{"id":9962,"date":"2021-11-13T11:55:37","date_gmt":"2021-11-13T11:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biggeesblog.cymru\/?p=9962"},"modified":"2021-11-28T20:42:43","modified_gmt":"2021-11-28T20:42:43","slug":"holding-officialdom-to-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biggeesblog.cymru\/index.php\/2021\/11\/13\/holding-officialdom-to-account\/","title":{"rendered":"Holding Officialdom To Account"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keep Their Noses On Your Grindstone!<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"If you’re a regular BGB follower, you will probably be aware of our Correspondence Journal<\/span><\/span><\/a> that contains copies of all of BGB’s freedom of information (FOI) requests; requests for clarification, letters to the governments of England and Wales, individual letters to various MPs\/ SMs (Welsh Assembly Members) and correspondence to all committees, organisations and agencies involved in Covid-19 matters. This is our effort to hold officialdom to account.<\/p>\n

To date, we’re on the third volume of our Correspondence Journal; each volume contains 100 entries see:<\/p>\n

| Volume 1<\/a><\/span><\/span> | Volume 2<\/a><\/span><\/span> | Volume 3<\/a><\/span><\/span> | you’ll discover some interesting material there.<\/p>\n

The ‘Dance’<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"A common theme that runs through this correspondence exercise, is that the recipients have a familiar ‘dance’ that they use to duck, weave and dive. They either provide vague responses, provide inaccurate information, direct us to irrelevant material – on other websites – or simply try to ignore us – when they encounter difficult subjects that require more than a generic brush off.<\/p>\n

Because this ‘dance’ routine has become so familiar to us, all their dance steps are known to us! Consequently, the recipients can’t wriggle off the hook. Although it is only our original enquiry and the responses we receive that get logged in the journal, there is often a great deal of correspondence in between. If we recorded all of the messages we send out in the process of one enquiry, our journal volumes would reach epic proportions. We adopt the tactic of ‘many taps break the stone’. It takes a mammoth amount of time and effort, as we repeatedly send out reminders if we are not satisfied with the information we receive (or don’t receive at all) – but it works. We have noticed that certain organisations and bodies that we have been in constant contact with over the last eighteen months, have visibly changed their attitude towards us, and have pulled their socks up – when it comes to the speed and accuracy of response. Nevertheless we still have stubborn ones, but we’ll continue to nag them to death!<\/p>\n

An Example<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"\"

Mark Drakeford – Welsh Parliament’s First Minister<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Customer Contact Centre<\/span>
\nWelsh Government<\/span>
\nCathays Park<\/span>
\nCardiff<\/span>
\nCF10 3NQ<\/span>Date: <\/span>12\u00a0 November\u00a0 2021<\/span>–<\/p>\n

Dear Customer Contact <\/span>Team,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Subject:<\/span>\u00a0C J 137<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0– Validity of Covid 19 RT-PCR test – external peer review by 22 international virologists, microbiologists and related scientists.<\/span> [LINK<\/a><\/span><\/span>]<\/b><\/p>\n

I refer to the above subject and my correspondence with the First Minister as set out in the email thread below and summarised hereunder.<\/span><\/p>\n

11 May 2021<\/strong><\/span>
\nFirst letter to the First Minister attaching documentation relating to the RT-PCR test.<\/span><\/p>\n

12 June 2021<\/strong><\/span>
\nReminder letter to First Minister requesting reply.<\/span><\/p>\n

11 July 2021<\/strong><\/span>
\nFurther reminder letter to First Minister requesting target date for reply.<\/span><\/p>\n

14 August 2021<\/strong><\/span>
\nFurther reminder letter to First Minister requesting reply. A courtesy copy was provided to Senedd Cymru Welsh Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n

15 September 2021<\/strong><\/span>
\nFurther reminder letter to First Minister requesting reply. A courtesy copy was provided to Senedd Cymru Welsh Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n

15 October 2021<\/strong><\/span>
\nA further reminder letter to First Minister requesting a reply. A courtesy copy was provided to Senedd Cymru Welsh Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is disappointing that no effort has been made to respond to my letter dated 11 May given the importance of the subject. To avoid the need for further monthly reminder letters, I regret I must now request that you process this as a “Standard of Service complaint<\/i>“. I would be grateful if you could forward this correspondence to your Complaints Team to assess whether the failure to respond falls below the standard of service that Welsh Government aims to provide to its customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

I would be grateful if you could provide me with a copy of your corporate complaints process setting out your target timeframe for processing my complaint. Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yours sincerely<\/span><\/p>\n

Wynne Jones<\/span>
\n(BGB Correspondence Journal Editor)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Stakeholders [for information]<\/b>
\ncc\u00a0\u00a0 Senedd Cymru Welsh Parliament<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

Another Great\u00a0Result For Us\u00a0 This Week!<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency [MHRA] received an enquiry from us on the 8th of March 2021 [CJ-122<\/a><\/span><\/span>]. However they over complicated their usual ‘dance’ steps, and furbished us with a FOI response which stated that under specific sections of the FOI Act they were not obliged to give us the information we requested. This was a blatant lie and an obvious ploy to dodge their statutory obligation. Their ‘dancing’ was about to make them hit a brick wall, with a resultant big embarrassing lump on their forehead!<\/p>\n

We requested an internal review – to be conducted by the MHRA. They eventually came back to us stating that their compliancy team had upheld their original decision not to provide information [LINK<\/a><\/span><\/span>]. We then lodged a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (the ICO).<\/p>\n

This week we received a reply from the ICO. They FULLY upheld our complaint and further made stipulations on the MHRA, that have to be carried out in the next 35 days.<\/p>\n

You MUST<\/strong> read the ICO report<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to appreciate what a result this was for us. Which all goes to show how worthwhile our efforts have been, in holding officialdom to account.<\/p>\n

But it doesn’t end there. We are a small outfit, punching well above our weight. The correspondence work we do can also be done by individuals who are reading this. It is a known fact, that the sheer volume of letters and e-mails received by politicians can have a great influence on their thinking and their actions. When they realise how people feel about this hoax pandemic, and the way it has affected our lives and freedoms – they WILL stop and think.<\/p>\n

Writing Letters\/ E-mails To Your Own Political Representatives.<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Click on the above image to access the template page on BGB<\/p><\/div>\n

Writing letters is not something that everyone relishes. Some lack confidence, others may be shy of the task. Still others feel that they are not competent to write a letter off the top of their head.<\/p>\n

BGB has come to the rescue there as well. We’ve prepared a letter template for you to download and edit at will. You can also find the contact details for your MP on that page. So get writing – we depend on you to make your voices heard in the right quarters! “Many hands make light work”. You may not be able to go to protests, you may not be able to do leaflet drops<\/a><\/span><\/span> or make stirring speeches, but you CAN make your voices heard via the written word.<\/p>\n

Many thanks for your continued interest and support.<\/p>\n

\n

View all of BGB’s videos by visiting the BGB archive channels at:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

|<\/span> \"\"<\/a> |<\/span> \"\"<\/a> |<\/span> \"\"<\/a> |<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n

SUBSCRIBE for free to receive automated notifications of new posts from BGB in your e-mail inbox – as they’re published. You can unsubscribe at any time you choose.<\/strong><\/em><\/span>

Please enter your details below and click 'Subscribe'<\/div>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Bookmark<\/span><\/a>
Please login to bookmark<\/span>\n<\/line><\/line><\/svg><\/i>Close<\/i><\/a><\/div>
\n