Petition for an elected Mayor

Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for your email.

Your request is being considered and if the information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject
to the information not being exempt.

If the time taken to meet your request is likely to exceed 18 hours, we
will contact you and ask you amend your request to bring it below this
time limit. We will assist you with suggestions of how this might be
achieved.

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

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.

Yours faithfully,

Jane Jones

Information Governance Administrative Officer

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

0207 364 4736

[email address]

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Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - IGT_FOI_03_2787 - Petition for an
elected Mayor

Your request for information has been considered under the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and the information is /below.

How many signatures were on the petition

17,189 entries checked:

Valid - 10,233 (59.53%)

Invalid - 6,956 (40.47%)

No Full Name - 2,094 (30.10%)

Not Registered - 3,408 (48.99%)

No Address - 788 (11.33%)

Non LBTH Addresses - 642 (9.23%)

Underage - 14 (0.20%)

No Signature - 10 (0.14%)

What checks were made to verify these signatures

Four Officers were tasked with checking the signatures on the petition
against the register of Electors.

How many names were discounted from the petition as invalid

With 7,794 signatures required - the number of valid entries exceeded the
required figure by 2,439 entries.

Please also supply any documents (for example, but not limited to emails,
letters, meetings notes, transcripts, minutes) relating to this petition:
between officers, councillors or other council officials, and to or from
officers, councillors or other council officials and members of the public
or representatives of another body or company.

The Council has decided that your request for documents relating to this
petition will not be processed on grounds of cost.

It is estimated that the cost of locating and retrieving the information
requested calculated according to the government's Freedom of Information
(Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004 would cost approximately
£525 (21 hours) which is in excess of the upper limit of £450 set in
the Regulations

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this letter acts as
a Refusal Notice.

You may wish to refine and resubmit your request so that it reduces the
cost to below this upper limit

If you have any queries please get in touch with me to discuss them. You
might like to know that the Council's website [1]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
contains a section on the Freedom of Information Act that lists other
publications readily available from the Council under its Publication
Scheme.

Yours faithfully

Jane Jones

Information Governance Administrative Officer

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

0207 364 4736

[2][email address]

Most of the information we provide in response to Freedom of Information
Act 2000 request will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases
the copyright will be owned by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The
copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organization as indicated in the information itself.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, publishing the information or issuing copies to the public will
require the permission of the copyright holder.

For information where the copyright is owned by the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets, details of the conditions of re-use can be found on our
website at [3]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk.

For information where the copyright is owned by another person or
organization, you must apply to the copyright holder to obtain their
permission.

If you unhappy with this response or wish to complain about any aspect of
the handling of this request please write to:

Corporate Complaints Unit

Tower Hamlets Town Hall

Mulberry Place

5 Clove Crescent

London E14 2BG

If you are subsequently not satisfied with the Council's response to your
complaint you have a right of appeal to the independent Information
Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[4]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Further information about the operation of the act is available from the
council's website [5]www.towerhamlets.gov.uk and the information leaflet
in public reception areas in Council buildings.

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References

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1. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
2. file:///tmp/BLOCKED::mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
4. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
5. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
6. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
7. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Borough Council request email]

Mr Howard-Lloyd

Thank you for your email concerning the above matter. We are processing
your request and will forward it to you shortly.

Yours sincerely

Jane Jones

Information Governance Administrative Officer

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

0207 364 4736

[1][email address]

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References

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file:///tmp/blocked::mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Borough Council request email]

Dear Mr Howard-Lloyd,

I refer to your request and apologise for the delay in replying.
This was due to an oversight on my behalf for which I am very
sorry.

Concerning the petition I can advise that: 1.1 A petition
requesting a referendum on the introduction of an Elected Mayor for
the London Borough of Tower Hamlets was received by the Council on
16 November 2009 (the ‘petition date’). The petition states:

“We, the undersigned, being local government electors for the area
of Tower Hamlets Council to whom this petition is addressed, seek a
referendum on whether the electors for that area should elect a
mayor who, with a cabinet will be in charge of our local services
and lead Tower Hamlets Council”

1.2 Within the notice period stipulated by regulations made under
section 34 of the Local Government Act 2000, each of the 17,189
entries on the petition were verified to ensure that all
signatories are electors in the borough and have provided all
necessary information. It was established that the petition
contains 10,233 valid signatures within the terms of the
regulations. A valid petition is required to contain not fewer than
7,794 signatures of local electors in the borough, which is the
published ‘Verification Number’ for Tower Hamlets for the period
including the petition date. The verification number represents 5%
of the registered electors of the borough for the year in question.

1.3 The petition is therefore valid and in accordance with the
regulations the Council is required to hold a referendum within six
months of the petition date. The Secretary of State and the
petition organiser, Councillor Abjol Miah, have been informed that
a valid petition was received and a referendum will be held. The
petition has been made available for public inspection and a notice
published in the local press. As you will be aware, the outcome of
the referendum was that the authority will hold a poll for an
elected mayor on October 21st of this year.

Concerning the communications between the officers, these are
exempt under Section 42 of the Act in that they are subject to
Legal Professional Privilege. The application of this exemption is
subject to a Public Interest Test, however the public interest is
best served by the upholding of this privilege.

Once again can I apologise for the delay. You had previously asked
for an internal review, and the authority is happy to proceed with
this if you provide a home address as per our corporate complaints
procedure. You may, of course, choose to approach the Information
Commissioner directly and I believe you have already been in
discussions with his office.

Thanks, Tim Rodgers Information Governance Manager London Borough
of Tower Hamlets.

Mr Howard-Lloyd,

Thanks for your email,

Our corporate complaint procedure applies when an individual contests a
Freedom of Information decision notice, and requires a postal address in
order to proceed. Below is commentary reproduced from another request
concerning this matter.

Section 17 (7) Refusal of request- of the
Freedom of information Act 2000, requires a public authority to provide
details of their internal complaints procedure in order for the
applicant
to appeal an FOI decision. The act does not specify a separate FOI
specific complaints procedure for internal reviews.

In addition the Section 45 Code of Practice issued by the Secretary of
State for Constitutional Affairs' provides guidance to public
authorities
on the handling of FOI requests.

Below is the recommended practice for internal reviews/complaints
procedure for public authorities as stated in the Section 45 Code Of
Practice-

VI Complaints procedure

1. Each public authority should have a procedure in place for dealing
with complaints both in relation to its handling of requests for
information. The same procedure could also usefully handle complaints in
relation to the authority's publication scheme. If the complaints cannot
be dealt with swiftly and satisfactorily on an informal basis, the
public
authority should inform persons if approached by them of the details of
its internal complaints procedure, and how to contact the Information
Commissioner, if the complainant wishes to write to him about the
matter.

2. When communicating any decision made to refusing a request, in
reliance on an exemption provision, public authorities are obliged,
under
section 17(7) of the Act notify the applicant of particulars of the
procedure provided by the public authority for dealing with complaints
(or
to state that it does not have one). In doing so, they should provide
full
details of their own complaints procedure, including how to make a
complaint and inform the applicant of the right to complain to the
Commissioner under section 50 if he or she is still dissatisfied
following
the authority's review.

3. Any written reply from the applicant (including one transmitted by
electronic means) expressing dissatisfaction with an authority's
response
to a request for information should be treated as a complaint, as should
any written communication from a person who considers that the authority
is not complying with its publication scheme. These communications
should
be handled in accordance with the authority's complaints procedure, even
if, in the case of a request for information under the general rights of
access, the applicant does not expressly state his or her desire for the
authority to review its decision or its handling of the application.

4. The complaints procedure should provide a fair and thorough review
of handling issues and of decisions taken pursuant to the Act, including
decisions taken about where the public interest lies in respect of
exempt
information. It should enable a fresh decision to be taken on a
reconsideration of all the factors relevant to the issue. Complaints
procedures should be as clear and simple as possible. They should
encourage a prompt determination of the complaint.

5. Where the complaint concerns a request for information under the
general rights of access, the review should be undertaken by someone
senior to the person who took the original decision, where this is
reasonably practicable. The public authority should in any event
undertake
a full re-evaluation of the case, taking into account the matters raised
by the investigation of the complaint.

6. In all cases, complaints should be acknowledged promptly and the
complainant should be informed of the authority's target date for
determining the complaint. Where it is apparent that determination of
the
complaint will take longer than the target time (for example because of
the complexity of the particular case), the authority should inform the
applicant and explain the reason for the delay. The complainant should
always be informed of the outcome of his or her complaint.

7. Authorities should set their own target times for dealing with
complaints; these should be reasonable, and subject to regular review.
Each public authority should publish its target times for determining
complaints and information as to how successful it is with meeting those
targets.

8. Records should be kept of all complaints and of their outcome.
Authorities should have procedures in place for monitoring complaints
and
for reviewing, and, if necessary, amending, procedures for dealing with
requests for information where such action is indicated by more than
occasional reversals of initial decisions.

9. Where the outcome of a complaint is a decision that information
should be disclosed which was previously withheld, the information in
question should be disclosed as soon as practicable and the applicant
should be informed how soon this will be.

10. Where the outcome of a complaint is that the procedures within an
authority have not been properly followed by the authority's staff, the
authority should apologise to the applicant. The authority should also
take appropriate steps to prevent similar errors occurring in future.

11. Where the outcome of a complaint is that an initial decision to
withhold information is upheld, or is otherwise in the authority's
favour,
the applicant should be informed of his or her right to apply to the
Commissioner, and be given details of how to make an application, for a
decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of Part I of the Act.

I have been advised that there are no additional emails that would not
have attracted Legal Professional Privlege given the involvement of the
Borough Solicitor in this matter, though should you provide a postal
address we will be able to review this. I can advise that the overall
volume of correspondence held by the Borough Solicitor was actually
quite small, that the then leader did not hold any information in this
regard, and that once the validity was determined, the management of the
referendum was transferred over to the Electoral Registration Officer
function which falls outside of the definition of a public authority
under the Freedom of Inforamtion Act 2000.

Thanks,
Tim Rodgers
Information Governance Manager
Legal Services
Chief Executives Department
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Phone: 0207 364 4354
[mobile number]
Fax: 0207 364 4804
E-mail: [email address]
Website: http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
6th Floor, Town Hall, 5 Mulberry Place,
London E14 2BG

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Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for your email.

Your request is being considered and if the information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to
the information not being exempt.

If the time taken to meet your request is likely to exceed 18 hours, we
will contact you and ask you amend your request to bring it below this
time limit. We will assist you with suggestions of how this might be
achieved.

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

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.

Yours faithfully,

Shazna Bibi

Information Governance Administrative Assistant

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

020 7364 4932

[1][email address]

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References

Visible links
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mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
3. http://www.census.gov.uk/
4. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Borough Council request email]