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SADLY, Pete Price is going on his jollies in July, so we won't be treated to his truly amazing radio show on City Talk-but-no-one-listens.
OUR exclusive picture reveals Jason Harborow, Chief Executive of the Liverpool Culture Company (and currently on sick leave apparently, eds) carousing with Colin Hilton, Chief Eecutive of Liverpool city council, which is in negotiations with solicitors to pay-off the Harbarrowboy with £250,000 of council taxpayers money.
The happy couple were snapped by one of our supporters at last night's after-show party at the Empire to celebrate the launch of Liverpool, Capital of Culture, 2008.
(We apologise for the poor quality - but would also like to unreservedly praise our brave and intrepid cameraman for having the bottle to snatch these two in the act, eds)
Both men laughed and joked as they downed the free beer and wine which flowed (they had to pay for spirits at the bar so they opted for the free stuff instead, eds)
The Harbarrowboy also spent some time locked in conversation with the smiling assassin Hasitall (Mr Phil Halsall, Executive Director) who controls the city council's purse strings and has so far allowed the council to chalk up £29 million of debts, mainly because of Jason's incompetence.
Who invited Jase is not clear. Who allowed him into the party is also not clear. But he obviously appears, to coin a phrase, to have "friends in high places."
His presence has already caused minor ructions, however.
(Thank Christ someone at least understands what is proper behaviour and what is totally improper behaviour, eds)
Councillor Marilyn Fielding, who has a deserved reputation as the rottweiller McElhinney's tame poodle, has surprisingly objected in the strongest possible terms and has emailed her Lib Dem colleague's with a tirade against the Harbarrowboy, demanding heads should roll because of his presence.
So she is obviously not completely beyond redemption.
But nothing of course will happen and CoverUp will no doubt mumble the usual bureacratic bollocks to any councillors who attempts to challenge both his personal and professional behaviour, integrity and honesty.
CAPTION COMPETITION:
Readers are invited to supply the best caption to our exclusive photo....
THIS is the band 'SIRENZ'* who jumped the queue over other groups at the 2006 Mathew Street Festival.
The Crosby-based six-piece were at the centre of an internal council investigation into the actions of the Harbarrowboy and a second un-named senior council official.
It is alleged that both officials abused their public positions of trust to ensure that SIRENZ appeared at the Festival.
The Harbarrowboy, who was in charge of the 2006 Festival, and the second official are alleged to have used their positions to enable SIRENZ to circumvent the official judging process.
Unlike every other local band which appeared at the Festival that year, SIRENZ were not approved by an independent panel.
They were simply given one of the best slots at the Festival.
It is not clear what relationship - financial, professional or personal - the band have, or had, with either the Harbarrowboy or the un-named official.
Of course their is no suggestion that SIRENZ (dramatic logo above right, eds) paid any money to either official in order to appear at Mathew Street.
Nor is there any suggestion (yet, eds) that the Harbarrowboy stood to benefit in any way from making sure they got the gig.
But since Colin Cover Up has now effectively silenced the probe by paying off the Harbarrowboy with £250,000 of council taxpayers money, it is unlikely that we will ever find the answers to these questions.
NB Our enquiries are continuing....
*Here is some of their publicity blurb from MySpace
About sirenz
Davie Reid - Singer/Songwriter/Synth player, John Reid - Lead Guitar, Joe Swift - Bass, Karl Blower - Rhythm Guitar, Marc Guy - Drums, Keith Merner - Synth Player/Samples/Tech
Sirenz formed in 2005 creating their own material in a rock'n roll, electronic style. In this time realising the band has what it takes to make a career in the industry, the idea to expose their style to a wider audience is exciting and the goal of all members. in 2006, then with countless gigs and experience in studios, recording at their own expense they decided to get in touch with a friend with recording knowledge so that they could record off their own backs. The friend took up second synth player and this element gave the band new horizons and created freedom to uncover new ideas. 2007 now with a fully shaped sound scape, Sirenz future lies in the hands of record companies to take their sound and career into the music industry itself.
Sirenz are 6 young men who live and breathe music. Sirenz incorporate drums, synth, guitar, bass and stunning vocals to produce a sound that is unique in 2007. The music, of a rock/electronic genre, is innovative and creative and has helped the group build a strong fan base in the Northwest which is spreading to Southern areas of the UK. Touring the Merseyside area since 2005, they have performed on numerous occasions at prominent music venues across the area. Publicity has been gained through such appearances and interest in the group continues to grow. Their sound continues to develop and the commitment of the band is highlighted by their experimentation with recording and performing. Spurred on through Sirenz’ dedication to music, the growth of their musical talents and their emotional and life experiences, they will endeavour to be a success.
Prof. Yaffle Chucklebutty said...
Enquiry into Cancellation of The Meryl Streep Festivule.
Liverspole makes national news and even Jeremole Paxo smirky face with a perm and tashy lip talk pretended to interview Terry and Barry and said “ On Newsnole Tonole Calm-down, calm-down….as Livepule’s Internaspernole musole fistula is called alf” and newspapers around the world translate “Cultureload My Arse!” in every linguode.
matter, totally exfoliated. 
THE crisis-hit Culture Company has been rocked today by a new departure - the resignation on the dotted line of Operations Director Chris 'do I look that?' Green.
The list of professional Scousers and 80's has-beens being lined up for the Culture Company's launch 'ceremony' is growing.
Latest addition to Jase's "team" is Pete 'button yer lip' Burns - unless fate hits him with another plastic surgery disaster.
Brave Pete has promised to turn up on January 12th, whether Dead or Alive.
His loyalty to Liverpool has already got the Harbarrowboy and his Culture Crew spinning right round, baby, right round, like a recor....(oh shut up will ya! eds)
Any suggestion that Pete has been booked because he is still mates with Jayne 'Mersey Tunnel' Casey would be totally without Foundation. (Of course, eds)
We are sure he will be worth every penny of his appearance fee - it may even pay for some extra plastic surgery so that Pete can celebrate 2008 with another new look.
But Christ knows what Burns will do on the night - perhaps a reprise of his legendary appearance with George Galloway on Big Brother?
Perhaps a sparkling duet with Cilla? That would be a lorra, lorra laughs.
Perhaps he will just do his gobby Scouser "act"?
Whatever Jase decides on, we are sure it will show Liverpool's unique contribution to 21st century culture in the most positive global light.
We now are beginning to fully understand what Redmond meant when he promised the people of Liverpool 'Scouse culture.'
(When are Sinbad and Jimmy Corkhill being announced then? eds)
SELF-styled 'man of the people' Phil Redmond is already making a tremendous impact on Capital of Culture.
The multi-millionaire's exhortation to every headbanger in the city to ring the Culture Company with their madcap schemes has already got staff in open revolt.
The procession of nerds, nonentities and ne'er do wells out to try and make a fast buck out of public money, has resembled a lengthy queue of X Factor rejects.
Long-suffering Culture staff, already victims of the Harbarrowboy's regime of chaos, have taken to posing as passers-by to avoid the procession of Culture Company callers who have obviously just escaped from the nearest loony bin.
Staff have also begun to find all sorts of meetings and other wondrous excuses to be out of the office when the phones start ringing off their hooks with nutters at 9am every morning.
Porters have now been positioned to repel any suspicious boarders from the decks of the Titanic.
So, when it might have been wiser to try and win the loyalty of Culture staff, Redmond appears to have quickly alienated them.
And that's not all.
Should any of these idiotic ideas be pursued beyond the back of a fag packet, the creators will quickly find that there is no money left in the cupboard to pay for them.
Unless our multi-millionaire Cultural saviour wants to dip into the £30million he trousered from the sale of Mersey TV to pay for something himself?
If not, the disappointed might end up a bit disgruntled with Redmond too.
And that's not all.
Redmond appears to have alienated Colin 'Cover Up' too by blabbing to the meeja about 'his' plans for 2008, without first agreeing the line with the city council.
Hilton wandered un-noticed into Culture the other day and after about an hour, when he finally managed to attract the attention of a handful of staff, was forced to apologise for Redmond's shock and unaccountable outburst.
In fact, the first that the Culture Company's £75,000-a-year Communications chief, The Invisible Man, Paul 'We'veforgottenhisnameagain', New about it all, was when someone mentioned in passing that TV cameras were filming the unelected Redmond outside the Town Hall.
Hilton promised those staff who were still listening to his mumbling that he would be having a strong word with our new Cultural guru and would be marking his card in future. (Gee, Redmond must have shat himself at that, eds)
And that's not all. (Thought not, eds)
Redmond had the brass neck to appeal to the Labour Party to cease its entirely legitimate questioning and critiscism of the activities of the Harbarrowboys inside The Fun Palace at Millennium House.
And we particularly lack any confidence in the new Redmond regime, when Deputy Dawg is the Fireman Bradley who demonstrates his powerlessness with each passing second that the Harbarrowboy survives.
COLIN COVER UP was told about problems with the Mathew Street festival months before it was scrapped.
The Harbarrowboy regularly gave him updates on the worries over Europe's biggest street festival.
Yet the £220,000-a-year Hilton failed to raise the alarm until it was too late.
This has all emerged from the city council's Municipal Buildings where Harbarrowboy, as the Executive Director for Culture, made regular visits from the Millennium House Fun Palace.
He reported regularly to Hilton, as his boss and chief executive of the city council.
Yet Cover Up did nothing about it (no change there, then, eds).
The word amongst senior officers - some of whom witnessed the Harbarrowboy actually briefing Hilton - is that Jase may have to walk the plank to protect his boss's job.
No doubt Hilton will be able to ensure there is a lucrative leaving package to make Jase's ignominious exit more palatable.
The revelation that Hilton was intimately connected with the Mathew Street debacle comes as no surprise to insiders at the city council.
But it makes a mockery of the fireman Bradley's protestations that he has every confidence in Hilton's farfromindependent 'investigation' into who knew what, when, and who did what about it.
So Hilton is in it up to his neck.
So too is the Harbarrowboy - he knew about the problems, but did nothing about them.
He also created the Mathew St mess in the first place - by demanding swinging cuts, forcing Lee Forde's departure.
And what about the fireman Bradley?
He personally employed both the Harbarrowboy and Cover Up in their lucrative jobs.
He has only himself to blame when their failures are now revealed for all to see.
And like any other political Leader in the known universe he must also take personal responsibility for the mess his organisation has created.
As Joe Anderson has thankfully pointed out: all this happened on Bradley's watch. He is the Captain of the Ship. He must take responsibility.
Of course if any one of the gang of three had an ounce of integrity in them, they would do the honourable thing and resign now, rather than allow this pantomime to continue.
That would at least draw a line under a fiasco which all three have personally allowed to drag on for the last four weeks.
Of course none of them do (have any integrity or honour, eds)
They don't care about the reputation of the city which is being made a laughing stock every day in the public prints.
The fireman is more concerned about his political position.
Cover Up is more concerned about his money and disappearing repuatation.
The Harbarrowboy is more concerned about the dosh he will lose and his property interests in Spain.
None of them, of course, are the slightest bothered about the looming outcome of Cover Up's farfromindependent 'investigation'.
They know that no council official has the bottle to point the finger at Cover Up, The Harbarrowboy or The Fireman.
So here is our exclusive report about the farfromindependent investigation's shock conclusions:
And that, dear readers, will be that. Unless you do something about it.
EVENTS MANAGER Lee Forde quit the Culture Company because the Mathew Street budget had been slashed - threatening public safety.
The Harbarrowboy unilaterally halved the amount of money being spent on events such as Mathew Street, the Hub Festival, the Lord Mayor's Parade and the Christmas Lights switch-on. Harbarrowboy was under pressure from Cover Up to reduce the amount of public money being used by the Culture Company after squandering millions on consultants, astonomical wages and pie in the sky schemes.
He was told to reign-in the Culture Company's mounting expenditure in the run-up to 2008.
But he also personally decided to save up some money for next year's events so that 2008 would not turn into the damp squib we have all feared.
Jase planned to splurge it all on public events next year so that he could go out in a blaze of "glory" having delivered an apparently successful Capital of Culture.
Forde expressed his concern at the implications of the sweeping cuts and refused to keep quiet. (Good for him, eds) He warned the Harbarrowboy that such draconian cuts would put public safety at risk and contravene strict health and safety regulations.
But the Harbarrowboy told Forde: "I don't want any discussion about this - just get on with it."
Forde then submitted his resignation in disgust, telling the Harbarrowboy that it was impossible to deliver such events without compromising public safety.
The Culture Company tried to put a brave face on his shock departure, 'Jase' arrogantly telling the BBC in an interview that no-one was indispensable and that they would carry on as normal.
In fact, the opposite was true. (see TP's previous post about Forde's departure for an entirely accurate account of the likely impact, eds)
Forde's departure meant little work was done on Mathew Street, which was left to his deputy Eddy Grant to try and pick up.
The £150,000-a-year Harbarrowboy failed to adequately manage the resultant gap and then eventually decided to cancel a festival which was not even his to cancel.
The result?
Uproar.
Forde is now the victim of a disgraceful and all too typical attempt by the city council and the Culture Company to shoulder all the blame for the fiasco.
The Echo was told (apparently by Bradley) that Ford was on "gardening leave" - a sickening and disgusting attempt to smear him.
His deputy Grant is now on long term sickness absence, as a result of the mounting pressures he was put under.
This effectively means the Culture Company has lost its senior Events chiefs at a stroke - an amazing 'achievement'. This is likely to have further implications on events in the city.
One Culture Company insider said:" Lee has never been a 'yes' man and when Jason told him to implement the cuts, he couldn't keep quiet any longer.
"He refused to put up with the incompetence. And no-one took control of the situation or did anything significant about it. It's a classic case of management failure."
Meanwhile, we can also reveal that the Harbarrowboy has been sent on 'gardening leave'. Cover Up told him to go and take a week off while the dust settled over the Mathew Street debacle.
He is due to return to the Fun Palace tomorrow (Tuesday) - but is unlikely to get a quiet reception.
(All will soon be revealed....eds) 
EVENTS MANAGER Lee Forde quit the Culture Company because the Mathew Street budget had been slashed - threatening public safety.
Forde expressed his concern at the implications of the sweeping cuts and refused to keep quiet. (Good for him, eds)Dear Councillor Bradley,
You are making matters worse. Stop picking at the open wound you have created over Mathew Street.
Your chief executive Cover Up and your Culture boss the Harbarrowboy have created a god-awful gaping wound in Liverpool's self-esteem and cultural reputation, which you can't cure or cover up with a cobbled together rescue plan made of sticking plaster.
Stop parading your stupidity in public, in full view of the TV cameras.
You are only drawing further attention to your crass incompetence and lack of control over the fools at the council and the Culture Company.
Worse, the nightly updates on the telly and in the papers just pile on the agony for Liverpool.
You are making things worse for the city.
Stop it now. And instead, take tough action against those responsible.
Tony's Parrishioners
EXTRACT FROM 2006 AUDIT COMMISSION REPORT ON CAPITAL OF CULTURE
SUMMARY....
.....6 The Council does not adequately monitor or measure value for money within cultural services. It has some information on costs but does not routinely evaluate the relationship between service quality or service outcomes and the cost.
7 There are a number of reasons why future improvement is uncertain. There is a lack of clarity around what the Council's wider ambitions for cultural provision in Liverpool will mean for local people and how it will be delivered. Planning is dominated by the Capital of Culture and it is not clear what legacy will remain after the main festival year in 2008.
8 Although improving, performance management in cultural services has been weak and the Council's performance management framework has not been effective in measuring the impact of cultural services on local people. This means that the Council cannot always judge whether its investment is having the desired effect on improving quality of life.
9 Whilst much of the funding required to deliver Capital of Culture is already in place, the Council overall has significant financial pressures and whilst medium and longer-term financial plans are being developed, this has been slow. The Council is aware that it will not be able to sustain high levels of funding for culture and through the Culture Company is looking at future funding opportunities to ensure that plans are sustainable.
-------------------------
13 The service has uncertain prospects for improvement because:
* other than for Capital of Culture, there is a lack of clarity around what the Council's ambition and vision for cultural services will mean for local people and how it will be delivered;
* there is little recognition within high level corporate plans of the role of culture in delivering strategic priorities;
* although improving, performance management in cultural services has been weak and the Council's performance management framework has not been effective in monitoring the impact of cultural services on local people; and
* the Council has significant financial pressures in other areas which may impact on its ability to finance its cultural ambitions.
WE TOLD YOU SO!
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