Category Archives: public sector

Getting beyond the Rotherham Scandal Headlines

Posted on October 5, 2014 by lawrence serewicz

If we are to understand the Rotherham Child Sexual Exploitation scandal, we have to move beyond the headlines and the news stories. We may wish to stay on the surface of the issue and accept uncritically the journalist’s view or … Continue reading →

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The banality of institutional ignorance: Rotherham and child sexual exploitation

Posted on September 24, 2014 by lawrence serewicz

When people first heard the news about Rotherham Council’s child sexual exploitation scandal, they may have thought the Council and the Police were incompetent.[1] Some may have compared it to Haringey Council’s failure to protect Peter Donnelly (Baby P) and … Continue reading →

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Mark Duggan, a lawful death, but was it just?

Posted on January 22, 2014 by lawrence serewicz

Mark Duggan was a bad man.[1] Although not a martyr[2], did he deserve to be killed? Does anyone deserve to be killed? To deserve to be killed suggests an outcome of a process. The person has done something whereby death … Continue reading →

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Street justice through social media: the new bureaucratic accountability

Posted on July 10, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

The customer service angle to social media complaints are well known. People use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to complain about customer service. They don’t like the product or service so they complain publicly to get somethign done. The process is … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, local government, public sector, transparency, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Vexatious requests guidance: weakening our power to make the state speak

Posted on May 15, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

The long awaited guidance on vexatious requests has arrived.  The guidance follows from two distinct events. The first was the Parliament’s review of FOIA during which the MoJ presented evidence that suggested council’s were limited in their ability to deal … Continue reading →

Posted in FOIA, public sector, transparency, Uncategorized, vexatious requests | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The temptation of celebrity power: the Police and Jimmy Savile

Posted on May 10, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

The temptation of celebrity affects us all. In this regard, the police are not alone. Like many others, the police succumbed to the temptation of Jimmy Savile’s celebrity status.  They wanted to get to know a celebrity and a celebrity … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, public sector, transparency | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The death of Daniel Morgan and the (im)possibility of Justice

Posted on October 31, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time.” —Socrates, in Plato’s Apology, 31d–32a Daniel Morgan died with an axe in his face.  We … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, local government, philosophy, public sector, statesmanship, transparency | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

It didn’t start with Savile: BBC’s internal crisis has been brewing for years

Posted on October 22, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

The headlines about the Jimmy Savile scandal have rocked the BBC to its core.  They have revealed that the BBC, long considered the standard in British Broadcasting, if not the world, has a corporate cultural crisis. Some observers will believe … Continue reading →

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No time for history? Take a video tour of a County Record Office

Posted on October 18, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

  In a previous blog, on Jimmy Savile and the Shaw report  I mentioned the need to visit the County Record Office to know how our collective memory was stored.  For many people, this may prove difficult because of the … Continue reading →

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Finding Jimmy Savile: the Shaw report haunts England’s Archives

Posted on October 10, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

Finding Jimmy Savile: the Shaw report haunts England’s Archives The name of the title is instantly familiar to readers in the United Kingdom.  Jimmy Savile has been in the news because he has been accused of molesting young girls.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in privacy, public sector, transparency | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments