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Reporting local life since 1854
Thursday, August 25, 2011
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48-51
Record grades for students
HIGH ST CURSE STRIKES AGAIN
PAGE 5
December 2009: Woolworth’s shuts
August 2011: T J Hughes shuts
STAFF PAID £185K TO STAY OFF WORK BY ALEX CAMPBELL
alex.campbell@thesentinel.co.uk
SIX council officers suspended on full pay in a row over demolition contracts have been paid almost £185,000 to stay off work. Figures obtained by The Sentinel reveal the sum of £183,858 has been shared between the workers from Stokeon-Trent City Council’s regeneration directorate since their suspensions in September. The authority has set no date for when the payments could be stopped. And it says it has no rules requiring a decision to be made within a set time. Three men are currently on police bail after being arrested as part of a police inquiry into alleged corrupt tendering practices. It is understood the council has delayed its action to prevent intrusion on the criminal investigation. It is not known whether any of the arrested trio are among the six suspended. Stoke-on-Trent
Six council workers suspended on full wages as police inquiry continues South MP Rob Flello, below, raised questions about the authority’s contract systems in 2009 after being approached by local businesses. He said: “I’m very concerned that at a time when the city is in need of every penny, we find there is a huge wage bill being run up for people who are suspended from work. “It has cost the citizens of the city without getting anything in return. “It has taken a very long time to deal with matters. I’ll be asking questions of whether any unnecessary delays have been caused by the police and, if so, whether they will be reimbursing the council.” It has also emerged that former councillor Brian Ward, former cabinet member for regeneration, was kept in the
dark about the reasons for suspension and was not told whether the staff would be paid while off work. He said: “Part of it is understandable, because the confidentiality was important at that early stage. “Some complex investigations take a long time and I don’t think the public will decry that. “But they will want some indication of how long this is going to take.” The council’s tendering practices were put under the spotlight in 2009 when it awarded a £1.1 million contract for the demolition of the former Westcliffe Hospital, in Chell, despite the bid being three times higher than competitors. It eventually re-awarded the contract at £341,000. Former councillor Alan Rigby raised concerns at the time. He said: “It’s disgusting that it has
gone on for this long. I’m looking forward to the outcome.” A separate internal inquiry into the Westcliffe deal found procedures had not been properly followed and staff failed to spot the wide variation between the highest and lowest bids. At the time the council pledged to retrain staff, but said there was no evidence of corruption. Government watchdog the Audit Commission has also called for improvements in the way the council awards contracts. A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said its investigation was continuing.
What do you know about the inquiry? Email us at letters@thesentinel.co.uk
TEENAGERS across North Staffordshire and South Cheshire were celebrating a record crop of GCSE results today. Among them are Mitchell Business and Enterprise College, in Bucknall, Edensor Technology College, in Longton, and James Brindley Science College, in Chell, which are all being replaced with academies next month. They achieved their best ever results this year. In the Newcastle area, highachievers today come from schools including Madeley High, Clayton Hall Business and Language College, and Sir Thomas Boughey High, in Halmerend. While in South Cheshire, Spanish proved the language of success for students from Alsager School. Eight out of 10 candidates claimed top grades in the subject. See Pages 12&13
Gas leak holds up road repairs REPAIR work on a busy commuter route has been further delayed after workers discovered a gas leak. The A53 at Endon, between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek, has been completely closed to traffic since Monday. Thousands of motorists have been forced to endure lengthy diversions while businesses at Endon and Stockton Brook claim takings have slumped because there has been no passing trade. Severn Trent, which found the leak while carrying out sewer work, had hoped to fully reopen it today. A Severn Trent spokesman said: “We are hoping to reopen one carriageway with traffic controlled by lights tonight and hopefully it will be fully reopen by Sunday.”
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