Word reaches me that Sheffield City Council is conducting a "consultation" exercise this Friday and Saturday at the Town Hall. (See image right - as a rigid grammarian, this blogger is never more delighted than when the perpetrators of punctuation abuse become the unwitting victims.)

For those who haven't been to one of these before, the usual format is that you are asked to fill in a questionnaire (this time on street cleansing, recycling and anti-social behaviour) and then the Labour Party uses the results of that questionnaire for political purposes. Oh, and you have to foot the bill for the publicity for the event, rumoured to be up to £100k. (Don't worry about the precedent though, you're already paying for the "Your Council" leaflets that are going around....)

The good news is, however, that there is a part of the event where you can go along and meet local councillors, not all of whom are members of the Labour Party - so if you have a genuine question to ask, get yourselves down there and don't take no for an answer. It's in the Town Hall square - look for the Political Big Tent.