Radical inefficiency and my local woods

Sarah called Croydon Council yesterday to report fly-tipping in the local woods. Their response goes to the heart of the problem of public services over the past decade – and David Laws might do worse than looking here for a more radical and effective way of saving money.

The lady at the call centre replied: "I don't think we can do this."

What she meant was that our local park, and the woods attached, don't have a street address, which means the fly-tipping incident couldn't be entered on the...