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Alan Chell - Conservative County Councillor
S Smith (Account suspended) made this Freedom of Information request to Kent County Council
Waiting for an internal review by Kent County Council of their handling of this request.
From: S Smith (Account suspended)
24 April 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
Can you please confirm whether or not Conservative Councillor Alan
Chell is in actual fact a member of the Freemasons.
Yours faithfully,
S Smith
Kent County Council
7 May 2009
Dear S Smith
Thank you for your request for information.
The Code of Conduct for Elected Members (which forms part of the Council's
Constitution
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/publications/coun...)
states that Elected Members would only have to declare membership of the
Freemasons or any other organisation if they are in a position of control
or management, or the body is directed towards charitable purposes.
The specific part of the Code of Conduct that deals with elected members'
personal interests is part 2 paragraphs 8 & 10. I have attached a copy for
your perusal.
If a Councillor has declared such a membership, then this would be shown
on their declaration of interests which, as I have told you before, is
already available to you as this information is routinely published on our
website and is therefore exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
[2]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
However, I have checked Councillor Chell's register of interest and there
is no mention of membership of any masonic lodge.
Therefore Kent County Council does not hold the information you have
requested and is unable to confirm or deny whether Councillor Chell is a
Freemason or not.
If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[3]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/09/452.
If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner's website
[4]http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...
Best regards
Caroline Dodge
Corporate Access to Information Coordinator, Chief Executive's Department
Kent County Council, Legal & Democratic Services, Room 1.94, Sessions
House, County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
Tel: 01622 221652 - Fax: 01622 694383
[5]http://www.kent.gov.uk/council-and-democ...
show quoted sections
From: S Smith (Account suspended)
13 May 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
Kent County Council states: ' that Elected Members would only have
to declare membership of the Freemasons or any other organisation
if they are in a position of control or management,'
Clearly, they are in positions of control and management as elected
members/councillors within Kent County Council and are responsible
for making decision on extremely important issues affecting the
Public.
If you are referring to position of control or management within
the Freemasons; how are the Public to know if this is carried out
in secret and do not declare whether or not they are in actual fact
a member of a lodge or have ever been a Freemason.
It is also interesting to note the KCC leader is prepared to
declare when asked directly if he is a Freemason, but no other
elected members are prepared to do the same, and only 2 have
declared an interest.
What message does the KCC Leader feel this sends out to the Public,
one of transparency or something to hide?
Yours sincerely,
S Smith
From: S Smith (Account suspended)
10 August 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Kent County Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Alan Chell - Conservative County
Councillor'.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/al...
Yours faithfully,
S Smith
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