Untitled

[email address]

5 February 2010

Dear Mr Cross

I am responsible for Freedom of Information which also covers Environmental Regulation enquiries within the Council of the Isles of Scilly and I have conducted an internal review into FOI questions 803 and 816 as you requested in your e-mail dated 12 January 2010.

The Council of the Isles of Scilly always tries to give the maximum amount of information for a Freedom of Information request. This is for two reasons; firstly the Council has a policy to work as transparently as possible for this small and isolated community; and secondly because the fullest possible answer often precludes a second request which might increase the burden to our small staff.

I took no part in the gathering of the information sent to you and have therefore carefully reviewed the e-mails between yourself and Mrs Tanner and others. A list of activities is attached to this letter.

Your request for Review concerns the fact that you consider the Council has not made a clear statement as to whether it holds the information you have requested under Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

On 11 January 2010 Mrs Tanner sent you a response stating “Regarding the constitution of the Route Partnership it is not a formal partnership but exists to make recommendations to the parent authorities who then go through the normal decision making processes.”

This was reiterated to you on 12 January 2010 following a further enquiry to the Chief Executives Office.

I would suggest that the words “not a formal partnership” indicate clearly that no arrangements are in place. The sentence continues, and provides more information than was requested, by virtue of an explanation of how decisions on activities are arrived at i.e. by “recommendations to the parent authorities who then go through the normal decision process”.

Whilst it would have been perfectly correct for the Council to have made a short uninformative response immediately regarding possession of contracts or agreements, I have found that the responder to Mrs Tanner's request for information, Ms N Yates, of Cornwall Council, sought to give you more information on how the partnership worked, in line with the this Authority's policy of the fullest possible information being made available.

However, you are clearly not satisfied with this informative response so I will make the following statement:

The Council of the Isles of Scilly does not hold the information of the description specified in the request. No contracts, agreements or constitution for the Route Partnership exist or are held by the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

I am sorry that you have felt it necessary to request a review of the correspondence dealing with your request. I do hope that I have provided the both the information that you are seeking and the reasons the Council responded as it did.

As a result of this review, two points arise:

1 That the Council of the Isles of Scilly has responded to your requests with the utmost dispatch.

2 That in this particular case, the desire by the Council to provide information, has unintentionally clouded this issue for the enquirer.

Action: I have therefore added to the protocol in place for dealing with Freedom of Information requests to the effect that the clearest possible indication should be made if the Authority does not hold the information requested.

If I can be of further help to you in this matter please do not hesitate to contact me. However, should you have further concerns, you have the right to contact the Information Commissioner at the addresses below.

Yours sincerely

Sue Pritchard

Administration Officer

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

Review of FOI 803 and 816 conducted on 28 January 2010:

FOI number	Date	Action	Review Notes
803	20 December 09	Request received: 1 Agreement between members of Route Partnership 2 Constitution of Partnership 3 Minutes of Partnership meetings since Jan 09	Received at 21.33 hrs
	21 December 09	Response requested from PA to Chief Executive who indicates that the Project Manager, Nicola Yates (CC) would be in a position to provide required information.	Final request sent at 09.51 hrs to Project Manager
	11 January 10	Response received from Project Manager. Response sent to enquirer	Response sent at 15.42 hrs Response is within 20 day time limit.

816	11 January 10	Request received: For Contracts/Agreements	Received at 19.23 hrs Request is given new number as now revised request asking for contracts
		Chief Executive's Office consulted for further information.
	12 January 10	Response received from Chief Executive's Office reiterating response from Project Manager that “this is an informal arrangement.” Response sent to enquirer	Response received at 10.04 hrs Response sent at 10.43 hrs Response is within 20 day timescale.
		Request for internal review received	Received at 21.49 hrs

27 January 10

Review conducted by Administration Officer- completed 5 February 2010

Review outcomes sent to Mr Cross by e-mail 5.2.10

Action:

FOI and ER protocols amended to state the following :

“There is a requirement to state in the clearest possible language if the Authority does not hold the information requested. i.e The Council of the Isles of Scilly does not hold the information of the description specified in the request.”

Completed.

TOWN HALL

ST. MARY'S

ISLES OF SCILLY

TR21 OLW

Telephone: (01720) 424008

Fax: (01720) 424017

Email: [email address]

COUNCIL of the

ISLES OF SCILLY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE:

P.S.HYGATE, B.A., F.R.S.A.

A Strong, Sustainable and Dynamic Island Community