LG Act 1974 Part III Section 32(3) notices

FoI/2009/400

Dear Mr Nunn,

Having checked the relevant legislation, I believe you are referring to
the number of occasions when the Council has indicated, in submitting
information to the Local Government Ombudsman, that the information
being supplied is in part or wholly confidential. You will be aware that
the Ombudsman explains to authorities that information provided in
respect of a complaint will be shared with the complainant or
complainants and the Council must advise if in any case they consider
the information to be confidential in nature. However, the Council does
not serve a formal notice on the Local Government Ombudsman - we would
simply indicate that the information we are supplying is confidential
and provide some explanation.

I will check through our records to see whether a note has been kept of
those occasions in the past five years when we have provided
confidential information in respect of an Ombudsman complaint. I am not
aware of any occasions when the Ombudsman has indicated that information
we have defined as confidential should be supplied to the complainant,
but I have only been the link officer since November 2006.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

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FoI/2009/400

Dear Mr Nunn,

I have now looked through the records held for corporate complaints
referred to the Ombudsman for the period 2004-5 until end 2008-9. For
the older records less information is held on what was supplied at the
time, however, having read the case files I am reasonably certain the
information provided here is accurate. You will note that I have advised
of cases where I believe confidential information may have been supplied
to the Ombudsman, but cannot state with absolute certainty that it was.

In 2009-10 there has been one case where the Council supplied some
information in respect of the complaint which was considered to be
confidential. This was in respect of a school appeal.

In 2008-9 there were four cases in which the Council supplied some
information in respect of the complaint which was considered to be
confidential. 2 were in respect of planning issues, one for a Standards
Board complaint and one for a school appeal.

In 2007-8 there were two cases in which the Council supplied some
information in respect of the complaint which was considered to be
confidential. Both were in respect of planning issues.

In 2006-7 there was one case in which the Council supplied some
information in respect of the complaint which was considered to be
confidential. This was in respect of a planning issue.

In 2005-6 there was one case in which the Council is presumed to have
supplied some information in respect of the complaint which was
considered to be confidential. This was in respect of children's care
arrangements.

In 2004-5 there were three cases in which the Council is presumed to
have supplied some information in respect of the complaint which was
considered to be confidential. These were all in respect of school
appeals.

Having checked the correspondence, I can confirm that in no cases was a
formal notice under this section of the Act served on the Ombudsman, and
I am not aware of a legal requirement to do so. In several cases the
Ombudsman's letter in response has referred to information as
confidential. In at least one case of which I am aware, the Ombudsman's
officer visited these offices, and confidential information was
identified during a review of files. In none of these cases has the
Ombudsman's officer stated that any formal notice needs to be supplied
where the Council is providing information they consider should be kept
confidential from the complainant.

There is no evidence that the Ombudsman has ever advised the Council
that, in their view, information the Council has identified as
confidential should be provided to the complainant, and having checked
the Ombudsman's reports, it is my view that any such concern would have
been highlighted here.

Did you require any information on cases falling outside the corporate
process (eg social care complaints)?

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

Policy & Communication

* West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market Street, Newbury RG14
5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal) 6: 01635 519613

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

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