My Ref:
IGO/11-8731 & IGO/11-8732
Your Ref:
Contact:
Andrew Goodfellow
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Information Governance
Resources
1st Floor
Loxley House
Station Street
Nottingham
Mr. A. Platt
NG2 3NG
Tel: 0115 876 3855
Email:
information.governance@nottin
ghamcity.gov.uk
www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk
23rd May 2011
Dear Mr. Platt
Re: Your request for information
Thank you for your emails dated 7th May 2011 logged as case IGO/11-8731 Housing
Allocation – Internal Investigation and IGO/11-8732 – Postal Votes. As the information
you requested is not personal or environmental it has been processed in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Owing to the fact that this authority is applying an exemption to all of the information
requested, please accept this letter as a refusal notice issued in accordance with
section 17 of this Act.
In light of your continuing requests for information, Nottingham City Council has
reached the decision that the two requests as referenced above are vexatious and in
accordance with section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act, we are not obliged
to comply with these requests. There is no public interest test applicable to the use of
section 14.
For your information in reaching this decision we have taken a number of factors into
consideration including, in no particular order;
The volume of your requests
o In the last twelve months you have submitted 22 separate requests for
information to this Authority. (Discounting requests for internal reviews
(9) and appeals (5) to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)).
The frequency of your requests
o Your requests frequently overlap one another or are submitted
simultaneously, as the two in this case have done.
Your continued requests are placing a significant and disproportionate burden
in terms of expense to this Authority and distraction of officers from their
normal duties.
The combination of the above factors leads this Authority to the opinion that
your requests can be fairly classed as obsessive.
The fact that you have materials which feed into a website named
‘ncclols.blogspot.com’ which by virtue of its title is dedicated to highlighting any
perceived failing in Council practices to make people ‘laugh out loud’, and in
the last month, three of your previously submitted FOI’s have featured on this
blog.
The often personal, derogatory comments directed at specific colleagues and
councillors and tone of your blog.
o This indicates that you hold personal grudges against employees of this
Authority and are clearly antagonistic towards Nottingham City Council
in general.
The combination of the above factors leads this Authority to the opinion that
your requests are having the effect of harassing this Authority and distressing
its colleagues.
This Authority takes it obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 very
seriously and endeavours at all times to remain in compliance with the Act. We
respect the right of any individual to make requests for information to this Authority
and at all times strive to provide the fullest answers possible under the legislation.
However it must be noted that the Act itself, in the form of section 14(1), makes
allowance for the fact that a point can be reached where a request or a requester is
no longer acting in the spirit of the Act but is acting to cause unwarranted annoyance,
distress or harassment and it is with regret that we have reached this point with
yourself.
It is accepted that an individual request may not be vexatious in isolation (i.e. IGO/11-
8732), but in context it may form part of a wider pattern of vexatious behaviour. In
addition it is noted that it is the request, not the requester that must be vexatious. In
this case we feel this request is a continuation of a pattern of behaviour as evidenced
on ‘ncclols’ and part of an ongoing campaign to pressure the council. The request on
its own may be simple, but our experience in dealing with you shows it is very likely to
lead to further correspondence, requests and complaints.
Please note that this letter does not preclude you from submitting further requests and
we will consider those requests on a case by case basis. However you should be
aware that unless a period of
60 working days elapses between your requests it is
likely that we will also consider them to be vexatious in accordance with the Act as
you will be exhibiting a continued pattern of behaviour.
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/11-8731 or
IGO/11-8732.
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,
1st Floor, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG 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
xxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely,
Senior Information Governance Officer