IT'S clear that big decisions are still in store over the future education of pupils taught at Sheffield's Wisewood and Myers Grove schools. And it is only right that the views of parents, pupils, staff, indeed the whole community, should be sought in this process. But it is equally clear that the biggest decision of all - that the schools are to be closed and replaced with a single new campus - was reached in secret and without consultation with anyone other than a chosen few officials
Unfortunately this raises concerns that the coming consultation process may be little more than lip service to the democratic process. If this is not to be the case, then all further decisions have to be fully transparent. What is more, it has to be
shown that consultation means more than simply communicating enough information to achieve what has previously been decided by a chosen few officials and councillors.
Thank goodness for the human touchANYONE who has banged their head against the brick walls thrown up by large corporations will sympathise with Sally Dale who went round in circles in an attempt to sort out a muddle over her electricity bill. She told the power company that she had been given someone else's bill, when a £2,000 demand dropped through her letterbox, leading to an elaborate paper- and phone-chase and a threat that bailiffs would be calling to settle the matter.
Finally she has been assured that the matter has been sorted after an official looked more closely into the affair. They have even offered some compensation. That just goes to show that it takes a computer to make a mistake, but it takes a human being to say sorry.
Nessie's neck on lineBAD news for fans of the Loch Ness Monster...she's definitely not a dinosaur.
This news comes from boffins who point out that a long-necked plesiosaur couldn't lift her head above water in traditional Nessie pose. And another reason she couldn't be a creature from a million years ago? She's a figment of some canny Scots tourist board official's imagination!
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