18 April (Part 3) - When in a hole, buy a bigger spade
Bexley Council will do whatever is necessary and go to extraordinary
lengths to avoid scrutiny. They definitely don’t like direct questions and
asking too many will result in retribution.
I was
threatened with the vexatious tag when asking
just once why
a bus lane was
installed which was not compliant with the legal requirements. In 2011 a
pressure group known as
NoToMob was labelled vexatious for exposing the fact that Bexley Council was
operating mobile CCTV without obtaining the necessary DfT certification.
Michael Barnbrook was labelled vexatious for asking
why the Monitoring Officer
was neither a solicitor nor a barrister as required by his contract of
employment. When Michael complained to the Information Commissioner the Council gained
their support by implying that Mick was a racist. The Monitoring Officer was a black man.
Bexley Council used to be thoroughly dishonest and occasionally they try to
convince us that it still is. The same old question dodging stunts are being pulled
again and this time their victim is @tonyofsidcup. (You can find his real name easily enough but he
asked that I avoid using it whenever possible.)
Currently he has a complaint with the Information Commissioner
because all his FOI requests are turned away and the little I have seen of
their interim response suggests the ICO is not unsympathetic. Bexley Council will be
working overtime to find a way to mislead the Commissioner.
Meanwhile the
incompetents and overpaid ne’re do wells in Bexley have dusted off
another of their
old tricks. Refusing to allow a resident to ask a public question at Full Council.
The answer to @tony’s question about ULEZ is arguably already known
or at least easily guessed. The work of the ULEZ Task and
Finish Group was in my opinion overtaken by events but that was never formally
announced. Indeed Bexley Council denied it ever existed
- but it did. @tony was looking for an official response. Why Bexley Council cannot
just answer him in a single sentence I do not know, but they have always preferred
confrontation. Given the calibre of their management both elected and
otherwise one should perhaps not be surprised.
The other question was about a caterIng
contract awarded in 2021 which bypassed the tendering process. Bexley
Council did not want to admit what went on at the time and certainly doesn’t want to
find an answer now. My guess is that it was a monumental cock-up
but @tony harbours the suspicion that nepotism was involved. 2024 is well past
the date of the alleged skullduggery but the rules on public questions do not
prohibit digging up the past.
By refusing the question Bexley Council effectively confirms that they may
be either incompetent or crooked but they are gambling that a scandal free
webcast and website is preferable to the truth.