PARKING SERVICES

Direct Line (01233) 330641

Ask For John Burns

E-mail [email address]

Fax No (01233) 330639

DX 30204 Ashford (Kent)

Our Ref

Your Ref

Date 20 August, 2009

Email reply

Dear Mr Houston

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Request for Information

I am writing in connection with your recent request for information held by the Authority under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

Under the Freedom of Information Act the Authority has the right to refuse to provide the applicant details of information that it holds if certain exemptions apply. On this occasion the Authority believes that the following exemptions apply in connection with certain items of information you have asked for and consequently this information will not be provided:

Although this information is held by the Authority it would have to be obtained by conducting a manual search and review of the very many payments recorded by the Council during the five year period requested. We have estimated that the work involved in carrying out this task would significantly exceed the “appropriate limit” of £450 that represents the cost of one person working for 2½ days to obtain the information concerned.

You have requested information about the identity of Civil Enforcement Officers which, as it is personal data, is exempt under section 40 of the Act and will not be provided.

In connection with your request for details about the “next status” of a case, as we cannot obtain a report which provides details of the “next status” to which a case may progress, I regret that I also can't help with this part of your enquiry.

Turning now to the parts of your enquiry with which I hope I can be of assistance, I can confirm that the Council's Civil Enforcement Officers do not receive any reward or bonus, they are not part of incentive schemes or subject to contracts setting out productivity requirements or targets.

The Council's parking software is supplied by Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions.

Apart from the Council's Financial Information System, parking software is not linked or connected to any other database.

In addition to this letter I have attached a spreadsheet to my email reply, which, as requested, provides Penalty Charge Notice information relating to:

I am sorry that we have not been able to provide all of the information requested, but I hope the information that has been provided is of assistance. However, if you wish to object to our decision not to provide certain information, in the first instance you are entitled to pursue any dissatisfaction through the Council's Complaints Procedure. Copies of this procedure can be obtained from the Council's Customer Contact Centre or by telephoning 01233 331111. Should you remain dissatisfied you can appeal against the decision by contacting the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF.

Any future correspondence you may have in relation to this matter should be marked private & confidential and sent to the Freedom of Information Officer, Civic Centre, and Tannery Lane, Ashford, TN23 1PL.

Yours sincerely

John Burns

Operations Manager

Parking Services

Copy to: Freedom of Information Officer