Friday 10 July 2009

Council Jobsworth Alert!


This is the Mayor of Reigate and Banstead, whose officials sicked the Plod onto an ordinary bloke who was helping the community by organising football games for youngsters.

Now, apart from being stupidly officious, what the fucking hell do Surrey's "Finest" think they are doing getting involved in something so fucking silly? Have they no thieving pikeys to ignore for fear of having their helicopter vandalised? No motorists to give speeding tickets? No demonstrators to brutalise? No Brazilian electricians to shoot? No wonder Bob Quick wanted to go back to the Met!

The Penguin

5 comments:

DaveP said...

Always were a few nut houses around Banstead. Must have been an escape.

microdave said...

Some quotes from candidates for the recent County Council elections:

“The state of the roads is always something that comes up, along with the one-star rating for the county council.”

“Everyone complains about potholes, that seems to be the first thing on everybody’s minds.”

“We have to look very carefully at what the county council does and who it employs."

“A lot of authorities employ people doing things that they just don’t need to.”

“We would also get rid of the non-jobs in the council, the politically-correct jobs."

So instead of doing the things local taxpayers really want, they go round threatening them for playing football on land that they've paid for!!

Joe Public said...

Why is it that a father organising a soccer game for his lads & their mates needs a CRB check, yet dubious politicians can walk into schools and fondle unrelated & unknown kiddies?

woman on a raft said...

Sounds like yer old mate "com-pen-say-shun" culture. The trouble comes if Johnny's little mate falls over and breaks an ankle. His parents visit a no-win, no-fee solicitor who asks "who owns the ground?".

If the answer comes back "local authority" it is pay-out time, as with wonky pavements etc.

The family sues not Johnny's dad - who hasn't got any money - but the local authority who has tax money and a legal obligation to administer the grounds. If they failed to get the CRB, insurance, and the formal permission in place (the permission being the tick-box form which shows the CRB and the insurance) then it is the council tax payers of Banstead who will pick up the bill for a broken ankle.

Whereas, if the council are right jobsworths, Johnny's dad will carry his own insurance. That the police arrested him is remarkable, but if he flatly refused to stop playing football then it isn't clear that they had much option. However, I'd have explained to him that the police and council are the least of his problems; the unfortunate possibility is that if one of the other children hurt themselves, he could end up personally liable. A spinal injury, ten years home care - it doesn't come cheap.

The 'bouncy castle case' about householder's duty of care, was eventually thrown out and the injured party refused leave to challenge, but it was a close-run thing, especially as there was an insurer who could be claimed against.

brachers.co.uk wrote a briefing paper looking at the law amd the current cases.

http://www.brachers.co.uk/_assets/files/Bouncy%20Castle_1.pdf

banned said...

"The council also sent him a letter asking for proof of a Criminal Records Bureau check..."

This is bollox because you can't get a CRB check done on yourself, it can only be done through your employer or 'sponsor' ( Scout Troop, Council Licensing Dept. etc ).