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"I'm Going to Report You..."


Hedgecutter

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On a related note, has anyone ever pulled a camera on a civil servant?

A tiny minority are confident enough in their professionalism but for the vast majority, any suggestion they might be held accountable for their actions sends them into a fit of panic and seethe.

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Not be the first on here to use disability or mental illness to describe someone.

Someone even thinks that using them as terms of abuse isd fine.

Hiya Supras.

It was completely relevant to the story.

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She certainly is charged sewerage rates, and is receiving the service she pays for (and more actually as we investigated the issue further than we really had to). Those rates don't include the service of fixing a blocked / damaged land drain that runs underneath the middle of her house.

For the cost of investigating it could you not have just sorted it out?

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For the cost of investigating it could you not have just sorted it out?

No.

The land drain is old, in poor condition and no-one knows where it comes from or where it goes (these are c. early 1960s houses that were built on farmland) - it appears likely, however, that it also runs underneath a number of neighbouring houses, and there's every chance it could be in similarly poor condition under those too.

To solve the problem properly (i.e. not just a fix for this woman, as that could simply shift the problem onto neighbouring properties) would first of all require a lot more investigation work to establish the full route of the land drain (or at least the extents of it within the developed area) and its condition, so that all necessary remedial works could be established. This investigation work would be expensive, and I expect would probably require disruptive excavation work in neighbouring properties. Then you would have the additional cost of carrying out the repairs, which in all likelihood would be multiples of the investigation cost. At a conservative estimate, I'd put the total outlay at a minimum of £30k, and I expect the actual figure would be a fair bit higher than that.

I suspect the woman will end up taking an easy/cheap (and selfish) option and undertake an action that will transfer the problem onto her neighbours, which may end up putting her into a legal dispute with them.

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On a related note, has anyone ever pulled a camera on a civil servant?

A tiny minority are confident enough in their professionalism but for the vast majority, any suggestion they might be held accountable for their actions sends them into a fit of panic and seethe.

In what circumstances would you do that?

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In what circumstances would you do that?

I'd imagine you may be inclined do that if you believe everyone you meet is out to screw you over.

Needless to say this is far from the case as most people I know who work in a customer facing job genuinely want to help.

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I used to always get threaten to be taken to court.

The reaction was priceless when you told them if they are unhappy I would encourage them to go seek legal advice.

I also love when people make up laws and rights, you ask them to be specific.....

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In what circumstances would you do that?

In any circumstances you meet a civil servant face to face.

If they are competent, they shouldn't have a problem with it.

What percentage are actually competent though? Having worked for HMRC, I'd say less than 10% of staff, 1% of management.

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As a kid I remember playing football in an area not far from my house. It was surrounded by high fences to people's gardens. One old guy came round ranting at us. He pointed at the sign which said something like:

"Football prohibited, by order of CRC."

"I'll report you to the council" he kept saying. My mate Steven looked at him and said "That sign says CRC. Central Region Council was abolished. This is Clackmannanshire now. You should read the papers more".

Guy went purple and shuffled on home. No doubt to be thrashed within an inch of his life by a fat psycopathic wife.

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Old Irish guy that used to live round the corner always went mad at us for playing football on the grass bit like 50 yards across from his house. He always threatened to phone the police on us even though we never went near his house. We only played at that bit at night because it was well light because of the street lamps. One night he came out and made sure we could notice him. He was pretending to be on the phone to the police but he was actually talking into his tv remote. I shouted over who are you phoning, the guys from The Bill? He went tonto, even kicked his own car and limped back into his house.

His wife died last year and he ended up in a mental institution, completely lost his marbles although I don't think he was playing with a full deck to begin with.

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"On a related note, has anyone ever pulled a camera on a civil servant?

A tiny minority are confident enough in their professionalism but for the vast majority, any suggestion they might be held accountable for their actions sends them into a fit of panic and seethe."

There's a few times i've had people record what I say, i've never had a problem with it as i've been confident that what i've been saying could stand up to scrutiny, it's no different to giving someone a response by e-mail or letter as that can then be quoted back to you.

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When I was younger me and the other kids in my neighbourhood played football on a big bit of grass behind my house. One old guy was constantly fuming that young people were having fun near him and his house (he was at the corner of the field so neither the ball or any of the kids were ever within about 20 yards of his house) and he got so angry that after months and months of telling us he was complaining to the council, they finally came and planted a load of trees where we played. It was actually really helpful because they were spread out and it actually created a small pitch area with two sets of two trees to create proper posts. The seethe generated by us smashing the balls of the trees and the fact that he'd helped inadvertently helped us create a pitch was absolutely glorious. He moved house a couple of years later.

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In any circumstances you meet a civil servant face to face.

If they are competent, they shouldn't have a problem with it.

What percentage are actually competent though? Having worked for HMRC, I'd say less than 10% of staff, 1% of management.

For the benefit of the forum. What are the rules about filming on Crown property, data protection and privacy etc?
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For the benefit of the forum. What are the rules about filming on Crown property, data protection and privacy etc?

For the benefit of everyone, it's not illegal to film people on public property. Although people with things to hide will often tell you there is.

If somehow you end up filming something which is covered by the DPA (ie someone else data) it's because wherever you are is breaking the DPA by leaving it in a public area.

They don't like it up 'em.

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In what circumstances would you do that?

If the definition of "civil servant" extends to "bin man", I've done it.

In a nutshell, to avoid damage to an unadopted bit of pavement we're responsible for, the drivers of the refuse and recycling lorries had been instructed by their boss to turn right instead of left when reaching our street (from a T-junction)*. I was about to leave for work when I noticed a lorry about to turn left so I got my phone out to film and demonstrate that either: 1) damage was being caused; or 2) it's possible to complete the turn without mounting the kerb.

As it happened, they achieved 2). Funny, that.

*For some reason the council preferred to alter their collection route than adopt the pavement...

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As a kid I remember playing football in an area not far from my house. It was surrounded by high fences to people's gardens. One old guy came round ranting at us. He pointed at the sign which said something like:

"Football prohibited, by order of CRC."

"I'll report you to the council" he kept saying. My mate Steven looked at him and said "That sign says CRC. Central Region Council was abolished. This is Clackmannanshire now. You should read the papers more".

Guy went purple and shuffled on home. No doubt to be thrashed within an inch of his life by a fat psycopathic wife.

Nice Pink Floyd reference.

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