19 January - Ladies and Gentlemen; this man is taking the pee
Buried
deeply in Bexley council’s Strategy 2014 document is a proposal from
councillor Gareth Bacon
for “Closure and sale of Townley Road public convenience and Bexley
Village public convenience”. He says that depriving residents of a vital
service is “Value for money”. It’s a stupid phrase that means nothing
in this context. On the same basis you might say that closing the Civic Centre represents
“Value for money” too. The withdrawal of this vital service is said to save £40,000,
enough to fund the Bacon household’s expenses claims for nearly five months.
A correspondent put a frightening thought into my mind a few days ago by
posing an interesting question. It was in essence, “Do you think that council
corruption, dishonesty and incompetence is confined to Craske’s departments?” I
was then given an insight into how Bexley’s social services operate. The story
involved the near death of someone in need of constant care and attention who
should have got it from Bexley council but didn’t and then of course the
inevitable lying involved in trying to cover it all up. Unfortunately it is
never likely to be possible to report such cases in detail because without
being closely involved the whole truth is difficult to get at and it is more
likely than not that a council as vindictive and bloody-minded
as Bexley would seek revenge against the vulnerable ‘patient’ and their
families. From my only contact with Bexley’s social services I know that
punishing the most vulnerable members of society
figures highly among their priorities.