomation.

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Thing is, the council knew about Accy Web and must have known that they would have had problems getting people interested in the first place? Plus, most of the people who I worked with in the Council used to use this site, and most probably still do. Why use something else that's ****e compared to Accy Web?

Surely they should have just sent the cheque to Roy for him to spend on here?

I'm tempted to apply for funding for my site, as it benefits the community and all that. That's what the Council want, community involvement..... Mind you, people are generally free to air their opinions and view on here and mine, would it be the same on theirs?

I wonder if they could sandblast my front page, as that's all I see happening to homes in my town to aid the community. Seriously though, have you seen the number of websites run by the council for Burnley? I'll add a list in a short while!

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They are totally different so you can't really compare them as equals. Hyndburnlife is a Council information site, or it should be, and as such could not have some of the posts we have on here.

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That may be true but if it was as good as they hoped it would be then why isnt it. Its okay having a site full of info but a bit of lightheartedness is always good.

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It's the first time (and last) that i've looked at the HyndburnLife web site. It is awful. It looks very similar to the Accrington Observers site. I had a look at the local history section, not much history according to their site. I did however find the recipe for cheese & apple slices, which is apparently a local recipe. I personally have never heard of it.

Hyndburn Life | Introducing Hyndburn's Towns

Hyndburn Life | Cheese & Apple Slice

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I think it was about 6 months after 'Hyndburn lite', Roy, (name dropping alert), told a few of us that the then administrator of that thing approached him saying, "why don't we work together on the sites to get them up and running properly?",

The printable answer to that was, "why on earth would I, with a popular and well run web site want to assist you with your over-financed piece of trash to do anything?". (as I say not quite an accurate quote).

It has often been speculated on our site that the 'Hynburn lite' site was set up in the hopes of taking the place of accyweb because the councillors didn't have control of what was being said about the area.

But it would have been nice if HBC had actually approached Roy at the time they where wasting that cash, just think, Roy would be living in accyweb mansions the software and servers would be getting a face lift every second day and instead of being given the title 'God Member' on reaching 2000 posts we would all be issued with Gold plated keyboards and there would still be money left over to waste on monthly planning nights, (we could call them 'meets') and spread the cash around a few local pubs thus assisting in a much needed boost to some landlords economy.:D

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I was under the impression we were keeping some pubs afloat thanks to the meets. The last 2 I was at certainly gave a boost. When the gang outnumber the regulars then you know its a good thing and at the last the landlord and landlady joined in the fun. :D

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Less.... I remember that conversation and I think that your quote is as accurate as you can get it without being banned...:D

I had trouble with Hyndburn Lite from day one... It wouldn't let me register for days. When I finally registered it wouldn't let me log on so I gave it up as a bad job. I did read some of the posts in the forum and some of them seemed to be disjointed, as if posts inbetween them had been deleted :rolleyes: I felt at the time that nobody would be allowed to criticise the Council, Councillors or Hyndburn in general on that site.

I am so glad that Roy told the bloke from HL where to shove it because if he hadn't we may not have the freedom to criticise, poke fun at or just plain rant about HBC on Accyweb.:D

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Just about, and being hit by spam. That's what keeps it alive at the moment:

Community Forums: Marsden P.A.C.T. Meeting Thurs 18th August 2005

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So HBC ain't the only one with a turkey...That's £950K in total, down the pan.

I seem to recall that the company who did these websites was based above a ladies hairdressers in Stockport or somewhere similar...does anyone else remember?

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That's what annoys me so much. Someone has spent their own time and own money with donations from people on here to make this site, and the council or whoever spend it on a company that is obviously doing well for itself to make a website when there already is one....

It's just unreal.

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I've just been having another look at "HyndburnLife". Apart from it being the slowest site in the world to load, i noticed that their Accrington Stanley section doesn't seem to have been updated since the end of last season.

Accrington Stanley one of the first things you think of when talking about the town. Pathetic.

:)

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Here you go Tealeaf and anyone else interested:

HERE are the creators of Hyndburnlite.

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I think Willow, that that's just the standard package site that they bought, I think that it was managed by a different company and I can't quite remember the name of the chap/company that managed it. I'm having a few senior moments today but it will come to me eventually.

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Now thats interesting :

At the bottom of their homepage they claim to be Bobby AAA complient yet sticking their URL in the checker at Bobby shows up quite a few errors....

Mmmm, me thinks an email is in order.

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I've remembered - when they set up I was talking to the guy who managed it, Tony Garner, who owns Viva Google Page Ranking - he told me to send any press releases that I wanted putting on the site directly to him as he was managing it.

Viva Public Relations

There's nothing on his site about it and he may well not be involved anymore but I distinctly remember him telling me that he was running it.

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Hyndburn gets given pots of money to spend so it is not external money as such, it is Hyndburn money already in the bank ready to spend. There are many pots but there are four big pots. The Council and other Hyndburn organisations then gets its ideas together on how it to spend the money and develops an application or bid. Each pot has some broad criteria as it is designed to direct funding at problems.

1. NRF - from Govt (Neighbourhood Renewal Funding) £7 million from 2001 to 2008 (runs out 2008)
2. SRB6 from Govt (Single Regen Budget) £8million from 2000 to 2008 (runs out 2008)
3. ERDF from Europe (European Regional Dev Fund/Economic Development) £2.4million generally 2000 - 2006 plus £1m for Whitebirk.
4. ELEVATE (East Lancs Housing) Hyndburns Share £95 million 2005 - 2020 to regenerate housing in Hyndburn

The Council decides what bids to accept as the Council is the responsible authority for the money.

The bid application was done by the Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Pendle's. No other authority was involved.

The Council (then Labour) were sceptical about the scheme but allowed the the Cham of Trade to put the application in because the Council new nothing of it and were prepared to look at the proposal. Council IT officers were then able to review the (Ch of Com) scheme and recomended against accepting the bid.

This advice was then also passed on to the incoming Conservatives. The (new) Cabinet then had to make a decision but somehow went against the expert IT officer advice and authorised the expenditure with - as outlined in the proposal - itself as the commissioning agent .

Consultants were used (at at cost of £300k approx) to develop the scheme. Not sure who did the code. The Council took on responsibilty for site maintenance and content. In fact the member of staff employed as part of the bid worked in the Councils IT dept but resigned after 12 months.

There are e-government targets but this is not part of them. It was designed to be a tool to attract new businesses to Hyndburn (hence the Ch of Comm connection). Sadly, it has not attracted a single business interest yet.

It is now being wound down but it cant be pulled due to EU 50% clawback rules and SRB clawback rules which the Council will have to stand. So in order to con the auditors they are leaving it up.

No other authorities were involved. Pendle's site is trundling along and marginally fairing better. At least they are making an effort. Unfortunatley due to Council cuts due their well documented finacial woes, 6 of the 13 IT staff positions are being left as vacancies and not filled leaving 7 staff to struggle (They do all the Council Tax stuff, benefits systems, complex servers and databases etc..).

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See above post. The ERDF pots and SRB pots used to fund this scheme could not have been spent on art.

The monies are gven to Hyndburn in advance, that is whay I think it is not external funding which implies you get or you don't. SRB and ERDF we have already got. Hyndburn has to decide then what to spend the money on.

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Funding for the project

Hyndburn (£591k)
£250,000 ERDF
£266,000 SRB
£75,000 ODPM (John Prescotts office) **This was external funding

Pendle (from memory) (£346k)
NRF
ERDF £250,000
PERP
ODPM £75,000

TOTAL £937,000

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Is there any transparency with regards to the "consultancy" fees?
Are we likely to be furnished with a complete breakdown of where this money was distributed and for what purpose? It sounds very much like a money laundering scheme to me!

A modicum of honesty and integrity wouldn't go amiss from the controlling interest on HBC.

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If you look at THIS page of the Clicks and Links website I think you'll get a clue. It's somewhat ironic that that page hasn't been updated for a year or three because it still describes Hyndburnlife as something which is due to "go live later this year" - er what year would that be then?

And they laughed when we were sceptical. :rolleyes: Is it any wonder that we had our doubts about all the new businesss the Panopticon was supposed to be bringing if we'd ever got one of those too?

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Thanks for the link to the innovators of this idea. Sounds like they approached the Chamber of Commerce who approached the Council.

This says it all;
Buying goods or services from local businesses online FAILED
Joining online community activities such as discussion groups FAILED
Making reservations at leisure facilities FAILED
Links to paying council tax or reserving places on further education courses FAILED
Booking appointments to see a health visitor FAILED

The e-govt thing is confusing because it is largely about innovation in delivering services and products electronically, discretion is largely given to each area to decide in different ways which way it can achieve this. I am sure most authorities will be doing some/mots of these inhouse at a fraction of the cost. Like I said before, The Councils cash crises has resulted in considerable cuts. IT have 7 out of 13 staff.

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So what's going to happen to the site now Graham ?

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I bet if the council had asked nicely, Roy would probably have put appropriate links in and set up a section of accyweb to keep the general public informed, still I don't suppose we miss much as it is, just a pity they chose to waste all that money instead of giving something local a try.

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Was Roy in the UK at the time? If not I can just imagine the headlines in the Observer if Hyndburn had used someone living in Russia to create their new web site :D

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He was in and out of the country at the time, as you know the site can be looked after from just about anywhere, I was meaning giving a local site (run by local people, the mods are local too), a chance, to run things for the local community, instead of how they did go about it.:)

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I know, it would just look interesting if HBC's new web site was run from Russia. They will be having a call centre in India next. Well they almost have, when you phone the emergency line its answered by someone in Pendle :rolleyes:

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As you know at the time Roy was living in Russia the server accyweb was on was based in America, but the members are mainly local, the topics discussed are mainly local and the council called is definitely local!:D

It is all speculation now however, I suppose they (the council members), live in fear of a real newspaper getting hold of the story, especially if what Graham says is correct about them having to pay money back if it's discovered they aren't actually running it.:eek:

Anybody got the email address for the Sun or the mirror or the Daily Telegraph?;)

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If they are council employees then surely they are Cowboys not Indians :D

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Always 'appy to 'elp - I should work for Asda :D

The Sun

The Mirror

The Telegraph

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Now, now Neil, we couldn't really drop them in it like that, Could we?:p

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Just remember its your council tax rise that will pay for it

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And as per usual the ones who made the bad decisions will worm out of it and not have to face the music :mad:

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And your hoping there won't be an increase in council tax? That amount will be petty cash compared to what they no doubt have in mind for us all already!:D

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Oh no, I KNOW there will be an increase, I'm just trying to keep it manageable :D

Still with the gov talking of compulsory entrance to enable regrading of properties and looking at income as well I can see ours going skywards anyway :( (they encourage you to improve your home and then tax you out of existance for doing it )

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One of my first thoughts which as usual was a touch cynical was:-

Graham is a politician, he would no doubt like a nice juicy scandal to come from this, that way if all goes well after fanning the flames and giving us all this info' he can take the praise for exposing the goings on in his local council, however just as a bit of insurance in case the whole plan goes belly up, if he gets us to do the initial contacting he can go into denial mode thus keeping his own record clean.

As I say though that was just a cynical thought on my behalf and is obviously not part of the plan at all!:D

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Less? You moonlighting as a Council tax collector now? :D

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So?

Other local politicans have the right to use this forum too, rather than just read it and comment about it in the press.

I think it shows initative, by using the local internet forum that actually works.;)

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Yes rindy I do agree, and I wish there were more like him, but I still think it a nice theory I almost wish it would happen. (It could make the beginning of a plot for that book Gayle keeps threatening us with).:)

Indeed, I am always ready to throw principles to the wind for the sake of 12 pieces of silver! (Erm 12? better make that 1 I don't want to price myself out of the market).:cool:

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Well you will still insist on voting them in! :(

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After spending time reading all posts in this thread I am amazed at the sums of money talked about, being new to this pc world, what would the ordinary man/woman in the street think if this was explained to them?
On one hand they cry poverty and then throw money about with gay abandon, thank's Councillor Graham for wiseing this guy up.

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There is a story on Page 5 of this weeks Accrington Observer about HyndburnLife. Can't see anything on their web site though.

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Unless it is a very important story making national news headlines - such as the Tremellan street tragedy - then the Accy Observer will only update its news website on a weekly basis, every friday morning.

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No Relation!!

Link to Private Eyes Rotten Boroughs section
Private Eye&

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Are you still upset that I did not vote for you? :p :D

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No, but very confused! :D

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Niel was explaining his voting tactics at the meet on Saturday.

In summary, he's basically just an electorah ho.:p

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Oh! I thought he said he used an electric saw!:D

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Well done to Graham for raising this whole issue;nice to see the Accy Ob actually printing an unbiased account of it too,questions need to be asked about this whole sorry affair;someone has come off very nicely from these deals.....and it's not the Hyndburn public.:eek:

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ELECTORAH?????

Sounds like a German pop duo.

Where's the damn edit button????

I'm going to take you to court under the disabled typist's charter.:mad:

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Sounds like a Jewish scriptural e-book. ;)

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Theres a fair old bit about the website in todays lancashire telegraph... amounts of money and how its a flop and hyndburn didn't put a penny into it..

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... its just more spin.

ERDF and SRB were given to the Borough to spend in the Borough. This project has meant we can't spend £591,000 elsewhere.

The bid docs have HBC all over them as the responsible body. The authors and owners. Liable for any overspending and also liable for mainstreaming of it (hence why it is still up there in cyberspace).

The show of hands that agreed the expenditure of this money hapenned on 18 June 2003, a Tory cabinet meeting chaired by Peter Britcliffe.

All Councillors received a circular last week from Clr Britclife blaming the Government, blaming County Council, suggesting it was external monies and even suggesting Labour Councillors had started this scheme. It read metaphorically like a dying man willing to clutch any straw.

All I can say is bring on the elections in May. Everyone seems to have just about had enough of the lame excuses. Its time for a change.

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I don't care were the money for it came from. Someone wasted it, and it could have been a valuable asset to the Borough.

For Britcliffe to be quoted saying 'no money was spent by Hyndburn Council to develop it', it being £600,000 of tax payers money, shows once again he doesn't have the vision needed to take Hyndburn forward, and away from the deprived borough's list by embracing technology.

Perhaps if we heed his advice, and all think positive thoughts, Hyndburn Life will magically rise like a Phoenix from it's ashes, and everything will be hunky bloody dory.

Website Wastes Almost 600 000 (from Lancashire Telegraph)

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Its probably got more publicity the last couple of weeks than what it has done since it was put up! By the way heres a snippet from Hyndburn life:
Welcome to View From The Reds.
This is Hyndburn Life's new regular weekly column written by Accrington Stanley. It will tell you all the latest news and views from the heart of the Reds' camp.
So if you want to be in the know read View From the Reds each week.

Accrington Stanley

http://www.hyndburnlife.co.uk/rounda...ife/spacer.gifCheck out the navigation on the right to see the latest Stanley stories.


Stanley Latest
Stanley Close In on Crown
Reds bid to bounce back
Coleman Title Warning
Coleman Confident
Eric Dubbed Stanley's Jack Walker
Crunch Time for Stanley
Stunner for Chairman Eric
Fast Crawl
8th Wonders
It's in the bag: Ged
Stanley v Dagenham preview
Stanley aim for Trophy success
New Directors on Board
Stanley preview 19/1
FAcing the long trip to Surrey
Island Hoping
New Year Double Mission

How upto date is that? :D

Re: hyndburn life website
 

Re: hyndburn life website
 

More like some Bullsh*tter baffled them, as you've said yourself many times they bought off the shelf rubbish and didn't set it up right, anyone that had problems logging into them was ignored, (we have told you time and time again there isn't a problem logging in so go away!) and anyone that tried to advise them of some of their very basic mistakes, (mainly you), was told to butt out because you didn't know what you were talking about.

Yes it could have been a useful site but with the attitude of the administrator and his staff, it was doomed from the outset.:o

Re: hyndburn life website
 

That's about it in a nutshell Less. The words "head" and "brickwall" are another way of putting it.:bangh8:

Re: hyndburn life website
 

The SRB Board are very concernend. Three shocked members have contacted the Labour Group to find out how the money was wasted on this 'business site'.

There is to be a inquiry by the SRB Board. They also approved £266,000 of Hyndburn Council SRB monies besides the Tory Cabinet. They meet Friday. Clr Jean Battle is on the board. Back then she recomended refusal but the board (full of Nigel Rix's friends) authorised the monies.

The funding document (put forward by an HBC Officer for the Council) states "Responsible Authority=HBC", "Accountable Body=HBC" "Initial Delivery Organisation=HBC with use of Consultants" "Monitoring=HBC" "Mainstreaming=HBC" "Financially Responsible Body including any overspend=HBC" "Maintenance and Content=HBC". The only outside body was the firm who collected some £300,000 to set it all up.

The Council's e-strategy group at the Council was charged with monitoring the site's development.

And here's the Council spokesperson launching the site. Note the words OUR SITE....
http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/...l_website.html

... also note at the end not ONE business has signed up.

Re: hyndburn life website
 

The money came from within the Borough. SRB and ERDF. The Borugh/The Council has been given £8m SRB to spend from 2002-2008 and I think £4m ERDF to spend which I think is between 2001-2007.

The site didnt get updated because IT have only 7 staff out of 13 (and they have to run complex financial servers wth personal infornmation on such as Council Tax). Chronic staff shortages are how they have magically covered up the £1.8m black hole and other financial mismangement.

This portal is showing up so many flaws,
Financial incompetence all around
Poor politcal leadership - naked uncontrolled ambition
Chronic staff shortages and problems under the carpet
Failure of financial monitoring systems (SRB and ERDF Boards & Council)

Roll on May....

Re: hyndburn life website
 

Are you incinuating that if HBC had been a business it would have gone to the wall with investigations in to how it all went wrong? At the end of the day councilloers might chang but the civil service ones are still there and have to cop for some of the mistakes as well. They advise so should cop for it as well.

Re: hyndburn life website
 

All councillors have received the following letter from Peter Britcliffe. In it it says;

The project was delivered successfully if not expensively in order to keep to the very rigourous demands of a Labour Government.

Technological developments have now outstripped the original vision and there is less demand for Community Groups to use the site as they prefer to do it themselves rather than use a partner.

It is interesting is it not that whilst we successfully launched our Portal, other Councils including Labour controlled Lancashire County Council have been unable to deliver anything despite spending millions of pounds.

Yours Sincerely

Peter Britcliffe.

Roll on May.... time for change.

Re: hyndburn life website
 

The thing is... he is right that Technological developments (i copied them 2 words cus i cant spell) are advanced and companies do prefer to do it themselves rather than use a partner as they where offering.... His point is true and valid... However his timing is out because not only is it true.. it was true way way way! before hyndburn life was thought of... thus it was never going to be a success..

For his statement to hold water... some people would ahve taken up the portal partnership when it started but since left or numbers gone down.. in reality no independant company took up the offer... I know this because you can search companies using the portal on hyndburn life...

His statement reads like he thinks he is being clever.. Like someone has given him that guff and said thats believable... people in hyndburn are too thick to understand computers let alone the business or e-commerce side of it..... tell em this and you will be OK



hmmmm

Re: hyndburn life website
 

Re: hyndburn life website
 

That statement smacks of Mr Britcliffe attempting to shift the spotlight away from his own sorry excuse for a community website, or in this case, lack of!