1 April 2010

Mr S Hardwicke Carruthers

Via email ([FOI #30075 email])

Our ref: CS/10/025/HJP

(Please quote our reference when contacting us)

If telephoning contact Hilary Pook on 020 7217 4734

or if using email send to: h.pook@lgo.org.uk

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers

Request for information

In your email of 3 March you asked how councils were allocated to Tony Redmond or Anne Seex between Jerry White retiring and Jane Martin's appointment. No such allocation took place. You will have seen the paper considered by the Commission (CLA 1722), which set out that Tony Redmond and Anne Seex would share responsibility and that no changes to the delegation arrangements were required. All decisions taken during the interregnum were taken on delegated authority (no reports were issued) so neither Tony Redmond nor Anne Seex took any decisions personally.

The councils Jane Martin is dealing with are the same ones Jerry White dealt with before he retired. She is not `authorised by the CLAE' - as you put it - to determine complaints against specific councils, she is appointed Ombudsman by the Queen to replace Mr White. The areas each Ombudsman deals with had already been determined.

That concludes my response. If you feel I have not dealt properly with your request, you have the right to appeal and, should you wish to do so, I can supply a copy our internal complaints procedure. If you do request an internal review - can you please indicate why you are unhappy with my response. You also have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner to determine whether your request has been properly dealt with. You should note however that the Commissioner will not consider any complaint where you have not first exhausted our internal complaints process or where there has been undue delay in contacting him. You will be able to obtain further details of the Information Commissioner's role from the website on www.ico.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook

Hilary Pook

Communications and Records Manager

LGO 01 (03/08)