11 May (Part 1) - Freedom to Misinform
A
reply to a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request…
“Parking spaces are provided at a number of our administrative buildings. Staff based at
the Civic Offices make use of the spare capacity in both the Albion Road and
Cinema car parks except for the weeks running up to Christmas where staff
parking is restricted. All staff currently receive free car parking although
this will change when the Council relocates its administrative buildings onto
one site. No revenue is lost from the public as Council staff are using spare
capacity in the car parks.”
What planet are they living on? If there is spare capacity in council car parks
and it is given to Bexley council employees to freely use of course revenue is
lost. Most obviously it is lost because the spare capacity could be sold off at
an attractive price to other local employers. How much is the benefit of being
entirely exempt from the council’s draconian parking enforcement regime worth?
How much revenue is lost when a car park is full because it is crammed with
council employee’s cars?
This is another example of how Bexley council’s
priority is not its residents but its fat cat salaries, the inflated councillor
allowances and privileges for its staff. Councillors have their own free car
park; can’t have them harassed by gestapo
wagons like everyone else or having to dip into their £22,650 allowances can we? I would suggest another FOI along the lines of…
“Is the free car parking facility declared as a benefit in kind for tax purposes
and does the exemption from charges apply at weekends and on bank holidays?”
In accordance with Bonkers’ policy of not indulging in deliberate deception
(that’s Bexley council’s job) I must inform you that the Car Park Full
photograph above is a Photoshop job. It did not originally say “Full”.