Dear Sir or Madam,

Please provide a copy of the register of interests of all current
Directors of the Audit Commission - particularly in relation to
other appointments that they hold with other public bodies - and
the level of renumeration that they secure as a result.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Dear Mr Hardwicke-Carruthers

Thank you for your request for information, received on 6 August 2008. You
requested:

A copy of the register of interests of all current Directors of the Audit
Commission - particularly in relation to other appointments that they hold
with other public bodies - and the level of remuneration that they secure
as a result.

The Audit Commission is committed to the principles of the Freedom of
Information Act (FoIA) and will wherever possible provide all the
information requested unless constrained by another statute or by an
exemption within the FoIA. Please note that some information you have
requested may not be provided to you; this will only be information that
can be withheld by law. In most cases the reasons will be explained to you
along with your copy of any information that can be released to you.

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days, as defined by the FoIA. That
date is 3 September 2008.

I may need to contact you if the request needs to be clarified; this is to
ensure that we provide you with the information you require.

Yours sincerely

Andy Collins
PA to Paul Coombs - Director of Finance and Planning
Audit Commission

Tel: 0844 798 6233
[mobile number]

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Dear Andrew Collins,

Following our telco and confirmation that the Director of Finance
and Planning is part of the Corporate Services Directorate. It
would be helpful if there was an organogramme (organisation chart)
of the Audit Commission on its Web Site. I look forward to the
information requested being posted on the whatdotheyknowsite.

The whatdotheyknow site is an amazingly powerful tool.. and I would
anticipate that possibly District Auditors might wish to ensure
that Council's provide a link to it and advertise its existence on
their Web Sites... as well as government departments and that the
Audit Commission relationship managers might wish to use it to
identify issues of potential concern in relation to their
activities.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Second Alleged Breach of s10 and s1 of the FoI Act by the Audit
Commission

Appeal to Information Commissioner

On 05 August 2008 I submitted a second Freedom of Information
Request to the Audit Commission [‘AC’] requesting details of
records related to external employment positions held by its
directors [TAB 1] [TAB2]. The request was acknowledged, and it was
identified that a reply of some sort would be received from the
Audit Commission by 03 September 2008. The AC holds a special
position in relation to management of public bodies, and identifies
that it ‘needs to lead by example’. It is important due to its role
that the independence of its staff is demonstrated, and that they
are not subject to external influences (i.e. act on behalf of
bodies that are subject to their audit by their organisation either
directly or indirectly). If this was to occur both their
independence and credibility would possibly be identified as
suspect.

It is clear that the AC has failed to respond by 03 September 2008
(breach of s10 of the FoI act), and that as a consequence it has
failed to meet its duties under s1 of the FoI Act.

The Information Commissioner is requested to investigate, and to
issue a decision notice identifying breaches of the FoI Act by the
Audit Commission, and to require the AC to make the requested
information available.

A copy of the request is posted at
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/cl...
as is a copy of this appeal to the Information Commissioner. The
copy of the second request is posted at
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/cl...

The requests relate to two separate FoI requests.

Yours faithfully

Stuart HARDWICKE CARRUTHERS

Yours sincerely,

Dear Mr Hardwicke-Carruthers

I write following your e-mail dated 4 September 2008.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your request.

Please find attached our response:

<<RFI 876 Response RFI 876.doc>>

Yours sincerely,

Gary Shipsey
Compliance Manager
BIS - Information Management

Tel: 0844 798 6286
Email: [email address]

For Freedom of Information (FOI) requests please email
[1][Audit Commission request email]

Please think before you print this email

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Dear Gary Shipsey,

Many thanks for your response. I am in agreement with your
comments. It is my intention to complete the complaint to the
Information Commissioner only in relation to s10 of the FoI. This
is mainly because of the important position that the Audit
Commission holds. I very much appreciate the transparency.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hardwicke Carruthers

<<Access Information Complaints Procedure V2-0.pdf>>

Dear Mr Hardwicke-Carruthers

Thank you for your e-mail of 5 September 2008 at 15:48.

I note that you wish to complete a complaint to the Information
Commissioner in relation to Section 10 - Time for compliance with request
- of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA).

Please can you confirm whether you wish to lodge a complaint with the
Audit Commission about our level of compliance with Section 10 FoIA with
regards your request reference RFI 876.

I ask because I understand that Section 50(2)(a) of the FoIA requires that
our internal complaints procedure should be exhausted before the
Information Commissioner's Office will make a decision on any complaint
lodged with him, and that this is not the case at present.

Please find attached our complaints procedure.

Yours sincerely,

Gary Shipsey
Compliance Manager
BIS - Information Management

Tel: 0844 798 6286
Email: [email address]

For Freedom of Information (FOI) requests please email
[1][Audit Commission request email]

Please think before you print this email

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Dear Gary Shipsey,

Many thanks for your reply. There are only two issues that I wish
to raise. The first relates to delay, and on this you have already
apologised. The second relates to the fact that it would be helpful
if it was identified that this procedure existed when the Audit
Commission responded on 08 August 2008 and subsequently.

I shall be writing to the Information Commissioner accordingly, and
identifying that the two issues are progressing through your
complaints system, and that resolution is expected.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Hardwicke Carruthers

Dear Mr Hardwicke-Carruthers

Please accept my apologies for the oversight of not attaching our FoI
complaints procedure when responding to your request on 5 September
2008.

Yours sincerely,

Gary Shipsey
Compliance Manager
BIS - Information Management

Tel: 0844 798 6286
Email: [email address]

For Freedom of Information (FOI) requests please email
[Audit Commission request email]

Please think before you print this email

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