Here is todays email to the Local Government Ombudsman Wales, it didn't fully copy/paste from word to email but only a little, enough perhaps to cause the thinking man to say, THASSS MA BOY CRAZYDAVE! Next time I'll blog it first and then send an email of the blog.
Hi Claire Everybody
The following is a copy of a letter from the Commission for Local Administration in Wales dated 14th July 2000.
Our ref: 1999/0897/CF/253/C06/JD By David Bowen
Dear Mr. Gabriel
Complaint of maladministration made against Cardiff County Council
Thank you for your letter dated 1st July 2000.
When you made your complaint on 10th March 2000, you provided very little information and in considering this matter I had to rely on copy correspondence and reports from the council. You stated on your complaint form that whilst there were one or two inaccuracies contained in the report prepared by Mr. O’Brien, in general it was unbiased. I noted the steps taken by the council to try to ensure that the deficiencies highlighted in the report did not reoccur and to redress the injustice caused by letting the property in an unsatisfactory condition. I felt that with the payment of an additional sum in compensation, further investigation would not be warranted. I am still of that opinion and do not propose to pursue my enquiries. It is a matter for you whether or not you wish to accept the ex gratia payment.
Yours sincerely
David Bowen
Secretary to the Commission
That made me an angry and on the 26th of July 2000 I sent a letter titled THE RESULT OF NOT ISSUING A PUBLIC REPORT WILL SAY THE FOLLOWING TO CARDIFF COUNTY COUNCIL:
1) Council employees are free to lie to members of the public with impunity.
2) They will feel at liberty to continue giving one week notice of occupancy to new tenants regardless of the condition of the property, while still demanding 4 weeks notice to quit their properties.
3) Their inspectors can continue to baffle tenants with bullshit in an attempt to keep maintenance costs to a minimum. (see Peter Jones 25.10.99 letter to me).
4) They can continue to have voids vacant for 2yrs or more lose the necessary paperwork so it remains hidden from the District Auditor or if it comes to light know they will not be chastised.
5) They can continue to be lackadaisical in responding to Corporate Complaints after all we have only their word that this will no longer occur.
6) Their contractors can continue not to do the work they are engaged to perform, but who no doubt charge for.
7) No one will question the policy of raising their community charge on sub-divided properties even when it is evident that such a charge will not effect a probable increase in services used by the tenants that the community charge covers.
8) They can continue to move towards a situation where sub-divided properties will raise revenues to double that of non-divided properties via the rent.
9) They can continue to urge tenants to be present at screen removal.
10) They will not be urged to rename sub-divided shared houses rather than flats so that the increases outlined in 7 and 8 do not come into effect.
11) They can install inadequate sound proofing so that tenants of sub-divided properties endure lack of privacy and no doubt unjustified complaints of excessive noise pollution due to its inadequacies. After all is anyone coming to check whether the work taken place has made any significant change to its prior state.
12) They are at liberty to miss-represent events in their stage 3 reports without it being amended or challenged.
13) They are at liberty to continue to let inhabitable and ill prepared tenancies and continue a policy of repairs in occupation to new tenants.
14) They can continue to assist Dwr Cymru in increasing their charge for un-measured supply by not renaming sub-divided properties ‘shared houses’ rather than flats. So that the greed of Dwr Cymru is thwarted.
15) They can continue not to reinvest rent monies back into planned maintenance programme. If your inspector or investigator had called he would be well aware of this just by viewing the outside, and as yet I am still awaiting a breakdown of what the total annual figure is and that money is spent. How it may well be maladministrated
16) They can continue having waiting list for prospective tenants for 6 years or longer and have vacant properties while they do.
17) They can continue to pay the mortgages of private landlords to the tune of £20 million a year with public money rather than purchase houses and house more people for the same revenue.
18) They can continue to support the TV licensing authority to increase its revenue by not classifying sub-divided properties as shared houses.
19) they can continue to disregard the plight of benefit claimants attempts to get funds for removal expenses with the one weeks bums rush policy remaining.
20) The council can remain confident that should Corporate Complaints reach the Ombudsman due no doubt to work pressure, the short falls highlighted in their policy by complainants will not reach the public domain because they will be effectively buried and all they will have to contend with is a nominal payment.
An opportunity for your dept. to make the lives of a substantial number of tenants not only of council tenancies but the public sector more equitable seems to have passed by, in not producing a public report and questioning the many false assumptions that allow for increases in charges, that would question or more closely scrutinise the administration of revenues and thus usher in a pro-tenant era rather than this passive support of an unscrupulous landlord which your refusal to investigate these complaints thoroughly appears to imply.
For had I left this premises within a week they would no doubt be charging me for 3 weeks rent through the courts. Had all these repairs been necessary in the private sector landlord no doubt the council would be up in arms.
This complaint procedure would seem from and end users perspective just an elaborate farce.
Yours as ever David Gabriel
Now Claire I would also say that the Ombudsman had a great deal of correspondence from me prior to this letter from David Bowen, and it has since yet no action has been forthcoming but maybe the reference number will trigger your system or do I have to fax you the letter to prove I am not making this up??? Maybe I will video it and put it up on youtube, but not today. Now perhaps you will understand why I made the Desperate Dan banner displayed outside the Welsh Assembly during 2004.
Also you might see with Mr. Parry’s game playing regarding the Corporate Complaint and how they are still able to delay, delay, delay in responding within guideline timescales that the Ombudsman has never truly slapped their wrists with a substantive compensation payment for their Criminal Negligence nor have any member of the Council either elected or non-elected ever received prison sentences for their various misdemeanours at least as far as I am aware.
Perhaps it is high time that they did, and maybe then complaints would have judicious replies to complaints. Personally I would like to see all Full Council Members facing Criminal Negligence charges following their non-action to my Full Council Question and you can read that in my blogs and that they will not be able to use protocol as an excuse for their inaction. You would have thought that at least one of them would have looked into the matter or read my blogs and got back to me, but oh no not these miscreants, they no doubt revel in the knowledge that they can continue unchallenged by the Ombudsman or the press in their current criminal practices.
Well that was it folkes, time to add it to the files at http://bbccrazydave.blogspot.com and send it to the usual suspects.
