WTF? Ask some awkward questions and the council threaten him with a mini ASBO......A council has threatened a pensioner with an Asbo-like order to stop him asking tricky questions about the authority's use of money.
John Hibbitt, 67, will be visited by the police and his council's anti-social behaviour officer, who will try and stop him making further inquiries.
The pensioner said he wants to find out how much money North Dorset District Council spends on mobile phones.
While the council said it has answered all Mr Hibbitt's questions, he claims it has not.
Now he is being asked to sign an Acceptable Behaviour Order, known as an ABC, more usually dished out to young yobs.
If he were to sign the document and then breach its terms, he could be issued with an actual Asbo.
Mr Hibbitt, a semi-retired borehole driller, does not think he gets value for money for the £1,300 council tax he pays out annually on his state pension of £5,000.
He has made repeated to calls to council officers who have become tired of his 'vexatious' inquiries.
Mr Hibbitt, from Kington Magna, said: 'I think it's ridiculous to threaten someone with an Asbo just for asking a few questions.
'I survive on a state pension of around £5,000 a year but my council tax costs me nearly £1,300.
'I just wanted to find out how much of my tax was being spent on mobile phone bills. The way I've been treated is disgusting.
'I initially wrote to the council and they did write back but I never got a straight answer.
'The language they used was evasive and unhelpful, so I wrote back and made some phone calls.
'I don't think I get good value for my council tax as I live in a small cottage in the middle of nowhere and hardly use my council services, but a large part of my income goes on the tax.
'I want to make sure it is being spent properly. I would admit to being forceful with officers, but in order to get a straight answer you have to be.'
Derek Hardy, the council's policy manager for housing and community safety, said: 'Mr Hibbitt has been phoning the council day after day in the afternoons asking a response to a question which the council has already given answers in writing and verbally.
'His calls are repetitive and vexatious and costing council tax-payers of North Dorset a considerable amount of money through officer time.
Maybe the council could just provide him with accurate figures? Maybe some of the councillors are phoning sex lines or something dubious and seeking to cover up their wasting of cash?
'I can confirm that the council has written to Mr Hibbitt discussing the possibility of taking out an Acceptable Behaviour Contract.'
Mr Hibbert admitted calling the council up to 200 times over an eight-week period.
'I can confirm that the council has written to Mr Hibbitt discussing the possibility of taking out an Acceptable Behaviour Contract.'
Mr Hibbert admitted calling the council up to 200 times over an eight-week period.
As for the number of times he called, so what. It is his money that the state non jobs are pissing away on lunches and freebie jollies for their mates. Councils staffed to the rafters with utter cunts, wasters, non jobs, loons, assorted time servers and twats.
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4 people have spoken:
Five times a day, five times a week.
Borehole indeed.
If he was phoning council "Executives" I would have no problem with it.
But he isn't, they manage to slime off such duties to people who make as much in a month as those bastards do in a couple of days.
The complainer should have had a face to face meeting with Very Senior Council executives before this ABC thing came about.
But we all know, that would never happen.
That's what their underpaid underlings are for.
Councils I hate em.
Since most council "services" have been contracted out to nulabor's mates Crapita and other corporate political-donors, it now takes an extraordinarily long time to get anyone to actually listen to you. You write, they ignore you. You phone, there's "no-one available", you go in, queue for an hour then get automaton-responses from the junior-employee who can only "pass on information".
I had to go to CAB then read the fucking Housing Act at my awful LA [corporate-motto: "We're excellent!"] before they got my Council-Tax right. Four months of correspondence later, the issue was resolved in my favour. And then, the next year, all previous mistakes were repeated. The whole process started again.
And the idea of getting rewarded with an ASBO for attempting to hold the little shits to account...
Fucking hell, I'm not even shocked any more.
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