Glasgow - Council Ban
I don't know Alex O'Kane, never met the man, but his ban from contacting council officials in Glasgow, except by letter, seems rather over the top if you ask me.
The report below by STV doesn't explain why the council views his communications as 'vexatious' although GCC has said the same thing about some of my FoI requests in the past - before being forced to eat their words.
https://stv.tv/news/west-central/1440922-community-activist-banned-from-contacting-council/
'Courageous' community activist banned from contacting council
Alex O'Kane has spent two decades supporting people in a north Glasgow community.
By Russell Findlay
Alex O'Kane was born and raised in Milton, an area blighted by poverty and described as the most deprived in Britain - but he would not live anywhere else.
The community activist has spent two decades supporting people in the north Glasgow community and proudly states: "I've told people that if I win the lottery I wouldn't move. This is my home."
O'Kane's passion for helping those without a voice has led to death threats from drugs gangs, political praise and plaudits from police chiefs - yet he has now been served an unexpected ban by Glasgow City Council.
The 53-year-old says he is hurt and confused at the edict which blocks him from any phone or email contact with officials and councillors, with the exception of letters sent by post.
O'Kane told STV News: "If it's a valid problem people have got, I'll take their details and I'll pass it on in a polite and courteous way to the council and ask them to deal with it. It's been working for years but all of a sudden it's been stopped.
"Why would the council deliberately block someone who's giving up their time voluntarily to try to help other local people? There was no warning whatsoever, nothing. I can't even contact my own councillors that I voted for by email."
O'Kane first foray into community campaigning was more than 20 years ago - helping to save playing fields where Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish first played football.
He later stood up to threats from the Lyons drugs gang who were handed control of Chirnsyde community centre - with the backing of Labour politicians, the police and more than £1m of taxpayers' money. The Lyons were only evicted following a triple shooting by Daniel gang rivals which left one man dead and prompted a Scottish Parliament debate.
The SNP's Bob Doris and other MSPs praised the "courageous and tireless" work of O'Kane and three other local dads - the so-called "four bampots", which was how they were dismissively smeared by a council official during their campaign.
Two years ago, O'Kane established community Facebook page No1Seems2Care and the response was overwhelming as it amassed 25,000 followers and became inundated with pleas for assistance.
Many of those who engage with the site are elderly, have learning difficulties, addiction problems or are otherwise vulnerable. They often struggle to navigate officialdom and lack basic skills to communicate with faceless officials or police control rooms.
Some issues are personally important but relatively minor - bin collections, nuisance neighbours, street lighting. Others are extremely serious.
O'Kane sources and delivers emergency food supplies to hungry families and gives emotional support to the relatives of those killed by suicide, drugs and violence. In Milton, there is no shortage of such families.
He said: "There's a void of care up here. I've been doing this for 20 years but going back a couple of years, I asked myself, what do people need in this area? What are people looking for? People said the same thing time and time again - no-one seems to care.
"I took that and harnessed that into a group and the group's done really well over the last couple of years."
No1Seems2Care's impact has not gone unnoticed with justice secretary Humza Yousaf last year telling O'Kane: "I also thank you for your dedication in assisting your local community."
Chief Inspector Vicky Little also thanked him for "supporting vulnerable members of the community" adding: "It is always appreciated when members of the community like you make the effort and take the time to assist Police Scotland."
Back at Holyrood, Doris told how No1Seems2Care put him in touch with a woman who had no food or electricity, adding: "It should not take well-intentioned individuals such as Alex and the members of his Facebook group to draw such cases to the attention of politicians so that they can be acted on ... I also thank Alex for all that he does to help vulnerable people among the constituents whom I serve."
Such praise does not appear to make any difference to the council, which described O'Kane's contact with them as 'vexatious' - which means action that is only taken to cause annoyance.
O'Kane suspects the motives for the ban may be due to his non-funded, non-political status and criticism of the council's alleged failings in relation to suicide prevention.
'We're a completely voluntary help page. It costs me money to do what I'm doing, and time and effort. We've got no political alliances or preferences and we have got no funding whatsoever so we're a completely voluntary group'
Alex O'Kane
He said: "I'm asking too many questions about the progress, or lack of progress, being made in relation to a serious subject like suicide. I believe the council are really dragging their heels.
"We're a completely voluntary help page. It costs me money to do what I'm doing, and time and effort. We've got no political alliances or preferences and we have got no funding whatsoever so we're a completely voluntary group.
"I think that's part of the problem because if you don't take money, the council have got no control over you. They also know that I've got a habit of contacting the media and exposing failings. I believe they're doing this to be spiteful. I've used the term, they've spat the dummy out.
"I've come to the conclusion that the council can ignore one voice but they find it more difficult to ignore 10,000 people or a group of 20,000 people, 25,000 people. It's a worthwhile service and I'd have thought that Glasgow City Council would be encouraging me to proceed but instead of that I've been blocked."
The ban has been challenged by Labour MP Paul Sweeney, who told STV News that No1Seems2Care's work is "critical ... because they connect with a lot of people in the community who otherwise feel disenfranchised".
He has offered to mediate and has written to the council asking for an explanation.
He said: "Whilst there obviously has to be policies in place to block abusive communication, I don't think that's the case in this situation.
"It might be the volume of communication, but of course that's because there's a large backlog of casework that's being dealt with through that website and that Facebook page.
"I think people in positions of authority have to be prepared to take criticism on the chin of course, but it would seem rather harsh to lock down communication with an organisation or individuals trying to represent people in the community.
"I think what's been quite worrying about it is there's not been any series of warnings or any sort of effort to try and address it in a gradual way.
"It's just very sudden closure of communication and that's particularly concerning so I've asked Glasgow City Council for an explanation as to why that might have happened and hopefully we can mediate and find a resolution to it sooner rather than later."
The council declined to explain why it considers O'Kane's communications to be vexatious.
A spokesman added: "The decision was taken by officers in the chief executive's office, in line with the policy.
"Disproportionate levels of vexatious contact from some individuals can, unchecked, adversely affect our service to customers.
"We aim to be accessible to all our customers however we retain the right, where we consider a customer's actions to be unacceptable, to restrict or change access to our service; for example by specifying that contact is by postal letter only.
"A customer can appeal a decision to restrict contact in line with our unacceptable actions by customers policy."
Most deprived part of Britain
An academic study classed Milton and its surrounding area as the most deprived part of Britain.
Professor Chris Lloyd at Liverpool University led an 18-month study of 120,000 neighbourhoods which looked at factors including unemployment, overcrowding and car ownership.
Of Britain's 100 worst areas for poverty and inequality, 59 were in Scotland with 47 of those in Glasgow.
All ten of those categorised as the worst were in Glasgow ... with the Canal council ward at rock bottom. Canal comprises Milton, Possilpark and Ruchill.
The 2018 study covered a 40-year period from 1971 to 2011.
Professor Lloyd previously told the Sunday Mail newspaper: "What we found that though populations have changed, the levels of deprivation have not.
"I would have expected Glasgow and Scotland to be up there but not in such a pronounced way. I was surprised Glasgow was so dominant. The sheer consistency of Glasgow in the figures is surprising.
"I hope people will use the data to get them thinking about what can we done. We're not trying to label places and we accept that people in these areas may not think their area is deprived."
