WirralPC

Hi Stilton. Good to have a professional onboard who's worked in an official capacity on FOI. Being up to speed on it, you'll be fully aware that it's up to the data controller to serve their public correctly by proactively putting out enough explanatory information on FOI for public consumption; by using a prior publication scheme for commonly asked questions; by issuing datasets as part of this; by linking to central government's Open Data initiative and transparency agenda... and much more... If you're up to speed on all this it reduces duplication, assists the general public in phrasing their requests properly, builds public confidence that you're competent and reassures them that you can be valued and trusted. If you're not doing this then it creates all the problems you've described very well above. The cause of such problems would rest with the data controller for ignoring their obligations set out in ICO guidance. They'd be responsible for bringing problems to their own door, rather than Joe Public :)

Sadly you're right. It happened to me in 2003 before I was forced to resign, and I know a couple of dozen people, friends or people I've helped, who've been through similar. Almost invariably the name 'Unison' comes up. People who've been dumped when their case becomes 'too difficult' or 'too expensive' are soon disgusted to see when they have plenty of time on their hands, that their former union has a seemingly bottomless budget to invest in daytime TV ads for more gullible people to join up and be hoodwinked.

You're right Clarkester, to a very limited degree. However some data controllers have dirty washing they don't want being aired in public, one of which will be The Metropolitan Police. And they will use whatever methods are available to keep the information hidden, even if this risks bringing statutory Acts of Parliament into disrepute. When this happens, determined requesters, whistleblowers, complainants, etc. who KNOW and have experienced malpractice or abuse risk looking like the people you've described above (requesting, demanding, arguing with more intensity) because despite their determination, they've received either nothing, evasive drivel, or an unjustified exemption has been engaged. As far as councils go, two names to Google are Bill Norman and David Garry (former senior officers at Wirral Council). The 'vexatious' drawbridge was pulled all the way up THREE TIMES in response to requests featuring their names, along with 'compromise agreements'. https://wirralinittogether.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/freedom-of-information-how-to-refute-a-vexatious-request-rebuttal-by-a-data-controller/ Bill Norman (now head of law at Herefordshire County) was suspended and facing disciplinary charges, but got off on a technicality courtesy of a whitewashing of him and three suspended colleagues. David Garry (head of internal audit at Wirral) was heavily involved in shenanigans with many missing £millions regarding central government grant money. (Google BIG Fund, ISUS, and whistleblower Nigel Hobro.) So, the policy seems to be, when we've been up to no good, and some meddlesome busybody wants to expose us, reach for Section 14 / Vexatious and make it look like the requester is the one who has a problem.

Favourite subject of mine this one. Here's a recent news story concerning the Press Gazette and its approaches to the Metropolitan Police on the subject of RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act) and the extent to which these powers have been used to spy on journalists. Where do investigative journalists stand when coming up against what could be an abuse of the Act? Are the police at fault? Are the defences of 'feeling annoyed' and 'having your processes disrupted' sound reasons to hold onto this information? Where does the public interest stand? (Nowhere. Because it's not relevant under Section 14 / Vexatious Requests - whoops!) Perhaps the problem lies with the way the law is phrased? The Act allows the Met Police to put up another exemption if this one's overturned, or if they want to withdraw it. However, my mind is pretty much made up where certain organisations are concerned. http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/vexatious-annoying-and-disruptive-press-gazette-barred-met-asking-more-ripa-questions

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/11770135.UPDATED__Armed_police_cordon_off_Wirral_pub_after_mistaking_man_s_walking_stick_for_a_gun/?ref=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter The Cock & Donkey.

Hey, it's warming up people. The 'threat' against the mighty arsenals of the west really is there ! The US had better keep on spending $650 billion dollars+ per year in 'defense', keeping their patriots in jobs and the weapons rolling off the production lines, and the baying public calling for enemy blood. Yes, keep the arms factories churning out, especially for that moment when ISIS eventually see sense, come onboard, and have enough Saudi cash to invest in huge job lots of Uncle Sam's best hardware - to be pointed at the next global enemy number 1, whoever, wherever and whenever that is.

Are they feeling angry and let down by their former friends in government who once stood by them as they bravely clubbed miners over the head from the relative safety of a horse's back? Now that the Tory led government's betrayed them and their desire to cut, cut, cut has spread from the general population and come to rest upon the police, it could be time for the boys in blue to take out their resentment on members of the population who for whatever reason do not represent the police's idea of what a model citizen should be. And so, they will electrocute them in the street. This desire to watch people frazzle also proves, at least in their minds, that: They're extremely busy in their role of protecting the nation's citizens They're deserving of the remuneration that's thrown in their direction There is a rise in the population of crooks and ne'erdowells, which is getting out of control and the insufficient number of police available to deal with it (due to government cuts) is having difficulty keeping on top of it all They are hard as nails

Hey Councillor Vaughan-Powell, as a member of the Employment Panel, please can you tell the public how long you've been on it and how many of the following you've voted for / against? Gagging clauses Compromise (Settlement) agreements Pay offs Clean bills of health for departing gagged officers Many thanks in advance, Paul p.s. I couldn't find a link to your website when I clicked on your name

Looks like the above was leaked in November 2013. I saw it elsewhere and posted on without checking the date. It's still relevant, however.

Following on from Bobby47's recent post entitled "Imagine the good we could do..." http://www.herefordvoice.co.uk/topic/1636-imagine-the-good-we-could-do/ A disturbing leak has been made to Wikileaks in response to the offer of a bounty for internal documents, information which has until now been withheld as top secret. "Written to pick winners and losers..." what has been released so far is just one chapter from a total of 29, referring to medicines, big Pharma, etc. There is a lot more to this... food safety, jobs being moved offshore, file downloads being criminalised and monitored by ISPs. But one large plank of it is the power that these crooks are grabbing for themselves. This has taken decades, but we're fast approaching the point where if these bullying corps see a threat to their future profits, national sovereignty can be overriden and whole countries will be bullied into complying with the billionaire owners and controllers of these offensive collections of human beings. The people of Scotland could be sued for not allowing fracking. The people of Canada could be sued for not allowing genetically modified food. So.... bullying bankers and employers have moved on. Now, they're not not just picking on disabled employees, trade union reps, safety reps or contractors. They're picking a fight with democratically elected governments in their greed and lust for money and power. You have to ask the BIG question now..... WHY should I vote for anybody in May 2015 if the power of our politicians is being taken away??? AND... WHO THE HELL allowed this to come about? I'd suggest the mega-crooks Blair and Mandelson played an important part in it during their thirteen years of treachery, abuse and self-enrichment. And also Cameron and Osborne during the past five years.

There's an elite of billionaires gobbling up what's left of middle and working class people's cash, making them work harder, for longer and for less. The extent of this uncontrollable greed has managed to scrape into the news recently (surprisingly) and is pretty much unstoppable. These vermin have control of the message and this is the main thing preventing fairness, equality and a return to anything resembling humane values and general goodness / niceness / empathy for your fellow human breaking out. National governments, populated by selfish, careerist types are either in thrall to these filthy pigs or deep into their pockets, lost and never to return. That's the disease that's pretty much taken hold of societies across the western world. These creatures control the message and because they OWN the media, it's they who keep on-message journalists like AF Neil, Andrew Marr and the four eyed BBC Tory swine whose name escapes me dripfeeding "the news" in return for a fat salary, with highly-rewarded editors being told what the latest headlines are: Threats: Islamic terror, apparently. (It used to be the Russian ICBM threat but that's pretty much downgraded these days, so we needed to replace that genuine threat with something else, keep a deterrent and keep people in jobs making the intercontinental WMDs that are needed to stop hate-filled cowardly masked men armed with swords) Foreigners 'filling up' your country and expecting a life on benefits Home based idlers, breeding and thriving on benefits (soon to be cut to ONLY £23,000 per year - so runs the propaganda) Anyone Romanian, itinerant or Gypsy 70s DJs, comedians, pop-stars, minor celebrities ...many more... Non-threats: Population going up, up, up with each new generation and on into the stratosphere Finite oil and mineral resources running out, swept along by breakneck capitalism which gobbles up everything and either pays lip service or puts two fingers up to any suggestion of sustainable growth Global warming. Sod it. Not gonna happen in our lifetime. (If the oceans do rise, we're on our yachts, pulling the ladder up, watching you panic, putting a well-placed foot on you and your family's heads until you stop your ghastly thrashing) Feeding and housing the ever-growing poorer population. (But tally-ho chaps; we can always demonise and devalue them, making them appear unworthy, dangerous and even dispensable) The current UK government. No, no threats there. They've got everybody's best interests at heart. (We're all in it together) VIP paedophiles; child abusers connected to Royalty, Government, the judiciary, the police and the security services. (No, move along, nothing to see. No threat there) ...many more...

https://wirralinittogether.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/police-evict-the-bailiffs-how-to-make-the-law-work-in-your-favour/ “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.†More fraudulent bank behaviour here. Apologies if this is already posted somewhere above. I watched this and thought, "there is no substitute for an in-depth knowledge of your subject".

And here's an excellent TED presentation on bullying and corporate psychopaths. This very much sums up what's been happening to a whistleblower and to disabled employees locally: "Nothing they do bothers them, because they don't have a conscience."

It helps Dippy. It certainly helps. There's a psychological survey somewhere which found the position of CEO to be the one most populated by psychopaths. In the psychopath's defence, they're just not 'programmed' to understand the social impact of their actions. Someone who'd step over a body in the road because they're late for a business appointment is precisely the person to head-hunt when you want to close that expensive disabled children's school. The one that needs striking off a spreadsheet because it's become a drain on your precious resources.

His life may now be made hell on earth. I'm hearing from a former employee that this place is packed with psychopathic managers.

Street lights are there to light the street, not garden paths !

Correct. I did miss the point of your post. Because there wasn't one. On this subject, I'm afraid you're floundering. I've patiently explained the position to you and you're still sounding off, with nothing much to back yourself up apart from hunches and guesswork. If the council's lighting designers and contractors have met the requirements of the BS EN 13201:2003 street lighting standard, you're on a hiding to nothing, and groping in the dark in more ways than one. If they haven't met that standard, I've told you how to go about putting the situation right. But no, you're not having it. You're not happy and you won't be reasoned with.

Dippy, you've hit the nail on the head there with your comments about "the shining example". Instead of abiding by their own internal whistleblowing policy, which promises fair treatment, the miserable swine who regard themselves as 'leaders of men' find it's much easier to fire a shot across the bows of ALL OTHER MEMBERS OF STAFF, from Director all the way down the payscale to wet behind the ears apprentice. A very clear and unambiguous message must be DRILLED into the minds of anybody who may be contemplating blowing the gaff... ...that they will be for the high jump, and their treatment will then be played out for all to see (most importantly your like-minded colleagues) in the media, local or national. Yes, you will be held up as a shining example of "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO WHISTLEBLOWERS". So, in the NHS for example, the most caring and dedicated of staff will be watching what happens to the doctor who used to work from that office or the nurse who used to work in that ward, before all of a sudden they were spirited away and weren't seen around anymore. They disappeared in the most mysterious of circumstances. Rumours then abound, "they got suspended and their career's over"; "they were forced to leave"; "they blew the whistle on Dr X and paid the price", all stoked up by Chinese whispers and encouraged by cowardly managers, in collusion with their lackey HR colleagues. The correct response, as published and described in the best whistleblowing policies, is completely self-defeating. If they followed it to the letter, it would be like opening the floodgates to 100s and 100s of people with grievances or complaints or whistleblows. So they don't undermine the "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO WHISTLEBLOWERS" message, by ignoring their own internal policies and procedures. Worse still, there's no redress at any tribunal for managers breaching their own policies. The system is crooked to its heart. The CQC was a crock under Cynthia Bower, and sorry for letting anyone down who isn't aware, they're in full damage limitation mode right now. They're doing their best to cover up and head off the next hyper scandal, whatever, wherever and whenever that is.

When I was a kid here on Merseyside, we used to annoy each other by saying "RingO!!" Whilst holding up a "circular" thumb joined to the adjacent index finger. This gesture was made inches away from the face of an embarrassed child who had "spied their ring" or to paraphrase, had made an error of judgment, and exposed to public view a measure of gullibility or naivety. Similarly, the Hereford public are being HAD. Lots of tiny unjustified 30p deductions adds up to a large pile of ready cash. Somebody should research the early years of the RingGo CEO and see if he hails from the area of my postcode.... because sure as eggs is eggs, you're being RingOed !

Thanks TWG. Cutting through all the superfluous stuff, your issue appears to be with the British and European Agencies that came up with the "BS EN 13201:2003" Street Lighting Standard. BS5489 was the predecessor to this. Presumably this standard was okay with you, but it went out of circulation a few years back. If there were any "dark areas" as you describe them, they'd be picked up during the design phase. Herefordshire's streets should have been designed to these standards. Here are the potential causes of a street not being lit to standard: Failure on the part of the lighting designer Failure on the part of the lighting contractor Eventual failure caused by diminution of lamp lumen output If a light meter (correctly used) proves that these LED installations haven't been lit to standard (assuming the council is truthful and is capable of honest self-evaluation) then the public have a case against them. But if they ARE lit to standard you will then need to press central government and the European Commission to up the values for illuminance set out in the above standard. This "widespread public perception" that you quote means very little if it isn't backed up by getting out there at night with correctly calibrated equipment and measuring what's going on. The councillor contributing to this thread should be taking note of this, rather than granting false hope to a few ill-informed constituents. Get googling on these technical issues before going off half-cocked !

Just to comment on this "the space between lampposts not being lit" issue; when the man at the council designs a scheme, he reaches measurements for average illuminance overall, minimum point illuminance and much more I won't bore you all with. Sometimes, schemes are measured in luminance, or the light reflected from surfaces. These days it's all done on computer with clever software e.g. Lighting Reality - which when I last used it in anger six years ago was an excellent piece of kit. To the naked eye, it may seem that it's unusually dark halfway between each lamppost, but if the scheme's been designed correctly, whether it's existing lampposts being re-used or new ones installed, and they're in the right place, then all should be okay. I'd say if you have concerns that the road IS underlit, ask Bill Norman or whoever has the necessary influence, to get someone qualified out with a light meter (paying them overtime) to traipse up and down the road, take periodic readings and check that it is 'to standard'.

On Wirral we've had wheelie bins for 5 years or more. These are on fortnightly collections. We had all the same issues and concerns before they were introduced. We put our bins out the night before, partially blocking the footway. The binmen return them to the same spot (at least in theory) and the (private) wheelie bin cleaning company follow on, spray it, and return it to your entry / path / garden. It seems to have settled down and is far better than using bags. One thing worth noting is we used to get 3 bins emptied: domestic rubbish (green); recycling rubbish (grey); garden rubbish (brown). BUT we now have to pay £30 extra per year to have the brown bin emptied.

Thanks for getting into the spirit of this by conducting your own home-based survey. What were the readings for luminous flux output of your various domestic LED light sources? Did they get above 2,100 lm? (the lowest output light source for such exterior street lighting conversion work) Or were they *markedly* less? Oh... sound advice that btw - not to believe everything you read :)

No mention of the Spanish scientific survey which warned that LED "white" light sources operate next to the dangerous ultra violet extreme of the visual spectrum. The danger may be that excessive exposure (think police, taxi drivers, ambulance drivers / wildlife) causes permanent, irreversible damage to the retina. It's been interesting to watch them being developed over time. And great that they are now more efficient than their predecessors and last much longer. But the down side is being ignored by vested private interests who stand to make a killing with huge upgrading contracts like this one. It's a similar issue to the use of mobile phones next to the brain. The future health effects are uncertain but we could be sitting on a timebomb.

Is there a "bullying premium", set at a competitive rate, to attract the top movers and shakers?