Community Safety Department - Torfaen Council

I acknowledge receipt of your email, the contents of which have been forwarded to the relevant department/section and an officer will contact you directly.

If however, you have not received a response within a reasonable period of time please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Your feedback is important to us. Please spare a few minutes to complete the new online Customer Focus Satisfaction form at http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/Online%20Servi...

http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/CouncilAndDemo...

On behalf of

[email address]

show quoted sections

Dear Mrs Williams,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your e-mail dated 26/02/2010 requesting information under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I have logged your email and will
deal with your request in order that we can respond to you within the
statutory deadline of 20 working days.

We will contact you further as soon as relevant information is available.

This letter is available in large print, on audio cassette and in Braille
and also in Welsh or any other Community Language. Please contact us for
further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Karen Kerslake

Information and Communications Manager

Public Services Support Unit

email: [1][email address]

Tel: 01633 628971

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Mrs Williams,

Thank you for your email dated today regarding your freedom of information
request. The 20 day deadline is 20 working days so the reply is due by
Friday 26^th March. I will ensure the reply is sent within the timeline.

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner's Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner's Office (Wales), Cambrian Buildings, Mount Stuart Square,
Cardiff, CF10 5FL. Telephone 029 2044 8044 or Fax 029 2044 8045 or e-mail
[1][email address].

This letter is available in large print, on audio cassette and in Braille
and also in Welsh or any other Community Language. Please contact us for
further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Caron Hill

Corporate Complaints Officer

Resources Directorate

Tel 01495 742164

Fax 01495 766331

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Mrs Williams,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your email dated 26/02/2010 requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am now in a position to respond to your
questions as follows:

1. The public have been informed that Mr. David Jeremiah has

vacated the position of Community Safety Manager.

a) Is this information correct?

Yes

b) What was the date Mr. David Jeremiah vacated his position?

8^th February 2010

c) What were the reason/reasons for Mr. Jeremiah's departure?

Due to an Authority restructure

d) Did Mr. David Jeremiah receive any payment (redundancy)
when leaving his post within the Community Safety Unit?

The post was vacated subject to redundancy under the terms
and conditions of local government employment

e) Does Mr. David Jeremiah still hold ANY position within Torfaen
County Borough Council or ANY position with ANY partner(s) of Torfaen
County Borough Council?

Mr Jeremiah is still employed by Torfaen County Borough Council as
per (d).

f) Did Mr. David Jeremiah receive a reprimand from Torfaen Council or
any other authority following the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales'
Investigation/ Public Report Number 200501251?

"We are withholding the information you have requested on the basis that
the exemption contained in s 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act
applies in that the information you have requested is personal data of
third parties and the disclosure of the data would breach one of the
principles contained in the Data Protection Act. The relevant principle is
the first principle which states that

"Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and in particular
shall not be processed unless -

(a) at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met and

(b) in the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the
conditions in Schedule 3 is met"

It is only necessary to consider (a) in respect of the information
requested. The relevant condition in Schedule 2 is condition 6 which
states that:

"The processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests
pursued by the data controller or by the third party or parties to whom
the data are disclosed, except where the processing is unwarranted in any
particular case by reason of prejudice to the rights and freedoms or
legitimate interests of the data subject"

Following the Tribunal decision in Corporate Officer of the House of
Commons v Information Commissioner and Leapman, Brooke and Thomas the
Information Commissioner has recommended that public authorities approach
condition 6 as a three-part test which we have applied as follows:

1) There must be a legitimate interest in the public obtaining the
information.

There is an interest in the public being satisfied that the Authority has
taken the appropriate action as per the recommendations from the Ombudsman
report number 200501251.

2) The second test is whether disclosure is necessary for the
legitimate public interest.

I can confirm the Authority has taken the appropriate action as per the
Ombudsman report and a copy of a report to confirm this action was sent to
the Ombudsman on 18^th October 2007. Whether there has been a reprimand
or not relates to the personnel record of an individual and is between the
employer and employee. We cannot see that there is a legitimate interest
in the public obtaining more detailed personal information.

3) The third test is whether the disclosure is nevertheless unwarranted
because of an excessive or disproportionate adverse affect on the
legitimate interest of the individuals concerned.

As the Authority has taken the action recommended by the Ombudsman, we
consider that the individual concerned would not expect personal
information to be released to the public and disclosure could potentially
adversely affect the legitimate interest of the individual.

g) Did the Community Safety Department or any other council
departments/personnel receive a reprimand or any dismissal's following the
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales' Investigation/ Public Report Number
200501251?

This information would be exempt as per the reply to f).

2. Please explain Torfaen County Borough Council's procedures for
handling Anti Social Behaviour that occurs with the Borough of Torfaen.
i.e. Contact details, name & address etc.

The contact for referrals would be the Public Services Support Unit,
Torfaen County Borough Council, Civic Centre, Pontypool, Torfaen, NP4 6YB,
telephone 01495 742885. Any actions would be co-ordinated through partner
agencies such as the police.

Information supplied in response to any Freedom of Information Act request
may be subject to copyright. A single copy of information supplied under
the Freedom of Information Act may only be used for personal,
non-commercial research or study, unless stated otherwise. It must not be
passed to others, copied or re-published in whole or in part without
permission from the copyright holder. Any copyright statement that forms
part of or in any way refers to the information provided must not be
altered or removed.

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner's Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner's Office (Wales), Cambrian Buildings, Mount Stuart Square,
Cardiff, CF10 5FL. Telephone 029 2044 8044 or Fax 029 2044 8045 or e-mail
[1][email address].

This letter is available in large print, on audio cassette and in Braille
and also in Welsh or any other Community Language. Please contact us for
further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Caron Hill

Corporate Complaints Officer

Resources Directorate

Tel 01495 742164

Fax 01495 766331

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Mrs Williams,

Thank you for your email dated 14th April 2010, I will liaise with the relevant service areas and reply in due course.

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner's Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office (Wales), Cambrian Buildings, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff, CF10 5FL. Telephone 029 2044 8044 or Fax 029 2044 8045 or e-mail [email address]

This letter is available in large print, on audio cassette and in Braille and also in Welsh or any other Community Language. Please contact us for further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Caron Hill
Corporate Complaints Officer
Resources Directorate
Tel 01495 742164
Fax 01495 766331

show quoted sections

Dear Mrs Williams,

Thank you for your email dated 14^th April 2010.

In answer to your question (e); Mr Jeremiah no longer holds any position
with Torfaen County Borough Council. We are only able to respond on
behalf of Torfaen County Borough Council, any requests for information
regarding other organisations should be addressed to them directly.

In answer to questions (f) and (g); We note what you say about the Baby P
case, every case has to be judged on its merits. In this case we have
given careful consideration to the public interest test and are
withholding the information you have requested under exemption S40(2) of
the Freedom of Information Act for the reasons given in my original reply.

If you have any queries about this email or are unhappy about the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner's Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner's Office (Wales), Cambrian Buildings, Mount Stuart Square,
Cardiff, CF10 5FL. Telephone 029 2044 8044 or Fax 029 2044 8045 or e-mail
[1][email address]

This letter is available in large print, on audio cassette and in Braille
and also in Welsh or any other Community Language. Please contact us
for further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Caron Hill

Corporate Complaints Officer

Resources Directorate

Tel 01495 742164

Fax 01495 766331

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Mrs Williams,

Thank you for your email dated 17th May 2010, I will liaise with the relevant service areas and reply in due course.

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner's Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office (Wales), Cambrian Buildings, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff, CF10 5FL. Telephone 029 2044 8044 or Fax 029 2044 8045 or e-mail [email address]

This letter is available in large print, on audio cassette and in Braille and also in Welsh or any other Community Language. Please contact us for further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Caron Hill
Corporate Complaints Officer
Resources Directorate
Tel 01495 742164
Fax 01495 766331

show quoted sections

Dear Mrs Williams,

Thank you for your email dated 17th May 2010.

I have informed the Chief Executive of your request and as FOI Officer she
has asked me to reply as follows;

In response to point i, at the time of the first response Mr Jeremiah was
still employed by Torfaen County Borough Council and at the time of the
second response Mr Jeremiah was no longer employed by Torfaen County
Borough Council. No records have been altered.

In reply to points ii and iii;

We are withholding the information you have requested under exemption
S40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act for the reasons given in the
original reply. It might help you to know the position of the Information
Commissioner regarding this subject as detailed below;

The information Commissioner is satisfied that, in the context of any
disciplinary proceedings which may or may not have taken place the named
officials would have had an expectation of privacy and would not have
expected the public to have access to information which discloses whether
or not any such proceedings had occurred. This view is consistent with
the conclusion of the information Tribunal in the decision in the case of
Waugh v the Information Commissioner and Doncaster College (EA/2008/0038)
in paragraph 40 of which the Tribunal held that;

"There is a recognised expectation that the internal disciplinary matters
of an individual will be private. Even among senior members of staff
there would still be a high expectation of privacy between an employee and
his employer in respect of disciplinary matters".

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner's Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner's Office (Wales), Cambrian Buildings, Mount Stuart Square,
Cardiff, CF10 5FL. Telephone 029 2044 8044 or Fax 029 2044 8045 or e-mail
[1][email address].

This letter is available in large print, on audio cassette and in Braille
and also in Welsh or any other Community Language. Please contact us for
further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Caron Hill

Corporate Complaints Officer

Resources Directorate

Tel 01495 742164

Fax 01495 766331

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Mrs Williams

Please see attached correspondence in relation to your Freedom of
Information request.

Many thanks.

Peter Durkin

DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Tel: 01495 742608 (internal 2608)

Fax: 01495 750797

External email: [1][email address]

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]