It is incidents like this which prevent good citizens coming forward and giving information to councils, police, inland revenue, customs etc. etc. Quite simply, there can be no faith in a system which isn't absolutely secure and in which the weakest link is the transference of hard copy information to be shredded or burnt.
But I bet you that a jannie or handyman or cleaner will be found responsible, not a head of section or department who allowed slack practices to continue.
Balloons!

i think good citizens should be more worried about there(so called friendly) neighbours going thru bins. for this stuff to be.... 'just lying around' is utter crap. do you jenny mcgowan have nothing better to do with your time? gone are the days when black bags are left out and vermin ripping bags open(maybe that still happens). solid wheelie bins with lids make it so litter just doesn't float about.

I just love the bit "if anyone is found to be at fault." - so they are already doubting if: 1) someone is at fault and 2) if they can be found.
In other words: duuuuuh, eh, dont know, brain hurts....

Nod, ye huvnae been tae the New Toon lately, huv ye. Ripped bin bags a' ower the place, full ay folks bank an credit card details. Ah mak a guid livin oot ay it.

Nod - surely the prescient point here is the improper disposal of a document that should clearly have been shredded in the workplace and not taken to whomever was entrusted with it's residence for disposal whole?
Equally I wouldn't expect any individual to be named as the finder if there was any element of skullduggery in the finding.

Gus#4 What's the betting that some hapless underling without the status or brains to have been in possession of this material will get the sack, rather than the mis-manager who allowed them to get their hands on it in the first place. The person in charge of the department generating this material should know where it goes, and has no excuse for ignorance.

Shona,thats cos new toon residents dinnae want kerb side bins.and we've all got to make a living.

Ken,know what prescient point is,but dont doubt that people are up to skullduggery. as Shona points out above.

Clearly it should have been shredded ... but this happens all the time - even Lothian & Borders Police were caught out recently dumping (in improper places) details of crime victims, pictures of crime scenes & more ..

Reminds me of a story down Jedburgh way when the binmen found hastily disposed transfers of title deeds a lawyer had made on a dead clients property to cover his secret gambling debts & other ventures ... rather than face the charges for what he did, he committed suicide.

would some of these people above making crass comments feel the same if they were the victims of the said anti social behavour, I think not!

Bin raking is just so 'in' this season darling.

They will all be doing it in the New Town soon!

This incident demonstrates that the Council's Anti Social Behaviour Team are a bunch of incompetent muppets.

Disciplinary action (aka a wee smack on the wrist) is of little consolation for the brave folk who reported anti-social scum, whilst others hid behind their curtains and muttered.

Those brave folk could so easily have been targetted by the scum that they reported, thanks to the very people who are employed to help them.

The Council should make an example of the person in charge of the Anti Social Behaviour Team and give him or her their marching orders.

I agree Davey. the person who is paid to be responsible for the safety of confidential documents should be demoted .

Maybe there was a burglary, and the sensitive documents were stolen though. They should have been in a locked safe.

its the council again , could not run a booze up in a brewery.

"well done" edinburgh district council, use have made yourselfs a laughing stoke once again! keep up the good work.

well done linda you are so right the council are a bunch o morons and should be in court

i think they get theire workers oot o a funny farm

morons! billy they are as much use as a chocolate fire gaurd.

the council have been getting away with murder for years its them that should get there act together remmember me you made a mistake about me council tax and you barred me from your office ha ha i love reading about yous love it

ombusman will sort youse out

lets just say the council will pay for this big time

what are yous gonna do with these bin them

i think naming and shaming a manager who is in charge of a section does no good - i dont think the manager concerned can be held accountable for the things their staff do 24 hours a day 7 days a week - and if thats the case there would be no anti social behaviour because the parents would be accountable for their childrens behaviour etc but apparently its always someone else's fault never their own

the council workers should all get sacked

yeh billy thats the way forward - what else will you do for benefits, housing, environmental services or all the other services people like you take for granted?????

i think poss the fact that the use the term informers list !!!!! when the people on the alleged list are actual VICTIMS of anti social behaviour is a big clue as to how believable this publication could be.......

pam do you work for the council

No but i think that its easy for people to look to the negative and bad of a situation without looking at the bigger picture but hey some people are just narrow minded

had it not been for jenny how else would we had known what the council does with persobal documents , so pam , get a life

hmmmm if it were not for unreliable, potential disputable sources and of course what Ms McGowan says is gospel!!!!! i think it more important to look at both sides of the story but i can see i hit a nerve with the narrow minded comment - ah well

pam , have you gone months of constant anti social behavioour like say the 100 people on the document found by jenny mcgowan ?
no ?
then shut up , you have no idea what your talking about

PAM - narrow mindedness hits the nail on the head - if the story was fiction, why are the council launching an investigation? Furthermore, if your personal details were found BESIDE a bin (as per the article), not in it, would you not want someone held accountable?

ah but thats where your wrong but no one says you have to agree with me or even see my point of view people with narrow minds and single mindedness never can see the bigger picture and just see things in black or white -

John i think the question as to why the council are launching and investigation is a moot point - the alleged document if found BESIDE a bin should be investigated, the culprit spoken with and action taken - this i do not dispute - However the means as to finding this document!!!! and the subsequent action taken by the person finding it asks the question as to their motives?

i think we are losing track of the fact that there are two sides to every story and that the honest truth will never come out to us mere mortal public people - either from the press or council

"In addition, we will take every step to ensure an incident of this nature does not happen again by reviewing our already robust systems "

Yeah right - robust systems - cluelees bunch of idiots!

Yes but surely the whole point of this is that the document was discarded irresponsibly in the first place. If the document was handed into the council, this would have been swept under the carpet and allowed to happen again and again and again. Lessons have to be learnt from this.

Not disputed that lessons should be learnt but no one can be perfect all the time i certainly am not and think if the document was discarded irresponsibly and not taken from what is nothing more than rifling through someone elses property regardless of the fact that it is rubbish then yes the council could and should check its procedures and ensure its staff are aware of the correct procedures but i still question the manner in which it is alleged to have been found - we are talking about a secure bin area not just lying on the street!!! its not something that most people would miss if left lying around but i've had enough now of talking about this subject

Re Pam, whose family probably work for the council if she doesn't, "details of more than 100 people whose complaints have sparked investigations into their alleged neighbours from hell have been found lying BESIDE RUBBISH BINS (my caps)". Not even in the bloody bins! I can assure you, if I found something not wholly disgusting to touch, lying beside my bin, I would lift it and bin it. And if it looked like an official document, you bet I would look to see what it was, and if it contained information that might cause harm or distress to someone else if the wrong person saw it, you bet I'd go to the papers.

The manager who allowed this material out of the building unshredded should lose his little sinecure. Why should publicly-funded (by taxpayers) workers get away with oversights risking the wellbeing of the very people who pay their wages and their inflated, inflation-proof pensions?

Nothin wrang wae a bit o' rummagin....I wis champion midgie raker roon oor back courts when ah wis a wean and foon many an astonishin item.....from glass eyes to antiques...each one wae a story of its own.

Its funny,not the right and wrongs of the items in the rubbish,no,the fact that no one on this comment page ever puts personel information in their bins.Every one also puts all their rubbish in the bin.Well,its a good job we binmen are all honest because the information we find left around bins from flats and houses around the city.It would be so easy to commit fraud,the easiest places to find this information is in the city center where the bin is deemed to too ugly to be seen.The fact that the bags are left out all night is an open invite to "bin dive".So come on lets get things into perspective here

I am one person that the evening news telephoned telling me about my detailes being found , I feel that my safty has been put into jeapody because of the city of edinburgh city council , I have lost all trust in the council
they can stuff their tax up their backside after this , I can see no one calling apon asbo after this , can I also thank Jenny Mcgowan , had it not been for her finding the documents , I personally wouldnt have been told otherwise , thanks Jenny , I owe you one

I have lost all trust in the council after this , what makes it worse , I was one of the people that was on the list , I do not appreciate being called an informer by the council and asbo , am currently taking legal advice against the city of edinburgh council
I want to thank Jenny Mcgowan for handing in the documents to the evening news , had it not been for this woman , I would not have known that my efforts had been getting thrown into their bin at the chessar offices
in future , the council can stuff themselves

why thank Jenny, nothing will be done about it - we could have just lived in ignorant bliss

had it not been for jenny , I personally would not have known that the city of edinburgh has put my safety in jeapondy , so again , thanks Jenny , and yeh , I owe you my gratatude and hope to repay for that sometime

because this knowledge has improved your life? - how?

I thank Jenny for handing in the documents to the evening news , and for her honesty , this knowlage hasnt improved my life , the city of edinburgh ouncil aught to be held responsable and face the consiquences of their misconduct
have you ever had to suffer anti social behaviour for say nine months , have the asbo in your home maybe twice a night ? I dont think you would have ,
have you been fobbed off by the city of edinburgh council because of anti socil behaviour ? no , well I have
so Mr profundis , think before you speak , or better still , let your backside do the talking , thats where your comments appear to have come from

listen up , the woman was honest enough to take it to the evening news , I take it your a council worker yeh ?
the council are nothing but a bunch of liers , the woman didnt do it to get her picture in the paper , she was being honest , people like you would have taken advantage of the situation
so keep your council loving mouth shut , you havent got a clue what your talking about

I don't work for the council or know anyone that does, do you know this woman? How can you speak for her when you can't even spell liars?

well its obvious you love the council that much , you really want to know something matey ?
I was one of the people on that list that woman found , it was a phone call that I recieved , am currently speaking to my solicitors to taking action against the council
you seem to treat this as one big joke , have you ever had to call in the asbo to your home maybe two or three times a night because of anti ocial behaviour ? or are you one of those black sheep people that doesnt have a clue the true facts
by the way , you dont pay for my broadband , I have every right to say as I think on here , especially when morons like you think of writing crap all the time

I was already aware that I don't pay for your broadband, I was simply trying to guide you towards something more constructive than whinging

I will stop my whinging (as you put it ) when you stop your bullsh*t then ok , muppet

There's no need to lose the rag, why don't you try to relax. In fact, why don't you go through some bins - you might find something that will get you in the paper too and then maybe you can meet your idol, Jenny, and live happily ever after.

To: concerned #61. I am shocked at your racist outburst and have reported your comment for removal.

"or are you one of those black sheep people that doesnt have a clue the true facts".

You are nothing but an ignorant racist. Please take your out-dated views elsewhere - preferably back from under the stone you crawled out from.

Do ANY of the comments by "bupf" add reasoned arguments about this issue? Does s/he post these short and useless comments just to see them in print? Why waste everybody's time by having to screen through these useless and uninformative blatherings? Some persons should not be allowed to have an opinion but could these "musings from the mindless" even be considered opinions?

leroy , what racial remarks are you on about , I dont think that my comments were racist in the slightest , the black sheep comment is not being racial , would that make the nursary rhyme racial aswell ??
I have been classed as an council informer , I happened to make complaints about a family , and the asbo did nothing to help me , infact , they left not only my personal detailes in a bin for anyone to see , but has put my safety at risk along with 99 other people
by the way , for the record , I do not know the woman that found the documents , nor have I met her
the person that informed me was from the evening news on tuesday morning , she was joanne vallely , so please , if you wish to comment further , get your facts right

Pam, #28, do you honestly believe the Council wouldn't just have swept this under the carpet if the document had been returned to them? Wake up.

Do council offices really dispose of "old" paperwork in residential/public rubbish bins?
Considering the escalation in I.D. theft these days, this would be the "Big Picture" issue to address.
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Does a member of the investigation team live in Chesser Cres?
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Jenny should be applauded for taking the time to report finding this document. Deriding her for finding the list sounds just like the kind of political spin we get dished out over here by the White House.

For goodness sake all of you whingers and flippant remarkers , if it had not been for this lass Jenny we might never have discovered the incompetance of the Council , at least we now know that their incompetance is compounded. So get a bit of your brain working and congratulate her , remember your name could be somewhere in the council and , Whoa !!! it is lying on the street . will the council take a leaf out of their own and recycle all the old paper through a shredder or are they as usual HYPOCRITS ?:

Alex - offensive remark to those who do take medication and are still entitled to an opinion..... i think the point is that we should maybe be looking at society to see where we have went wrong as in the olden days there was no need for an ASBO dept!!!!! Kids were disciplined, neighbours spoke to each other etc etc so as for honest community living its the community to blame for the way we now have to police ourselves and ultimately us to blame for having a dept set up for this type of thing and names on a list

Alex in general you have no idea what you are talking about best just leave it at that huh

In total i think Ms McGowan was nosey, thought of the monetary value of the information found and how best to benefit herself i dont think public spiritedness or looking out for anyone other than herself crossed her mind - and the council in whole do a lot of work we take for granted and receive no thanks for BUT need to ensure that appropriate action is taken and procedures in place to ensure a mistake of this type is not repeated

oh! Alice I take it you do know what you are talking about if you were going to make remarks about a topical situation I would suggest you be constructive and not destructive , and as a rider, I know a lot more than you could ever hope to know so I hope you will now go away and educate yourself on the subject that is being discussed and come back with a more constructive reply .

This is for Bettyboop - Defaming Jenny's character is uncalled for & irrelevant apart from being downright rude.
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Why are some of you going after Jenny anyway?
She was not responsible for dumping the list. That's supposed to be the issue here.

Jenny McGowan did a public spirited act to highlight how stupid the council are. If i had fallen into the wrong hands, heaven knows what the consequences could have been, I applaud her efforts by the sounds of things a lot of ignorant, head-in-the-sand people on thtis message board would have just binned the document and allowed this incompetance to continue which could of had an even worse outcome.

Jenny McGowan did a public spirited act to highlight how stupid the council are. If it had fallen into the wrong hands, heaven knows what the consequences could have been, I applaud her efforts by the sounds of things a lot of ignorant, head-in-the-sand people on thtis message board would have just binned the document and allowed this incompetance to continue which could of had an even worse outcome.

I agree Gregor! Well said.

Do people really think that the Evening Snooze pay money for this sort of thing?

Maybe somebody dropped it getting out their car perhaps?? Does that make you a bin raker if it's lying on the pavement?

We all know Edinburgh Council is C*@p - Make Jenny head of the Council - she'll sort them all out!!

M&T (82) - sure your support is welcomed & congrats for putting Miss Boop in his/her place on the money issue but remember the document in question was found in a bin store, not accidentally on the pavement having fallen unnoticed from a car. A "secure bin area" as pointed out by Pam (45), who seems to enough about the incident to add that factoid.

Remember the ASBO's are controversial. There are alot of people who are against them even existing, same thing as the CCTV cameras you have everywhere.
Don't put it past a local bureaucrat to purposely leave the list of complaintants to be found. This is something that would clearly be a big news story.

I could not think of a better way to dampen good citizens' enthusiasm for reporting anti-social neighbors than to have their anonyimity risked.

Do ANY of the comments by "TIMOTHY CHARLES" add reasoned arguments about this issue? Does s/he post these short and useless comments just to see them in print? Why waste everybody's time by having to screen through these useless and uninformative blatherings? Some persons should not be allowed to have an opinion but could these "musings from the mindless" even be considered opinions?