My Ref:
IGO/10-6770
Your Ref:
Contact:
Andrew Goodfellow
Email:
[Nottingham City Council request email]
Information Governance
Resources
The Guildhall
Nottingham
NG1 4BT
Mr. J. Moore
Tel: 0115 915 4155
Fax: 0115 915 4082
www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk
[email address]
27th April 2010
Dear Mr. Moore
Re: Your request for information
Thank you for your email dated 5th March 2010. As the information you requested is
not personal or environmental it has been processed in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
Initially, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the delay in responding to
your request. Please be assured we are currently carrying out a thorough review of all
our office procedures to minimise the possibility of any future delays.
With regards your questions 1 and 2, as detailed below, the attached documents
address your questions.
1.
Please explain Nottingham City Council's policy and framework on
assessing extended family members as suitable carers for children.
2.
Please explain the policy and framework on viability assessments of
extended family members as suitable carers.
With regards questions 3, 4 & 5, as detailed below, we have now formally considered
these questions and believe them to be vexatious in accordance with section 14 of
the Act.
3.
Please list the appropriate Common Law (as codified in Magna Carta 1297
and the British Constitution incorporating the Rights of the Subject 1689
and any other appropriate declarations of private citizens' rights before and
since), any appropriate child protection Statutes (eg the Children And
Young Persons Act 1989), and any other appropriate local byelaws and
Statutes that question 1 applies to.
4.
Please list the reasons Nottingham City Council would knowingly mislead
the Family Courts by knowingly filing inaccurate reports to court.
5.
What steps are taken by NCC when the filing of inaccurate reports to court
occurs to ensure those involved are reprimanded/disciplined and what
steps are taken to ensure this is matter is rectified?
In applying section 14 the Council has considered a significant number of factors
including, in no particular order,
The substantially similar nature of these requests to previous requests you
have made.
The fact that your requests ask for information that is clearly not in the realm of
a local authority.
The apparent lack of a serious and proper purpose to many of your questions.
The fact that you appear to be acting as part of a campaign.
The repeated use of fractious, contentious and plainly defamatory language in
your requests.
Your continued use of leading questions.
The unreasonable burden placed upon the Authority by the need to respond to
your requests.
After consideration of the above we are of the opinion that your enquiries can be fairly
classified as obsessive and are having the effect of harassing this Authority and, in
line with the aforementioned section of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
available guidance from the Information Commissioners Office, it is our opinion that
your requests are vexatious.
In light of this decision, we will not be issuing you with a response to your queries 3,4
and 5 as listed above. In addition, all future enquiries of a similar nature will also be
deemed to fall within section 14 unless or until a reasonable interval has elapsed
period since your previous request. In this particular case and in light of the nature of
the information being requested we have determined that this ‘reasonable interval’
shall be 60 working days from the date of this letter.
Please note that this notice currently only covers the following;
Any further requests for information relating to;
1. this Authority’s care of children,
2. our actions in the Courts in relation to children,
3. requests for legal advice.
Further requests for information on different subjects will be judged on their own
merits and in accordance with the relevant legislation. This, of course, would include
the possibility that section 14 may also be applicable to those further requests.
This Authority takes its responsibility under the various pieces of information rights
legislation very seriously and it is only due to the fact that your continued requests
have become harassing, obsessive and divert resources from services to a level
which can reasonably be deemed detrimental to the functioning of the Council that we
have been forced to take this action.
In light of the fact that your request for information is vexatious, in accordance with
section 14(1) of the Act we are not obliged to comply with your request.
Owing to the fact that this authority is applying an exemption to part of the information
requested, please accept this letter as a refusal notice issued in accordance with
section 17 of this Act.
Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of Information Act
2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will
be owned by Nottingham City Council. The
copyright in other information may be
owned by another person or organisation, as indicated in the information itself.
You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including for non
commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for the purposes of
news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for example, by publishing the
information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of the copyright
owner.
For information where the copyright is owned by the Council
details of the conditions
on re-use can be obtained by contacting the Information Governance Office of
Nottingham City Council at The Guildhall, Nottingham, NG1 4BT or by telephoning us
on (0115) 9154155. For information where the copyright is owned by another person
or organisation, you must apply to the copyright owner to obtain their permission.
If you should have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on the above
number quoting your personal case reference which is
IGO/10-6770. If you are not satisfied with the response provided or any exemptions applied you
should write in the first instance to
Stephanie Pearson, Information Governance,
The Guildhall, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1 4BT stating the reasons for your
dissatisfaction. If you remain dissatisfied after receiving a response to your initial
complaint you can request an independent review from the Information
Commissioner's Office at
FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution, Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF. You may also contact the Information Commissioner's Office by telephone on
01625 545745 or by email at [email address].
Yours sincerely
Senior Information Governance Officer
