BCC Forgot There Are People Without a RELIGION!

Oh, you are conducting a survey on behalf of Bucks County Council. Good, Come in. I have a bellyful of criticism. Where should I begin? Question one? My daughter is six. Yes, I send here to a child minder. Yes, we are both working. What do I think of the service of the BCC? Don’t you think that is too general a question? The rubbish gets collected but much more can be done on the recycling side. No question about that. So I can’t mention recycling collection from business? No! OK, is there a question about transport. No, just about how I get to the health centre? Look, I really think BCC is not doing enough on the public transport front. OK there is no question about that. Is preparing and conducting a consultation considered a service? Does protecting the lifestyle and beauty of our rural villages and towns count as a service? No, I do not mean the one about the 9200 households – that is AVDC. I mean the development on the Princess Mary site. How about attracting employers in order to reverse the decline in available jobs, is that a service you are asking about? Lets move on to the next questions. My ethnicity. Oh that is an easy one: ‘White Other’. You don’t have that on your list? Let me have a look. Hay, this list is not the standard ONS Census list. How do you intend to link this information to other official statistics? What’s the last question? My religion? I do not have one. I am an Atheist-Secular-Humanist. Put me done as religion NONE. What do you mean you do not have that option on the list? OK, my mum is Jewish write that down. Sorry, did you say that was not on the list too? And you are asking me what I think about the service? First some more thought should go into all the activities. Such as ensuring the questioner is effective and accurate –which this one is clearly not. The ‘data’ questions are ill designed and irrelevant to me. The ‘opinion’ question is too general, unfocused, and I am not sure what it is asking about. Don’t forget to tell them that many of us do not hold a religion! Yes?