IN the letters page yesterday, we had occasion to print a letter from John Hinton, of Worcester, which included the Local Government Hymn.
For readers who missed it, that humorous ditty went as follows:
Look down, Oh Lord, and grant content
To all in Local Government
That we may struggle to comply
With regulations till we die.
Be sure that all who give offence
Will be pursued for recompense,
For this shall be our endless song
"The customer is always wrong".
Discretion, tact and common sense,
Exist for others to dispense.
On one thing only we can count
The rules are always paramount.
Humorous? Certainly. But accurate? Well, one Worcester resident may, in recent weeks, have thought there was some truth behind those sentiments.
Clive Grosvenor-Davies, a man who doctors say has just three years to live, faced being evicted from the house where he was born.
The city council had warned him that, with more than 100 families on Worcester's housing waiting list, he could be ordered to move out of his home because he did not hold its tenancy, which was in his late mother's name.
At that moment, discretion, tact and common sense seemed to be in very short supply.
But now - after a petition from his neighbours - the council has admitted it made a mistake.
While we can all share Mr Grosvenor-Davies' joy that he can stay in his home, there is a wider issue which needs addressing.
As Councillor Mike Layland says, these matters must be considered on their merits and with sympathy and compassion.
There is much to be learnt from Mr Grosvenor-Davies' story.
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