Three Degrees Statue Scandal Latest

One thing is for sure. Very few people in Sandwell actually want the hideous "private statue" of our local heroes which is why local "businessman" Sunny Jim Cadman has not been able to raise the money for it despite around three years of trying and playing the "race card" to get the likes of the Premier League and the campaign "Kick it Out" on board. Quite what the latter thought of Sandwell Labour's grotesque and racist publicity stunt where they got black actors to pose as "the Three" but forced them to be painted gold, is not yet known.

I am not going to rehearse the sordid history of this affair - please go to this link if you require further information:

http://thesandwellskidder.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/sandwell-stunner-taxpayer-to-pay-for.html

but given the huge sums of public money now being pumped into this "private" affair and the fact that Cadman is still trying to raise money whilst refusing to provide any accounts I put in a further detailed Freedom of Information request yesterday which is set out in below.

We are asked to believe that there is no political involvement in this bent deal despite all the evidence to the contrary.

We are  asked to believe that the initial decision to loot two sums of £15,000 each ie £30,000 from the planning monies received to improve local infrastructure from 5 major developments (including Tesco/New Square) was solely that of Mr Nick Bubalo, Sandwell Council's planning supremo. (Readers will remember that Bubalo used his name to apply for planning permission for this cartoon-ish monstrosity and then granted it himself using his "delegated powers"!)

We are asked to believe that the looting of a sixth of the budget for the laughable "Sandwell Arts Festival" (including Arts Council money) for the racist publicity stunt referred to above was solely that of the Council's arts "department" [sic].

And yet at every stage of this process, Labour's moronic "leader" Darren "The Turdmeister" Cooper has managed to blunder into the photos:

The Council's budget documents show that the crafty comrades are budgeting a further £160,000 one hundred and sixty thousand pounds of infrastructure improvement monies) despite stating publicly in an earlier FOI reply that they had no plans to put any further money in! This is what is popularly known as lying!

I have shown details of Cadman's unusual business history and pointed out that a company run by a close family member which Sunny Jim at one stage claimed to represent went bust recently owing three-quarters of a million pounds - including money to the taxman. I have written to people involved in many of Cadman's other statue projects and no-one has ever seen any accounts as to how much he has received and what was actually paid out. In the circumstances I have now written to HMRC formally asking them to look into these funds.

I think the police fraud team currently investigating Sandwell Council (who you can contact in confidence - DS Wayne Haynes and team - on 0121 251 2175) should also take a look at this since the figures don't stack up. Cadman says publicly that he has £155,000 (presumably including the £30,000 looted by Labour from the infrastructure fund) towards the cost of £220,000 so why have officers of the Council made a decision to put in a further £160,000? I say officers as this huge expenditure has never been discussed by any elected politicians on the Council so that all details are completely secret again!

After Cadman's plan for a £90 a head "dinner" in Birmingham last November floundered he is now planning a replacement at The Hawthorns in a couple of weeks time. This is at a VERY reasonable £50 per head but where is the money going? Why is it necessary if  Labour robbing a further £160k for this. I think we should be told don't you readers?

Tesco are keeping their heads down about all this. They have been forced to pay the sleazy socialists infrastructure monies for the dismal New Square development and mysteriously agreed to donate the spot for this monstrosity to stand on. How much do they know about all this and were they led to believe that this was a SMBC project from the outset? If they are being conned like the rest of us we should be told and I am writing to them. I can say that unless there is fraud and/or connivance they were conned about the planning application since the Council documents state that the freeholder raised no objection - but, as above, Bubalo had done the application as one by SMBC itself and that was how it was submitted to Tesco. (Laughably, it seems a planning application wasn't required anyway but Sandwell Council had paid a fee of £195 to, er, itself for one!)

If Tesco really want this effort as a "feature" of their ailing shopping centre then why don't they pay for it?

"Vibrant" New Square yesterday afternoon.

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Here in the Freedom of Information Request of yesterday:

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST - NEW SMBC FUNDING OF STATUE

I refer to my earlier Freedom of Information Requests dated 3rd July,2014 and 6th August, 2014 which you only partially answered.

Bearing in mind that your reply was in the current financial year and that SMBC have now budgeted a further £160,000 for this grotesque effort it is now essential to re-visit this subject. I have also made a separate complaint about your grossly misleading responses to the Office of the Information Commissioner.

You have said that the initial two payments totalling £30,000 were made out of s.106 monies which SMBC looted from 5 major projects and that the ultimate decision to pay this money was made by your Mr Nick Bubalo but you refused to give the background to this affair.

Now the the SMBC apparently seem determined to effectively fund the lion’s share for what was supposed to be a private project by a businessman and despite your previous Reply by Mr Alan Reynolds of 31st July,2014:

“It is not currently envisaged that there will be

any further financial contributions to this project from s 106, or from

other SMBC funding sources. The balance of funding for this privately

sponsored public art initiative is to be raised through private

subscription and public donations.”

please state:

1.  Who initiated this whole process? For the avoidance of doubt, what I am asking is did either an officer or an elected member of SMBC contact Jim Cadman/Graham Ibbeson/one of their associated companies and, of so, when? Was the process initiated verbally or in writing? If the latter please supply copies of the original document together with any reply. Who, precisely, was contacted? If Jim Cadman/Graham Ibbeson/one of their associated companies made the initial approach to SMBC please confirm what the status of the initiator was ie private businessman, legal partnership, limited company,  other when the approach was made and whether it was verbal or in writing? If the latter please disclose the initiating document and any reply.

2.  What steps did Mr Nick Bubalo take to decide the viability of this (failed) project and the legal status of the “Celebration Statue Fund” to whom the sum of £30,000 was apparently paid. What precisely IS the legal status of the “Celebration Statue Fund”. We know it does not have charitable status and so was it in purely private account operated by Jim Cadman and/or Graham Ibbeson and/or one of their associated  companies or does it have some other legal status?

3. Which bank branch was the £30,000 paid to?

4.  Was Mr Bubalo given a total appeal fund total of £220,000 or some other figure? Did Mr Bubalo establish how this figure was arrived at? Did he establish the actual costs to be received by Mr Ibbeson and how much was to be paid to Jim Cadman and/or his associated companies?

5. What steps did Mr Bubalo take to assess the financial track record of Jim Cadman/Graham Ibbeson and or their associated companies? What was the information he obtained?

6. Does SMBC know what happened to the £30,000 already paid over?

7. Mr Jim Cadman has stated to the media that he already has cash and pledges of £155,000 and so why have SMBC budgeted a further £160,000 towards this project (after lying that no further payments would be made). How has this figure been arrived at and by whom?

8. Has Jim Cadman and/or Graham Ibbeson and or any company associated with them ever produced any statement of accounts to SMBC as to the income and expenditure to date? If not, why has this not been requested? If yes, what steps have SMBC taken to establish the veracity of the figures? Please supply a copy of the statement of the account.

9. I am unable to find any mention of this huge further sum being agreed by elected members of SMBC. Is this correct?

10. If the decision has been made by an officer of the Council using delegated powers please state:

a) the identity of the officer;

b) who initiated the request for further funds, how and when?

c) what factors the officer considered before approving the additional funding.

11. Is the £160,000 to be paid using s.106 monies from the sources already identified? If so, how did the officer decide to favour this project ahead of other competing items? If not, where is the money coming from?

12. What is the legal status of the Celebration Statue Fund NOW ie not historically but at the date of this request?

13. Who will be paid the £160,000?

14. Are any SMBC officers or elected members getting free or reduced price tickets for the proposed fund-raising dinner at The Hawthorns on 25th March, 2015?

Julian Saunders - 11th March, 2015

thesandwellskidder@gmail.com

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