Plymouth City Council oversteps the mark

As reported in the Times and Mail today, Plymouth City Council is asking households to nominate a family member to be prosecuted should the wrong rubbish end up in the wrong bin.  In addition, Town Hall snoopers want to know all sorts of personal information about their residents, including details of medical conditions, personal habits and lifestyles. 

This amounts to a disgusting assault on the privacy of the individual and family as well as council-overreach.  They’re the ones with responsibility for cleaning the bins.  Residents do not pay their Council Tax to be taken to court because some kid walking by threw a used can in the wrong bin.  It’s sheer lunacy.

Councils are meant to be municipal stewards of open spaces and public places, bin collection and road maintenance.  Threatening people with court orders and ploughing the depths of individual personal information is so far beyond their remit it’s a dot on the horizon.  Sadly, this all has worrying echoes of a story back in December last year where Town Halls attempted to prise more information out of taxpayers.

These councillors must therefore be held to account.  The Leader of the Council is Vivien Pengelley.  When contacting her, be sure you receive a reply from her and not some officer reeled out to take the flak.  Michael Leaves is the Cabinet member for the environment who thought up this policy in the first place - so see that you get some answers from him and not the departmental officers.  We want the councillors’ views and justifications, not backroom bureaucratic apologia.

The following councillors sit on the cabinet – they have the power to stop this ridiculous policy so ask them:

• Will they overturn the policy to request residents’ personal information for bin collections?
• If they won’t overturn the policy, why do they want residents’ personal information?
• If they agree with this policy will they make their own personal medical information – as well as other information requested – public?  Or is it one rule for them and one rule for the rest of us?

Cabinet Members:
Cllr Vivien Pengelly - vivien.pengelly@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 304950
Cllr Ted Fry - ted.fry@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 298457
Cllr Ian Bowyer - ian.bowyer@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 784342
Cllr Peter Brookshaw - peter.brookshaw@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 703234
Cllr Glenn Jordan - glenn.jordan@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 492889
Cllr Michael Leaves - michael.leaves@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 304139
Cllr Grant Monahan - grant.monahan@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 560101
Cllr Steven Ricketts - steven.ricketts@plymouth.gov.uk / 07810 878491
Cllr Dr David Salter - david.salter@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 513605
Cllr Kevin Wigens - kevin.wigens@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 304139

It’s also worth lobbying the Full Council to urge them to bring this issue up at the next Council meeting and forward a motion against this clear breach of privacy and indefensible use of Council power.  Ask them:

• Whether they are for/against the current policy and why.
• Whether the Full Council was consulted and whether a vote was taken to ask people to provide medical information when they nominated a family member with responsibility for rubbish disposal.
• Whether they will move a motion at the next Council to strike down the policy.

Cllr Mary Aspinall - mary.aspinall@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 667585
Cllr Richard Ball - richard.ball@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 310682
Cllr Terri Beer - terri.beer@plymouth.gov.uk / 07919 284531
Cllr Peter Berrow - 01752 667966
Cllr Lynda Bowyer - lynda.bowyer@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 784342
Cllr Gloria Bragg - gloria.bragg@plymouth.gov.uk / 07747 710315
Cllr Thomas Browne - tom.browne@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 290627
Cllr Mark Coker - mark.coker@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 308313
Cllr Susan Dann - susan.dann@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 512939
Cllr Edward Delbridge - edward.delbridge@plymouth.gov.uk
Cllr Jill Dolan - jill.dolan@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 562339
Cllr Jonathan Drean - jonathan.drean@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 701394
Cllr Tudor Evans - tudor.evans@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 218314
Cllr Wendy Foster - wendy.foster@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 403297
Cllr Ken Foster - kenneth.foster@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 403297
Cllr Michael Foster - michael.foster@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 344107
Cllr Andy Fox - andy.fox@plymouth.gov.uk / 07816 527202
Cllr Ian Gordon - ian.gordon@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 331431
Cllr David James - david.j.james@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 343165
Cllr Andy Kerswell - andy.kerswell@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 269472
Cllr Mark King - mark.king@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 511571
Cllr Samantha Leaves - samantha.leaves@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 518765
Cllr Martin Leaves - martin.leaves@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 518765
Cllr Sally Letcher - sally.letcher@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 304139
Cllr John Lock - john.lock@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 331051
Cllr Mark Lowry - mark.lowry@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 299728
Cllr Dr John Mahony - john.mahony@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 565652
Cllr Susan McDonald - susan.mcdonald@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 668910
Cllr Bernard Miller - bernard.miller@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 776452
Cllr Jean Nelder - jean.nelder@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 227352
Cllr Patricia Nicholson - patricia.nicholson@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 348881
Cllr Patrick Nicholson - patrick.nicholson@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 347474
Cllr Christopher Pattison - christopher.pattison@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 341703
Cllr Pauline Purnell - pauline.purnell@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 562281
Cllr Eddie Rennie - eddie.rennie@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 603796
Cllr David Reynolds - david.reynolds2@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 312061
Cllr Brian Roberts - brian.roberts@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 776924
Cllr Peter Smith - peter.smith@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 345084
Cllr David Stark - david.stark@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 774331
Cllr Sally Stephens - sally.stephens@plymouth.gov.uk
Cllr Bill Stevens - william.stevens@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 251713
Cllr Jack Thompson - jack.thompson@plymouth.gov.uk / 07732 839515
Cllr Brian Vincent - brian.vincent@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 316902
Cllr David Viney - david.viney@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 402673
Cllr Joan Watkins - joan.watkins@plymouth.gov.uk / 01752 216849
Cllr George Wheeler - george.wheeler@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 362511
Cllr Nicky Wildy - nicky.wildy@plymouth.gov.uk / (01752) 556008

If you’re sat there seething at Plymouth City Council’s barking policy, then do something about it.  It’ll only take you 5 minutes to send some councillors an email asking them why they decided to trample over individual freedoms as British taxpayers give more and more of their hard earned money to Councils.  But we have to maintain a strong presence so politicians know we’re watching them, holding them to account and that we won’t let them abuse their power and waste our money.  If you do get any responses, please let me know by forwarding them to me at the regular email address.

Comments

[Richard Bolingbroke]

I sent this email to the leader of the council, and will let you know if I get any reply.

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Vivien,

As a Chaddlewood resident and a Plymouth City council tax payer, could you please tell me whether these is any truth in the reports that Plymouth City council will be requiring one member of the household to be registered as responsible for rubbish bins?

As I understand the proposal the registered individual will be responsible for the correct placement and filling of the bin, and will be liable to prosecution should the bin not be found in a satisfactory state. Is this correct?

Has the council considered the impracticalities of this scheme, where the registered individual may not be present to check the bins immediately before the bin men come, where the wind, an ill-informed yet tidy neighbour, or a malicious individual may alter the state of the bin before collection?

Has the council considered whether this proposal would be a gross intrusion into the households' privacy?

Kind regards,

Richard Bolingbroke.
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[Richard Bolingbroke]

Here's the response which I got quite promtly from the PA to the leader of the council. It says that none of it is true.

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Response from the Leader:

Thank you for sharing your concerns with me regarding bin collection. I can assure you that the proposals you read in the media concerning bin collections are not true.

The officers of the Council - and certainly the Members - have not approved any of the suggestions that were reported in the media. It was very unfortunate that the reporter did not get his facts correct before it went to press.

I hope this has allayed your fears.

Regards

Vivien Pengelly

Councillor Mrs Vivien Pengelly
Leader, Plymouth City Council

Loraine Menis
Personal Assistant to the Leader
Plymouth City Council
The Council House
PLYMOUTH
PL1 2AA
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