‘Camden’s approach to its residents, assuming we all have access to advanced technology and penalising us if we don’t’

• MICK Farrant complains about Camden Council demanding a digital version of information they already have many times over, or risk losing his parking permit, (Do they know who I am? Yes they do…, May 19).

Camden’s approach to its residents, assuming we all have access to advanced technology and penalising us if we don’t, indeed, behaving as though they wish their residents were themselves compliant machines, has other manifestations too.

The week before the recent council elections, Camden published a map of new ward boundaries in the CNJ, and gave a list of polling stations for each ward. Helpful, you might think.

But the list just gave the name of the building in each case and a postcode; with no actual address. There was no reference to the street the polling station was to be found on.

If I didn’t still have my polling card – which gave the proper address – I’d have had no idea where to go to spoil my ballot paper; the polling station was many times further away than it’s ever been in all the decades I have lived here, so I doubt I’d ever have found it if I had relied on the published advert.

Also Camden has been sending letters to those responsible for council tax who are eligible for a government grant to offset high energy costs.

But the letters insist that to receive the money you need to take the letter, with its code number, to the post office, together with biometric / photo ID such as a driving licence or a passport.

We are not routinely expected to have ID in this country, I am glad to say, and a significant minority of Camden residents won’t have any of the documents demanded.

Worse still, the people in this situation are likely to be the most vulnerable ones who most need the financial help. How are they to get their entitlement?

ALBERT BEALE
Little Russell Street, WC1