Saturday, December 28, 2019

Email interception: Yesterday Declan sent 31 emails. We only know for sure that 35% were read (not 44%)

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


ACTUAL: 31 emails sent (not 25); 11 read; 2 bounces. From these figures: 18 unread (not 14); 35% were read (not 44%).

19 September: Email interception: This month not one of Declan's 24 emails to Nobel laureates has been read. We have had using Mailtrack a round average of 150 unread emails a month since last May (UPDATED 30/9/2019)

- this link reveals how Mailtrack can be hacked to dramatically colour findings. We believe a round average of 150 unread emails a month from May to September 2019 is almost certainly an underestimation.





From My Picks:

Earlier today: We are fighting for our lives. We expect to be served an eviction notice in less than five months time should the Court uphold the complete withdrawal of the support we need from the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's


Declan has commenced court proceedings against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's in the County Court at Central London in the Royal Courts of Justice.

What the issue in these court proceedings boils down to is whether the Court will decide that Declan and I should face the prospect of eviction back to the streets (a death threat) rather than St Mungo's take a call to confirm that we are clients of theirs, and that such a position is not harsh, unjust and unreasonable.

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

We are fighting for our lives. We expect to be served an eviction notice in less than five months time should the Court uphold the complete withdrawal of the support we need from the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's

I have looked at the long correspondence regarding your tenancy and clearly you have made a powerful case for the unconscionable behavior of the agency in control of your tenancy.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: St Mungo's

What the issue in these court proceedings boils down to is whether the Court will decide that Declan and I should face the prospect of eviction back to the streets (a death threat) rather than St Mungo's take a call to confirm that we are clients of theirs, and that such a position is not harsh, unjust and unreasonable.

26 December: Threat to life: We are facing eviction from our home. Why else would the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's produce falsehoods and slander in court proceedings?



Yet, we are facing eviction because we run a website that criticises religion. http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/




'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Threat to life: We are facing eviction from our home. Why else would the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's produce falsehoods and slander in court proceedings?

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).


Declan has commenced court proceedings against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's in the County Court at Central London in the Royal Courts of Justice.

I have looked at the long correspondence regarding your tenancy and clearly you have made a powerful case for the unconscionable behavior of the agency in control of your tenancy.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

St Mungo's is funded by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to run a number of his rough sleepers initiatives.


Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: St Mungo's

Extract from Declan's letter of 16 December to the Court Manager following the slanderous results of a subject access request from St Mungo's: "I wish to bring to the Court's attention a serious development in this case almost immediately following my filing in Court and service of Claimant's Reply to Witness Statement of Ilyas Hussein on 11 December 2019."

16 December: We're still in disbelief. This is how the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's behaves during court proceedings

What the issue in these court proceedings boils down to is whether the Court will decide that Declan and I should face the prospect of eviction back to the streets (a death threat) rather than St Mungo's take a call to confirm that we are clients of theirs, and that such a position is not harsh, unjust and unreasonable.


***

We were evicted from our previous flat in March 2013 because according to our then live-in landlady's ex-husband, Dr Nigel McKenzie, a consultant psychiatrist in Highgate Mental Health Centre, our flat was needed for somebody with a mental illness. As Declan states in paragraph 8 of his recent updated complaint to the UN, former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler also lived with human rights activist Belinda McKenzie in the same political 'safe house' for a couple of years until 2007. According to BBC Panorama, Shayler "caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair"; he was jailed for seven weeks in 2002 for breaking the Official Secrets Act. It's unfortunate that Shayler declared himself the Messiah in 2007, became a squatter, and was subsequently ridiculed in the press for changing his name to Delores Kane. A New Statesman article published in September 2006 featuring Shayler and Belinda gives no indication that Shayler believed he was the Messiah at that time; whilst a Daily Mail interview with him the following year reveals he believed himself to be Jesus by June 2007. He has never regained his normal self.
The Esquire article below is mentioned in a Guardian article dated 27 March 2012.* It's an eye-opener, highlighting the monitoring and surveillance that Shayler had to live with back in 2000, and the contradictory briefings and slanders that were coming out of the British establishment and the media. The author, Dr Eamonn O'Neill, is Associate Professor in Journalism at Edinburgh Napier University.

* On 2 May 2013, Issuu removed this pdf from my Issuu account following a copyright complaint by Hearst Communications. I had uploaded the article to my Issuu account in December 2012. In March 2013, when last I checked, the article had been viewed more than 15,000 times. It can be read here.

BBC PANORAMA: The David Shayler Affair (August 1998)

Former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler "caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair", according to BBC Panorama. He was jailed for seven weeks in 2002 for breaking the Official Secrets Act.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Email interception: Our emails to America continue to be targeted. And only occasionally now do we receive alerts from Mailtrack as soon as an email has been read

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).



19 September: Email interception: This month not one of Declan's 24 emails to Nobel laureates has been read. We have had using Mailtrack a round average of 150 unread emails a month since last May (UPDATED 30/9/2019)





'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Declan's latest email to Nick McKnight of Batchelors Solicitors acting for the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's in court proceedings

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).


County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


11 December: St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs [1]

Paragraph 1 of Declan's reply to the St Mungo's witness statement reads as follows:

1. The Defendant's witness statement dated 27 November 2019, written by its Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Service Manager Ilyas Hussein, contains a series of false claims and omits and misrepresents key facts pertaining to its tenancy sustainment support. This in itself would indicate that the Claimant has a pleadable case against the Defendant which has some real prospect of success, and that the Defendant's request for costs is abusive and unjustified.

___________________________

[1] Paragraphs 11 and 12 relate to Active Newham (of Newham Council) and Newham Ability Camp, respectively.

https://www.batchelors.co.uk/

Nick McKnight
Partner 
Batchelors Solicitors

Address removed for email


17 December 2019

Dear Mr McKnight,

Claim Number: F03CL589
Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: St Mungo's


I refer to the email below from your client's Information Security Manager Maya Kotecha.

The results of my subject access request have been referred to the Court for directions as to how to proceed. You were copied into this referral yesterday.

Not only Ilyas Hussein's Witness Statement, but my history with Ms Kotecha and others from her Information Security team precludes me from contacting any of these people before my case is settled or before the court's final ruling. I am of course willing to adduce into evidence the said history, including, inter alia, interventions from your client's information governance lead, Dominic Williamson.

I am seeking the striking out of support plans and related documentation as an abuse of process (this would also remove all slanderous and other information contrary to the provisions of the data protection law). It must be part of any settlement that the same applies to my wife. 

I will accept communication only in writing from you and all other forms are inconvenient for me.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring




From My Picks:

16 December: We're still in disbelief. This is how the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's behaves during court proceedings
Extract from Declan's letter of 16 December to the Court Manager following the slanderous results of a subject access request from St Mungo's: "I wish to bring to the Court's attention a serious development in this case almost immediately following my filing in Court and service of Claimant's Reply to Witness Statement of Ilyas Hussein on 11 December 2019."

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Monday, December 16, 2019

Newham Council: Will the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman not investigate Declan's complaint of unfair treatment against the Council because he has requested communication only in writing?

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


11 December: St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs [1]

Paragraph 1 of Declan's reply to the St Mungo's witness statement reads as follows:

1. The Defendant's witness statement dated 27 November 2019, written by its Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Service Manager Ilyas Hussein, contains a series of false claims and omits and misrepresents key facts pertaining to its tenancy sustainment support. This in itself would indicate that the Claimant has a pleadable case against the Defendant which has some real prospect of success, and that the Defendant's request for costs is abusive and unjustified.

___________________________

[1] Paragraphs 11 and 12 relate to Active Newham (of Newham Council) and Newham Ability Camp, respectively.

Last Friday Declan brought his complaint of unfair treatment against Newham Council to the attention of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman; see my post of 13 December, Newham Council: The Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's has made this complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman highly relevant to Declan's court action against the charity. According to Newham Council, Declan's volunteer hours with the Council's Active Newham can take up to 90 days to be loaded on their system. Declan has written to the Ombudsman requesting communication only in writing following his receipt this evening of this email from them just like this:

16 December 2019
Our ref: 19 015 834
(Please quote our reference when contacting us)
Dear Mr Heavey,
Thank you for your recent complaint against London Borough of Newham.
Your reference number is 19 015 834. Please quote this number whenever you contact us.
Why we are writing to you
We have forwarded your complaint to our Assessment Team who will decide to do one of three things:
not to investigate your complaint;
resolve your complaint at this stage if there are good reasons to do so;
pass your complaint to our Investigation Team for further work.
To help us deal fairly and efficiently with complaints, please wait until our Assessment Team contacts you. We aim to contact you within six to eight weeks, but this may be longer due to current high levels of new cases.
What this means for you
If we need any further information from you we will contact you.
We may decide your complaint without contacting you.
What you should do now
We understand the complaints process can be a stressful experience. There are a few things we need you to know about how we work. Please read the attached factsheet. It also explains what we can do if you need extra help to use our service. You can let us know at any time if you need extra help as we want everybody to be able to use our service.

In the meantime, could you please call on 0300 061 0614 and provide us with you current address and contact number. Thank you
Yours sincerely
Sharon Robinson
Complaints Adviser
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL CARE OMBUDSMAN


Declan has also repeatedly requested a thumbs up (21) from Active Newham that tallies with his volunteering. And he has not been receiving his joining instructions for events of late; see my post of 10 December, Newham Council's Active Newham tells Declan that he hasn't been receiving their emails of late because he has a Gmail account and they were not on his trusted list on his email address book (UPDATED 11/12/2019)




From My Picks:

16 December: We're still in disbelief. This is how the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's behaves during court proceedings
Extract from Declan's letter of 16 December to the Court Manager following the slanderous results of a subject access request from St Mungo's: "I wish to bring to the Court's attention a serious development in this case almost immediately following my filing in Court and service of Claimant's Reply to Witness Statement of Ilyas Hussein on 11 December 2019."

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

We're still in disbelief. This is how the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's behaves during court proceedings

I have looked at the long correspondence regarding your tenancy and clearly you have made a powerful case for the unconscionable behavior of the agency in control of your tenancy.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).


County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


11 December: St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs [1]

Paragraph 1 of Declan's reply to the St Mungo's witness statement reads as follows:

1. The Defendant's witness statement dated 27 November 2019, written by its Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Service Manager Ilyas Hussein, contains a series of false claims and omits and misrepresents key facts pertaining to its tenancy sustainment support. This in itself would indicate that the Claimant has a pleadable case against the Defendant which has some real prospect of success, and that the Defendant's request for costs is abusive and unjustified.

___________________________

[1] Paragraphs 11 and 12 relate to Active Newham (of Newham Council) and Newham Ability Camp, respectively.

Declan and I are housed in a flat that is part of the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative. Alongside our tenancy is access to the Mayor's Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) at St Mungo's. It has been acknowledged by the Greater London Authority in court papers that we can live independently – we do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Our needs are solely related to the harassment, discrimination, intimidation and victimisation we routinely face. This is typified by the behaviour of St Mungo's during proceedings currently before the court. No sooner had Declan replied to an outrageous witness statement of a service manager than he received in the post on Saturday fabricated data against him the likes of which we have not encountered before from St Mungo's (and that's saying something). This morning Declan has marked as urgent an email to the court manager for directions as to how to proceed.

The Court Manager
County Court at Central London
Royal Courts of Justice

Address removed for email

BY EMAIL AND RECORDED POST


16 December 2019

Dear Sir,

Claim Number: F03CL589
Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: St Mungo's


I wish to bring to the Court's attention a serious development in this case almost immediately following my filing in Court and service of Claimant's Reply to Witness Statement of Ilyas Hussein on 11 December 2019.

Three days later, on 14 December, I received the results of a subject access request from the Defendant. They are truly shocking, and by far the worst the Defendant has produced against me to date.

The support terms of my tenancy agreement have been broken by these support plans and other documentation, which have been used as vehicles through which to make, inter alia, serious allegations about me without any basis in fact. The support plans and related documentation also breach assurances the Defendant has given the Court and me in the past.

The support plans, which I never knew even existed, were drawn up by the Defendant on 20 February 2019 and redrawn on 19 November 2019 as an apparent set-up for the non-renewal of my tenancy by Peabody Trust in 5 months' time. They at the very least are completely inappropriate vehicles for the Defendant to vent its animosity and hostility towards me through the use of slander and falsehood. They also undermine and contradict mutually agreed upon case notes that are loaded on the system, raising serious questions about the credibility and reliability of the Defendant and the veracity of its claims.

I can confirm that I am in possession of a support agreement that specifically states that: "There will be no support plan." This support agreement was negotiated between the Defendant and me following the equivalent of an intervention by District Judge Silverman on 3 February 2016.  

I respectfully ask that this matter of the results of my subject access request be included in my application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unreasonably and in breach of duty towards me. 

Yours faithfully,

Declan Heavey

cc: Batchelors LLP

Batchelors Solicitors are acting for St Mungo's:

https://www.batchelors.co.uk/




From My Picks:

31 October: St Mungo's: Declan files his pleadings today. He is forced to take action against this Mayor of London-commissioned charity to even get our caseworkers to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs (WITH UPDATE 16/12/2019)

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Declan's results of his subject access request from the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's are truly shocking, and by far the worst we have ever seen

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

For the attention of Nick McKnight, Partner, Batchelors Solicitors

Maya Kotecha
Information Security Manager
St Mungo's

Address removed for email


14 December 2019

Dear Ms Kotecha,

Claim Number: F03CL589 
Claimant: Declan Heavey 
Defendant: St Mungo's


I refer to the results of my subject access request, received today.

You have sent me information that is inaccurate, incomplete and misleading. One statement in particular is false, defamatory and libellous. The support terms of my tenancy agreement have also been broken. 

I will not seek the rectification of any of this information before I have brought this matter to the attention of the Court.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring


From My Picks:

13 December: What's next from the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's? Declan emails Batchelors Solicitors who are threatening us with insurmountable debt based on a fabrication of false claims and misleading information

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

Friday, December 13, 2019

What's next from the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's? Declan emails Batchelors Solicitors who are threatening us with insurmountable debt based on a fabrication of false claims and misleading information

I have looked at the long correspondence regarding your tenancy and clearly you have made a powerful case for the unconscionable behavior of the agency in control of your tenancy.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


11 December (previous post): St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs [1]

Paragraph 1 of Declan's reply to the St Mungo's witness statement reads as follows:

1. The Defendant's witness statement dated 27 November 2019, written by its Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Service Manager Ilyas Hussein, contains a series of false claims and omits and misrepresents key facts pertaining to its tenancy sustainment support. This in itself would indicate that the Claimant has a pleadable case against the Defendant which has some real prospect of success, and that the Defendant's request for costs is abusive and unjustified.

___________________________

[1] Paragraphs 11 and 12 relate to Active Newham (of Newham Council) and Newham Ability Camp, respectively.

https://www.batchelors.co.uk/

Nick McKnight
Partner 
Batchelors Solicitors

Address removed for email


13 December 2019

Dear Mr McKnight,

Claim Number: F03CL589
Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: St Mungo's


I refer to the email below from your client's TST Service Manager Ilyas Hussein.

Mr Hussein's email contradicts an email I received yesterday from your client's Information Security Manager Maya Kotecha.

Ms Kotecha says that she has processed my subject access request and that I should receive my results by recorded post.

Mr Hussein's Witness Statement precludes me from contacting him before my case is settled or before the court's final ruling.

I will accept communication only in writing and all other forms are inconvenient for me.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring




'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs

I have looked at the long correspondence regarding your tenancy and clearly you have made a powerful case for the unconscionable behavior of the agency in control of your tenancy.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


31 October: St Mungo's: Declan files his pleadings today. He is forced to take action against this Mayor of London-commissioned charity to even get our caseworkers to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs (WITH UPDATE 11/12/2019)

Paragraph 11 of Declan's Particulars of Claim concludes:

"The Defendant's conduct, culminating in an absence of the most basic support (meaning the willingness of the Claimant's TST caseworker to vouch over the phone that the Claimant is a client of his), is unreasonable and comes on foot of a string of violations of the legal rights and interests of the Claimant that have had a continual destabilising effect upon his tenancy since the beginning of May 2018. After almost four months of dialogue on the issue of the Defendant's failure to provide satisfactory support, the Defendant's additional almost four weeks of silence since Mr. Williamson's phone message on Friday, 4 October 2019 has made the Claimant's situation unsustainable and unsafe. The Claimant is, therefore, making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unreasonably and in breach of duty towards him. Alternatively, the Claimant asks that leave to appeal be granted."

The week before last, Declan asked the Central London County Court in the Royal Courts of Justice for time to reply to a whole series of false claims by the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's upon which they have sought their costs. And that's not to mention a stack of misleading information. Declan filed his reply to their outrageous witness statement in the Court this afternoon.

CLAIMANT'S REPLY TO WITNESS STATEMENT
OF ILYAS HUSSEIN


1. The Defendant's witness statement dated 27 November 2019, written by its Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Service Manager Ilyas Hussein, contains a series of false claims and omits and misrepresents key facts pertaining to its tenancy sustainment support. This in itself would indicate that the Claimant has a pleadable case against the Defendant which has some real prospect of success, and that the Defendant's request for costs is abusive and unjustified.

2. In this reply to the Defendant's witness statement, unless the context requires otherwise, references to supporting document (SD) pages are to the documents to the Particulars of Claim.

3. In paragraphs 2 and 3 of its witness statement, the Defendant significantly downplays the support from Tenancy Sustainment Teams (TSTs). For example, the Defendant makes no mention of assisting clients to "achieve financial independence". As part of celebrating its work of the last 25 years, the Defendant has created the report titled "Clearing House at 25". It states at page 10 under "The Support" that:

"The TSTs empower people to lead fulfilling lives by supporting them to address their needs and to develop the confidence and skills to live independently. The teams offer critical support to individuals when they move into often new, unfurnished flats, to help tenants:

- achieve financial independence
- learn crucial living skills such as budgeting, cooking
- access training or employment opportunities
- work towards digital inclusion"


4. The Defendant also fails to mention the support into voluntary roles that it offers many of its clients. The draft version of a letter of the Defendant dated 11 September 2018, to Newham Council's Active Newham, states: "Access and support into voluntary roles is a common and successful route for many of our clients to gain access into paid work, gaining valuable experience and improving or maintaining self-esteem. While also building valuable links and contribution to their local community." The Claimant is a former physical education teacher who has taught in Glenstal Abbey, one of Ireland's top schools.

5. In paragraph 5 of its witness statement, the Defendant misleadingly states that the Claimant "is now independent and does not require St Mungo's assistance". The Claimant has always been independent in so far as he does not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues; but this is a form of independence in relation to him that is by no means unreliant on assistance, a form of dependence. The Claimant requires the Defendant's assistance to obtain an appropriate long term voluntary work placement in a relevant role with a view to obtaining a second job so that he can achieve financial independence. As can be seen at paragraph 5 of the Particulars of Claim, the Claimant complains about a blockade across London on his volunteer applications (SD, pp. 34-36).

6. The Claimant and his wife are part-time employed two days a week on a minimum wage. Until such time as the Claimant is completely free of Housing Benefit, he will always be extremely vulnerable to a return to homelessness. The Claimant has a long history of the suspension or termination of his benefits through no fault of his own. For example, despite the fact that the Claimant has had no dealings with the Department for Work and Pensions during his current tenancy, the Department has twice had his housing benefit suspended, having notified Newham Council on both occasions that he had vacated.

7. Paragraph 5 of the Defendant's witness statement also contains three false claims. The first false claim is that the Claimant "has even declined support offered to him by St Mungo's employment support team, and other specialist agencies that might be able to assist him". The Defendant makes clear that its employment service is more of a sign-posting service (pointing clients in the right direction of employment which suits their skills) unless clients cannot find work or approach potential employers themselves. The Claimant confirmed in writing on 18 March 2019 an arrangement he struck with his TST caseworker in respect of auxiliary support; namely, that if anyone from the employment support team were to suggest possible volunteer opportunities in a learning disability organisation, his caseworker would let him know the name of the organisation. There are no other specialist agencies that have offered support to the Claimant for him to decline.

8. The second false claim in the Defendant's paragraph 5 is that "the only assistance [the Claimant] has requested is for his caseworker to provide him with a reference in order to help him obtain a volunteering role". The Defendant has sent on behalf of the Claimant supporting emails to Active Newham, Bromley by Bow Centre, Sense and KEEN London. However, this form of support proved unreliable. As can be seen at paragraph 3 of the Particulars of Claim, the Claimant only requested a reference from the Defendant after his caseworker failed to uphold his end of an agreement for support. Since 3 October 2019, all the Claimant has been requesting is the most basic support, meaning the willingness of his caseworker to vouch over the phone that he is a client of his. This is a very long way short of the support that had been agreed upon at the outset of the year (SD, p. 39).

9. The third false claim in the Defendant's paragraph 5 is that, with respect to a reference, "The same goes for his wife". The Claimant's wife is a former social psychologist, with qualifications in social care. As well as having befriended a person with disabilities for over a year, she has been volunteering in a resource centre for older people for over three years with a view to working in end-of-life care. On 18 April 2019, her caseworker wrote into case notes: "It has been agreed that she will put me down - Sofia Pires (TST Caseworker) - as her personal referee." The following month her caseworker submitted to St Joseph's Hospice an incomplete volunteer reference form that raised serious questions about the Claimant's wife's character and rendered the volunteer role she had in the hospice untenable (SD, p. 31). It was only after this that the Claimant's wife requested a reference that she could rely on, and subsequently she too offered to settle for no more than her caseworker confirming over the phone that she is a client of hers. 

10. In paragraph 6 of its witness statement, the Defendant points to paragraph 3 of the Particulars of Claim to state that the Claimant "complains that St Mungo's has failed to provide him with a personal reference to support his application for a role in learning disability volunteering." The Defendant goes on to state that "there is no obligation upon our caseworkers to provide references, and they do so if they feel comfortable doing so and can provide truthful information". The Defendant completely ignores paragraphs 8-11 of the Particulars of Claim, wherein the Claimant repeatedly makes clear that both he and his wife have offered by way of settlement to accept as personal referees caseworkers who would be willing to do no more than vouch over the phone that they are clients of the Defendant's TST in north London (TST North). The Defendant has provided no explanation for the denial of this most basic support. 

11. In paragraph 7 of its witness statement, the Defendant falsely claims that "Mr Heavey has himself found the position about which his claim in these proceedings relates". On 24 April 2019, the Claimant sent an email to his caseworker confirming their agreement that he would resume volunteering with Active Newham on Events (short term opportunities). This agreement was affirmed by email of 11 June 2019 (copy enclosed at Schedule 1.4 hereto). Miscellaneous events such as the London Marathon or Newham Council's Firework Display are not long term opportunities (LTOs) and cannot be construed as a 'position' by any stretch of the imagination.[1]

12. On 10 October 2018, Active Newham confirmed that they were not managing any sports projects delivering activities to children with disabilities. The Claimant had just lost a voluntary role at Newham Ability Camp, an after school multi-sport club for children and young adults with disabilities, in which he shadow volunteered twice a week whilst waiting for clearance by the police to work with children and adults (an enhanced DBS check). No sooner had the Claimant received his DBS certificate after two and a half months of waiting - during which time he had also become an accredited UK Athletics assistant coach - than he was informed by email that the disability club had changed their policy for recruiting volunteers to the exclusion of anyone outside Newham Sixth Form College. At no time was TST North willing to support the Claimant's interest in a voluntary role with Newham Ability Camp despite his numerous requests.

13. In paragraph 8 of its witness statement, the Defendant fabricates concern about having to provide the Claimant with a reference that is drafted by him. It is clear from the Claimant's claim letter that he has offered only to provide whatever information is needed from him for a reference (SD, pp. 25-26). The Defendant goes on to grossly misrepresent an email the Claimant sent to his caseworker on 8 July 2019 (copy enclosed at Schedule 1.3 hereto). Contrary to what the Defendant states regarding this email, the Claimant asks his caseworker to send a supporting email to Active Newham (not an employment reference to a potential employer), as had clearly been previously agreed between them. The supporting email was sent by the caseworker on 10 July 2019, but it bounced back as undeliverable because it was sent with a full stop at the end of the address (SD, p. 20). The Defendant's pretence that this did not happen and nothing was ever sent is evidently false and misleading.

14. On 28 November 2019, the Claimant received a letter from the Defendant notifying him that it does not believe that "the support TST can provide will be of any assistance to you at this time" (copy enclosed at Schedule 1.2 hereto). The Claimant's wife received a similar letter, with the Greater London Authority and Peabody Trust copied into both letters. The Claimant responded by email that same day stating that his reply to the Defendant's witness statement would re-emphasise the TST support he needs in order to ensure that he can sustain his tenancy and achieve financial independence (copy enclosed at Schedule 1.1 hereto). The Claimant contends that these two letters from the Defendant are no more than a set-up for the non-renewal of his tenancy by Peabody in 5 months' time in violation of his rights and interests. The Defendant's Clearing House report states at page 12 that not only do TST staff continue to work with clients "until they are ready to move on", but that only a small fraction - 12% - are ready to move on.

15. The Defendant also declares in both letters that going forward it will "keep records of any meetings, email exchanges and/or phone conversations on Opal (our recording system). These records will reflect the relevant staff member's understanding." This precludes the Claimant from having any further contact with the Defendant in respect of this case other than through its legal representative. As can be seen at paragraph 4 of the Particulars of Claim, the Defendant has had to repeatedly delete on Opal false and misleading case notes, including notes that it had assured the Court had been rectified. And this notwithstanding that the Defendant provided the Claimant with written assurance on 24 January 2019 that moving forward "all and any notes" would be agreed upon by both parties (SD, pp. 8-9). The Defendant also reneges on a commitment to the Court contained in its witness statement dated 14 December 2016, written by Executive Director Dominic Williamson, who is the Defendant's information governance lead. It reads as follows:

"St Mungo's is keen to work with Mr Heavey to ensure that he remains securely housed and does not face homelessness again. We are willing to work with him to ensure that the records that our staff keep are agreed by him." 

16. Further, both letters state that: "Our objective is always to support our clients to sustain their tenancies and to avoid a return to homelessness." There is a distinction to be made between the sustainment of a tenancy and the avoidance of a return to homelessness, the latter being the goal. The Clearing House report contains a quote from a client: "I’ve managed to get myself enrolled in a Master’s programme to finish social work training; that’s pretty much due to the stability of having accommodation and support." Clearly this client can sustain his tenancy, but he still needs support to avoid a return to homelessness. Likewise, the Claimant has managed to sustain his tenancy, but to ensure that he does not face homelessness again he needs support to achieve financial independence. It is unjust and wrong for the Defendant to deny the Claimant the most basic support to this end. This support has repeatedly been shown to be critical to help him access employment opportunities by means of an appropriate and suitable LTO voluntary work placement.

17. In asking the Court to dismiss the Claimant's case at paragraph 9 of its witness statement, the Defendant relies on a fabrication of false claims and misleading information. The Defendant writes in the concluding paragraph that: "If the Court does not consider appropriate to dismiss the claim, I ask that delete all those parts of the Particulars of Claim which it considers to be irrelevant and / or requires the [sic] Mr Heavey to re-draft his Particulars more concisely and setting out succinctly his cause of action." The Claimant requests that the Court does not do this, and that in particular the history the Claimant presents in the Particulars in relation to the handling of his personal data is retained as relevant to his claim. So too, indeed, the entire sections under the headings: "Background"; "Failure to provide satisfactory support"; "Continual threat to property and life"; "Ineffective, unfair and biased complaints procedure"; "Unconscionable behavior"; and "Relief sought".

18. As stated in the concluding paragraph of the Particulars of Claim, the Defendant's conduct, culminating in an absence of the most basic support (meaning the willingness of the Claimant's TST caseworker to vouch over the phone that the Claimant is a client of his), is unreasonable and comes on foot of a string of violations of the legal rights and interests of the Claimant that have had a continual destabilising effect upon his tenancy since the beginning of May 2018. The current situation with regard to the Claimant's tenancy is unnecessary, unsustainable and unsafe. The Claimant therefore once again asks the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unreasonably and in breach of duty towards him. Alternatively, the Claimant asks that leave to appeal be granted.

_________________________________

[1] Updated 2 January 2019


Declan has also repeatedly requested from Newham Council's Active Newham a thumbs up (21) that tallies with his volunteering. The Council has even decided that he will have to wait up to three months for Active Newham to load his volunteer hours on their system; see my post of 2 January, Newham Council: The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman will not investigate Declan's complaint of unfair treatment because it pertains to his voluntary work at the Council. This link also reveals that in addition to travel expenses from Limelight Sports, he has not even been receiving his joining instructions from Active Newham for events of late.


Declan taught PE in Glenstal Abbey, one of Ireland's top schools.

Earlier this year Declan fought for four months over case notes. Among a whole host of other problems (including one false and fabricated claim of 15 February that he "wants to explore training"), the last two action notes relating to learning disability volunteering were missing from a barely legible image attachment of notes that he received on 1 May.

18 February 2019
Met with Declan at his home today at 3pm on 18 February. On 1 February Declan and TST North came to an agreement regarding support going forward. Marc: Send supporting email to Sense.

6 March 2019
Marc: Supporting email sent to Sense.

15 March 2019
Met with Declan at his home today at 3.30pm on 15 March. Meeting following Declan's interview with Sense on 7 March. Marc: Enhanced supporting email sent to KEEN London containing up-front reference to Declan's former homelessness.

22 March 2019
Marc: Contacted KEEN London. Volunteer coordinator is due to return next week and shall contact regarding supporting email.

2 April 2019
Marc: Contacted KEEN London. Spoke with volunteer coordinator and waiting for application to be forwarded.

Donald Collins is Declan's professional referee. Below is Don's reference dated 8 September 2018. It is somewhat understated, in that our Church and State website now has 57 Nobel Laureates on it, as well as a distinguished list of 244 Honorary Associates that includes 15 Nobel Laureates and nine knighted professors. (These figures were lower in September 2018 when, for example, we had two Nobel Laureates listed as associates.)

Donald A. Collins, President
International Services Assistance Fund
5620 Oregon Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20015
[Information withheld]
FAX [number withheld]
eMail [address withheld]

September 8, 2018

To Whom It May Concern:

I have become aware that my colleague, Declan Heavey, a highly educated professional, has come to need a reference for Newham Council (Active Newham) to find him voluntary work within Newham with children and adults with learning disabilities in a sport setting.

Declan's credentials for this sort of voluntary work are impressive. He is an accredited UK Athletics assistant coach with a DBS certificate for such a voluntary position. He is also a former physical education teacher, who has taught in one of Ireland's top schools (Glenstal Abbey) and set up and ran an unprecedented national network of 26 summer schools called Adventure Ireland that catered for over 4,000 children aged 6-14.

I have read with interest a Republic of Ireland newspaper article about Adventure Ireland that speaks of an admirable 'reconciliation scheme' for the involvement of a large number of children from Northern Ireland. Under this scheme, southern locations catered for children from Northern Ireland accompanied by experienced youth workers known by the children themselves. I understand and have no doubt that this scheme attracted considerable local media coverage both sides of the border between the two countries.

Declan manages an extensive website to which many contribute significant articles that bear on the general welfare of people everywhere. The site gets hundreds of thousands of hits and is a favorite of mine and many Nobelists. In fact, the site has no less than 40 Nobelists on it, as well as a distinguished list of 183 Honorary Associates to date that includes 2 Nobelists and 7 academics with knighthoods under the British royal honors system.

I have met Declan and known him for more than 7 years and I can attest to his strength of character. He is an outstanding and active citizen with a great commitment to community. He is highly responsible, loyal and trustworthy, and has exceptional organisational and management skills. I am pleased to report that my association with him has convinced me that he would provide a worthy addition to serving children and adults with learning disabilities in a sport setting.

Should you wish for more information from me, kindly email me at this address.

Sincerely, 

Donald A. Collins



'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Newham Council's Active Newham tells Declan that he hasn't been receiving their emails of late because he has a Gmail account and they were not on his trusted list on his email address book (UPDATED 11/12/2019)

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).


Declan has repeatedly requested from Newham Council's Active Newham a thumbs up (21) that tallies with his volunteering. The Council has even written that he will have to wait for up to three months for Active Newham to load his volunteer hours on their system going forward; see my post of 26 November, Will Newham Council uphold Declan's complaint against the Council for unfair treatment? (UPDATED 11/12/2019).

8 December 2019

Dear Active Newham,

I acknowledge receipt this evening of your joining instructions for last Friday's Elder's Christmas dinner (below).

Please can you send me the joining instructions for this year's Plaistow Christmas lights switch-on event tomorrow evening? 

Thank you,

Declan Heavey

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


11 December (newer post): St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs [1]

Paragraph 1 of Declan's reply to the St Mungo's witness statement reads as follows:

1. The Defendant's witness statement dated 27 November 2019, written by its Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Service Manager Ilyas Hussein, contains a series of false claims and omits and misrepresents key facts pertaining to its tenancy sustainment support. This in itself would indicate that the Claimant has a pleadable case against the Defendant which has some real prospect of success, and that the Defendant's request for costs is abusive and unjustified.

___________________________

[1] Paragraphs 11 and 12 relate to Active Newham and Newham Ability Camp, respectively.




'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

Saturday, December 07, 2019

Has the Central London County Court ignored Declan's request for time to reply to the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's fabrication of false claims and misleading information? (UPDATED 11/12/2019)

6/12/2019

Your courage and persistence are inspirational to Sally and me and all our associates!!

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund, Washington DC

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice



Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


11 December (newer post): St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs

Paragraph 1 of Declan's reply to the St Mungo's witness statement reads as follows:

1. The Defendant's witness statement dated 27 November 2019, written by its Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Service Manager Ilyas Hussein, contains a series of false claims and omits and misrepresents key facts pertaining to its tenancy sustainment support. This in itself would indicate that the Claimant has a pleadable case against the Defendant which has some real prospect of success, and that the Defendant's request for costs is abusive and unjustified.

On Thursday of last week Declan asked the Court for time to reply to a whole series of false claims upon which costs have been sought. And that's not to mention a stack of misleading information.

The Court Manager
County Court at Central London
Royal Courts of Justice

Address removed for email

BY EMAIL AND RECORDED POST


28 November 2019

Dear Sir,

Claim Number: F03CL589
Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: St Mungo's

I hereby ask that the Court allow me time to file and serve my reply to the Defendant's Defence, which I received mid-afternoon today.

The Defendant has invented a series of false claims and left out key evidence because it would undermine the negative portrayal of me that it is seeking to give the Court.

Furthermore, the Defendant's website makes it very clear that clients have to be ready to move on and that Tenancy Sustainment Teams (TSTs) offer "critical support" to help tenants "access training or employment opportunities". All I have most recently requested is the most basic support to this end through learning disability volunteering (meaning the willingness of my TST caseworker to vouch over the phone that I am a client of his).

The Defendant has provided the Court with no reasonable explanation for the denial of this most basic support. In fact, the Defendant completely ignores in its Defence this simple request of mine.

I ask for 21 days from the date of service of the defence to file my reply.

Yours faithfully,

Declan Heavey

cc: Batchelors LLP




'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

Friday, December 06, 2019

Declan gets through to the first Nobel laureate in several months but did not receive the confirmation email from Mailtrack that the email has been read (UPDATED 11/12/2019)

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).



23 Nobelists emailed, 22 unread (1 read)

19 September: Email interception: This month not one of Declan's 24 emails to Nobel laureates has been read. We have had using Mailtrack a round average of 150 unread emails a month since last May (UPDATED 30/9/2019)

(Last September one of the Nobelist emails bounced.)





From My Picks

11 December: St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

Thursday, December 05, 2019

Facebook's 62nd block (DAY 2). Declan is currently replying to the Witness Statement filed in court last week by the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's. He's one paragraph away from a finish (WITH UPDATE 26/12/2019)

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).



This is Facebook's 62nd block (2 days) against Church and State since 1 December 2015, and as usual without an explanation. When I try to share a post in groups nothing comes up except the link, effectively barring me for the 61st time from posting in groups I belong to. They also have yet to remove one half of a double administrative block against me. They are still blocking my page listing all the groups I belong to (218 days), having removed a block on scheduling posts from my page (77 days). And there's such a low reach on the N4CM Facebook page since the beginning of October that the page has become a virtual right-off. With any sort of level playing field it is indisputable that we would have far exceeded the 5.6 million hits we have had so far this year. Our top five articles have 6 million Facebook likes/shares between them.






'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Heavey v St Mungo's (commissioned by the Mayor of London). Declan's reply to the Defendant's Witness Statement dated 27 November 2019 (UPDATED 10/12/2019)

I have looked at the long correspondence regarding your tenancy and clearly you have made a powerful case for the unconscionable behavior of the agency in control of your tenancy.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


31 October: St Mungo's: Declan files his pleadings today. He is forced to take action against this Mayor of London-commissioned charity to even get our caseworkers to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs

Paragraph 11 of Declan's Particulars of Claim concludes:

"The Defendant's conduct, culminating in an absence of the most basic support (meaning the willingness of the Claimant's TST caseworker to vouch over the phone that the Claimant is a client of his), is unreasonable and comes on foot of a string of violations of the legal rights and interests of the Claimant that have had a continual destabilising effect upon his tenancy since the beginning of May 2018. After almost four months of dialogue on the issue of the Defendant's failure to provide satisfactory support, the Defendant's additional almost four weeks of silence since Mr. Williamson's phone message on Friday, 4 October 2019 has made the Claimant's situation unsustainable and unsafe. The Claimant is, therefore, making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unreasonably and in breach of duty towards him. Alternatively, the Claimant asks that leave to appeal be granted."

Declan has asked the Court for time to reply to a whole series of false claims upon which costs have been sought. And that's not to mention a stack of misleading information.

CLAIMANT'S REPLY TO DEFENCE WITNESS STATEMENT

1. The Defendant's witness statement dated 27 November 2019, written by its Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Service Manager Ilyas Hussein, contains a series of false claims and omits and misrepresents key facts pertaining to its tenancy sustainment support. This in itself would indicate that the Claimant has a pleadable case against the Defendant which has some real prospect of success, and that the Defendant's request for costs is abusive and unjustified.

2. In this reply to the Defendant's witness statement, unless the context requires otherwise, references to supporting document (SD) pages are to the documents to the Particulars of Claim.

3. In paragraphs 2 and 3 of its witness statement, the Defendant significantly downplays the support from Tenancy Sustainment Teams (TSTs). For example, the Defendant makes no mention of assisting clients to "achieve financial independence". As part of celebrating its work of the last 25 years, the Defendant has created the report titled "Clearing House at 25". It states at page 10 under "The Support" that:

"The TSTs empower people to lead fulfilling lives by supporting them to address their needs and to develop the confidence and skills to live independently. The teams offer critical support to individuals when they move into often new, unfurnished flats, to help tenants:

- achieve financial independence
- learn crucial living skills such as budgeting, cooking
- access training or employment opportunities
- work towards digital inclusion"


4. The Defendant also fails to mention the support into voluntary roles that it offers many of its clients. The draft version of a letter of the Defendant dated 11 September 2018, to Newham Council's Active Newham, states: "Access and support into voluntary roles is a common and successful route for many of our clients to gain access into paid work, gaining valuable experience and improving or maintaining self-esteem. While also building valuable links and contribution to their local community." The Claimant is a former physical education teacher who has taught in Glenstal Abbey, one of Ireland's top schools.

5. In paragraph 5 of its witness statement, the Defendant misleadingly states that the Claimant "is now independent and does not require St Mungo's assistance". The Claimant has always been independent in so far as he does not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues; but this is a form of independence in relation to him that is by no means unreliant on assistance, a form of dependence. The Claimant requires the Defendant's assistance to obtain an appropriate long term voluntary work placement in a relevant role with a view to obtaining a second job so that he can achieve financial independence. As can be seen at paragraph 5 of the Particulars of Claim, the Claimant complains about a blockade across London on his volunteer applications (SD, pp. 34-36).

6. The Claimant and his wife are part-time employed two days a week on a minimum wage. Until such time as the Claimant is completely free of Housing Benefit, he will always be extremely vulnerable to a return to homelessness. The Claimant has a long history of the suspension or termination of his benefits through no fault of his own. For example, despite the fact that the Claimant has had no dealings with the Department for Work and Pensions during his current tenancy, the Department has twice had his housing benefit suspended, having notified Newham Council on both occasions that he had vacated.

7. Paragraph 5 of the Defendant's witness statement also contains three false claims. The first false claim is that the Claimant "has even declined support offered to him by St Mungo's employment support team, and other specialist agencies that might be able to assist him". The Defendant makes clear that its employment service is more of a sign-posting service (pointing clients in the right direction of employment which suits their skills) unless clients cannot find work or approach potential employers themselves. The Claimant confirmed in writing on 18 March 2019 an arrangement he struck with his TST caseworker in respect of auxiliary support; namely, that if anyone from the employment support team were to suggest possible volunteer opportunities in a learning disability organisation, his caseworker would let him know the name of the organisation. There are no other specialist agencies that have offered support to the Claimant for him to decline.

8. The second false claim in the Defendant's paragraph 5 is that "the only assistance [the Claimant] has requested is for his caseworker to provide him with a reference in order to help him obtain a volunteering role". The Defendant has sent on behalf of the Claimant supporting emails to Active Newham, Bromley by Bow Centre, Sense and KEEN London. However, this form of support proved unreliable. As can be seen at paragraph 3 of the Particulars of Claim, the Claimant only requested a reference from the Defendant after his caseworker failed to uphold his end of an agreement for support. Since 3 October 2019, all the Claimant has been requesting is the most basic support, meaning the willingness of his caseworker to vouch over the phone that he is a client of his. This is a very long way short of the support that had been agreed upon at the outset of the year (SD, p. 39).

9. The third false claim in the Defendant's paragraph 5 is that, with respect to a reference, "The same goes for his wife". The Claimant's wife is a former social psychologist, with qualifications in social care. As well as having befriended a person with disabilities for over a year, she has been volunteering in a resource centre for older people for over three years with a view to working in end-of-life care. On 18 April 2019, her caseworker wrote into case notes: "It has been agreed that she will put me down - Sofia Pires (TST Caseworker) - as her personal referee." The following month her caseworker submitted to St Joseph's Hospice an incomplete volunteer reference form that raised serious questions about the Claimant's wife's character and rendered the volunteer role she had in the hospice untenable (SD, p. 31). It was only after this that the Claimant's wife requested a reference that she could rely on, and subsequently she too offered to settle for no more than her caseworker confirming over the phone that she is a client of hers. 

10. In paragraph 6 of its witness statement, the Defendant points to paragraph 3 of the Particulars of Claim to state that the Claimant "complains that St Mungo's has failed to provide him with a personal reference to support his application for a role in learning disability volunteering." The Defendant goes on to state that "there is no obligation upon our caseworkers to provide references, and they do so if they feel comfortable doing so and can provide truthful information". The Defendant completely ignores paragraphs 8-11 of the Particulars of Claim, wherein the Claimant repeatedly makes clear that both he and his wife have offered by way of settlement to accept as personal referees caseworkers who would be willing to do no more than vouch over the phone that they are clients of the Defendant's TST in north London (TST North). The Defendant has provided no explanation for the denial of this most basic support. 

11. In paragraph 7 of its witness statement, the Defendant falsely claims that "Mr Heavey has himself found the position about which his claim in these proceedings relates". On 24 April 2019, the Claimant sent an email to his caseworker confirming their agreement that he would resume volunteering with Active Newham on Events (short term opportunities). This agreement was affirmed by email of 11 June 2019 (copy enclosed at Schedule 1.4 hereto). Miscellaneous events such as the London Marathon or Newham Council's Firework Display are not long term opportunities (LTOs) and cannot be construed as a 'position' by any stretch of the imagination.[1]

12. On 10 October 2018, Active Newham confirmed that they were not managing any sports projects delivering activities to children with disabilities. The Claimant had just lost a voluntary role at Newham Ability Camp, an after school multi-sport club for children and young adults with disabilities, in which he shadow volunteered twice a week whilst waiting for clearance by the police to work with children and adults (an enhanced DBS check). No sooner had the Claimant received his DBS certificate after two and a half months of waiting - during which time he had also become an accredited UK Athletics assistant coach - than he was informed by email that the disability club had changed their policy for recruiting volunteers to the exclusion of anyone outside Newham Sixth Form College. At no time was TST North willing to support the Claimant's interest in a voluntary role with Newham Ability Camp, despite his numerous requests.

13. In paragraph 8 of its witness statement, the Defendant fabricates concern about having to provide the Claimant with a reference that is drafted by him. It is clear from the Claimant's claim letter that he has offered only to provide whatever information is needed from him for a reference (SD, pp. 25-26). The Defendant goes on to grossly misrepresent an email the Claimant sent to his caseworker on 8 July 2019 (copy enclosed at Schedule 1.3 hereto). Contrary to what the Defendant states regarding this email, the Claimant asks his caseworker to send a supporting email to Active Newham (not an employment reference to a potential employer), as had clearly been previously agreed between them. The supporting email was sent by the caseworker on 10 July 2019, but it bounced back as undeliverable because it was sent with a full stop at the end of the address (SD, p. 20). The Defendant's pretence that this did not happen and nothing was ever sent is evidently false and misleading.

14. On 28 November 2019, the Claimant received a letter from the Defendant notifying him that it does not believe that "the support TST can provide will be of any assistance to you at this time" (copy enclosed at Schedule 1.2 hereto). The Claimant's wife received a similar letter, with the Greater London Authority and Peabody Trust copied into both letters. The Claimant responded by email that same day stating that his reply to the Defendant's witness statement would re-emphasise the TST support he needs in order to ensure that he can sustain his tenancy and achieve financial independence (copy enclosed at Schedule 1.1 hereto). The Claimant contends that these two letters from the Defendant are no more than a set-up for the non-renewal of his tenancy by Peabody in 6 months' time in violation of his rights and interests. The Defendant's Clearing House report states at page 12 that not only do TST staff continue to work with clients "until they are ready to move on", but that only a small fraction - 12% - are ready to move on.

15. The Defendant also declares in both letters that going forward it will "keep records of any meetings, email exchanges and/or phone conversations on Opal (our recording system). These records will reflect the relevant staff member's understanding." This precludes the Claimant from having any further contact with the Defendant in respect of this case other than through its legal representative. As can be seen at paragraph 4 of the Particulars of Claim, the Defendant has had to repeatedly delete on Opal false and misleading case notes, including notes that it had assured the Court had been rectified. And this notwithstanding that the Defendant provided the Claimant with written assurance on 24 January 2019 that moving forward "all and any notes" would be agreed upon by both parties (SD, pp. 8-9). The Defendant also reneges on a commitment to the Court contained in its witness statement dated 14 December 2016, written by Executive Director Dominic Williamson, who is the Defendant's information governance lead. It reads as follows:

"St Mungo's is keen to work with Mr Heavey to ensure that he remains securely housed and does not face homelessness again. We are willing to work with him to ensure that the records that our staff keep are agreed by him." 

16. Further, both letters state that: "Our objective is always to support our clients to sustain their tenancies and to avoid a return to homelessness." There is a distinction to be made between the sustainment of a tenancy and the avoidance of a return to homelessness, the latter being the goal. The Clearing House report contains a quote from a client: "I’ve managed to get myself enrolled in a Master’s programme to finish social work training; that’s pretty much due to the stability of having accommodation and support." Clearly this client can sustain his tenancy, but he still needs support to avoid a return to homelessness. Likewise, the Claimant has managed to sustain his tenancy, but to ensure that he does not face homelessness again he needs support to achieve financial independence. It is unjust and wrong for the Defendant to deny the Claimant the most basic support to this end. This support has repeatedly been shown to be critical to help him access employment opportunities by means of an appropriate and suitable LTO voluntary work placement.

17. In asking the Court to dismiss the Claimant's case at paragraph 9 of its witness statement, the Defendant relies on a fabrication of false claims and misleading information. The Defendant writes in the concluding paragraph that: "If the Court does not consider appropriate to dismiss the claim, I ask that delete all those parts of the Particulars of Claim which it considers to be irrelevant and / or requires the [sic] Mr Heavey to re-draft his Particulars more concisely and setting out succinctly his cause of action." The Claimant requests that the Court does not do this, and that in particular the history the Claimant presents in the Particulars in relation to the handling of his personal data is retained as relevant to his claim. So too, indeed, the entire sections under the headings: "Background"; "Failure to provide satisfactory support"; "Continual threat to property and life"; "Ineffective, unfair and biased complaints procedure"; "Unconscionable behaviour"; and "Relief sought".

18. As stated in the concluding paragraph of the Particulars of Claim, the Defendant's conduct, culminating in an absence of the most basic support (meaning the willingness of the Claimant's TST caseworker to vouch over the phone that the Claimant is a client of his), is unreasonable and comes on foot of a string of violations of the legal rights and interests of the Claimant that have had a continual destabilising effect upon his tenancy since the beginning of May 2018. The current situation with regard to the Claimant's tenancy is unnecessary, unsustainable and unsafe. The Claimant therefore once again asks the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unreasonably and in breach of duty towards him. Alternatively, the Claimant asks that leave to appeal be granted.

_________________________________


[1] Declan has repeatedly requested from Newham Council's Active Newham a thumbs up (21) that tallies with his volunteering. The Council has even written that he will have to wait for up to three months for Active Newham to load his volunteer hours on their system going forward; see my post of 26 November, Will Newham Council uphold Declan's complaint against the Council for unfair treatment? (UPDATED 10/12/2019).



Declan taught PE in Glenstal Abbey, one of Ireland's top schools.

Earlier this year Declan fought for four months over case notes. Among a whole host of other problems (including one false and fabricated claim of 15 February that he "wants to explore training"), the last two action notes relating to learning disability volunteering were missing from a barely legible image attachment of notes that he received on 1 May.

18 February 2019
Met with Declan at his home today at 3pm on 18 February. On 1 February Declan and TST North came to an agreement regarding support going forward. Marc: Send supporting email to Sense.

6 March 2019
Marc: Supporting email sent to Sense.

15 March 2019
Met with Declan at his home today at 3.30pm on 15 March. Meeting following Declan's interview with Sense on 7 March. Marc: Enhanced supporting email sent to KEEN London containing up-front reference to Declan's former homelessness.

22 March 2019
Marc: Contacted KEEN London. Volunteer coordinator is due to return next week and shall contact regarding supporting email.

2 April 2019
Marc: Contacted KEEN London. Spoke with volunteer coordinator and waiting for application to be forwarded.

Donald Collins is Declan's professional referee. Below is Don's reference dated 8 September 2018. It is somewhat understated, in that our Church and State website now has 57 Nobel Laureates on it, as well as a distinguished list of 244 Honorary Associates that includes 15 Nobel Laureates and nine knighted professors. (These figures were lower in September 2018 when, for example, we had two Nobel Laureates listed as associates.)

Donald A. Collins, President
International Services Assistance Fund
5620 Oregon Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20015
[Information withheld]
FAX [number withheld]
eMail [address withheld]

September 8, 2018

To Whom It May Concern:

I have become aware that my colleague, Declan Heavey, a highly educated professional, has come to need a reference for Newham Council (Active Newham) to find him voluntary work within Newham with children and adults with learning disabilities in a sport setting.

Declan's credentials for this sort of voluntary work are impressive. He is an accredited UK Athletics assistant coach with a DBS certificate for such a voluntary position. He is also a former physical education teacher, who has taught in one of Ireland's top schools (Glenstal Abbey) and set up and ran an unprecedented national network of 26 summer schools called Adventure Ireland that catered for over 4,000 children aged 6-14.

I have read with interest a Republic of Ireland newspaper article about Adventure Ireland that speaks of an admirable 'reconciliation scheme' for the involvement of a large number of children from Northern Ireland. Under this scheme, southern locations catered for children from Northern Ireland accompanied by experienced youth workers known by the children themselves. I understand and have no doubt that this scheme attracted considerable local media coverage both sides of the border between the two countries.

Declan manages an extensive website to which many contribute significant articles that bear on the general welfare of people everywhere. The site gets hundreds of thousands of hits and is a favorite of mine and many Nobelists. In fact, the site has no less than 40 Nobelists on it, as well as a distinguished list of 183 Honorary Associates to date that includes 2 Nobelists and 7 academics with knighthoods under the British royal honors system.

I have met Declan and known him for more than 7 years and I can attest to his strength of character. He is an outstanding and active citizen with a great commitment to community. He is highly responsible, loyal and trustworthy, and has exceptional organisational and management skills. I am pleased to report that my association with him has convinced me that he would provide a worthy addition to serving children and adults with learning disabilities in a sport setting.

Should you wish for more information from me, kindly email me at this address.

Sincerely, 

Donald A. Collins



'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

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