Last week we gained an interesting glimpse of life behind West Street's closed doors.
Aside from the antics of one former councillor as he tottered the corridors of power, Councillor Anne Dorrian disclosed the apparent inability of staff to get things right.
"I have already been to two meetings in the last week where councillors have discovered that they have been given the wrong information by officers - and we're not talking about spelling mistakes or typing errors, we are talking about important information that councillors rely on to help them make the right decisions for the people of Boston," she said.
In the few documents available for public consumption, we have been astonished at the number of factual and typographical errors that we have encountered, and it has made us wonder exactly how professional a council we have and whether the few morsels we have gleaned represent just the tip of the iceberg.
Now, we hear news that makes us question the mindset of the powers that be.Figures show that Lincolnshire councils have used special surveillance powers on 217 occasions in the past three years under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) which permits the use of "covert human intelligence sources" to help prevent crime, including terrorism.
Aside from the antics of one former councillor as he tottered the corridors of power, Councillor Anne Dorrian disclosed the apparent inability of staff to get things right.
"I have already been to two meetings in the last week where councillors have discovered that they have been given the wrong information by officers - and we're not talking about spelling mistakes or typing errors, we are talking about important information that councillors rely on to help them make the right decisions for the people of Boston," she said.
In the few documents available for public consumption, we have been astonished at the number of factual and typographical errors that we have encountered, and it has made us wonder exactly how professional a council we have and whether the few morsels we have gleaned represent just the tip of the iceberg.
Now, we hear news that makes us question the mindset of the powers that be.Figures show that Lincolnshire councils have used special surveillance powers on 217 occasions in the past three years under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) which permits the use of "covert human intelligence sources" to help prevent crime, including terrorism.
Apparently the most common use of RIPA by local authorities is to track down benefit cheats and fly-tippers.
Of the seven district councils in Lincolnshire, Boston comes third in its use of covert surveillance authorisations having used them on 26 occasions.
Only South Holland with 59, and West Lindsey on 53 were ahead of us.
Neighbouring East Lindsey, on the other hand, only used RIPA powers on ten occasions.
A spokesman for West Lindsey District Council said they used the legislation for things that had a big negative impact on the community like commercial fly-tipping in the middle of nowhere, but East Lindsey took the view that there were other ways to enforce the law.
A spokesman for West Lindsey District Council said they used the legislation for things that had a big negative impact on the community like commercial fly-tipping in the middle of nowhere, but East Lindsey took the view that there were other ways to enforce the law.
We know that Boston Borough Council is keen to encourage people to put their rubbish in the proper bins, but we also have to question why the authority uses such an improbable sledgehammer as RIPA to crack a nut as small as littering.
The question is reinforced when we consider that in terms of population, Boston is far and away the smallest of the seven local councils, yet among the biggest users of RIPA.
But then - this being Boston Borough Council after all - we decided to use their thought processes to join up the dots.
RIPA helps prevent terrorism ....
If we use it to spy on fly tippers....
We might capture the world's most wanted terrorist....
Osama BIN Laden!
Write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence if requested.
The question is reinforced when we consider that in terms of population, Boston is far and away the smallest of the seven local councils, yet among the biggest users of RIPA.
But then - this being Boston Borough Council after all - we decided to use their thought processes to join up the dots.
RIPA helps prevent terrorism ....
If we use it to spy on fly tippers....
We might capture the world's most wanted terrorist....
Osama BIN Laden!
Write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence if requested.
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