8 February (Part 3) - Late payers
A few years ago a Bexley councillor was forced to resign by his fellow
Conservatives because he fell a couple of months behind with his council tax
payments. That was just an excuse of course, the real reason was that he had
embarrassed the other councillors by not claiming his expenses. Perhaps he
should have done and paid his tax with it!
A reader who stumbled upon that fact decided to ask Bexley council if they had
any recent information about councillors slipping behind with their council tax. He
began by asking if any had been sent reminders, just numbers sent you
understand, not names. Bexley council refused the request saying the question
was personal. An appeal was made against the refusal and despite two
‘chasers’ Bexley council has remained stubbornly silent on the matter, so after
four months of that treatment the Information Commissioner has been informed.
Why is it that secrecy is paramount in Bexley? What harm could come from an
answer such as “six reminders have been sent to 63 councillors in the last five
years”? I would think that few would care, but instead Bexley council gives us yet
another example of its commitment to as little transparency as possible and its wish
to avoid its responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act.
I must confess that I received a council tax reminder last month. I used to pay
all my standing orders on the 3rd of each month but Thames Water threatened me with
court action if I didn't pay on the 1st. So I switched all my standing orders to
the 1st. My last payment to Bexley for the current year was due on 1st January
but as most people will know (some don’t!) the 1st is a Bank Holiday. You might
have expected the standing orders to be paid on the next working day and most
were. However those due to end on the 1st of January were wiped from the system
at the end of that day as the computer said they were over and done with when in
fact the final payments had not yet been made. When
something similar happened to me
once before Bexley council wrote an extremely rude letter to me; I am pleased to
be able to report that this time their letter was entirely reasonable. Thames Water’s wasn’t.