The eat out to help out scheme formed part of the Chancellor’s summer economic update on 8 July 2020 (the Plan for Jobs). Under the Scheme Government provided 50% off the cost of food and/or non-alcoholic drinks eaten-in at participating businesses UK-wide. It applied all-day Monday to Wednesday from 3 to 31 August 2020.
Back in September 2020, Councillors Jean Eccles and her husband Gordon Eccles invited a select few “old folks” for a treat which included a meal at The Lakeside Café Bar, which they paid for.
Very generous thought Ferret, until it transpired that Councillor Eccles had pre-bought all of the meals in August 2020 and took advantage of the Eat out to Help out scheme, which at the very best can only be described as morally wrong.
However, this doesn’t surprise Ferret, especially with the ongoing dubious actions which take place on a daily basis at Independent Hemsworth Town Council…
It looks like the eat out to help out scheme was used by Eccles and co as an ego boosting, self praising publicity stunt then. This is not what our government money was intended for. It was intended to boost businesses and save jobs. HTC was not affected by this, in fact their income had increased due to the covid grants but they didn’t pass it on to the precept payers. This is the first I’ve heard of this, I can guess but how were people selected to attend for this? Was it just for Kinsley folk? There’s a lot of questions that require answers including, did they pay for use of the facilities and staff time, who paid for the entertainment, if it was HTC are we having one for Fitzwilliam and Hemsworth that is available and known about by the wider community? No chance of that happening.
Another day another dollar, always something in it for these people, honest folk who were selected for this event hoodwinked into being part of an ongoing smokescreen to cover deception and dishonesty by a corrupt regime.
Surely this money has been obtained from the government illegally. Also we will be paying for this through our income taxes. So not only is our precept money being used for their vanity projects and to line their own pockets, we will now be paying for it again in taxes.
Then there’s the deception to the elderly who did attend the meal who probably think what wonderful people they are.
They are disgusting untrustworthy people and they become offended when they get called out.
Not only did they do that but us as the tax payers paid for the venue and staff wages for their ego boosting feed their friends
This was not for all the elderly these were held for selected friends of theirs
They keep bragging that they have treats for the older residents but again they are hand selected not every one eligible in the villages are invited
So my point is if these are their private parties why are we paying for them
Absolutely playing Lord and lady of the manor with our money, again.
this is absolutely disgusting and disgraceful. who payed the staff wages and who paid for the entertainment ?.
if the Ecclles wish to treat people then go ahead but do not have the precept payers pay for the wages and entertainment as well as the building and heating and so on.
its time for these rag arsed rovers to be fully exposed and got rid of.
If you look on HTC website meeting & Minutes
Coronavirus Contingency meeting 22nd July 2020
Lakeside Cafe Bar
566 ( c) old folks dinner
It should give you the answers,
c) Old folks dinner
Resolved that:
Cllr J Eccles liaise with the café bar manager and local care home
managers to arrange a COVID secure old folks dinner with entertainment
at the café bar.
Cllrs G & J Eccles be commended for funding the dinner.
The council to fund the entertainment and a tea later the same day.
The dinner will likely be held in September, provided government COVID
guidance allows.
With regard to the dinner delivery service I’ve mentioned before about how the dinners delivered to pensioners were getting less and less each week. This week customers have been telephoned and told that there will not be anymore dinners on Sundays. They are to be moved to Thursdays. A little confused as to why. The cynic in me thinks they are attempting to make them less attractive and inconvenient to the elderly who pay for them, so they can stop the service.
If you watch the video they were not from the nursing home they were people from the village I recognised quiet a few people and I think you would too
When was this decided is it actually in one of the meetings I can not remember hearing this
If you mean the meal deliveries, I don’t know. They have had a phone call to tell them. They were cancelled on Halloween too. They were dropped to only Sundays a while back.
Surely to ‘pre pay’ for these meals in august breaks the rules of the eat out to help out scheme. In fact I’d go one step further and suggest this is potentially fraud.
The rules around the scheme were very clear, it was a discount on food and soft drinks consumed on the premises on dates and days specified.
How is the district auditor and/or the police, not involved with all this? It looks like wholesale corruption in plain sight. And the Town clerk is an ex councilor?….Who appointed him? This is looking more like an episode of the Sopranos every day!
Having just watched the live streaming of the Town council meeting dated 14th October 2021 2.14 in, a councillor states that they personally paid for everything to do with the old peoples event. Which is incorrect according to the 22nd July minutes & meeting coronavirus contiguity meeting. So perhaps they would like to post this on the correction page and state the true facts of what was actually paid for by them personally. I am not taking anything away from them doing this, but please give the true facts.