Star date: 20th December 2017

SALFORD CITY COUNCIL BLOCKED PENDLETON TOGETHER FROM SPEAKING TO SALFORD STAR

In the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Salford residents living in cladded high rises were frightened and confused. But as the Salford Star tried to get housing companies to reassure them on safety, Pendleton Together, which managed the nine most lethal blocks, would not provide any information.

Now, after a six month Freedom of Information battle with Salford Council over the release of related emails, it can be revealed that Pendleton Together had an "agreement" with the Council "not to respond to the Salford Star". How many 'agreements' does Salford Council have with other companies 'not to respond to the Salford Star'?

Full details here...

On the June 14th morning after the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, frightened residents living in Salford's high rises contacted the Salford Star wanting to know if they were safe, given their blocks had cladding similar to Grenfell... "This is horrifying...I'm really scared now" said one tenant.

As a community media outlet, the Salford Star immediately sought reassurance from the three housing companies in the city that own or manage high rises. While Salix Homes had posted safety advice on social media, and City West had pre-arranged fire safety sessions, Pendleton Together had published nothing and wouldn't respond to Salford Star enquiries.

The Star published the story the same day under the title Salford Tower Block Fears After Tragic London Blaze (click here). Towards the end of June, as the cladding scandal continued, some residents believed that there might have been a cover up over what materials were on the blocks, how they got there and who signed them off as acceptable. They asked the Salford Star to investigate...

On June 28th, the Salford Star submitted a Freedom of Information request asking for "all emails between Councillor Paul Longshaw [the then Lead Member for Housing],  and any staff/director at Pendleton Together/Together Housing from 13th June until today 28th June"...

This request was sent before Paul Longshaw took his own life. Indeed, the Star had spoken to Councillor Longshaw a few days after Grenfell, who had promised full transparency over any inquiry into the cladding.

After a six month battle with Salford Council to get hold of the emails, they were finally released yesterday, and while the 14 official emails sent show no sign of a cover up over the cladding scandal, they do reveal everything about the Council trying to control the flow of information to residents via the Salford Star.

On 14th June itself, Daniel Klemm, Head of Policy and Communications at the Together Housing Group, of which Pendleton Together is a part, writes to Paul Longshaw with an update on what has been done to inform tenants...

"As per our agreement with the Council we did not respond to the Salford Star" he writes, giving a link to the Star story and adding, "We'll keep an eye on if this is picked up by wider media such as the Manchester Evening News..."

On 18th June, there is a further email sent from Klemm to Paul Longshaw, copied to various other Council and Pendleton Together officers, with a link to a further article on the Salford Star, stating "In light of the situation, and following discussions with Tim Miskell and Paul Longshaw, we decided to move away from our long standing approach of not responding to the Salford Star...

"To be fair, on this occasion the story is fairly balanced..." he adds, with absolutely no understanding, it seems, that articles cannot be properly 'fairly balanced' if organisations do not respond to journalists' enquiries.

The Salford Star has been aware for years that Salford Council has been pressuring organisations, that should be accountable to the public, from responding to legitimate questions. This is the first time, however, that it is in black and white that there was an "agreement with the Council we did not respond to the Salford Star", as Together Housing put it.

Greater Manchester Police no longer sends the Salford Star press releases; Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has also knocked the Star off his press list since we did an innocuous interview with him over his Digital Strategy; City West Housing do not respond to press enquiries; and Salix Homes picks and chooses what the company responds to.

Meanwhile, our last request to interview Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long-Bailey didn't even merit a reply, despite the Star being the only long standing press left based in Salford. Yet the week before Long-Bailey was elected as an MP in May 2015 she told the Salford Star...

"Yeah I think it's sad that people aren't talking to you because, irrespective of the kind of coverage these people are going to get, at the end of the day it's important for local politicians to be held to account whether it's good publicity or bad publicity.

"If it's off the scale and it's mad then fair enough but I've read what you've got and I don't think it's like that...From a personal and moral perspective in dealing with the press it's just to make sure that it's fair" she added "If you are going to run something that's negative then at least give me the chance to put a comment in..."

...The list of organisations and politicians who won't speak to the Star goes on and on, led by Salford City Council which hasn't responded in over five years – despite Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, promising greater transparency when he was elected.

Meanwhile, the cladding scandal continues, with Salford Council still blocking a further Freedom of Information request from the Star concerning Building Control documents relating to the Pendleton high rises...and residents still living in fear, with their blocks still engulfed by the dangerous ACM materials...