13 September (Part 2) - Freedom of Information Requests
I’ve
never made a Freedom of Information Request to Bexley council but from
watching others I do know what the procedure is. Probably the easiest way is to
ask the question on line and then in the good old days John Grosvenor would
acknowledge it and eventually relay the council’s excuse for not responding
within 20 days. But John has now left the council and things have taken a turn
for the worse. Will Tuckley in particular is not answering anything.
Over the past three months Tuckley has failed to respond to a request for his business diary
for May - now with the Information Commissioner - or for June. There has been no
response to a five week old complaint against the council’s legal officer, Akin Alabi or
to a three week old complaint about the finger jabbing mayor, Alan
Downing. Finally there has been no response to a complaint about Tuckley
himself for not answering any of the aforesaid FOIs and complaints. But I suppose he has
a lot on his plate given the amount of trouble Bexley council is in. When will
any of them remember that honesty is the best policy?
You’d think that things couldn’t get any worse but John Grosvenor has been
replaced by Mr. Ola Sunmonu who either through incompetence or direction from
above has changed the system. He doesn’t bother to send an acknowledgement so
FOI questioners get a reference number generated by the council’s website but no
confirmation of the date and no proof the question reached the responsible
officer. It’s too early to say if it is another of Bexley council’s crafty
dodges to hamper enquiries or whether Mr. Sunmonu hasn’t given sufficient
thought to his job.