DCLG Public Bodies

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please provide copies of all documents identifying why the
Commission for Local Administration in england whose Chair and Vice
Chair are appointed by the secretary of State (DCLG) are not
included in the The Department for Communities and Local
Government’s Public Bodies 2008 publication.

Please further provide copies of all documentation identifying why
the Local Commissioners for Public Administration in England (CLAE)
are identified as falling within a requirement for Pre-appointment
hearings in the Department for Communities and Local Government:
Public Appointments Plan, but the positions of Chair and Deputy
Chair of the CLAE that the Secretary of State is personally
responsible for appointing are excluded.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

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 Department for
Communities and Local Government's handling of my FOI request 'DCLG
Public Bodies'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/dc...

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Vanita Patel,

Many thanks for your reply. The CLAE does appear to have 'special'
even unique status.

However, the CLG and their Department are responsible for
designating the Chair and Vice Chair of the CLAE.. These have to be
Local Commissioners... and the post of a new Local Commissioner was
advertised quite some time ago.. and interviews conducted. The post
advertised was that of local Commissioner and Deputy Chair of the
CLAE.

The CLG Select Committee have yet to have details forwarded to
themselves despite a pre-appointment hearing being advertised on
the CLG diary as due to take place on 12 October 2009.

As yet no details have been provided to the CLG Select Committee
and as a consequence they have been unable to issue a press notice.

It appears that possibly the CLG have identified that the incumbent
Local Commissioner is not suitable to be Chair or Vice Chair of the
CLAE.

Surely, as the Secretary of State and their Department designates
the Chair and Vice Chair of the CLAE.. and the CLG have oversight
over their duties in this role.. that possibly there is a reason..
as the list of appointments covered by Select Committee
pre-hearings was identified following issues with the Comptroller
General and their judgment being identified as flawed in Private
Eye and similar organs.

There must be a reason why CLG and/or the CLAE advertised both
posts ? and made them both subject to a pre-appointment hearing

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Vanita Patel,

many thanks for your reply.

I am fully in agreement with your point that appointment to the
position of local commissioner should be subject to pre-appointment
scrutiny.

However, the Chair and deputy Chair of the CLAE have to be
designated by the secretary of State.. and they have to be local
commissioners.

The designation by the secretary of state would have exposed Ms
Seex a current Local Commissioner to a fixed term appointment..

The statute identifies that it is not an appointment it is a
designation by the Secretary of state..

s23(7) The Secretary of State shall designate two of the Local
Commissioners for England as chairman and vice-chairman
respectively of the Commission for
Local Administration in England and, in the event of there being
more than one Local Commissioner for Wales, shall designate one of
them as chairman of the
Commission for Local Administration in Wales.

The appointments process is only for a local commissioner.. not
designation of chair and vice chair of the CLAE.. could you provide
the documentation identifying that the Secretary of State and their
Department have chosen to ignore statute.. I would have thought
this issue was something that would have been raised in a triennial
review.

The last time a vice chair was appointed.. the post was excluded
from the appointments process.. There are only two local
commissioners to actually choose from.. (one currently.. who must
be acting as the deputy Chair already)..

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Vanita

the issues are very simple. The post of local commissioner has to
be subject to a pre-appointment hearing.

The post of deputy chair of the CLAE is not.. this post is
designated by the Secretary of state (there are only three of
them.. and one of the local commissioners is a chair)..

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Vanita Patel,

then please provide a copy of any documents identifying that the
York Local Government Ombudsman was not suitable to be designated
as Vice Chair of the CLAE.

My understanding is that to overcome this impediment the person
appointed to the post of LGO to replace Jerry White would have
needed to female.

This would also be a breach of OCPA guidance.. as the Secretary of
State should not have advertised a post that that they were
responsible for designating..

The vote of confidence in the York Local Commissioner is very
clear.. and the assumption must be that she is incapacitated and
that the Secretary of State and their Department have already
identified this to the Crown as required by s23(6) of the LGA 1974
- please provide a link and / or copy of the documents identifying
this. Doubtless of the Chair of the CLAE has already provided the
documents.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS