Camden New Journal - Letters: Comment

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

Camden New Journal - COMMENT
Published: 6 September 2007

Did the Town Hall 'cops' go door-to-door in search of missing antiques?

IT has taken the Town Hall nine months to conclude an inquiry into how the personal belongings of several of their tenants – who had died – had ended up in skips!
According to a report published this week, two council employees have been suspended and charged with misconduct.
Putting aside the fate of these employees – and they would have to be assumed to be innocent until proven otherwise – the real question is: How thorough was the investigation?
It should be borne in mind that the inquiry would never have seen the light of day if the New Journal hadn’t uncovered this extraordinary scandal in the first place.
Our reporters found several tenants whose precious family belongings had been carefully sifted by council employees. Those of little value were thrown into a skip, while more marketable items were put to one side. Later, our inquiries revealed compelling evidence to suggest these very items were being sold to local shops. In one instance, we actually found an antique commode – last seen in a tenant’s flat before a house clearance – in a York Way shop!
As yet we don’t know who did it, though we can guess why they did it.
What form did the Town Hall investigation take?
How many officials conducted it? Was it merely a paper investigation? Did officials do what our reporters did, and carry out checks on local shops? Did they do the hard slog of conducting door-to-door enquiries? Did they even see the relatives of the bereaved for more back-up material?
There are a hundred and one questions we could ask – but all, we are sure, will be to no avail.
Because one cannot find even the barest hint of an answer to any of these questions in the 13-page council report.
The investigation appears to have been carried out in secret. One would have thought that an investigation of this importance would have been monitored by our elected councillors as it was in progress.
Who knocked on the chief executive’s door or that of the housing chief Neil Litherland, whose department took responsibility for the inquiry, to find out how it was proceeding? Did any councillor do this? Again, the evidence suggests this wasn’t done.
When you consider that councillors are, in effect, the employers of Town Hall staff – acting on behalf of the public – would they not be obliged to carry out these regular checks?
We fear that they let the officials get on with the job.

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment: