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News and Comment August 2022

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7 August - Asking questions can be risky

Before 2010 I had never been to a Council meeting and was therefore totally confused when I showed up to witness one in March 2011 just before 7:30 and saw it apparently already in progress.

I learned eventually that what I was seeing was the tail end of the Civic Recognition Awards but not knowing what it was all about, ignored it. So did fellow Council watcher Nicholas Dowling who was known to the Council because of his inclination to ask awkward questions. I didn’t do that, seeing myself more as a reporter than activist.

A few days later Nicholas was honoured to receive a letter at his home address from the worst Mayor of the past twelve years which complained that he did not enthusiastically clap the awards recipients that he knew nothing about and didn’t go to see.
Letter Singh gets his awardSo that was my introduction to Bexley’s Civic Recognitions Awards at which Bexley Council might recognise the work of their favourite property developer and I have ignored them ever since.

Nicholas Dowling has almost disappeared from the Bexley Council Appreciation Society but there is a worthy successor in the shape of Mr. Dimitri Shvorob who was the Independent candidate for Sidcup a few months ago.

It was Dimitri who winkled out the fact that there was no tendering process before Bexley Council spent nearly forty grand on a post-Covid thank you party and in similar vein he has been nosing around the Civic Recognition Awards.

At £3,886·74 it is not the biggest waste of money in town but even so it may not be value for money, All the successful contenders are awarded an elaborate plastic trinket at a cost of £92 a go. Thirty of them. What’s wrong with only the paper certificate?

Should I warn Dimitri that sooner or later persistent FOI requesters are in line for a ban? The Information Commissioner said that Michael Barnbrook could be lawfully banned from further FOIs because his question related to a black member of staff and therefore pursuing it was racist. The ICO’s knowledge of Mick could only have come from Bexley Council.

Britain is not corrupt at every level. Oh no!

 

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