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‘Cabal’ jibe unfair
• THE use of the term “controlled cabal” to describe the EC1 New Deal for Communities (NDC) board is unfair and without substance. There are absolutely no grounds to support the insinuation that we are some kind of secret organisation (Just 16 respond to chance to join regeneration board, March 2).
EC1 NDC goes to great effort to be transparent about its decisions regarding the use of its grant. We involve the community wherever possible. Our board meetings are open to the public and the papers and decisions from all past meetings are posted on our website. We recently asked every EC1 household to comment on our funding priorities for the coming year and we are looking for more residents to play an active part in the working groups which feed into the EC1 NDC board.
Nobody on the board, whether they be residents or from partner organisations, is discouraged from airing their views and anyone who has been to one of our meetings would have experienced the very healthy environment of discussion and debate.
Furthermore, none of the applications for board membership was “flatly rejected”. Every applicant was assessed against a set of criteria that had been sent to all interested parties in advance. Everyone was invited to attend an interview and the final decision on who to appoint was based upon the degree to which individuals matched that criteria.
The applicants selected have a hard job ahead of them. Their decision to give up their time to help improve their community should be applauded, not derided, and I look forward to working with them as we enter the final four years of the NDC programme.
MATTHEW HUMPHREYS
Chairman, EC1 New Deal for Communities Partnership Board |
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