650 Days of Failure

Day 650
Now 322 days after Thistle’s E.ON contract failed on 30/11/16

31 October 2017. The fifth completion date and not a chance in hell of it being met. Just like the rest

OF THISTLE’S FAILED MAJOR WORKS PROGRAMME WHICH STARTED ON 7 JANUARY 2016

SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY DAYS OF FAILURE

 

650 DAYS TODAY since Thistle Housing’s Major Works Programme, now retitled twice to make it look something different, started with the commencement of their 311 day contract (without penalty clauses) on 7 January 2016 with their deliberately selected contractor, E.ON and 322 days since that contract (without penalty clauses) failed on 30 November 2016 when “all of the works to all of the houses in Toryglen will be complete“.

• In excess of 220 homes with reported defects
• 70 homes either not started or complete

Today, 18 October 2017, the frequently faltering programme still not complete and no reasonable completion date available. When asked, Thistle stays silent.

Residents suffering in torment for the third winter of this programme. Will the grinding failure of Thistle Housing’s management, none of whom stays in Toryglen, stretch to 700 days? Will E.ON be gone by then or will this disaster remain unfinished? 7 December 2017 is awaited.

Given that each individual family home was to undergo building work for twelve weeks but definitely not exceeding fourteen weeks, is it a wonder why residents are up in arms and that any trust or belief in the management of Thistle Housing has vanished?

This is a measure of Thistle management’s consideration of Toryglen residents and, quite frankly, bordering on the unbelievable but 650 days ago when Thistle and E.ON had been rubbing shoulders for who knows how long and then signed a contract to commence on 7 January 2016, the residents knew nothing about it. Thistle management and its Management Committee had not deemed in necessary to advise  or consult with residents. Not a letter. Not a jot. They signed a contract (with no penalty clauses) valued at a trifling £8,500,000, they made applications for government grant funding based on wildly excessive costings, essentially in residents’ names but completely and totally without any resident involvement of any kind. No discussions, no meetings, nothing.

Then it all started to go south.

Thistle immediately started to argue with E.ON, delays started and the commencement of any form of work ground to a halt until the end of May 2016, the entire programme started spiralling towards its inevitable failure hampered by a built in delay of more than four months.

The taxpayer money tap had started to flow.

Where are long suffering Toryglen residents now, 100 days on from this, the ‘Walkabout’?

The First Minister’s Walkabout in Toryglen, 100 days ago today

Fortunately, the local MSP, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland aided by her office manager, Caroline Scott together with residents’ local Councillor, Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, have been carrying out no end of work on this unfortunate and never ending failure in Toryglen. There are various aspects of their labours which cannot be announced at this time due to ongoing discussions with various interested parties.

Residents, however, have been ignored by Thistle, the silent Management Committee and its Chairperson. The Management Committee, which is supposed to be the authoritative body which administers Thistle Housing Association, hires and fires and directs all things, has said nothing other than a brief response, ascribed to the hitherto and still unknown Chairperson, to newspapers’ investigations.

The rigged Bingo Nite ‘managed’ AGM recently, when no questions were permitted unless forced, as the (mostly) very elderly attendees, who growled at attempted questions as they were desperate to avail themselves of the lavish bingo sessions, free beverages, sandwiches and the dozens of valuable free prizes such as high definition televisions, £100 gift cards, booze, etc. Well, charity certainly begins at home. For some.

Following their contractor’s (E.ON) employee threatening violence to a resident, before multiple witness, Thistle management issued letters immediately and unquestioningly taking E.ON’s side and blaming the resident. The E.ON employee is now off site and is reported to be no longer within E.ON’s employ again, reportedly, to the delight of now ex-colleagues. The matter was reported to Police Scotland by the resident who was challenged to a fight before multiple witnesses. Thistle has never, even once, discussed the matter with the resident or witnesses. Of course, it transpired, it was all a sham to allow E.ON to ‘down tools’ as they had neither a suitable workforce nor equipment.

Clip of a letter from Grace McColgan, Thistle’s Director/Secretary. A letter which says nothing at all. 650 days, today, into the Major Works Programme and still no end.

Thistle management issued a letter telling residents that after discussions with E.ON, they had no clue what was going on and less of a clue when work would again restart. In other words, nothing at all. A letter as attractive as a turd rolled in glitter.

Thistle management issued a letter to residents advising them that work would recommence on 9 October 2017. That day came. That day went. That week came. That week went. Now into the middle of the second week. Still no sign of any significant number of E.ON workmen with “boots on the ground” other than the scaffolding company removing their equipment, scaffolding which has littered Toryglen on and off, up and down, for the last seventeen months. (Fourteen weeks, eh?). The letter was a bit odd as when issued, the few E.ON employees around knew nothing about Thistle management’s letter.

Following a recent barracking from Susan Aitken, the local councillor, Thistle briefly broke their “communication strategy” (which means no communication at all) whereby they remain unresponsive to any queries of any kind and issued letters and/or emails to residents, residents who have had the bare faced audacity to stand up to them. The contents of the letters and/or emails are reported to be on the unbelievable side. There will probably be more on that at a later time when copies from recipients are available.

Just in – here’s a clip:

Just received – A clip from an email from Grace McColgan, Director/Secretary of Thistle Housing Association to a resident who was attempting to discover why two senior executives of two other housing associations had been secretly co-opted to Thistle’s Management Committee without shareholders’ knowledge.  This illustrates Thistle’s successful “communication strategy” of telling residents nothing and if they ask, threats ensue. Failing to consider that Thistle’s management’s failure has brought the Association into disrepute. The laughable thing is, they don’t know who publishes this blog but have made baseless assumptions.

In the meantime,

• Any actual significant work being done?
  No.
• Any E.ON workforce?
  No.
• Any completion dates to look forward to?
  No.
• Does Thistle management indicate that they have sufficient and appropriate skills, the merest or the remotest clue?
  No.

The British Board of Agrement (BBA) has now conducted two independent examinations of the work done by Thistle Housing’s chosen contractors, E.ON, examinations insisted on by residents, not by Thistle or E.ON. The reports are to be made available to Nicola Sturgeon, MSP and E.ON only. Thistle Housing has no automatic sight of the reports unless possibly obtained from E.ON or Ms Sturgeon.

Residents have to ensure that the work done is fit for purpose. Any problems, which may take some time to appear, will be difficult to have rectified later on after E.ON eventually goes especially as Thistle refuse to provide details of the thus far mythical ‘Twenty five year warranty’. Imagine having to take any problems to Thistle after E.ON vanishes, hence the utmost requirement to ensure that work has been done correctly and now.

Residents have asked for sight or even details of the Building Warrant granted to permit the work on their homes.
Refused.

Residents have asked if there are any architect plans for the building work detailing designs, equipment requirements and such like and requested sight.
Refused.

It has to be said that despite all the protestations from residents and the denials from Thistle, it is earnestly hoped that there are no major defects in the buildings. Residents have said, all along, that they had legitimate fears that there were serious problems and that the work should be surveyed independently. If it is subsequently proven that their fears were groundless, fine. That, of course, being the desired outcome.

However, what if it does transpire that residents have been correct all along since fears were first expressed to Thistle in August 2016, some fourteen months ago?

• They were certainly correct about the incorrectly fitted roofs and guttering.
• They were certainly correct about the bubbling and flaking roughcast.
• They were certainly correct about the substandard refurbishment to chimneys.
• They were certainly correct about the flimsily and inappropriately fitted plastic vent covers (many not covering actual vents but faulty roughcast and scaffolding ties).
• They were certainly correct about the substandard window over-cills which turned out to be not over-cills but cheap PVC fascia board designed for another purpose.
• They were certainly correct about the original granite concrete cills being ripped out and hence the plastic cills could not be over-cills as there was nothing left to be ‘over’. 

A clip from a letter previously emailed in from a resident indicating an increasing population of Lala Land. How many of this 609 were not advised the availability of loans? How many were threatened that they would lose their homes if they didn’t immediately cough up the loot upfront? How many were told that it was Glasgow City Council’s fault that E.ON was the contractor?

Positively received by whom? Counted on the fingers of one foot?

Given the constant denials without any consideration of residents’ fears and the ‘burying the head in the sand’ policy of Thistle management, where would that leave Thistle’s management, especially after all their obfuscations, stories, fibs, lies and splenetic outpourings? Clearly, by any reasonable measure, in a totally untenable position. Their thoughts, opinions, administrations and directions would, forever more, be tainted and disbelieved and with due cause. As has been alluded to before, they have poisoned the well.

Thistle management, through their long, long list of errors, secret discussions and not a lot of upfront honesty to residents or even the media, have, by any interpretation, brought the residents’ (not the management’s) Association into disrepute. Their expensively hired PR consultants, paid for by residents, haven’t been much use in shining up their tarnished reputations.

Attempting to deal with Thistle management is like grabbing smoke.

• Whoever would ever have believed that Thistle’s Major Works Programme would have reached 650 days and still counting?
• Whoever would have thought that even 322 days after Thistle’s contract failed, residents would still be in a position of having no achievable completion dates?
• Whoever would have thought that there is a chance of scaffolding being re-erected to accommodate the replacement of hundreds, maybe thousands of defective window cills?
• Who would have thought Thistle management and their quiescent Management Committee would have been so ineffective?

Thistle Housing gives all the signs of an organisation in turmoil, gives all the signs of utter failure with a management displaying all the indications of simply having no clue and in complete disarray.

Why are they still there?

Let’s see what the outcome of the BBA report provides.

Meanwhile, Thistle stays silent.

Let Caroline Know
If you have any complaints regarding the Major Works Programme, you should, in the first instance, contact Thistle Housing. Any verbal discussions should always be confirmed by either an email or by letter as there seem to be too many instances whereby conversations have been ‘forgotten’.
If all else fails and no satisfaction is obtained from Thistle, your local MSP is Nicola Sturgeon whose Constituency Manager has a large and growing list of complaints and images from residents throughout Toryglen. There is no point in moaning about the faults in your house, no point in phoning Thistle as they have simply lost the plot and are panicking.
Have a quick blether with Caroline to discuss the detail of your case already in the hands of Thistle. She’s on the ball on behalf of constituents who feel that they are getting no satisfaction from Thistle Housing.

Her telephone number is 0141 424 1174

More information is available here