Before I start my rant I must state if the administration of Oakham Town Council was not so poor and I had full access to the office I would not have received this letter from Helen Briggs
I wont’ waste her time by replying directly I am blogging comments; It is my understanding she finds time during her busy work schedule to read my blog. According to my Google analytics my blog is visited around 50+ times each day by User of the Rutland County Council Computers.
Dear Mr Brookes
I am aware that in recent weeks you have spent a considerable amount of time at the offices of RCC with Council officer raising a number of issues,
(My Comment: This is due to the open ended ban imposed on me by Oakham Town Council. I am banned from calling into Oakham Town Council Offices because they accept without investigation I bully the ineffective Town Clerk.)
You have written numerous letters to a variety of officers. This has taken up a considerable amount of time and I concerned that the requirement for a disproportionate amount of resource, often at short notice and interfering with normal workloads is becoming a regular occurrence dealing with your issues.
(My Comment: This letter does not surprise me, when you have a council who are happy with its self for improving staff days lost to sickness in the last quarter a total of 4,972 days were lost.
A planning department tells you an enquiry will take a month and 3 month later your still waiting and James tells you it due to lack of staff, It’s not surprising RCC have resorted to seeking injunctions to stop the public visiting, I am also aware of public high court actions taken against RCC. The performance Management Reports for the last quarter show many of RCC failings.)
Mrs Briggs then goes on to instruct me:
I therefore propose that from the date of receipt of this letter:-
1 you will have a single point of contact with Council – Mr G Pook.
(My comment: a wise choice the Head of Legal Services one of the council’s most expensive resources. I must say he has been very helpful up to a point. I have found Mrs Stokes a lot more helpful. Of course Mr Pook was not as an efficient when he was chief executive at another Council they sacked him and replaced him with 6 litter pickers. Maybe something Rutland County Council could consider, here in Rutland litter and dog poo is a big issue we could employ 10 if Mrs Briggs departed.)
2 All face to face contact with Mr Pook will take place at a pre arranged time fortnightly for a period of 1 hour
(My comment: I am sure he is frilled no coffee please I would not want to add to costs.)
3. All any correspondence with this council should be directed to Mr Pook. Any that is not will be forwarded to Mr Pook to acknowledge and reply. Consolidated replies to all written correspondence will be provided every 10 working days.
(My Comment 10 days! Wow! That’s some target I have been waiting five years+ to resolve issues with my own private property lease. Members of the public will be flocking to me for help with that guarantee.)
Your issues will continue to be dealt with in accordance with our procedures; this is merely a mechanism to manage the amount of officer time spent addressing your issues.
(My feeling is Mrs Briggs who is over paid poor value for money is a little upset I complained to her bosses and sent a complimentary letter about another member of staff who probably deserves more pay)
She then confirms receipt of my letters of 16th and 17th May which have been passed to Mr Pook.
(Final Comment if Mrs Briggs did her job correctly the Council would be performing better. The people of Rutland would not be paying the highest council tax in the land. If she appointed someone to sort out her parish Council Oakham Town Council she would not feel such pressure and I would not visit the council office as much as she dislikes. We have a Town Clerk who gives you the wrong advice and shouts bully when you complain. We only have to put up with this poor council for another year Next year is Election year! The public won’t forget the mess her team with Cllr Heather Wells has made of the education system here in Rutland. Rutland County Council is a bigger problem than Oakham Town Council. They have also forgotten they serve the public. There are a few Cllr’s who try very hard and a large majority of old style Conservatives who are greedy and selfish, I believe one Tory did mention the nasty part of the party. You only have to attend any meeting to see this. A leader who is more concerned about the cost of a cup of coffee than the 16 complaints made to standards about one member of the cabinet last year. I would guess it maybe him as it is public knowledge one was published regarding his lack of manners. The other 15 remain unpublished by the local independent media. Then there is another cabinet member who was so drunk he could not remember anything of the event a member of the public had raised. Although he does remember the complainant is a bar owner and did mention to me he would deal with the issue when the license review came up. I am not naming this Cllr who sits on the licensing committee because I will provide the bar owner with a statement if he needs it for an appeal.)
