If you have looked at our blog over the past few days, you would have seen a post about the decline in the sale of visitor vouchers. Our blog was based on information disclosed by Barnet Council last week under the Freedom of Information Act.
Barnet Council have today informed us that their information was incorrect and that the number of £4 vouchers sold was much higher than they had stated. We have therefore deleted our blog entry.
I'm curious about this news.
ReplyDeleteFor one thing, it's worrying if local councils are failing to supply accurate Freedom of Information Act information. Barnet deserves credit for checking and correcting this. Though it's also true that the original incorrect information was highly embarrassing. So they had a motivation to do this.
Second, I'd expected that the Law of Supply and Demand would eventually limit the upward spiral of parking permit charges used in effect as a stealth tax. So with the new figures, is there any indication that the limits are being reached? Or are sales of Visitor Permits holding up?
Presumably, one disappointing consequence of the High Court decision is that documents can't be "discovered" and checked for these sorts of mistakes.
Alan Stanton
Tottenham Hale ward councillor
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanstanton/5375910349/