“For something to be called a service today it should pass a test to prove it is a "service".
The only service I can see that is provided by a council today is along the same lines as most on the comments posted here.
All the "service" we receive from the council is being blocked when we complain.”

“Jonathon Oldstyle.

Bang on, if only the public understood the LGO side. ?

Speaking from a point of view with a deap understanding of the figures , its the 20 or so senior execs that have ruined our council, lie all the time, promote themselves, increase the wages and ignore the public.

There may be 4 or five councillors that are the same. ( used to be five before gold finger left )

Interesting that the telegraph dosent mention that the accounts for the last few years are only singed off by the audit commission as A qualified opinion”

“So many people comment on how they're met with arrogance and obstruction when dealing with the council. When you think about it, this is hardly surprising. Imagine you have a grievance for some unlawful action carried out by your local authority, and their arrogant and obstructive manner provokes you into complaining about the council's conduct. Who do you make your complaint to? Yes the council. And are they likely to uphold your complaint even if it is valid? NO. Of course they will fob you off, and at best if you're persistent, concoct a cover-up.

So where can you go with your grievance next? The local government ombudsman, oh sorry, I forgot to say the "INDEPENDENT" LGO. Isn't it odd that so many employees at the LGO are ex-council workers, even ex-chief executives hold the top jobs there. Anyway, logically this organisation would be the next port of call.

To summarise your options.

1. Formal complaint to your council
2. Appeal to the LGO
3. Police
4. Magistrate's Court
5. Independent complaints commission (IPCC)
6. Information comissioner's office (ICO)
7. Citizens advice bureau

Two questions:

1. What chance would you expect of getting a satisfactory outcome to your complaint from any of the above?

2. Other than the council (who we directly fund), which of the other organisations are, local authority or government funded?”

“I've been in to the council before both at Knoll Street and Town Hall Square and they are incredibly arrogant.

The whole way in which this organisation operates is incredibly arrogant.

The culture of any organisation starts at the top.......What two words perfectly describe Andrew De Frietas?......

Yup...you got it!”

“Don't get me wrong, the staff members at the council are there to deal with the public. But why should they go to work and be shouted at constantly? I certainly wouldn't take it.

And as for the "lazy work ethic", i completely agree that this is the problem with some council staff. Some don't seem to realise that the are providing a PUBLIC service. In the same breath, members of the public need to realise that council workers are superhuman and don't know the answer to everything. And when phoning up, you are nearly always speaking to admin/clerical workers who don't necessarily work for the team you're trying to reach. That's certainly the way it works with us anyway.

I completely understand why SOME of the council staff won't deal with some things, but some just need a kick up the ar$e or kicking out the door.”

“FN wrote: "and the majority of people that actually choose to answer their phones, aren't paid enough to deal with people's cr*ppy attitudes".

Which probably explains why people end up c***** attitudes when dealing with Council staff!

The lazy 'It's not *my* job' mindset and the lack of work ethic.”

“I notice that a comment was removed today, I have modified the comment and trust this will pass the censor test

Interesting that these comments have turned to censorship and deletion of defamatory remarks about our council.

Surprising that the three previous haven't been tampered with, considering they made reference to them being liars, arrogant and incompetent to name a few. Could the reason they¿ve remained be that these remarks are blatantly true?

I've made some observations, and whole comments using bad language are always removed, even if asterisks were used to suggest a swear word, get deleted.

The use of bad language is not the only criteria for comment deletion. I remember when the two rival companies Balfour Beatty and Mouchel were competing to takeover council services such as highways and transport, planning and building control etc. in which Balfour Beatty won. There was a comment that was removed within a blink of the eye that went something along the lines of "Looks like Balfour Beatty had the biggest.......................... " So maybe we can assume that suggestion of corruption in the form of bribery is also criteria for deletion.

On a final point, how much does the Telegraph receive from the council in advertising revenue? I propose that the residents of NEL take a vote on paying an un-censorship tax that will compensate the GET for the withdrawal of council advertising revenue, when residents views and opinions about the council are freely aired.”

“I personally have dealt with various staff members from the Council, and have found that a lot of them are extremely helpful, however, as you say, there are a lot that are bent the other way. I have been insulted and patronised on more than one occasion.

However, I do understand staff wanting to "discontinue the conversation" when people raise their voices and shout at staff, because at the end of the day they are human. Whether they are answering the phone at work or not, they still have feelings, have problems in their lives or have stressful days like the rest of us, and the majority of people that actually choose to answer their phones, aren't paid enough to deal with people's cr*ppy attitudes.

I work in a public sector environment (not for the council) and have often dealt with customers who feel that i personally should solve every single problem they have with the organisation. I'm paid to do a job, not to offer a counselling service and listen to the whole worlds problems.”

“It's like those signs you see in public buildings and doctors etc, which warn you that their hard-working and utterly delightful staff aren't there to take any 'abuse' from you. No matter that there's a queue a mile long and only one person on the counter and 10 (on their computers or mobiles) 'in the back'. No matter that they've lost your 'documents' and not even a 'sorry'.

Even raising ones voice over the phone is met with threats to 'discontinue this conversation'. No matter that you've been kept hanging on the phone for ages, or put through to a dozen people who simply pass the buck. No matter that you've been talked down to like a idiot by some child barely out of school, or that 90% the people you need to talk to are either 'at lunch', 'in a meeting', 'on leave' or 'out on site'.

Don't they understand that in 99% of cases, the 'client' doesn't raise their voice for no reason at all .. they do so because they're frustrated and angry with the appalling customer service the Council gives.

(As with all things, there are always exceptions to the rule. While the majority of service at the Council is dire, there are some staff who are lovely and will bend over backwards to help. But I'm afraid they are far too few and far between).”

“have a look on u tube at access rights bu gml59 and my answer is no i dont get value for money. Oh I forgot once the gates go on it then becomes private property and the council dont want to know”