Evidence of the disturbing secretiveness of Herefordshire Council comes in all the time. Look at this extraordinary series of emails between them and national campaigner for open government Paul Cardin.
In one FOI response, the Council states that it does not keep any record of Compromise Agreements made with staff (ie hugely expensive 'gagging orders') and so cannot supply him with the general information he asked for.
This is disgraceful cynicism; but also really helpful: essentially, they had to tell me they had paid for a Compromise Agreement with Michael Hainge because I knew his name and asked specifically about him. As Paul Cardin, being a national campaigner, could not have been expected to do (he may well never have set foot in Herefordshire).
All we have to do is ask, one by one and name by name, which Council Officers leaving employment have been paid to keep silent about the Council's activities.
Shall we start with the highest paid ex-Officers?
Let's go to work...
'AN EXPENSES ACCOUNT' Jim Miller's adventures in the banana republic of Nth Herefordshire leominsterindependent@live.co.uk
