Archive for April, 2010

‘Council wasted £62k over new speed zone’

OLD Town residents have accused Swindon Council of wasting £62,000 of public money when it ignored the findings of a public consultation on traffic calming in the area. They have also accused the council of being “inept” by not applying for a grant to double the funding available to them for the scheme. A residents’ [...]

Taxpayers Could Be Hit With County Council £60k Legal Bill

TAXPAYERS may have to foot a near £60,000 legal bill for a High Court battle between Notts County Council and its waste contractor. A Freedom of Information request by the Nottingham Post shows the council has racked up almost £47,000 in costs for counsel in the case as well as up to £12,000 on solicitors’ [...]

‘Appalling’ Council Threatens 102-Year-Old Woman With Bailiffs

A council sent a court summons to a frail 102-year-old woman who has dementia and lives in a nursing home. Wheelchair-bound Ethel Branton was threatened with bailiffs for non-payment of council tax in a letter from officials at Islington Town Hall. She is exempt from the tax as she is in residential care at the [...]

Harlow Council Compensates Woman For Leak Fix Delay

An Essex council has paid £4,500 compensation after a report found its delay in fixing a leak in a bedroom had a “negative impact” on a family’s life. Harlow Council’s 18-month delay meant the complainant’s daughter had to share a bed with her, sleep on a sofa or stay with friends. A report by a [...]

Rossendales, Local Authority And LGO

I’ll try to keep this short. I’ve had to deal with North East Lincolnshire Council and their bailiffs Rosendales over council tax. It has been going on for well over a year due to the FARCE, which is the formal complaints procedure with both the council and later the Local Government Ombudsman. Calling in the [...]

Developer’s Criticism Of Powys Gypsy Family Site Upheld

A property developer has been awarded £500 after Powys council moved a family of Gypsies onto land without first obtaining planning consent. The Public Service Ombudsman for Wales partially upheld his complaint. The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority was also criticised for taking eight months to deal with a planning application for the site. Ombudsman [...]

Government Steps In Over Failing Council

The Government will intervene in a local authority after a report identified a series of severe failings, Communities Secretary John Denham said today. The Audit Commission report on Doncaster Council, in South Yorkshire, was ordered after a series of crises at the local authority, including the shocking case of two brothers who were in the [...]

Council Could Face Judicial Review Over Dalry Quarry

THE COUNCIL could be forced into a Court of Session defence action over a controversial quarrying operation. Accusations of a “serious breach of planning law” have been levelled at the authority following an in principle agreement for ten houses to be built on the former Glebe in front of Dalry Secondary School. And Dalry Housing [...]

Bristol Parking Meter Repair Man Jailed Over Cash Theft

A parking meter repairer who pocketed £70,000 from machines he worked on has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Arthur Blay, of Blackwood, Caerphilly, operated the scam from 2002 to 2008 while employed by Bristol City Council. The 48-year-old was caught when investigators marked coins with a liquid which is only visible under ultra-violet light. His [...]

How Does Maladministration Warrant A 10% Pay Increase?

I am a grandfather of a disabled child living in West Sussex, a qualified nurse and a qualified health and social care manager. I have for many years been astonished by the quality of social services for children. Two stories from The Argus, when read together, give the people of West Sussex plenty to worry [...]