Haringey Council miss a trick

Mr Mustard had a 'lost my PCN' enquiry from a lady he has helped a few times and this is how the exchange went:

You just can't phone parking departments these days, they all hide and don't give out phone numbers or email addresses. The 'best' you will get is a webform which Mr Mustard regards as a straitjacket and you don't know when you might get a reply to an enquiry which could be dealt with in one minute on the phone.

Mr Mustard looked at Haringey's website and found this advice:

Mr Mustard understands that prior to the Notice to Owner the council don't know who the registered keeper is so can't talk about a PCN which contains their data. There is however a simple solution, let the registered keeper send in a copy of the V5 DVLA registration document and then the council know that they can discuss a PCN issued to that vehicle. So simple, why haven't Haringey Council thought of it?

In the current situation, the registered keeper could also make a Subject Access Request which should be replied to within one month.

There is no guarantee that if you wait and explain as suggested that the 50% discount will be offered once again.

End. 

Capita - too busy to cope (self inflicted)

which illiterate person put an apostrophe after Magistrates?

As readers will know the collection of Council Tax has been handed over to Capita. They have promised to improve the collection rates which were actually pretty good before they even got involved. The way in which they are going to do this is pretty blunt, rather than giving any leeway they will simply hit every transgressor with a big stick (metaphorically, that is). It is a strange situation as if Mr Mustard is confronted by a debtor without the means to pay, when in his alter ego's debt collection job, he is required to accept reasonable instalments. Not so the council or their henchmen at Capita.

There are two particular points which worry Mr Mustard about the above.

The first is the lack of a private room in which to discuss your financial affairs. This is odd as the Court's own website says that there are interview room facilities but perhaps only legally qualified representatives are entitled to use them and Capita probably use cheapjack unqualified employees who thus don't have the right? (Mr Mustard is surmising so do please put him right if he is wide of the mark). Being forced to discuss your financial affairs in public strikes Mr Mustard as a situation which could easily breach the Data Protection Act and even if it doesn't every criminal (con artists included) wandering about the Magistrates Court should not be able to hear the details of your financial woes. What if the reason you can't pay is that you have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and you have to tell the council's Capita representative that in order to get them off your back when you have decided not to tell anyone other than your immediate partner?

The second concern is that Capita can't cope. This is clear from the final paragraph in red. If the Capita call centre isn't going to be able to cope then it should be enhanced so it can cope or the spread of summonses should be over a longer period. Here we have the tail wagging the dog. Are KPI being failed or are unanswered calls mysteriously not showing up in the KPI statistics?

The council have, of course, had two lots of phone troubles that they have tweeted about recently. Councillors are having email trouble so although they want to help you they can't if they don't receive your message.

What will happen is that someone, who has a life and other things to do, will phone and fail to get through, their email won't be handled in time and despite paying off in full they will get hit with a Liability Order for the costs of enforcement and then the dogs (otherwise known as Equita, the Capita owned bailiff) will be instructed.

So Capita's inability to cope turns into court approved extra debt which goes to Capita's own bailiff and they make lots of fees. Trebles all round as they say in Private Eye.

Did the cabinet councillors who so ardently supported the award of the contract to Capita get into this sort of detail? None of them will admit to having read the Contract in its entirety, and some not even at all, so it seems unlikely. Please bombard Conservative councillors with complaints about Capita in order that they start to realise what they have done. If you have a Labour councillor, or the sole Lib-Dem Jack Cohen you don't need to tell them what is wrong with the contract as they know and where powerless to stop it, just ask for help with your situation.

One day the Crapita nightmare will stop.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Sale of The Electoral Roll

So that we can all vote there has to be a register of electors. There are two versions. The full version used for voting purposes and various government departments and can be purchased by credit reference agencies (so it doesn't affect your ability to obtain credit if you opt out). This link is what the ICO says about electoral registration.

A second smaller version is the edited roll which contains only those people who have not opted out of having their details sold commercially.

By law, anybody can buy a copy of the edited roll at modest cost as replicating an electronic file is inexpensive. Bigbrotherwatch have written about sales of the edited roll.

In Barnet the following purchased a copy.

Godfrey & Barr
Jeremy Leaf
London Properties
Global Land Group
Individuals x 4
Your Move - Spencer & Spencer
Warden Hill School of Motoring
Litchfields
Heronslea Ltd
Secure Services (GB) Ltd
Jesus House
Foxtons
Data Trans Ltd
Duncan and Maclean
Winkworth
Bell Pottinger Public Affairs
6th Friern Barnet Scout Group
Nepomak UK
Kato Enterprise Ltd
Cosway Estate Agents
Open Heavens Christian Centre
Midway Insurance Services
Chess Estates
Eden Clinic
Taylor Hawkins Ltd
The Howard League
Coast Insurance

Mr Mustard ticks the opt-out box every year.

What he didn't know, and what he suspects you didn't know, is that you can opt out permanently. This is how.

Write as follows:

Electoral Registration Officer
North London Business Park
Oakleigh Road South
London
N11 1NP





Dear Sir or Madam

I, [ full name ] of [ full address ] require that you as Electoral Registration Officer for [Chipping Barnet / Finchley & Golders Green / Hendon *] cease or do not begin processing for the purpose of direct marketing personal data which I supply to you in respect of the Register of Electors with effect from the date of this request. In doing so and until I notify you in writing to the contrary, I particularly request that my name be withheld from the current and future versions of the Edited Register of Electors and that this choice be specifically marked on any annual registration forms sent to me in the future.

Signed

* delete as appropriate. If you don't know which constituency you are in then enter your postcode on this website.

This should cut down the amount of junk mail you receive including letters from estate agents asking you to sell or rent your property etc.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard