Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence

Mr Mustard is grateful to the excellent Malice in Blunderland blog for the above image and Mr Mustard notes that councils trying unreasonably to shut people up seems to be a common tactic.

On Friday a new Delegated Powers Report appeared and here it is

DPR 1518 Barnet Council Complaints Policy

Never slow to come forward when things are wrong Mr Mustard has sent in what is probably the first complaint under the new complaints procedure which is that the methods by which one can complain do not include by email. The council is trying to push us into e-forms for their convenience. Does it not occur to Barnet Council that if they have inconvenienced someone to the point of complaint that the complainant should have the choice of communication method ( Mr Mustard is off to find out if one can actually send a Harry Potter howler ). 

Mr Mustard will share the reply with you in due course. If  he is unhappy with the reply he will bang on about it until the matter is fixed.

For an example of what a straitjacket the e-form is why not visit the LGO website here and fill in a bogus complaint just to see how unfriendly the system is. Suggested data is a postcode of N11 1NP ( not NW11 1NP as it says at the end of the council policy - more sloppy unchecked work ) and an email address of julie.taylor@barnet.gov.uk 

Be as inventive as you like about your complaint, maybe that there isn't any room to park at NLBP or that executives have their own section, there are too many consultants, too long is spent on writing stupid policies - fire up your imagination and let fly. A copy of the complaint will get sent to the email address you enter. Remember that your computer address will be logged so keep it amusing and clean.

This is what the LGO say is unacceptable behaviour:

· Refusing to specify the grounds of a complaint, despite offers of assistance with this from the authority's staff.

Refusing to co-operate with the complaints investigation process while still wishing their complaint to be resolved.

Refusing to accept that issues are not within the remit of a complaints procedure despite having been provided with information about the procedure's scope.

Insisting on the complaint being dealt with in ways which are incompatible with the adopted complaints procedure or with good practice.

Making what appear to be groundless complaints about the staff dealing with the complaints, and seeking to have them replaced.

Changing the basis of the complaint as the investigation proceeds and/or denying statements he or she made at an earlier stage.

Introducing trivial or irrelevant new information which the complainant expects to be taken into account and commented on, or raising large numbers of detailed but unimportant questions and insisting they are all fully answered.

Electronically recording meetings and conversations without the prior knowledge and consent of the other persons involved.

Adopting a 'scattergun' approach: pursuing a complaint or complaints with the authority and, at the same time, with a Member of Parliament/a councillor/the authority's independent auditor/the Standards Board/local police/solicitors/the Ombudsman.

Making unnecessarily excessive demands on the time and resources of staff whilst a complaint is being looked into, by for example excessive telephoning or sending emails to numerous council staff, writing lengthy complex letters every few days and expecting immediate responses.

Submitting repeat complaints, after complaints processes have been completed, essentially about the same issues, with additions/variations which the complainant insists make these 'new' complaints which should be put through the full complaints procedure.

Refusing to accept the decision – repeatedly arguing the point and complaining about the decision.

Combinations of some or all of these.

Mr Mustard does not agree with some of the above. He thinks it would be eminently reasonable to write to all ruling councillors every day to complain about cashless parking because if a decision is wrong it should be vigorously challenged until the culprits see reason.

The council would do well to learn from Calvin Coolidge

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."

Keep on verbally bashing the council until they see sense; once they take the correct decisions, complaints will simply fall away. 

Bloggers will not be denied their freedom of speech.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

A posting that would meet with the approval of Barnet Council

As you know Barnet Council reported Mr Mustard to the Information Commissioner for not being registered under the Data Protection Act. They said that as I was not registered I could only blog about personal, family or household matters, yes really, see below.

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Now as Mr Mustard is a law abiding sort of person he has written today's blog in that vein. Here it is.

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What I did today

Today I rose bright and early. I went to the paper shop and bought the Guardian. As the paper shop keep Private Eye on the counter the joke caught my eye and so I bought that as well, only £1.50. Then I remembered that I was out of milk and I don't like black tea so I bought some milk as well ( semi skimmed - skimmed milk is like water that has been coloured white and gold top will give you a heart attack ). The bill came to £4.60. I paid with an old grubby £5 note and received three 10p coins and two 5p coins in change. It really annoys me when the shopkeeper gives me stupid little coins, I would have much preferred two 20p coins, but I suppose he can only give me what he has, or wants to get rid of. When I got home I made a cup of tea and put on some porridge. I make it with half milk and half water and it only takes a few minutes to make and keeps me going all morning. The doorbell went and one of the neighbours dropped in. They had a cup of tea, no biscuit because they are fattening and middle-aged spread is starting to set in (me and them). They told me they had ordered something on-line and it would be coming me to as I am usually at home. The parcel delivery companies know to come to number 239; they often come here with parcels for other houses in the road even when there isn't a note on other people's doors to do so. After 15 minutes talking about the weather and a possible visit to the pub to do the quiz on Thursday evening at The Lord Nelson the neighbour left to go to the garden centre and then their allotment. I remembered I still had my potatoes in the ground and it was time to get them out before the frosts start. I found my fork and started digging. I thought about my girlfriend who wants one of those special forks for digging potatoes up. They have a ball shape on the end of the tines as otherwise no matter how careful you are you always stick the fork through the biggest potato and with the price of food in the shops nowadays you can't afford to waste food. Maybe I will buy her one of these special forks for Christmas ( overly romantic I know ) Some of the potatoes have gone green because the soil on top of them has been washed away. Green sections of potato are poisonous and should not be eaten, peel those sections away or cut them off. I was a bit tired after I had done all of that digging so I came indoors and sat down and had another cup of tea and a cheese and onion sandwich using red onions I had grown myself. Red onions are harder to grow than white ones and they tend to be a little sweeter which makes them perfect for use in sandwiches. Then I went into the dining room where my meccano scale model of Tower Bridge needs some time spending on it. One tower is complete and I am just starting on the second one. I could go on but no-one would read a blog like this, would they?

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Now imagine that Barnet Council ruled the world. How interesting a place would it be? The above blog would not have any readers, now would it? and the secret machinations of Barnet Council would remain secret which is, of course, just how they like it. 

Others have written far more eloquently than Mr Mustard on this attempt by Barnet Council to silence a blogger and which would have had enormous repercussions for freedom of speech throughout the land. I recommend that you read David Hencke's blog and that of The Liberal Conspiracy here and Crash Bang Wallace here and the FOI documents are here.

If you are unhappy with the behaviour of Barnet Council then you can tell the Chief Executive by emailing him at this link or the Leader of the Council on this link. Mr Mustard has not yet written to complain as he is still waiting to find out which person started the ball rolling and who it was who authorised the complaint to the ICO as well as the legal power which the council were operating under. I am sure that the Chief Executive and the Leader would both be pleased to hear from you.

I also promise that the next blog post will not be a load of made-up boring rubbish about the life of Mr Mustard ( which is actually very full and exciting ).

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

An idiot's guide to attacking & stopping Mr Mustard

Every time Mr Mustard gets on a motorbike and so is out of contact ( he could set up bluetooth to the crash helmet Mrs A but it might be a bit dangerous ) something happens. Also being out to dinner on 2 consecutive evenings stopped Mr Mustard from attending to his tweets and emails - it is not polite to be playing with one's blackberry under the table! Now, he is back.

So let us see where we are. It was on 29 September 2011 that publicservice.co.uk published the incorrect information ( they took the council at their word, not wise when the council is Barnet ) that a blogger cost the council £40,000 in 6 months. As there are 5 well known main bloggers in Barnet ( Mr Mustard is the newest and is still learning from the others )  they got phone calls which eliminated them which just left Mr Mustard so he was effectively outed by Cllr Thomas. 

Now one of Mr Mustard's readers sent him the following:

The point has been well made that Cllr Thomas's claim about the costs of processing your requests was false.

Cllr Thomas has been invited to correct the article that appeared and has chosen to side-step the question. Elder statesman he is not. Cllr Rawlings will tell you if you ask ( email him here ) that if Mr Mustard makes a mistake, even one based upon an incorrect reply to a Freedom of Information request, as it was, he takes it on the chin and issues a correction.

So attack number two has occurred, and in fact number 2 came before number 1, which we wouldn't have known about except for a brilliant FOI request by Roger of the Barnet Eye. See also the leaks website, here.

Mr Mustard is flattered that as early as 24 April the council were worried about him. They should be more worried about themselves. This was the blog that put the wind up someone. Then more senior people were persuaded to submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office which has been roundly rejected. The heinous crime that Mr Mustard was supposedly guilty of was not registering as a person who processed data because he put on his blog some wording that was on the other person's blog ( yes, a bit flimsy I know ). The remedy for not being registered is to register and it costs £35 a year ( it will take more than that to empty Mr Mustard's pockets ) and the advice on the website of the ICO is that if you think someone e.g. Mr Mustard should register is to suggest they do so. Barnet Council know where I am. I have not received an email, a letter or a telephone call giving me the benefit of their advice.

The upset person happened to be in a non-job. They are not badly paid and being blogged about is par for the course nowadays. You just have to suck it up. Mr Mustard now has to send in a whole host of Freedom of Information requests to get to the bottom of what went on which will doubtless further upset the council but it is self-inflicted. 

Mr Mustard will not give you the name of the employee as he gets on fine with rank and file employees ( did you know that the apt collective noun for Moles is a Labour of Moles, nor did Mr Mustard until he dug that fact out a minute ago - his moles labour away night and day at great personal risk for him and their work is greatly appreciated ) and the person who started the complaint is an irrelevance. It is the management who have made a grave miscalculation. Mr Mustard actually went easy on the non-job holder; he has some "lovely" photographs.

At the time that the MetPro scandal was exploding you were checking if Mr Mustard had a £35 registration, which you just buy, there are no qualifications, whilst at the same time the following was being dug up about MetPro.

From the audit report of 16 June 2011.

In the absence of a formal procurement exercise, we could not locate the following documents/confirmation for MetPro, which the CPR require:

 
· Financial viability of the company
· Equal Opportunities Assessment
· Criminal Records Bureau checks
· Confirmation of company’s Public Liability Insurance arrangements
· Confirmation of the company’s Health and Safety registration
· Confirmation on the SIA licence status of the Company Officers
· An agreed specification which outlined the service to be provided
· An agreed schedule of rates for payment of invoices A process for monitoring performance of service delivery to establish if the Council was receiving value for money.

Looks like the audit department missed Data Protection Act off of their list!

So whilst attending to the spec of sand in Mr Mustard's eye, which wasn't there anyway, the enormous plank in their own eye was not noticed.

Is overpaid incompetent idiots sufficient description of Barnet Council? Blistering incompetents? Arrogant popinjays ( copyright Mr Bailey ) gormless chumps (enough, we'll be all night if you carry on. Ed)

You really don't know Mr Mustard very well do you Barnet Council? For 24 years he has collected debt; there is nothing that he hasn't heard, he simply does not give in. He just dusted off his London marathon medals ( 1983, 1995, 1996 ) and a man who can run continuously for 4h&16m does not fall over at the slightest sign of resistance from Barnet Council. Resoluteness is the very core of his being - as you will find out. Here is a quotation from Calvin Coolidge which you would do well to remember:-

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

 

So what now? Well there is a joint letter coming; they always lead to a lot of publicity for Barnet Council. Your attempt to stifle free speech has already reached Birmingham and who knows where else.

 

 

How to stop Mr Mustard?

 

This was promised in the heading. It's easy. 

 

Start engaging properly with the residents of the borough

tell them all about One Barnet

don't have secret reports, including from opposition councillors, unless they really are secret

make sensible decisions in a democratic manner

let residents ask anything they like at residents forums

reverse the car parking & CPZ increases

apologise if you make an error

put parking meters back

let in-house teams bid for contracts

chuck all consultants out

get rid of all non-jobs

and generally become a sensible boring well run council that does not cause any excitement.

 

When all of those occur, Mr Mustard will fall silent.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Residents Forums - Cllr Gordon - In defence of the indefensible

Barnet bloggers respond to Councillor Gordon’s defence of Barnet Council residents’ forums

Dear Councillor Gordon

A letter was published last week in the Press group of newspapers from you concerning the Barnet Alliance for Public Services residents’ forum held on Tuesday 4th October. 

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We must correct a factual inaccuracy in your letter. The forum was not "private", it was open to all. All Barnet councillors were invited and would have been welcome to attend.

You state that Barnet Council’s own residents’ forums are not in any way hampered by the new rules governing them. Is this your opinion, we wonder, or have you asked the residents who attend? We think they would have a different view? 

You state that the forums are "marred occasionally by the irresponsible actions of anti-council agitators". We ask you to withdraw this offensive remark. The undersigned have all attended numerous residents’ forums and have never witnessed an "anti-council agitator".

We have witnessed many local residents who disagree with the policies of the current administration, and we believe their comments are born out of deep concern for the direction of the Council and cannot be in any way construed as "anti-council".

We are also concerned by the description you give of the appropriate way to deal with residents and taxpayers. The phrase "with firm chairmanship, those individuals are fairly swiftly subdued" has highly oppressive overtones and clearly implies that residents are not welcome to express views at odds with the chair.

We would like to remind you, Cllr Gordon, that the forums exist for residents’ benefit, not for that of the chair.

We would also like to remind you of the circumstances in which you became chair, when it became necessary to instigate an investigation into the behaviour of the previous Conservative incumbent.

We remind you that Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has praised the concerned citizens of Barnet for their efforts in exposing the shambles that your administration allowed to develop in the Council’s purchasing department.

We are pleased that you have drawn attention to the next set of Council residents’ forums. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss your comments with you and your colleagues at these events.

 

Yours sincerely

Derek Dishman

John Dix

Vicki Morris

Theresa Musgrove

Roger Tichborne

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Mr Mustard was thinking about the use of language in Barnet and the title of Residents Forum which rather implies that the forums are for residents and yet his impression is that they are a sop, to be got through as fast as possible and his thoughts turned to George Orwell and doublespeak. A quick search of the internet unearthed an essay on Politics and The English Language which you can read in its entirety here.

The following passage is reproduced for your convenience.

In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of the political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.

"Better services for less money" doesn't translate to "better councillors for less money" for some unfathomable reason.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

An invitation to Councillor John Thomas from the Famous Five

The Famous Five Barnet Bloggers have Plenty of Fun with the democratic processes of consultation and community engagement.

Barnet bloggers look forward to meeting Cllr Thomas to discuss Barnet Council’s priorities.

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Dear Councillor Thomas

We, bloggers of Barnet, are most pleased that in your recent YouTube broadcast you express yourself keen to engage with local residents and discuss ways to improve Barnet.

As you are no doubt aware, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles MP recently commended the bloggers of Barnet for their great work exposing the MetPro scandal. The subsequent investigation has highlighted all manner of problems with Barnet Council's procurement procedures which we are promised will now be rectified.

Since we are all motivated by the desire to help you improve Barnet still further, we are pleased to invite you for a live, televised discussion, to be broadcast on www.GotSeeN.com, at a time to suit you.

We are sure that there are many subjects about which we could have an interesting and informative discussion.

As public spirited citizens we are willing to meet all the costs of staging this event and broadcasting it live on the internet. We also guarantee to afford it maximum publicity and coverage through our blogs.

We are happy to discuss any topic and suggest that if you let us know in advance the topics you want to cover, we will do our homework so as to ensure a fruitful discussion.

We would be happy to broadcast either from the Barnet Council offices at North London Business Park or a venue chosen by us.

Subjects we think you might be interested to discuss are: One Barnet, Cabinet Members’ allowances, executive pay, waste within the council, the number of highly paid contractors working for Barnet, cost overruns on projects such as Aerodrome Road, CPZ charges, Icelandic investments, over-development and the strain it puts on infrastructure.

We look forward to hearing your response.

Best wishes

Derek Dishman

John Dix

Vicki Morris

Theresa Musgrove

Roger Tichborne

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Alternative Residents Forum, Cypriot Centre, Britannia Road, N12, 7pm Tues