A Winter's Tale
Dear Chums,
I share Eric Pickles concerns regarding the necessity to call time on the pagan assault on our most christian of christian festivals. It really is 'snow' joke.
Cutting the rotund and jocular figure that I do, I fear these changes may see my regular seasonal employment as Father Christmas under threat,leaving me little time to cut down on the necessary pies, puddings and Victoria Sponge to attain a jack frost physique.
In order that I may add my weight to Mr Pickles efforts, please can CLG supply details of the research on which his campaign is based. I would also request a list of the Councils CLG have identified in 2010 who have removed or intended to remove the word Christmas form their festivities and replaced it with Winterval, Lumnious, Winter Lights, Festivus, Bauble-icious, Ice To See You, to see you ice, Turkey Twizzle or any other un-christian alternative nomenclature.
I would also like information on the financial and other resources rightly invested by CLG to write , promote, deal with enquiries (eg press and FOI) on, this timely, original and relevant seasonal non-non-story.
Yule Sincerely,
Derek Tickles
Dear Mr Tickles
Please see the attached response to your request for information of 9
December 2010.
Regards
Martin Harding
Department for Communities and Local Government
FOI Advice Team
D/06 Ashdown House
St. Leonards on sea
Tel: 0303 44 41025
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.
Dear Chums,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Communities and Local Government's handling of my FOI request 'A Winter's Tale'.
I am deeply upset that my request has been declared vexatious. I am trying to simply discover those councils that were not going to call Christmas Christmas. I supplied some alternative names that they may or may not have decided to use. You suggest these are fictitious. I must say I probably agree and that my dear friend is the key tenet of this request. Uncle Eric was spinning stories!!
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a_...
Yours in faith,
Derek Tickles
Dear Mr Tickles
REQUEST FOR INTERNAL REVIEW
Thank you for your email sent 7th January 2011, received 10th January 2011, in which you seek a review of the response provided by Communities and Local Government to your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
The review will be considered under the Department's internal review procedures. A full re-evaluation of your request will be undertaken.
I will today allocate this request to an Internal Review Officer and you should receive a reply by 7th February 2011.
Yours sincerely
FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973
<<110201 FOI Internal Review Derek Tickles.doc>>
Dear Mr Tickles
Please find attached the response to your request for an internal review
dated 7th January, 11.
FOI Advice Team
Knowledge Management Division
Zone 2/A3, Eland House
0303 444 3973
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Andy Mabbett left an annotation ()
I understand that responses to FoI requests are required to be accurate and honest. So it's very naughty of Mr Etheridge, on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government, to suggest that "Winterval" is a "real example" of a council "not officially using the word 'Christmas'" or of "councils that were not going to call Christmas 'Christmas'", or indeed as the original enquirer asks, councils "who have removed or intended to remove the word Christmas [from] their festivities and replaced it with Winterval"; I therefore refer him to the comment from a Birmingham City Council press officer in this very well-written article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/dec...
(if he can't find it, he should think of Sex Pistols album titles).