Freedom at last, thanks to John Gulliver

Published: 11 March 2010

• I CAN now report that after well over 100 days (as compared with the 10 offered by the Post Office) I have at last received my Freedom Pass.
My profound thanks goes to the Camden Council officer who took the trouble to chase it up and explain to me what the problems had been. However, none of this would have happened if it had not been for my letters in the New Journal and John Gulliver. So far as I can ascertain much of the difficulty arises from basic flaws in the system operated from Hull. There appears to be no proper system of tracking progress or of reporting back when problems occur (for example over my beard). Given that London boroughs were not required (despite Councillor Martin Davies’ apparent assertions to the contrary) to do the initial work themselves, I question the wisdom and cost of Camden Council’s involvement. It will be interesting to have an independent report on the outcome and comparative costs and benefits of Camden’s involvement compared with the other 30 boroughs who continued to use post offices. At the very least had the work been done by the Post Office this would have prevented the cost of Camden’s involvement when things went wrong. Was the exercise “cheaper and better”?
MICK FARRANT
Oak Village, NW5