18 August - Turning their backs on democracy and the law
The
children get six weeks holiday in the summer, MPs get seven but Bexley’s cabinet
isn’t going to meet for 13. The interval between full council meetings has been
stretched to 16 weeks, but the information blackout goes further than that.
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are being held well beyond the legal
dates. One in particular is intriguing and it could, if only it had been
answered honestly, possibly have revealed electoral fraud. The fact that the FOI
was made in April and four months later Bexley council is refusing to talk about
it only reinforces the view that their first priority is a cover-up.
When I was trying to get hold of
councillors’ addresses one of my colleagues
thought the easiest way would be to FOI the electoral nomination papers and sent
one in as a sort of test. As it happened I found the address that FOI should
have revealed the same day and mentioned my success here. Mr. Chris Loynes who is
one of Bexley council’s most senior officers and whose job it is to nanny
councillors phoned my colleague and said “you won’t need this form now will you?”
but didn’t get the answer he hoped for. He was asked to pop a copy in the post.
Four months on he still hasn’t done so. In fact when chased for it he said he had destroyed the
nomination form. Wearing his other hat of Deputy Returning Officer, Mr. Loynes
was entitled to destroy the form one year after the election it referred to. The
Electoral Commission recommends the forms are kept but it is not illegal to
destroy them after twelve months. Bexley council doesn’t abide by
recommendations or guidance; it is a law unto itself and destroying the form
prevented any electoral fraud being uncovered.
It is illegal for anyone to destroy evidence requested under FOI and the
offence is punishable by a £5,000 fine or imprisonment. Since the form was destroyed
various FOIs have gone in seeking copies of the correspondence that flowed
between various council officers involved with that failed FOI. None have been answered. Mr. Loynes appears to
have gone AWOL. There are complaints outstanding against councillors for their
bad behaviour and it is Mr. Loynes job to oversee them. Once again the
only response is silence.
Getting closer to home; when a well-wisher (thank you Mr. Fuller) suggested to
me that I submit a Subject Access Request to Bexley council (under the Data Protection
Act) to reveal what they have been saying about me I naively thought it was a brilliant
idea. However as Bexley council is refusing to obey the law of the land my
Request is getting nowhere. I last asked the council “why the delay” two weeks
ago and their same day reply said “Thank you for your reminder about the
outstanding response to your Subject Access Request. I have chased up the
response today”. It is five weeks overdue. I suspect it is Will Tuckley and leader Teresa O’Neill who are
intent on being the law-breakers.
I have sent a full report to the Information Commissioner but their inbuilt
delays suggest I may hear nothing until the end of October. It seems a long time into
the future but it’s sooner than the next public council meeting.