Please see the bottom of this FOI request: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/hi...

REFERRED to OFFICE OF ICO

Dear Information commissionaire,

I write in reference to Hillingdon Council, i understand there has been significant problems in relation to their addressing FOI requests from members of the public.

(http://www.hillingdon-watch.org.uk/html/...)

I would wish to draw your attention to the following FOI request made to hillingdon council on the 24th of March 2008.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/pa...

There have been repeated reminders to Hillingdon over this matter, indeed they have at one stage apologised for failing to respond and promised it was being looked into. To date they have still failed to reply.

The failure in this matter, is clearly to avoid obligations of the FOI and thwart being held accountable to their residents.

I request your intervention

Mr Andrews

THE RESPONSE FROM THE ICO - HILLINGDON COUNCIL HAVE 10 DAYS TO RESPOND TO THIS REQUEST AFTER THEIR COMPLETE FAILURE TO RESPOND>

3rd March 2010

Case Reference Number FS50296356

Dear Sir/Madam

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Complaint from Mr Andrews

The Information Commissioner has received a complaint from Mr Andrews stating that no response has been sent to an information request submitted to your organisation on 24 March 2009. We are aware that the council has already issued an acknowledgement, and apology for delay in replying, on 15 July 2009. We attach a copy of this request for your information.

Any public authority in receipt of such a request is under a duty to respond within 20 working days of receipt. As it is the case that you have not responded but acknowledged receipt of the request, we would ask that you now respond within 10 working days of receipt of this letter. We should be grateful if you could also provide a copy of your response to this office.

I should also advise you that , given the length of delay in responding to this request, the matter has also been referred to our Good Practice and Enforcement Team.

You should state whether or not the information is held in a recorded form. If it is held, you should either provide the information or issue a refusal notice in accordance with the requirements of section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act or regulation 14 of the Environmental Information Regulations as appropriate. You can find more information on refusal notices contained in the guidance issued by the Commissioner which is available at:

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

Finally you should be aware that the Information Commissioner often receives requests for copies of the letters we send and receive when dealing with casework. Not only are we obliged to deal with these in accordance with the access provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the DPA) and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the FoIA), it is in the public interest that we are open, transparent and accountable for the work that we do.

However, whilst we want to disclose as much information as we reasonably can, there will be occasions where full disclosure would be wrong. It is also important that the disclosures we make do not undermine the confidence and trust in the Commissioner of those who correspond with him.

When you reply to this letter, I would be grateful if you would indicate whether any of the information you provide in connection with this matter is confidential, or for any other reason should not be disclosed to anyone who requests it. I should make clear that simply preferring that the information is withheld may not be enough to prevent disclosure. You should have a good reason why this information should not be disclosed to anyone else and explain this to us clearly and fully.

For further advice on how to deal with freedom of information requests, please visit our website at www.ico.gov.uk or call our helpline on 0303 123 1113.

When contacting us about this matter, please quote the case reference number from the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Bernard McNally

FoI Case Reception Unit

Information Commissioner’s Office

!10 DAY EXPIRED 17TH OF MARCH - ONCE AGAIN REFERRED BACK TO ICO....

Dear Bernard McNally,

Please be advised that since your request for Hillingdon Borough to provide a response within 10 days to the following request;

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/pa...

They have again not complied. I request that you once again take this up on my behalf. I would respectfully request that some form of enforcement action/notice would reinforce the importance of the legislative requirements of the FOI Act.

Sincerely,

Mr Andrews

EMAIL FROM INFORMATION COMMISSIONAIRE

26th March 2010

Case Reference Number FS50296356

Dear Mr Andrews

Your information request to London Borough of Hillingdon (“LBH”).

Thank you for your further correspondence in which you advise you had still not received a response from LBH.

Your case has been allocated to one of our case resolution teams who will contact you as soon as possible to explain how your complaint will be progressed.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is an independent public body set up to promote public access to official information. We will rule on eligible complaints from people who are unhappy with the way public authorities have handled requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If you need to contact us about any aspect of your complaint please contact our Freedom of Information Helpline on 0303 123 1113, being sure to quote the reference number at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Bernard McNally

Sent on behalf of

Mr Andrew White

FoI Triage Team Leader

Information Commissioner’s Office

EMAIL FROM ICO - 30 MARCH 2010

30th March 2010

Case Reference Number FS50296356

Dear Mr Andrews

Further to our email of 26 March, I write regarding your complaint against the London Borough of Hillingdon (‘LBH’). I am the case officer responsible for investigating this complaint.

From the information provided, I understand that on 24 March 2009, you submitted seven questions regarding a payment meter replacement programme in Hillingdon. Despite several chasing emails, you received no response and submitted a complaint to the ICO on 14 February 2010. A response was provided to you on 26 March 2010.

I note that this response was provided over a year after you submitted your original request. Section 1(1) of the Act provides that a public authority in receipt of request for information must inform an applicant if information is held, and if so, communicate this to them. In accordance with section 10(1), this must be done within twenty working days. LBH have therefore significantly exceeded the statutory limit for compliance. This is a clear breach of the Act.

As my colleague Mr McNally explained in his letter of 3 March 2010, in cases such as these, the Commissioner does not usually see any strong public interest in serving a decision notice. This is because there are no steps that he could require the public authority to take; instead a decision notice will simply record the breach.

If you are unhappy with LBH’s response, then you should now request an internal review via the process outlined in its letter.

I can assure you that your concerns about LBH have been taken seriously. I have made our Enforcement team aware of this case, particularly the protracted delay in responding to your complaint. The Enforcement team will review the case and decide whether to take any action. This could range from writing to the authority to remind it of its obligations, asking for its policies and procedures regarding request handling to be reviewed, or the serving of a Practice Recommendation or Enforcement Notice. You will not be contacted directly to be informed of what, if any, action the Enforcement team intends to take.

If you have any queries or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the address below, at Ellen.Beasley@ico.gsi.gov.uk, or on 01625 545351.

Yours sincerely,

Ellen Beasley

Complaints Officer

Wycliffe House, Water Lane

Wilmslow, Cheshire

SK9 5AF