Yesterday you might have read on VB about council’s future of Autism provisions consultation press release? The one which had a quote from Cllr Mazillius that the members of the Isle of Wight branch of the National Autistic Society were less than happy about?
Well, there’s a bit more to the story.
Disappear!
The press release disappeared from the council’s Website two days after it was released (Yes, we got a screen grab of it missing).
Reappear!
VB contacted the council’s Press Office about it yesterday morning (Wednesday) – they haven’t responded as yet, but guess what? The page has now reappeared – but with some alterations to the text.
Looking at it on their iWight Website, you wouldn’t have any idea that it’d had changes made to it. In fact, at the top of the page it states, “26 Oct 2011 Last updated at 00:00”
What are the changes?
There are a few small punctuation changes; insertion of 01983 dialling code; ‘Isle of Wight Council’; a Web address; the year 2011 – these things are of no apparent note.
There are two other more noticeable changes …
The original third paragraph read, “By consulting with service users on the content of the strategy, it is hoped that people who have been diagnosed with autism, their parents and carers have the chance to directly influence future autism support services, so that they can continue to live fulfilling and rewarding lives now and in the future.”
The revised version has dropped “now and in the future” from the end.
Paragraph completely removed
What was originally the fifth paragraph has been completely removed (UPDATE: The council contacted VB to say that the para had been moved to the ‘The Fact File’ on the right-hand side of the page). It originally read, “There are an estimated 1,400 people with autism living on the Isle of Wight, the majority living with the support of family carers.”
We’re not sure what the significance of these changes are, or indeed if they are significant.
Games like this break trust
One thing we do know – if the council wants to start building trust with its council tax payers, making documents disappear and reappear … but with changes, then make out as if those changes never happened, is not the right way to go about it.
Image: pasukaru76 under a CC BY 2.0 license
