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Dear Mr Batchellor

Re: Request for Internal Review - Request 4218

Thank you for your dated 1^st October 2009 regarding the response to your recent request to the Council (our ref: 4218).

In your you asked for an internal review of the handling of your Request. I have summarised the details of your appeal below:

I am sorry that you are dissatisfied with our handling of your requests and I have investigated your complaints under Stage 1 of the Council's Corporate Complaints Procedure. Further details of our procedure can be found on our website: http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/councilgovernmentanddemocracy/councils/contactsconsultationandfeedback/complaints-and-compliments/complaints/

Response

Having reviewed your request, I can confirm that a response was sent to you by email on 4^th September 2009. As you do not appear to have received this, I have enclosed a copy for your convenience. As a response was issued within 20 working days, your complaint is not upheld.

You have also queried why you have not received responses to your email sent to the council's complaints department. We are unable to comment on this as it does not form part of the review process for the handling of FOI requests. Should you be dissatisfied with other aspects of the Council's performance, please contact the Corporate Complaints team. For your convenience, I have provided a link to our website:

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/councilgovernmentanddemocracy/councils/contactsconsultationandfeedback/complaints-and-compliments/who-do-i-complain-to/

This completes the internal review into the handling of your Request under the Council's complaints procedure. Should you be dissatisfied with our response, you are entitled to contact the Information Commissioner under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. For your reference, I have provided his contact details below:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Tel: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Fax: 01625 524510

Web: www.ico.gov.uk

I hope this fulfils your request. Should you have any queries, please contact me at the address above.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Act 2000: Request for information

Thank you for your request for information dated 10 August 2009 relating to FOI/4218. I sincerely apologise for the delay in our response. Please find a full response in relation to this. You have requested the following information:

1a. Why the black vehicle making a conscious breach of the parking conditions on 8th June 2009 at 19:50 (breaching the boundaries of the bay markings) was not ticketed?

1b. The professional opinion of Westminster's head of parking enforcement as to whether the officer making this decision was applying policy correctly, and, if yes, why.

1c. The written policy in Westminster regulating the exercise of discretion by parking enforcement officers.

2a. The date of introduction of each of the two signs on the same stretch of road in Bouverie Place; 2b., the committee report(s) proposing the sign in each case; 2c., the lawful Traffic Order for each sign; 2d., All correspondence (including e-mails) between officers discussing the proposal to erect each sign, and, in particular, discussing the merits and drawbacks of operating a split policy in the street; Details of public consultations on the introduction of these particular parking controls, including the number of separate consultations if more than one, the dates, sizes and catchment areas of mailouts, the questionnaire wordings, a breakdown of responses and any forms of non-resident consultation (eg with drivers' organisations).

2f. Evidence showing that the risks of injustices against drivers caused by inconsistent policy and signage has been formally considered and appropriately mitigated, and how the risk mitigation measures were chosen.

2g. The number of offences committed against in each of the two enforcement zones in this street for each full financial year since its introduction.

3a. The Corporate Governance policies Westminster Council has in place to overcome the conflict of interest between income generation and revenue maximisation on the one hand, and the fair and equitable operation of parking enforcement complying with natural justice and clear specification of official requirements on the other.

3b. In particular, please specify the controls in place (e.g. a beneficiary from fines other than Westminster Council) that prevent the perverse policy incentive to generate fines revenue by the placing of misleading signage.

In response to the above request I can confirm the following:

1a. Other vehicles cannot be considered in response to this request, as this would constitute a breach of the Data Protection Act, 1998.

1b. Please refer to the response to 1a above.

1c. The City Council does not have a policy regulating Civil Enforcement Officers' discretion. Our primary objective is to issue PCNs, which are part of a fair and consistent enforcement policy. In order to ensure consistency, CEOs do not have discretion to take other assumed factors into account and are required to take action whenever they observe a contravention. If a vehicle is not in contravention, a PCN is not issued.

2a. ; 2b.; 2c.; 2d; 2e The relevant TMO may be viewed at the offices of the appointed Council's contractor:

WestOne

59 Buckingham Gate

London

SW1E 6AJ

2f. The detailed evidence, with regards to 2f., is held in the City Council's public available websites, which are enclosed below. These are City Council's protocols covering the issue of a PCN under the contravention, which are in accordance Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA):

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/transportandstreets/parking/parkingandtrafficenforcement/

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/transportandstreets/parking/parkingtickets/challengepcn.cfm

For your information, with regards to 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e and 2f, this constitutes a refusal notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act and an exemption under Section 21 of the Act is being applied, namely the information is accessible by other means.

2g. There is no valid Freedom of Information response that would apply to question 2g, as any offences, which are committed in this parking zone, would be dealt with by the Metropolitan Police. Therefore, for the purposes of section 1 (4) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this information is not held and we are unable to provide it.

3a. & 3b. The TMA requires that the City Council publish our enforcement protocols, get Department of Transport approval and publish an Annual Report. Again, this information can be found at the enclosed website:

www.westminster.gov.uk/parking/about

With regards to 3a. &3b, this constitutes a refusal notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act and an exemption under Section 21 of the Act is being applied, namely the information is accessible by other means.

If you are not satisfied with this response please set out your reasons in writing and send to:

Customer Relations

PO Box 396

Warrington

WA55 1EL

Phone: 0207 641 1743

Fax: 0207 641 1744

Email: [email address]

Should you still be dissatisfied with the outcome of any such complaint you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, pursuant to section 50 of the FOIA. The contact details are:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625-545-700

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Andrew Daly

Departmental Records Officer

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Under the Data Protection Act 1998, Data Subjects have rights to challenge, alter or erase the inaccurate and unlawful processing of their information. In the first instance please contact The Data Protection Officer, Information Services, 101 Orchardson Street, London NW8 8EA. If you are not satisfied with our response you may contact The Information Commissioner: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF