A key sign of something going wrong is when authorities stop answering questions, or are found out stretching the truth or even lying. Investigating Company Frauds in an earlier life sharpened my sense of when something is being hidden and those forensic accounting skills help with some of the hidden elements of budgets.
On the island in the Floaty McFloatfarce of the Floating bridge is a prime example of hiding facts. The continued obstruction and failure to be honest; The whining protests that it's all working perfectly. Until you compare the trips on the replacement small boat and the actual numbers of travellers. Until you see how many breakdowns and the need for an extra push boat to keep it running at all.
If we look at the plans for St Marys roundabout where the scheme was as stale as last year's christmas cake. The consultation was a limited token gesture. One Councillor with some personal effort managing to encourage more comments than the entire Council apparatus. Then the Conservative Council Cabinet push through a tweaked scheme that ignores the key protest; why this scheme, why now, and why not wait for a comprehensive and developed transport policy.
Personally I followed up the story of Non disclosure agreements (NDAs) with a Freedom of Information request. These NDAs are where someone is paid off by the Council and then legally obliged to keep quiet. The Council disclosed to me these agreements related to internal and education staff but they were unable to tell me who asked for non-disclosure. Which is just nonsense and I suspect hides the fact that most NDAs were Council and schools hiding their behaviour and keeping a number of whistleblowers quiet.
We all know things can go wrong but sometimes you just have to stop digging the hole. Honesty and transparency are essential for elected officials and you can be certain that if I'm part of any Liberal Democrat administration I will not sign off on any NDA agreements to shut staff up, we would consult widely, and we would pretend that something is working.
No comments:
Post a Comment