A voice for the people of Haltwhistle
Introduction to the area, me against the untouchables
Haltwhistle is a small market town situated on the A69 36 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne and 21 miles from Carlisle with a population of about 3,500 people. In the town there was two undertakers the Co-operative and myself, there is now only one the Co-operative so consequently funeral prices have shot up.
This is about me John Watson a Haltwhistle Town councillor.
Its all about the hidden agendas intrigue and deceit that has destroyed my business and nearly killed me the worry caused by the deteriation in my business as a Funeral Director caused me to have a stoke in 2008 I got over that, but it left me with an irregular heart beat (I got over that with the help of pills) and still stressed out, but the following year 2009 I had two Brain haemorrhages my wife was told to fear the worst but I survived I now feel well enough to take this on. There will be those among you who might think to themselves that's a shame. After my illness I was told to give up the funerals only to find I could not sell the business because the NHS Trust (Haltwhistle hospital) and the Co-op had made sure that I didn’t get any funerals from the hospital, I felt I needed some compensation for what they had done to me, as you read on all will be revealed. What I have here is all fact no fantasy.
I decided that I would apply to the Pro Bono scheme where you can get free legal advice. I was allocated a solicitor call Susan Singleton she was brilliant loads of excellent advice she agreed to write to the Northumbria Healthcare NHS and Co-op Head Office at Manchester. We got replies back from both and what I propose to do here is put all the various documentation on this website. This part is not viewable by the public at the moment the Office of Fair Trading suggested that I talk with both parties concerned, and come to some agreement that’s what we’re doing here I have put all my cards on the table. Nothing to hide.
If we don’t my only other alternative is to open this hidden part of web site up to the public and to try and find a Solicitor or barrister who is prepared to take this case on a no win no fee basis.
If the newspapers get a hold of this I suspect they will have a field day heads could roll we have just seen recently where the editor of News of world lost his job he paid the price and the poor follow is still paying.
When you are at top of the tree you take the rap doesn’t matter what your staff have done its your head that rolls the same applies to the Co-op and NHS in these pages you will see two references and the consequences now I am not looking for heads that is far from my mind because basically I believe that Peter Marks the chief Executive of the Co-op Group and Jim Mackey Chief Executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS have no idea what has been going on downstairs so to speak.
Think about this give me one good reason why either of you would jeopardise your jobs you both have too much to loose take Peter Marks, his family must be so proud of what he has achieved glowing newspaper reports generous salaries this could all be gone.
For this reason I feel I need to start at the top of the heap, so Jim Mackey Chief Executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS and Peter Marks the chief Executive of the Co-op Group have had their Key to the secret garden.
Here is a piece of background information relevant to the bigger picture I extended the hand of friendship, you do your best to solve the problem, and later get kicked in teeth
01 Knight in shining armour click here
02 Next the Body Snatchers Click here
03 Next is Memo File from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust click here
Next my thoughts on Memo click here
04 Next Bingo mystery solved click here
05 Next Gallerys Haltwhistle main Street click here Event in the Park click here
06 Next letters between Co-op and me click here
07 Next letters between Northumbria Healthcare NHS and me click here
08Here is stuff Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust sent under the Freedom of information request
Business Continuity Plan Questionnaire Conditions of contract 2002
Conditions of contract Contract Details 2008 Form of offer
Freedom of Information Clause Letter of Invitation to Supplier
Memo - Haltwhistle Mortuary Offer Schedule Response Document - VO1 - FOI 904
Taken from this document item 4 Any charges levied to and paid by the Trust for transfer of the deceased from Haltwhistle to the funeral home will be the full and final payment. Charges must not subsequently be levied to relatives of the deceased with respect to this transfer.
Tender Record - 27102008 Terms of Offer - 27102008
09 Next Letter from my solicitor to Co-op and Northumbria Healthcare NHS click here
The next two letters I find are amazing reply's to number 9
10 Next Co-op’s letter of enlightenment click here
11 Next Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust letter of enlightenment click here
12 Next after the fairy storys from the co-op and the trust the Truth I put all cards on the table would have liked to have been a fly on the wall I bet the language was ripe. click here but don’t play cards with these two they cheat.
13 Next co-op cooked up new Fairy Story click here and trust built a wall so when you knock at door voice says who goes who goes there you say John Watson they say not talking to you bugger off. Click here I wonder why.
The trusts solicitors Beachcroft tried to build further defences with case law well what about
this case law can someone explain to me what being in a pension fund has to do with my situation or for that matter whether I want to be in a old peoples home, I like this one best it’s my choice its about cartons and I particularly like this bit.
The logic used by the Tetra Pak II Court to reach the conclusions stated above makes it clear that the principle that "prices below average variable costs must always be considered abusive" is limited to cases where "there is no conceivable economic purpose [for such pricing] other than the elimination of a competitor" and where there is a risk that it might eliminate some competitors. click here
14 Next first part of Co-op’s second fairy story planning a bit of background information click here
15 Next my reply to Co-op’s latest fairy story and the beginning of next chapter click here
Here is my price for tender in 2002, Co-op beat that price fairly if you can click here
16 Next some of the payments made by Co-op to Town Council just to prove it’s fact and not just fiction click here
17 Next the caring sharing Co-op guess how they do their caring and sharing first you must understand they do care, taking great care in charging as much as possible, and they love sharing your money with themselves, the more they get the better they like it their prices have risen considerably in just over two years and can you see the deliberate mistake in the last bill that's a cheap coffin that's surely against the co-op rules to bring a price down.
18 It has been suggested to me to write a book what do you think of these for a couple of chapters click here and here