Prescott : is Sarah taking a RISE ?

Former Labour Parliamentary candidate Sarah Bissett-Scott, 57, said she had a two-year fling with Prescott and believed she was just one of a string of torrid affairs.

Mrs Bissett-Scott, who stood as a Parliamentary candidate in Stevenage in 1992, but now is the big wheel in Stevenage based Rise Associates, consultants in squeezing money from Governments, the EU and other funding bodies ....especially for regeneration projects .. which is of course a major responsibility of the ODPM.

Interestingly they have responded on their website to the excitement and interest with an item they call "News Focus" (undated)

Sometimes you get more publicity than you bargain for!

Over the years, RISE Associates have diligently brought Nolan Standards to the attention of our clients. But life, like art, is sometimes stranger than fiction!

A work relationship on a transport report for the South East has been amazingly embellished and redefined by some of the less scrupulous press. Clients and colleagues who have worked with RISE and particularly with Sarah, will know that

(a) Sarah's post-graduate dissertations on housing finance and the 'impact of planning' on women's lives were strong academic pieces of work - so much for the blond bimbo label!

(b) The SEEDS research managed by Sarah on Integrated Transport published in 1989/90 was well-received and influential - it made interesting reading for transport specialists and many councils in the South East of England.

(c) Standing as a parliamentary candidate is a serious business - that's why Sarah signed up as a founder supporter of 'Emily's List UK' - the pressure group for 'more women in parliament'.

Whilst interviews have been taking place to replace Tracey etc., (see pic) we wonder does this have anything to do with the following exchanges in the House of Commons on May 11th ?

Mr. Heald: (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative) To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many tenders Rise Associates have submitted to his Department in each of the last five years; and how many were successful.

Angela E. Smith: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002 and information prior to this date is not readily available. Since that date there have been no successful tenders for Rise Associates. The number of tenders submitted during this period is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many contracts his Department holds with Rise Associates which have a potential duration of five years or more.

Angela E. Smith: ODPM has no existing contracts with Rise Associates.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many applications for regeneration monies have been submitted by Rise Associates to his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years for which figures are available and what the value is of those which were successful.

Angela E. Smith: No regeneration monies have been paid directly by the Department to Rise Associates. The Department maintains a record of funding to its agencies, but this does not include details of any payments made by agencies to third party organisations for services.

Pic (C) PA of man with funny red skull cap meets DPM Prescott and in the background Tracey, sometime mistress to DPM Prescott (only minutes away from a quick shag we now discover) but she is was not Sarah another mistress to DPM Prescott.