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Monday 26 August 2013

 Old News - EA + RIPA

Yes it is over 4 years old - but still, it's not we believe - the sort of thing that we want to hear about The Environment Agency and Henry's latest post makes it seem likely that some folk at the Environment Agency have got themselves the complete collection of Spooks boxed set and are using them as an instruction manual.

Cloak and dagger at the EA?



Yeah ... we're mildly paranoid about truth and the EA (with some compelling evidence!) Given our experience of things EA it's not like they change their spots or anything - and the use of an eye-wateringly expensive  anti terrorist rumour database by the EA really does make one wonder about the mindset at middle and senior management levels inside the organisation.

Reputedly Chief Exec Dr Leinster has to authorise any RIPA activity personally - we wonder where the line is between repeating and logging earwigged title tattle / gossip and overtly snooping is?

It's clear from the shambles we've seen in a supposedly straightforward box ticking exercise that EA intelligence gathering and the veracity of information is likely to be deeply flawed - who checks all this info?

Please, somebody from the EA come and tell us you're not routinely using RIPA ?  We wonder if the annual report from the Surveillance Commissioner is a public document - somehow we doubt it... - but we have asked :-)


A bit more old news - but not much coverage since - 
Any EA (or ex EA!) folk know what happened to
EA Warrington National Carbon Snooper Team?

£5 million a year since 2009 with no discernible effect  - £25,000,000 spent without achieving anything ... yep - the more one sees of the Environment Agency - the more obvious it becomes that it's dysfunction and broken beyond repair.

For those of you wondering about the extents of snooping and who gets up to actually doing it - this Daily Mail article by Steven Glover makes for frankly quite disturbing reading - for all the grandstanding in the media about Rupert Murdoch - it would seem the problem is far, far wider and I suppose it makes it less of a surprise that the EA see no problem with getting into the snooping game big time.... 

Monday 19 August 2013

Freedom of Information

There are a couple of FoI requests relating to Avoncliff still extant that The Environment Agency has chosen not to answer.



These are non trivial items.

The first is from Allan Richards:
He has named a number of Environment Agency officials and asked that details of their activities relating to Environment Agency actions at Avoncliff be provided. The EA have stopped responding.

The second is from D. Weston:
How much has the licence process at Avoncliff cost? The EA have simply refused to respond.

The first one is pretty serious stuff - the second is not unreasonable under the circumstances.

So, c'mon EA folk - get your act in gear. These questions are not going to disappear!

In fact, it seems likely your old friends the Information Commissioner's Office is likely to come calling in the not too distant future.

That £36,000 FoI bill cooked up by our friend from North Korea is beginning to look a bit wobbly... hope you've got the recipe right pal ...