Capacity Building Project

Another kicking for Nolan and his Cabal on the way.

By The Basa ⋅ January 12, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Dictionary Definition of Paul Nolan

The Evening News have caught up on the story we broke earlier this week about Nolan and his Cabal cronies all resigning because Scotland’s supreme civil court told them to get lost, see Community leaders axed after court row.

It is the end of a long two and a half year battle for a few members of the Craigmillar community with 18 months of that spent in the courts when the few residents finally managed to convince the council to go to court. We are told that the journey to court was started by an EdSucks favourite, Ewan Aitken. For that kudos are deserved.

Where the council fell down in this whole saga in court (which hasn’t been reported elsewhere) was that they stated in their papers for the Judicial Review last year that they would not ask for costs. Now it looks like it is going to cost around £60,000 of tax-payers hard earned cash whilst Nolan sits at home in his bought ex-council house having taken advantage of the full discount. Costs should have been requested by the council and the fat bastard Nolan should presently be enjoying the best cold weather the northerly winds can supply in the open air.

Paul Nolan and his Cabal’s determination to silence anybody who is prepared to challenge them is evidenced by their willingness to bully and intimidate local people.

Nolan is not quite done with yet. He remains a director of C(r)apacity Building Project in Craigmillar. CBP have a gross income of £475,338.00 in 2006 according to OSCR’s website. Their most current Annual Return which was due on 18th April 2007 is still overdue according to the same site. Their purposes are:

Nolan will not be shocked by the report of the investigation into Crapacity Building Project which tells all and sundry that the only people CBP give relief of poverty to is CBP staff, their families and friends. The only people they help to advance education is those who are willing to be bullied and brainwashed to. They work actively not to advance citizenship nor community development. They have shredded the majority of human rights within greater Craigmillar and Nolan, Walker, King, McNulty and Dick have all been reported to the Disability Rights Commission and are currently being investigated personally as well as others within CBP and the CBP as an organisation.

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Some nice quotes from the report now follow:

The fact that it was felt to be necessary for officials from CEC and Communities Scotland to intervene in this matter demonstrates a lack of confidence in the CBP Management Board’s ability or willingness to address the issues.

and

It was interesting that a project with the objectives of building confidence and skills in individuals should feel the need to rely to such an extent on rules such as these to deal with individuals rather than a more coaching approach.

and

This approach runs contrary to natural justice, and is confusing for all of those involved. It also undermines the CBP’s own position in that it can be construed as being arbitrary and used to disadvantage those who fall out with key people within CBP.

and

It could reasonably be expected that the Management Board would wish to take an overview of any exclusions, and to ensure that a high standard of transparency and accountability was maintained. There is no evidence that this occurred; indeed, the Board members interviewed demonstrated contempt for the excluded individuals, and were keen to assert what they saw as the right of the CBP to exclude those with whom they disagreed. This has raised concerns regarding the professionalism and commitment to the ethos of the project of those involved.

and

It was felt to be an accepted fact among those interviewed that anyone who fell out with key figures within the CBP could be excluded. Apart from the impact on the individuals concerned, this is damaging to the CBPs credibility and reputation in the community.

and

Those who do not support this position are viewed with suspicion, and are not felt to represent the “genuine” views of the community. This approach runs contrary to the CBP’s stated objective of providing a service to all sections of the community.

and

This reinforces the widely held view that the CBP works with one section of the community, to the exclusion of those individuals and groups who are seen to disagree with CBP staff and Board Members. The CBP representatives effectively confirmed this. CBP Board members displayed a high degree of hostility towards those perceived as disagreeing with their own views on the regeneration of the area.

and

Two complainants spoke of being told to “f*** off” when phoning the CBP office. Another interviewee reported being subjected to a tirade of abuse from a CBP worker at a public meeting.

and

There appears to be a belief that the prevailing ideologies of CBP Board and of some staff members have a dominant effect on the management of the project. It is perceived that the board lacks the objectivity to deal effectively with complaints about the structure of the project or its staff. This leaves the project open to criticism. The Management Board has a responsibility to monitor the project and direct the operation and delivery of the project. It is clear that a number of key potential service users and other stakeholders do not have confidence in the ability of the Management Board as currently constituted to deliver these objectives, or to deal impartially with complaints about the project or its staff.

Well if you want to read the whole report we have made it available for download here.

So Nolan and his cronies still have another hamming to take. We predict that in some form CBP will be wound up by withdrawing their funding for not meeting their stated objectives. The function will then be taken over by the council’s new Neighbourhood Partnership in some way.

We are not sure whether that is the best way to go.

Related Posts

• January 10, 2008 -- Paul Nolan disgraced

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