‘Camden Council is run along the lines of MI6, not the local council it actually is’

• WHY are Camden Council staff not yet back at their desks, meaning Camden residents and council taxpayers are not able to obtain vital appointments to discuss housing issues and housing benefit problems?

Camden cannot argue that they are providing an efficient service from home. They are not.

I have been emailing and telephoning since January to try to resolve a particular problem relating to my husband being admitted to a care home, due to dementia and have got nowhere.

I gave up around May and decided to wait until lockdown restrictions were over. They ended on August 16.

I rang to arrange an appointment on August 19 to be told that they are still not back and currently there are no plans to bring them back, therefore there are no appointments.

It is not good enough. This is a vital public service and we are paying for an empty building.

I was asked five weeks ago to drop off some private and confidential papers at their offices in St Pancras Square. The only visible staff were a couple of security guards and I was directed to a make-shift post box in the main foyer.

Even though these papers were taken directly to their office in an addressed envelope they have still managed to lose them. How is that for efficiency and data protection?

We are not allowed to have the names of any managers responsible for the mess down there. So complaining and trying to resolve an issue is made as difficult as possible.

Camden Council is run along the lines of MI6, not the local council it actually is. It’s ridiculous.

I have started the complaints procedure, by email, to a vague departmental address, because that is all us mere residents are allowed.

We should campaign to get Camden Council moving again. I cannot be the only resident being treated in this shoddy, careless manner.

It just shows the council’s complacency and contempt for its residents. It cannot be beyond the wit of its management to put together a workable service, even if the staff do not wish to return to the workplace full time.

The council should be reminded that it does not exist for its staff. It exists for us the residents.

JANET BUTTERY
St Pancras Way, NW1