31 May (Part 1) - Big Brother is alive and well in Bexley
Time
for the end of month round-up again - and what a month. We’ve seen the
new Constitution ratified, the one that bans any form of recording of council
meetings and gets close to banning all questions too.
Notomob have been out in force
in support of Mr. Peaple who was subjected to
police action by Bexley council
for entirely lawful activities; i.e. warning customers that his shop was under CCTV surveillance.
Speaking of the police; they have not yet responded following my
complaint over their refusal to tell me who instigated the Harassment Letter
(apart from a promise of a phone call that didn’t materialize). In
similar vein, Bexley council doesn’t seem to have done anything with my Subject
Access Request either. No comment and not replying at all seems to be a major
part of Bexley council’s defence against probing questions and it is being
extended to Freedom of Information requests too as the
list of FOIs introduced earlier this month shows. Nearly all are answered late
including all those relating to the
Harassment Letter
and this website. Those answers are two weeks overdue.
It’s been a good month for lists.
Council leader Teresa O’Neill announced that thanks to Conservative rule,
Bexley now has one of the lowest rates of council tax so I produced
a list to show what a lie
that is. Bexley is 24th out of 32 in London. A list relating to the
constitutional arrangements of all London Boroughs
has also been provided to expose
last week’s letter to the News Shopper as similarly untrue.
The missing Redbridge has been added today and they roundly beat Bexley too. I
think we’ll have to ask the other boroughs if they comply with government
guidance and allow recording of meetings and make another list.
I didn’t plan on mentioning it this early, but my
visit to the Civic Offices on
19th May was only necessary because Bexley council continues to withhold
information about councillors’ Consent to Nomination Forms, so I went to look
at the Register of Members’ Interests instead. As a result I saw more
information on councillors than would have been the case if the FOI had been
answered. As you may have noticed I said nothing of my visit but Bexley
council thought they would announce it for me. Yet another of their mad schemes
likely to back-fire on them. Clearly some very juvenile minds assemble in the
council chamber. Unbelievably juvenile, I thought they had sunk about as low as
they could with their clandestine emptying of dustbins.
Ahh, the announcement… Addresses have been added to
the list of councillors
in response to their decision to publish those of residents who ask questions. Use with
care and consideration as the home addresses that would have been on the nomination forms have not
been forthcoming. Instead all declared property is listed some of which may not
be ‘home’. Addresses which councillors annotated ‘parent’s’ etc. have been excluded.
If the council ever responds to the the FOI it will be possible to list only the
home addresses.
With thanks to reader Paul from Devon who sent the photo of the ‘1984’ litter bin.