Comments on: Trigger happy authorities

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:32:32 +0000

This is because it is nothing to do with politics. Recall “Yes Minister”. The Civil Service carried on irrespect of the what the Ministers wanted.

The councillors (elected) are not the problem. It’s the massive unelected and unaccountable bureaucracy that are the problem.

Councillors can get voted out, and there’s a very effective system for complaining about councillors which the bureaucracy can use to shut them up if necessary.

Suppose you have a complaint about the *staff*. I know of some behaviours that are so appalling they make the current expenses shambles look like Shangri-La.

Who can you complain to ? If you can, what happens to them. Shoesmith (Haringey) is really unusual because despite the deaths through incompetence something was done about it (down to the particular age of the child and the goryness of the death).

Where I live (Norfolk) these happened in the past (most infamously Lauren Wright) and I understand on the qt. still happen, but nothing ever happens to anyone responsible.

Indeed, NO-ONE is responsible, and no-one is ever held accountable.

All we get is “lessons have been learned and policies and procedures will be changed”. What this means, really, is “XXXX OFF”

By: Mike Stallard

Mike Stallard — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:39:42 +0000

Did you hear Mr Cameron’s speech about this? He really does seem to know how the system worked before the New Labour came along to “modernise” it. And I got the impression that he really does mean to restore it to how is once was.

By: Mike Stallard

Mike Stallard — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:33:38 +0000

I taught at a sink school for two dreadful terms. The head was having a nervous breakdown. The staff were silent in the staff room. I saw an Australian (man) teacher in tears.
BUT by collecting the books in regularly every lesson and marking them fairly, by offering real lessons (I was teaching History) where I got the pupils to read, then answer questions in writing, I did get some sort of learning done. The Head of Department was, meanwhile, getiing the pupils to colour in pictures. He never looked at the books either, except to see that the pictures were all glued in.
I was counting the days, though. I could not have kept up any longer. The atmosphere was that of a prison and the general feeling was despair and hatred.
Do you know what? I reckon that without any form of Christian/Muslim/religious input that is the best you can hope for!
What a bigoted remark.
But that does not stop it being true.

By: a-tracy

a-tracy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:52:33 +0000

I agree with you Paul. How to solve it, the only way that I can see is to rebalance the population of the ‘sink school’ townships/villages, more private homes and less housing association (HA) to create better balance. HA and council housing to be split more evenly through all areas (no more than x% of dependent families for each High school catchment area). If an area has no dependent families at all they should have a share of HA homes.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:05:33 +0000

Talking about trigger happy authorities, here’s a story about a US trooper who stopped an ambulance on its way to hospital and detained it with the patient inside….

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/31/highway-patrol-fight-para_n_209500.html

By: Dominic

Dominic — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:05:31 +0000

Please would you write your excellent articles in Word and then let the spell-checker do its work. Then copy and paste.

There is a typo in this article. There is a typo in almost every single one of your articles.

It’s furstrating, you see.

By: FatBigot

FatBigot — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:44:40 +0000

A word of solace for troubled drivers.

If parking notices are not clear, or bays are not clearly marked, or confusion might result from the way restrictions are explained at the roadside, all is not lost.

If you get a ticket because you were mislead, appeal it. The first appeal will be heard by an employee of the council and will almost certainly be dismissed. Appeal again, the second appeal goes to an independent adjudicator. If he or she is satisfied that you were misled, your appeal will almost certainly be allowed.

By: Monty

Monty — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:00:33 +0000

It makes me angry when governments, both local and national, make life difficult and unpleasant for people, and then punish folk for seeking to avoid the problems.

I live near Newcastle upon Tyne, which has a Metro rail system. It’s very good, but there is nowhere near enough parking space at many of the stations. The response to the resultant street parking is to issue parking tickets.

Now our local bus shelters have had their seating removed. The benches have been replaced by downward sloping shelves, about 5 inches wide, which are designed to make it impossible to sit down with any degree of comfort.

My county is dotted with many charming smaller towns, in which local shopkeepers are struggling to stay in business. Our lords and masters have decreed that visiting these places in order to earn money, or spend it, must be punished. So they have introduced prohibitive parking charges and cut down the available spaces. When the shops close down they blame Tesco.

If we want to continue to have a civil society, and a healthy economy, we have to get out of this censorious mindset of treating our own folk like some form of pollution because they want what we want.

By: Brian E.

Brian E. — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:37:18 +0000

I just wonder how long it will be before someone takes a school or council to court to demand a good standard of education for their child. Perhaps the Human Rights legislation will help them; I can’t see that it is much of a defence to say the school is full and therefore you have to accept a poorer or sub-standard alternative.

By: Adrian Peirson

Adrian Peirson — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:27:13 +0000

Getting her children into a better school wond do them any good, our children are being deliberately dumbed down one way or another to make us good little serfs.
As soon as they are born and in our dumbed down Educational system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAEwGqd12cs