Fatal flaw in consultation process

Published: 3 March, 2011

• CASH-strapped Camden is spending money on a library consultation that is wide open to fraud and thus also open to legal challenge.

As anyone who uses the online form can see there is no requirement to sign the submitted document with a name and address or even email address, just a postcode.

There is no safeguard against multiple submission. So one person, not necessarily from Camden, can make more than one submission. 

This completely invalidates any results. How could Camden not recognise this fatal flaw?

BARRY FOX
Contributing editor, Europe
Consumer Electronics Daily

• THE consultation website requires a health warning. From statements there, I deduce that the overall library budget was £8m and that the idea is to reduce this by £2m – a 25 per cent cut.  

Camden’s website seems to indicate its overall budget for the year is some £690m, from which £90m needs to be lost over three years – or £30m a year, which works out as 4.3 per cent.  

If the whole council budget had to slim by four or even five per cent I can see no reason why the library budget should lose 25 per cent.  

These background figures are not set out as foreground when asking people to join in a consultation. The exercise is dishonest. 

Start again Camden and deal honestly with us.

JM WOBER
Lancaster Grove, NW3