1.
As of
January 2016 Surrey County Council does not understand the FOI question “To
whom, for what and how is it accountable”.
2.
The answer has been given in the form of
references to its Constitution which is necessarily and effectively the Council
routinely talking to itself. Article 1
says ”The council will exercise all its powers and duties in accordance with
the law and this Constitution”.
3.
There is also Article 3 which is entitled THE
PUBLIC AND THE COUNCIL and sets out all the access rights and boundaries
appertaining to that undefined class but not it’s interest. There is no
reference to Council reporting responsibility outwards towards central
government, taxpaying voting residents and other identifiable classes served.
4. Stakeholders apart that responsibilty would cover reporting to provide the feedback necessary to establish
that requirements of law and policy have been carried out so that policy can be
adjusted if necessary, executive action is informed and resource disposition is
changed if necessary. For stakeholders the purpose is to account for discharge and renewal, for (re)election of representatives, and for any other business.
5.
In every situation there is a superior
authority. Wellington’s victory at
Waterloo and Nelson’s at Trafalgar required
a despatch. Battle of Britain pilots returned to a debriefing. The RSCH Trust
lays its Annual Report before Parliament; that document covers not just the financial
but all aspects.
6.
To some undefined degree we the people are the
superior authority but whether as local residents or citizens of the Nation is
not clear. Is the County Council accountable via the Centre or to local voters
directly ?
7. It
is already officially established that there is a lack of belief in the meaning
of elections as they are presented and
that poor voter turnout is not due to apathy but lack of awareness and
information on which to vote.
8.
At present we are asked only to vote for people
to represent us for no clear reason and without conventional supporting
evidence. But the undersigned’s representative on Surrey County Council refused
to answer, with the support of the Monitoring Officer and Audit & Governance
Committee, invited fed-back questions on the Annual Report 2014-15. That same
Annual Report was not targetted at stakeholders though so addressed. That for
2016-17 will be held back until just after the 2017 election. Yet Council
Leadership can see nothing wrong with that and has no suitable answer to the
FOI question at 1 above.
