Hillingdon First

Dear Mr Grimshaw

I am writing in response to your Freedom of Information request below.
Please accept my apologies for the slight delay in our response.

As I understand it you were requesting to know:

1. Please provide all internal communications that have discussed the
legal implications of the Hillingdon First scheme.
I would refer you to the legal comments that were made on the Report to
Cabinet on the Hillingdon First Scheme in January 2008.

http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/ctteedocs/n...

The Council does hold other information meeting the description of your
request however the Council is of the opinion that this information is
subject to Legal Professional Privilege as it is communications between
legal advisor and client for the purpose of obtaining and giving legal
advice. As such, the information is exempt from S1 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act) pursuant to S42 of the Act which states
"Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional
privilege or, in Scotland, to confidentiality of communications could be
maintained in legal proceedings is exempt information."

We have considered the public interest in this matter and we of the
opinion that, in this instance, the inherent strong public interest in
the doctrine of legal professional privilege outweighs the public
interest in disclosure.

If you are unhappy with our response then you should follow the
procedure laid down in our attached FOI complaints procedure.

If you wish to discuss this matter please do not hesitate to contact
me.

2. How many complaints, requests for information (formal foi or
otherwise) and enquiries have there been in regards to the Hillingdon
First Scheme?
2

3. Who instigated this scheme, when was the scheme first discussed and
how has the scheme changed since formed?
we would refer you to the Cabinet Report of 18th January 2008
http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/ctteedocs/n...

4. How much has the scheme cost to implement and how much is it
expected to cost per annum?
The council expects Hillingdon First to be cost neutral. The council
can rationalise a number of existing card schemes, thereby obviating the
need to develop and maintain them. Additionally the council expects to
reduce costs and increase revenue from some non-resident charges to help
offset the costs. Increased use of leisure facilities and possible
reductions in land fill tax contributions are further examples.

Setting up the scheme has cost approximately £475K. This includes the
cost of producing and posting out nearly 150K smart cards at launch.

The expected annual cost is £55K, mostly made up from the cost of cards
for new residents moving into the borough and annual software licenses.

Richard Ingle

Freedom of Information Team
Legal Services (3E 04)
London Borough of Hillingdon
Civic Centre
High Street
Uxbridge
UB8 1UW
01895 55(6923)

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00:03 >>>
Dear Sir or Madam,

Please can you provide me with the following information under
the
Freedom Of Information Act 2000.

1. Please provide all internal communications that have discussed
the legal implications of the hillingdon first scheme.

2. How many complaints, requests for information (formal foi or
otherwise) and enquiries have there been in regards to the
hillingdon first scheme?

3. Who instigated this scheme, when was the scheme first
discussed
and how has the scheme changed since formed?

4. How much has the scheme cost to implement and how how much is
it
expected to cost per annum?

Yours faithfully,

Paul Grimshaw

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FOI/1275

Dear Mr Grimshaw

I am writing in response to your email below, please accept my
apologies for the delay in my response which is due to a period of leave
and a current heavy workload.

Q3. The Cabinet report provided is the report that instigated the
Hillingdon First Residents Card scheme as it was implemented. This is
the key report about the Hillingdon First Residents Card and does answer
your question asked. However, the clarification you have subsequently
provided, indicates that you were referring not to the Hillingdon
Residents Card per se, but rather the issue of Smart Cards in general.
I can confirm that we do hold earlier reports on the issue of Smart
Cards and you will find these attached.

Q4. There is no report as such in regards to this, however the
attached reports do analyse the benefits of smart cards. I can confirm
that it does not include the cost of the parking metres. However, I
would refer you to the Council Qs on the 2nd July 2009 where it was
stated that the replacement of parking metres would have been required
in the next 2/3 years anyway.

If you are not happy with my response you should but your complaint in
writing to:
Principle Corporate Lawyer, Legal Services, Civic Centre, High St,
Uxbridge, UB8 1UW.

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you
have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF

If you wish to discuss this matter please do not hesitate to contact me
on the details below.

Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Services (3E 04)
London Borough of Hillingdon
Civic Centre
High Street
Uxbridge
UB8 1UW
01895 55(6923)

Please note, all material provided by the London Borough of Hillingdon
in response to your request for information is for your personal,
non-commercial use. The London Borough of Hillingdon reserves all
rights in the copyright of the information provided. Any unauthorised
copying or adaptation of the information without express written
confirmation from The London Borough of Hillingdon will constitute an
infringement of copyright. Any intention to re-use this information
commercially will require consent. Please forward any requests for
re-use of information to the Freedom of Information officer.

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19:43 >>>
Dear foi,

In regards to Question 1, I will be following your procedure as
attached.

In regards to Question 2, thank you for the information supplied.

In regards to Question 3, thank you for the link. I don't believe
this answers the question asked. There are various reports on the
internet showing that Hillingdon were considering a scheme in
2006,
this report was from January 2008 (one example:
http://www.kable.co.uk/hillingdon-shop-c...). The report
also states that HIP recommended the scheme, so this report isn't
actually the first instance of the scheme coming to be, but
rather
the first official report to the cabinet. I am specifically
interested in how the scheme initially came about.

In regards to Question 4, thank you for the information supplied.
Please could you direct me to any reports showing how this
forecasting was performed? Does the initial £475k include the new
parking meters?

Yours sincerely,

Paul Grimshaw

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