17 August (Part 1) - Catching up with correspondence
With very little to report from around Bexley right now it seems like a good time to catch up with correspondence. I never did get a letter from the confrontational and over paid Chief Executive, Gill Steward about her withdrawal of full reporting facilities at Council meetings so I asked for a copy to be sent.
Dear Ms. Steward,
On
the evening of 20th July 2016
you told me that you had instructed officers
not to provide a Press Table at meetings because there was no law to say you had
to. It had been a feature of Council Meetings in Bexley for as long as anyone can remember.
You told me you had written to me to explain your decision. My ward Councillor
had given me the same message a few minutes earlier after his attempt to assist
me was rebuffed by officers acting on your instructions.
Nearly a month later your letter of explanation has not arrived and I must ask
you to provide a duplicate.
I am particularly looking forward to your explanation of how your decision
complies with The Department for Communities and Local Government’s note that
says “Councils and local government bodies should use their common sense to
determine the range of reasonable facilities”.
It is disappointing that your first acknowledgement of my presence at Council
meetings had to be confrontational, it is not what one expects of a
rational individual. I suspect you were under instructions from those with a
history of stupid and occasionally criminal behaviour.
Without a satisfactory explanation from yourself I shall inevitably submit the
facts to the Local Government Ombudsman for an opinion.
Yours sincerely,