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Dear Mr Creed

Re: Request for Internal Review - Request 4299

Thank you for your dated 30^th September 2009 regarding the response to your recent request to the Council (our ref: 4299).

In your s 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

You contacted the Council on 27^th August 2009 asking for detailed information regarding the provision of motorcycle parking bays available in the borough. The Council provided a response, directing you to the website on 24^th September 2009. You wrote to the Council on 28^th September and 30^th September 2009 requesting an internal review.

In my review of the handling of your request I shall make reference to the following provisions of the Act:

Section 1(4) states that the Council must provide the information held at the time a request is received

Section 11 of the Act states that the applicant can request information is provided in a specified format and that the Council must respond in this manner if it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so.

Section 10 of the Act states that the council must respond to requests promptly and in any event, no later than 20 working days after the date the request is received

Section 17 of the Act states that the Council must issue a refusal notice whenever an exemption is applied to information held and that the notice must also outline the right of appeal to the Information Commissioner.

I have now reviewed the correspondence regarding your request and can advise as follows:

Application of Section 17 of the FOI Act

With regard to the Council's citation of Section 17 of the Act, this refers to the fact that the information you have requested is readily accessible from the Council's website and therefore exempt under Section 21 of the Act. The letter you received clearly states that it is a refusal notice, the exemption applied and the reasons why. It also provides details of who to direct your appeals to and your rights to contact the Information Commissioner. I therefore find that Section 17 of the Act has been correctly applied in this instance. This aspect of your complaint is therefore not upheld.

Information not held

You have stated that the response you received stated that some information was not held i.e. the specific widths of each motorcycle parking bay. As advised in our response, parking bays are painted within the dimensions prescribed by The TSRGD 2002. These are the details passed to any contractors. I have confirmed with our Parking department that the information provided to you was that held at the time of your request. Therefore this aspect of your complaint is not upheld.

Information provided was inaccurate

Some of the information you requested is available via our website and a link to this was provided. You allege that this link was not active. Under the Act, the Council obliged to inform you that information is available by other means. Our response clearly states that this information is accessible from our website. As part of our good practice, we also provided you with a direct link to the information. I have verified the link provided to you and it does not generate an error message. Alternatively, it is available via the search function on the Council's website. Therefore this aspect of your complaint is not upheld.

Information not provided in requested format

Under Section 11 of the Act, applicants can request the format in which they would like information to be provided. However, there is no requirement under the Act to present information in a new way if it is not reasonable to do so. As all the information you requested has been provided and/or is available via the Council's website, it is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act under Section 21. Section 21 of the Act is an absolute exemption (i.e. not subject to a public interest test). As the information is available elsewhere, it was not deemed reasonable to extract our entire database to provide the information in the format you requested i.e. a list. Please also note that, as advised, the details on the maps on the website do include postcodes of parking bays as well as showing their exact location in relation to other motorcycle parking bays. Therefore this aspect of your complaint is not upheld.

Failure to respond promptly to request

You have also alleged that the Council has not responded to your request within the requirements of Section 10(1) of the Act i.e. promptly and within 20 working days. I have reviewed the correspondence and, although the information is available from our website, given the nature of your request it was necessary to ascertain whether additional information was required. The response was sent as soon as reasonably practicable and within the stated 20 working day deadline in accordance with Section 10(1) of the Act. Therefore this aspect of your complaint is not upheld.

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,

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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