RIVERSIDE FACES SCRUTINISING COUNCILLORS

Dean Butterworth

and something

a bit stronger...

Horlicks for Liverpool housing boss Carol Matthews, but what drink is recommended for her  junior colleague Dean Butterworth? He is the regional director she has in charge of her Carlisle operation one hundred miles away.

Ms Matthews, Chief Executive of the giant Riverside Housing Association says she is stressed at the moment and cannot sleep at nights. This blog recommended a cup of soothing Horlicks at bedtime to ease her stress.

Mr Butterworth who is facing similar worries, may have  even more stress to cope with  as  as he prepares for an important meeting tomorrow.

The prospect of that meeting may  have caused Mr Butterworth to have sleepless nights. Or it may not. So what drink is recommended for him as he prepares to meet Carlisle councillors in Carlisle Civic Centre?

The meeting is of the council`s Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel which is set up to act  as a local "parliamentary select committee" to scrutinise the work of the council. Sometimes, sadly there is more praise than scrutiny.

The panel  meeting will be held in the Flensburg Room, the venue of  several  previous scrutinising meetings  attended by  Riverside regional directors over the years.

Not always happy meetings for Riverside, it must be said.

Not happy for Mr Butterworth`s predecessor,  Mr Patrick Leonard. He was criticised after one meeting because his  report to the panel was so full of  gobbledegook that no-one could understand it.

And when Mr Leonard was not reporting gobbledegook, Mr Leonard was attacking Riverside tenants` representatives at the meeting and threatening them with sanctions under Riverside`s obnoxious Persistent Complaints Procedure.

At one panel meeting he told Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation  representative that the Federation  would cease to exist under the Riverside regime.

Mr Butterworth`s previous  attendances at the panel meetings also proved difficult. Difficult when he was asked  about  just how  independent  was  Riverside`s Tenant Scrutiny Panel. There seemed to be some doubt about  Riverside`s so-called independence .

And there was difficulty  for Mr Butterworth in recalling the  name of an organisation he had recently commissioned to help Riverside`s freezing tenants of Longtown (now facing their fifth winter  in homes they cannot afford to heat).

So how will Mr Butterworth fare  on Thursday as he reports to the scrutinising Carlisle councillors?   And what drink does this  blog recommend to prepare him if the stress is too much to cope with? What about Horlicks?

Mr Butterworth came to Carlisle from Sheffield, a town of steel. The steelworkers of Sheffield would  have no truck with Horlicks. Steelworkers are famous for  something a bit stronger.

That something a bit stronger might also be appropriate for the New Year. And something a bit stronger imight also be appropriate to celebrate an important milestone for the scrutinising Carlisle councillors he meets tomorrow.

The milestone is this:  in the 14 years since Riverside took over Carlisle`s council houses in 2002, no other housing associations has been invited to the scrutiny panel meetings. Riverside have had a charmed solo act. That solo act has ended.

No longer will  Riverside have the 14-year monopoly to pedal gobbledegook, threaten tenants and make dodgy claims about independence.Two other housing associations, Impact and Two Castles, both locally based and both highly regarded by their tenants have been invited to the meeting.

Both  Impact and Two Castles are excellent examples of caring organisations,  well run in the interests of the local people they serve.

The invitations to the two were welcomed by Riverside tenants and leaseholders at a meeting this week of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation.

The Federation  has said for  many years that Riverside has a lot to learn.

Mr Butterworth can  start tomorrow by learning  from Impact and Two Castles.

Learning about something a bit stronger than what Riverside has to offer.

Quite a bit stronger!

CarlisleTenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803.