13 August 2010

Ms T Ezekpo

Via email ([email address])

Our ref: CS/10/076/HJP

(Please quote our reference when contacting us)

If telephoning contact Hilary Pook on 020 7217 4734

or if using email send to: [email address]

Dear Ms Ezekpo

Request for information

In your email of 21 July you asked for (1) the number of complaints Camden council in the last five years. This information is contained in the Annual Reviews the Ombudsman sends to the Council each year. (There is a page of statistics at the end of each review document.) The Annual Reviews for the last four years are on our website at http://www.lgo.org.uk/CouncilsPerformance/. As the earliest of these includes figures for that year and the two previous years (2006/07, 2005/06 and 2004/05) there is six years' of figures available in all.

You went on to ask in your question (2) the number of the complaints in (1) that the Ombudsman investigated. The statistics in the Annual Reviews include a full breakdown of the outcomes of complaints, so this information is also available on our website.

You asked for lists of recorded instances in the last five years in which the Ombudsman:

3. received statements, allegations or complaints against Camden Council that the council or its employees had lied, made false written/verbal allegations/statement or fabricated evidence;

4. had been offered or presented with information/evidence in support of complaints, allegations or statements that Camden Council or its employees had lied, made false allegations/statements or fabricated evidence; and

6. has found that Camden Council had lied, made false statement/allegations or fabricated evidence.

You asked a similar question in your email of 24 December 2009 (our ref CS/09/144), ie the total number of complaints received to date about or including Camden council officer telling lies or making/giving false allegations.

/…

I initially refused to provide the information but, following a review by Mr Karney, we identified 13 complaints between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2009 which had had the keyword `advice/information misleading/incorrect' attached to them. We also explained that this was the only information we can extract from our database and that we could not give you a specific answer to your question.

You then asked us to do a manual search of the 13 complaints identified from the keyword to see if they were specifically about council officers telling lies/making false allegations, and I supplied that information (our ref CS/10/022).

I consider you latest requests to be repeated requests of your request of 24 December 2009, and so I will not comply with your request under section 14(2) of the Freedom of Information Act which allows for a request to be refused if:

While there has been an interval since your last request, you are asking for almost the same period as you asked for previously, and the information available will not have changed for that period, and while you latest requests are for more detailed information, we have already explained to you the limits of the information we have available - ie the use of a `keyword'.

Finally, you ask in your question (5) for a list of all recorded instances, in the last five years, in which allegations, statement or information provided by Camden Council or its employees have been disputed. This information is not held. The only place this would be recorded is on the complaint file and, as previously explained, we only keep the complete file for 12 months after the complaint file is closed, so we would not longer hold the files for most of the period you ask about.

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 (Ms)

Communications and Records Manager

LGO 01 (03/08)