10 February - Nine months to answer an FOI honestly. (One assumes)
With
WhatDoTheyKnow back on line it is has been possible to poke around to see
what else Bexley Council does not want us to know about. @tonyofsidcup may be
pleased to know his are not the only questions to be dodged.
In May last year a lady asked how much Bexley Council had spent on legal fees
over the past five years defending themselves at SEND Tribunals. How many
solicitors do they have working against dissatisfied parents etc. Bexley did
nothing for two months and then gave her the run-around.
Eventually they came up with a figure of £66,231 but admitted that it was not
the whole story. The figure did not include Admin costs or the cost of hiring
external lawyers. The lady did not give up. How much had they really spent
defending the largely indefensible? With the threat of an ICO reference hanging
over them, Bexley Council came up with the figure they had sought to miss out.
In November 2024 it was revealed that in addition to their internal costs of more than £66,000 our incompetent Council spent
another £102,000 on barristers.
And still the parents beat them in nearly every case.
The lady questioner also picked up a minor fib buried within Bexley's email trail
and she sought clarification on it. The issue was not resolved until last week.
The whole saga may be read here.