My attempt to rival @tonyofsidcup in the FOI stakes is not going well. The question about whether or not Bexley Council had an agreement to underwrite
the
costs of running Sidcup’s StoryTeller cinema, and by implication, is it using
taxpayers’ cash to keep it afloat was not answered in any shape or form. A
rudimentary knowledge of cinema suggests that keeping the doors open is likely
to be costing around £20,000 a month, but Head of Economic Development and Skills,
Brian Smith refused to answer the question, preferring instead to send me a Press
Release about how wonderful the cinema is.
In another couple of weeks I will be able to report him to the Information Commissioner.
A
much simpler question concerned parking across dropped kerbs. Sometimes the CEOs
allow a margin of error and sometimes they don’t. Both cars pictured here were
the subject of a web page report and inspected by a CEO. One was ticketed
and the other was not. “It would be a bit mean.”
The FOI question was “What guidance on ‘grace’ distances is issued?”
Emma Weir, Parking Supervisor, took 16 days to answer and you might think in
that time she would be able to come up with something comprehensive and maybe even
intelligent. But you would be wrong. No answer, just a reference to the image on their website. (See below.)
In the past six months I have reported 16 badly parked cars to Bexley Council via their
on-line reporting facility which means I have seen that
picture many times. Too many of Bexley’s employees think that residents are as stupid as they are.
Maybe I should send in a lot more FOIs to see how many are needed before one is actually answered.