Knock, Knock: It’s the Council Bin Snoops

HOUSEHOLDERS are facing “re-education” home visits for producing too much rubbish after figures released under freedom of information laws revealed that councils have quietly microchipped 2m bins.

The chips can be used to record the amount of rubbish families are throwing away. Those recycling too little will be sent warning leaflets, then visited by council officials who will advise on cutting waste.

Details of the scheme resurrect the long-term prospect of a pay-as-you-throw bin tax, which many thought had died when councils failed to take part in government trials.
Councils in Oxfordshire hope to escape controversy by using the technology to educate rather than charge residents. But officials admit it could eventually pave the way for a full-blown bin tax.

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Police Can't Object to Gypsy Camp...Because It's Racist

Police have been told they cannot object to a planned gipsy camp in a picturesque village - because to do so would be 'racist'.
Council chiefs have ruled that the local force's professional opinion 'breaches the Race Relations Act'.
The decision meant that councillors considering the planning application were not told how officers had been called to another local camp 109 times in just two years.

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Town Halls Banned From Using Spy Laws For Petty Offences

Jacqui Smith is to order an overhaul of the use of the controversial powers which have seen councils target the public for trivial offences such as dog fouling, littering or "bin crimes".
Authorities will be told that use of the legislation, which was designed to tackle serious crime and terrorism, must be proportionate as part of a review of the code of practice.
A consultation will suggest only chief executives should authorise their use. It will also raise the prospect that some public authorities could be stripped of their powers.
It follows growing concern over the potential abuse of powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).

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Pensioner Fined For Littering After Police Knock Cigarette From His Hand While Arresting Shoplifters

A grandfather was left humiliated after being handed a £60 litter fine when his cigarette was knocked out of his hand as he walked past a scuffle between police and shoplifters.

Lazaris Michael, 76, had taken a single puff before his smoke was sent flying as officers apprehended two girls who were trying to flee a branch of Boots.

But the pensioner did not have time to bend down and pick it up before a council warden pounced on him and hit him the fixed penalty for littering in front of a large crowd.

When he begged the council to show common sense and drop the case they responded by threatening him with an even bigger fine if he does not pay up.

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'Killjoy' Council Bosses Blasted For Threatening Children's Pantomime With Police Raids

The amateur players in a village Christmas panto had no difficulty identifying the villains of this year’s show - and they aren’t even in the script.
For 17 years, the ladies and gentlemen and boys and girls of Peterculter, Aberdeenshire, have staged a show in the village hall - starring themselves.
Now killjoy council bosses have threatened them with a police raid on the first night of their Christmas ‘run’ - because their show contravenes health and safety laws.

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Social Services 'Set Up CCTV Camera in Couple's Bedroom'

Council staff are said to have spied on the young parents at night as part of a plan to see if they were fit to look after their baby, who was sleeping in another room.

The mother and father were forced to cite the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to a private life, before the social services team backed down and agreed to switch off the surveillance camera while they were in bed together.

The case is highlighted in a new dossier of human rights abuses carried out against vulnerable and elderly adults in nursing homes and hospitals across Britain.

It comes just days after the Government admitted town halls have gone too far in using anti-terror laws to snoop on members of the public.

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Controversial Food Scraps Bin Scheme For All Households

Councils claim it will enable them to recycle millions of tonnes of biodegradable rubbish, but critics say it is a costly waste of time which will be used as an excuse to end weekly bin collections once and for all.
Some residents taking part in the schemes have complained about unpleasant odours from food waste, which they say attracts flies and other pests.
According to figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph, almost one in four councils in the UK have now introduced separate collections of food waste. Others are about to follow.

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Council Tells Allotment Holders To Remove Barbed Wire In Case Theives Hurt Themselves

A gardener who fenced off his allotment with barbed wire after being targeted by thieves has been ordered to take it down – in case intruders scratch themselves.
Bill Malcolm erected the 3ft fence after thieves struck three times in just four months, stealing tools worth around £300 from his shed and ransacking his vegetable patch.
But Bromsgrove district council has ordered the 61-year-old to remove the waist-high fence on health and safety grounds.
Mr Malcolm, who has grown potatoes, onions, beetroot and asparagus on two patches at the Round Hill allotments in Marlbrook, Worcestershire, for the past eight years, said: 'It's an absolutely ridiculous situation.
'All I wanted was to protect my property but the wire had to go in case a thief scratched himself.
'The fence was just a single strand and ringing my property. It was only 3ft high – it wasn't as though I'd dug a moat filled with piranha fish and erected 6ft iron railings.
'The council said they were unhappy about the precautions I had made but my response was to tell them that only someone climbing over on to my allotment could possibly hurt themselves.

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The 'Big Brother' Council Who Set The Dogs On The Kennels... Sending 12 Officials To Check On One Pet

Not many farms offering luxurious accommodation have been raided because of claims that they are overcrowded with dogs.
But then Lucies Farm is no ordinary establishment.
It offers £50-a-night accommodation for man's best friend, including acupuncture from a vet, massages and an indoor pool for doggy paddles.
But its tranquility was shattered after 12 council officials raided the kennels, which are licensed to keep ten dogs, while just one pet was staying there.
Acting on a tip-off, the team from two local authorities, operating under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, entered the home of owners Craig and Marjorie Walsh on the site and seized computer files containing personal details.
In their trawl for evidence, they took personal medical histories, credit card information and even a list of jewellery drawn up for the couple's insurers.
The raid took place on January 10 while Mr and Mrs Walsh were away.
After a seven-month investigation that cost thousands of pounds, Worcestershire county council's trading standards department wrote to the couple to say it had found no wrongdoing at the kennels near Powick.
Mr and Mrs Walsh, both 59, are now suing the 'council snoops' for £150,000 over the 'Big Brother-style' raid.

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Just another example of the fascist councils extreme use of powers and in the end it will cost the council tax payer!

Why obesity could hit your council tax: Crisis will mean £6.3bn bill for public services

More children will be taken into care as Britain becomes the obesity capital of the world, council leaders warn.
The Local Government Association claim the epidemic could lead to a rise in council tax as public services - including transport and home care - are put under increasing pressure.
The claims were made as figures yesterday revealed the cost of obesity to the NHS is set to soar by 50 per cent to £6.3billion in the next seven years.
David Rogers, spokesman for the LGA, which represents 400 councils in England and Wales, said: 'As the obesity epidemic grows, these tricky cases will keep cropping up.
'Councils would step in to deal with an undernourished child - so should a case with a morbidly obese child be different?
'There needs to be a national debate about when it is acceptable for local authorities to take action in cases where the welfare of children is in real jeopardy.

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Strange how this announcement comes immediately after the local authorities all met to discuss ways of increasing revenue.

Problem - Reaction - Solution

The public have to stand up now agains these officials who believe they are now gods to control every aspect of our lives.

Homeowner Prosecuted After Staging Protest At Binmen Who Refused To Take His Recycling Bin

A man faces a court trial for arguing with bin men after they refused to take his recycling box from inside his garden.Property developer Roger Pead took the keys out of a council lorry and told the refuse workers that he would only give them back when they took away the box filled with newspapers.
The refuse workers had to wait for a spare set of keys to be delivered from the local authority's depot during the stand-off.The council workers had refused to move the box because they would have to open the garden gate.

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Workplace Parking Levy 'can raise money for councils'

Until now the idea of a Workplace Parking Levy, which is being pioneered in Nottingham, was seen by ministers as purely a means of dealing with urban gridlock.
But tomorrow it will be put forward as a source of income at a conference due to be attended by John Healey, the local government minister.
Mr Healey and his officials will join more than 60 town hall officials in London to discuss “generating new revenue streams”. Delegates will hear a presentation of the Nottingham scheme, which will eventually see employers charged £350 a year for each of their parking spaces, which they could to pass on to staff.
The scheme is highlighted as a way of raising money for other transport projects in a report by the Core Cities Group, which represents Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield.
It notes “The business case for the introduction of WPL in Nottingham proposes a level of charge that generates annual income of around £10.8million by 2014.”
Chris Murray, director of the group, said: “I am sure [the levy] will be considered in other cities. But there are downsides, such as whether it would be accepted by the local business community.”

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Residents Could Be Hit With £5,000 Rubbish Collection Fine For Leaving Bin Out

Council employees will patrol the streets and dish out £100 penalty notices, under a new plan.
Residents who fail to pay within two weeks could end up with a £5,000 fee and be left with a criminal record.
Homeowners are at risk of being fined if they fail to remove their bins after a collection or leave them in the wrong place.
Bin owners should only put their rubbish out the night before and remove them the day of the rubbish collection.
Residents could receive a fine if they fail to put their bin in spaces allocated outside their homes.
Under proposed changes, councils could refuse to empty bins that are too far from a curb, not placed directly outside a gate or put out on the street too early.

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Council officer threw himself off 100ft bridge after becoming depressed with authority's 'immoral' decisions

council planning officer threw himself off a 100ft bridge after becoming depressed with the authority's 'immoral' decisions involving 'huge amounts' of taxpayer's money, an inquest heard.
Tormented Julian Grail, 56, plunged to his death after telling his headmistress wife Joanne he could not cope with being 'party to actions that were morally wrong' at Plymouth City Council.
Father-of-two Grail was a performance and planning officer in the council's chief executive's office after previously working in the social services department for more than 20 years.
But this year Julian, who spent many hours doing voluntary youth and community work, began to tell friends and family of his 'grave concerns' about the way the council spent money.

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Plymouth City Council, The home of Common Purpose !

Family barred from burying their dead stepfather on a Saturday ... because he isn't a Muslim

The family of a 75-year-old man have been refused permission to bury him on a Saturday because he is not a Muslim.
Harold Lemaire died last week and his family wanted the service to be held this Saturday to make it easier for far-flung relatives to attend.
But their plans were scuppered after the council said only Muslim and Jewish funerals are allowed on weekends and bank holidays.

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Councils Ordered To Stop Snooping On Residents

Ministers from the Department of Communities and the Home Office have undertaken a thorough review of official surveillance powers, some of which are open to public bodies such local authorities, the NHS and even the Coastguard.
The review was triggered by ministers’ concerns that incidents where council staff were found putting microchips into residents’ dustbins and tailing parents to school had eroded public support for the entire enforcement system.
Two-thirds of councils have taken up the snooping powers open to them under the Regulation of Investigative Powers Act since its introduction in 2000.
Ministers believe that while surveillance including covert cameras is sometimes necessary to detect offences such as fraud, it must only be used as a last resort and in the most serious cases.
They plan to issue guidance and set strict new limits to ensure that in future the RIPA powers are not used to tackle minor infringements or the law or local regulations.
John Healey, Local Government Minster, said: “My main concern is to tighten up the operation of the system so it can command the public confidence that is needed.
“Councils do need these powers, but they need to use them only when it is necessary and proportionate, and only if the information can not be found another way. They should not be used lightly, because their use is a serious business.”
A number of councils have been accused of snooping since the introduction of Ripa, often for putting microchips in rubbish bins to discover if items had been thrown away which should have been put out to be recycled.

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Anger as council turns off streetlights to save cash

Powys A council has been criticised after it decided to switch off most of its streetlights during the night to save money. Powys County Council will turn off 64 per cent of its lamps, which could save £225,000 a year.
The scheme means that its 14,000 working lights will be reduced to 5,000. One local pensioner, Dennis Cleaton, 75, of Llandrindod Wells, called the blackouts ridiculous.

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If everyone refused to pay their council tax til they were switched back on......

You have got to ask what the Hell we are paying for!!!

Banned by the goggle police: How Health and Safety has stopped a man swimming in his local pool after 30 years

He's been swimming all around the world and never caused a ripple of concern.
But Roland Grimm hadn't reckoned on the goggle police at his local pool.
His special mask stops water going up his nose and has a single eye piece which does not press against his face.
But now, almost inevitably, it has fallen foul of the 'elf and safety enforcers.
Their ban on his mask has left Mr Grimm, who has been swimming at the leisure centre in Swiss Cottage, North London, for 30 years, high and dry.
He said: 'I've used these goggles in more than 100 different pools in countries including Germany, Spain, France and Portugal and no one else has ever complained or questioned why I am using them.
'I'm not allowed to wear them here because they cover my nose. They just don't seem to like the shape of the frame.
'I'm very upset because it seems mad. I like to swim every day and this is messing up my whole life.'
But pool bosses defended their decision to eject Mr Grimm - declaring his goggles were not shatterproof and breached industry guidelines.

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'Thieves' stealing wheelie bins from backgardens turn out to be COUNCIL snoops searching for illegal dustbins

When wheelie bins began to go missing from outside their homes, residents wondered whether they should call the police.
But when the thieves were unmasked, their identities proved to be something a shock.
The two men responsible were council officers assigned to secretly snoop in back gardens.
They were employed to find out which residents were using extra 'unauthorised' wheelie bins to dispose of their rubbish – and took those bins away if they considered them to be unlawful.

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Council charges mothers £1 to park PUSHCHAIRS outside library

Angry parents are being charged £1 to park their pushchairs at libraries holding free singing sessions for children.
The parking fee has been introduced for every buggy brought to the popular Baby Boogie sessions.
Hundreds of parents turn out each week for the singing and rhyme classes for under-fives which are held in 11 libraries in Brighton and Hove.

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