hyndburn life website

[g jones]

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.

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by g jones

Huge chunks of the money disapeared on consultancy

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 !!

[Wynonie Harris]

...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.

[garinda]

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

[harwood red]

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

[garinda]

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.

[SPUGGIE J]

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.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

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 !!

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

...not to mention the new NHS computer system which is already two years behind schedule

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.

Originally Posted by g jones

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.

So what will happen about this Graham?

[entwisi]

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

[Neil]

Originally Posted by entwisi

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

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 )

[entwisi]

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

[WillowTheWhisp]

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" !!!

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 If this sort of thing happened in industry there'd be an enquiry.

[WillowTheWhisp]

P.S. for anyone who hadn't guessed - I was Peg-a-Lantern on there. (Peg-a-lantern/Will 'o' the wisp)

[Tealeaf]

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?

[WillowTheWhisp]

I got the impression from what Graham said that HBC were given the extra money to spend on something to benefit Hyndburn - not specifically a website but they chose to spend it on one.

There are a lot of questions I'd like to see answered too Tealeaf but don't hold your breath.