Response to complaint to Local Government Ombudsman

Keith edmunds made this Freedom of Information request to Portsmouth City Council

The request was refused by Portsmouth City Council.

From: Keith edmunds

10 August 2010

Dear Portsmouth City Council,

Please provide a copy of your response to the Local Government
Ombudsman to my complaint about the planning permission granted to
2 West Street. Please also provide copies of transcripts of any
discussions you have had with the LGO concerning this complaint,
and copies of any internal memos or any other internal
documentation concerned with the complaint. Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Keith Edmunds

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From: FoI
Portsmouth City Council

12 August 2010


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Customer, Community and Democratic Services
Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2AL
Telephone: 023 9268 8482
Fax: 023 9284 1327

Reference: FOI2010428

Dear Mr Keith Edmunds,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thank you for your request for information received on 10/08/2010.

Your request is being considered and, subject to the points made below, you will receive the information requested as promptly as possible within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If we need to obtain more information from you in order to understand what information you require, we will contact you. If this is the case, the 20 days time limit will not commence until your request has been clarified.

The Act defines a number of exemptions that may prevent release of certain information. The City Council will consider whether any of these exemptions apply and, where required by the Act, whether it is in the public interest to release the information. If we have to make a public interest test, the 20 day time limit might be extended. We will inform you if the time scale has to be extended and if any information is withheld and of your rights of appeal.

The City Council would like to make you aware that disclosure of information obtained through FOIA is a disclosure into the public domain.

The City Council's standard approach is to provide the information in the form in which we hold it. If you require alternative formats, e.g. audio, large print, etc. or a different language, please let me know and we will provide it if reasonably practicable to do so. If your request is a question and we do not hold the answer in recorded form we will try and provide an answer where we are able.

There may be a fee payable for this information request and we will send you a Fees Notice if this is the case. Any fee must be paid before the request is provided. The time between the issue of the Fees Notice and receipt of payment is excluded from the calculation of the 20 working day time limit.

Any personal information you provide in relation to this request will only be used for the purposes of processing your request for information.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact the Corporate Information Governance Officer at Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2AL, telephone 023 9268 8482, e-mail [email address].

Yours sincerely

Helen Magri
Corporate Information Governance Officer.

Did you know?

Since January 2006 Portsmouth City Council Pollution Control Officers have responded to 6351 complaints of 'out of hours' noise nuisance.

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James Haggar left an annotation (17 August 2010)

I assume this request is concerned with the allegations of planning corruption that appeared in the local press at the end of last year. I look forward to seeing the response from PCC published here.

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From: FoI
Portsmouth City Council

8 September 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds.

I have prepared a response to your request, however, as some of the documentation is considered to be your personal data, please confirm you are happy for it to be sent to this e-mail address.

Thank you

Helen Magri
Corporate Information Governance Officer
Portsmouth City Council
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth
PO1 2BQ
T: 023 9268 8482
E: [email address]
E: [Portsmouth City Council request email]
www.portsmouth.gov.uk

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From: Keith edmunds

8 September 2010

Dear FoI,
I am quite happy for the information to be sent to this email
address and posted on this site, thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

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From: FoI
Portsmouth City Council

9 September 2010


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FOI Customer, Community and Democratic Services
Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2AL
Telephone: 023 9268 8482
Fax: 023 9284 1327

Our Ref: FOI2010428
Date:8 September 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds,

FOI REQUEST - LGO COMPLAINT - 2 WEST STREET

Thank you for your request for information received on 10 August 2010, which was considered under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

You asked for:-

"a copy of your response to the Local Government Ombudsman to my complaint about the planning permission granted to 2 West Street. Please also provide copies of transcripts of any discussions you have had with the LGO concerning this complaint, and copies of any internal memos or any other internal documentation concerned with the complaint."

In accordance with FOIA Portsmouth City Council confirms it holds the information. Please find enclosed copies of all information held fitting your request provided on the PDF document as follows:

Under the Re- Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1515) the supplied information may not be re-used without obtaining the permission of Portsmouth City Council.

Portsmouth City Council in complying with their statutory duty under sections 1 and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act to release the enclosed information, will not breach the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. However, the rights of the copyright holder of the enclosed information will continue to be protected by the law. If you wish to use this information, you may require approval or licence from the copyright holder.

You have the right to appeal against this decision or to complain about our treatment of your request. If you wish to do so, please set out in writing your grounds of complaint and send to the Corporate Information Governance Officer at Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2AL, telephone 023 9268 8482, e-mail
[email address]<mailto:[email address]>.
Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaints decision you may wish to follow the Portsmouth City Council's Compliments and Complaints procedure which can be found on the Portsmouth City Council website or by contacting the Civic Offices.

Once these processes have been exhausted you have a further right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk<http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/>

Yours sincerely

Mrs Helen Magri
Corporate Information Governance Officer

Did you know?

Portsmouth’s housing repairs has installed over 5300 new kitchens since 2005.

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From: Keith edmunds

9 September 2010

Dear FoI,

You have sent the wrong information. To clarify, I would like all
information pertaining to the complaint to the Local Government
Ombudsman made this year 2010. Ombudsman's reference: 10 000
639/B2/BAM,vms. That includes all relevant information up to and
including today's date, 9 September 2010. Please once again provide
the information on this website.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

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From: Keith edmunds

9 September 2010

Dear Portsmouth City Council,
Further to my previous comment. The information you attached is
concerning my complaint about 10 West Street, not 2 West Street,
which I clearly asked for in my FOI request. I should not be
penalised as a consequence of incompetence by Portsmouth City
Council, by having to wait another 20 days for this information.
Please forward it immediately otherwise I will make a formal
complaint to the FOI Commissioner.

Yours faithfully,

Keith Edmunds

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From: FoI
Portsmouth City Council

10 September 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds.
Please accept my sincere apologies for this error and thank you for providing the Ombudsman's reference which was of great assistance.

I wish to assure you your request has been given immediate attention and I have been working this afternoon to locate all relevant information.

In accordance with guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner, I also consulted with the LGO regarding disclosure of the documentation you have requested, in case they felt it may prejudice their investigation in any way.

Whilst they were able to confirm they had no objections to information being disclosed, I understand from my conversation with Mr David Pollard (Assistant Ombudsman) that you have already been provided with a copy of PCC's response to Brian Miles (LGO Investigator) by them. I do not therefore propose sending you a further copy, engaging the Section 21 Exemption under the Freedom of Information Act - Information Accessible through other means.

In accordance with Section 17 of the Act, this letter therefore acts as a refusal notice to this part of your request.

There is ,however, some further correspondence fitting your request which I need to consider for disclosure. I aim to be able to provide you with my response by Friday 17 September.

Assuring you of our best intentions.

Yours sincerely

Helen Magri
Corporate Information Governance Officer
Portsmouth City Council
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth
PO1 2BQ
T: 023 9268 8482
E: [email address]
E: [Portsmouth City Council request email]
www.portsmouth.gov.uk

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From: Keith edmunds

10 September 2010

Dear FoI,

Thank you for your prompt response. I am happy with the situation
you propose.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

Link to this

From: FoI
Portsmouth City Council

17 September 2010


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[1]logo_engFOI   Customer, Community and Democratic Services

Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2AL

Telephone:    023 9268 8482

Fax:                023 9284 1327

Our Ref:FOI2010428

17 September 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds

INFORMATION REQUEST – LGO Complaint, 2 West Street.

Thank you for your request for information received on 10 August 2010. 
Please note your request was considered under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004, rather than the Freedom of Information Act,
as Portsmouth City Council believes the subject of your request falls
within the definition “measures (including administrative measures),
such as policies,legislation, plans, programmes, environmental agreements,
and activities affecting or likely to affect... the state of the elements
of the environment, such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land,
landscape”

Guidance on the Environmental Information Regulations may be found by
following the link

[2]http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

You asked us for:-

“a copy of your response to the Local Government Ombudsman to my
complaint about the planning permission granted to 2 West Street. Please
also provide copies of transcripts of any

discussions you have had with the LGO concerning this complaint, and
copies of any internal memos or any other internal documentation concerned
with the complaint”.

In accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations, Portsmouth
City council confirms that it holds the information.  As stated in my
previous e-mail, I will not provide a further copy of PCC’s response to
the LGO which you already hold. Copies of all other relevant documentation
are attached, with the exception of 2 further documents - I need to
consult with an officer before I can determine whether you are entitled to
received these but, due to their annual leave, I have been unable to do so
this week. I aim provide my response to you in relation to these by Friday
24 September.

Within the documentation provided, where an e-mail shows an attachment(s),
this has been provided where it fits your request (i.e. where it is an
internal memo/other internal documentation)

Some of the documents have also been redacted for the following reasons:-

o To remove an officer’s name where they are not deemed to be a
“senior officer” and it would not be their reasonable expectation
that their details would be disclosed
o To remove information relating to a third party which you are not
entitled to receive or it is not already in the public domain.

This information is withheld under Regulation 13 of the Environmental
Information Regulations (Personal Data).

 

Under the Re- Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 (SI
2005/1515) the supplied information may not be re-used without obtaining
the permission of Portsmouth City Council.

You have the right to appeal against this decision or to complain about
our treatment of your request.  If you wish to do so, please set out in
writing your grounds of complaint and send to the Corporate Information
Governance Officer at Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices, Guildhall
Square, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2AL, telephone 023 9268 8482, e-mail

[3][email address].

Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaints decision you
may wish to follow the Portsmouth City Council’s Compliments and
Complaints procedure which can be found on the Portsmouth City Council
website or by contacting the Civic Offices.

Once these processes have been exhausted you have a further right of
appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

[4]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Helen Magri

Corporate Information Governance Officer.

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From: Keith edmunds

18 September 2010

Dear FoI,

Thank you for the response. This is not the information, I wanted.
To quote my clarification above. I wish to receive all the
correspondence between Portsmouth City Council and the Local
Government Ombudsman up to and including today's date 18 September
2010, with regards to my complaint to the Local Government
Ombudsman, concerning the planning permission granted to 2 West
Street, earlier this year. I wish this information to be passed to
me under the Freedom of Information Act, not the Environment or any
other Act and I wish for it to be passed to me through this
website. As you are already well outside the time for providing me
with this information, I will make a formal complaint to the ICO
that you have been deliberately prevaricating, should I not receive
it by the end of the working day 20 September 2010.
I should further add, that you have no legal immunity, whatsoever,
in not providing the information requested.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

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From: FoI
Portsmouth City Council

24 September 2010


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[1]logo_engFOI   Customer, Community and Democratic Services

Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2AL

Telephone:    023 9268 8482

Fax:                023 9284 1327

 

Our Ref:FOI2010428

Date: 24 September 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds

INFORMATION REQUEST – LGO COMPLAINT – 2 WEST STREET

Thank you for your request for information which, as confirmed in my
e-mail to you dated 17 September, has been considered in accordance with
the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004.

Portsmouth City Council maintains this is the correct piece of
legislation, however, since only a small amount of Personal Data has been
withheld (which is exempt from disclosure under both Acts), the relevance
of this is not significant.

You asked us for:-

“all the correspondence between Portsmouth City Council and the
Local   Government Ombudsman up to and including today's date 18
September 2010, with regards to my complaint to the Local Government
Ombudsman, concerning the planning permission granted to 2 West Street,
earlier this year.”

In accordance with the EIR, I confirm Portsmouth City Council holds this
information, which I attach.

As with the previous disclosure to you, some of the documents have been
redacted to remove individuals’ or officers’ names where they are not
deemed to be a “senior officer” and it would not be their reasonable
expectation that their details would be disclosed. This information is
withheld under Regulation 13 of the Environmental Information Regulations
(Personal Data).

 

Under the Re- Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 (SI
2005/1515) the supplied information may not be re-used without obtaining
the permission of Portsmouth City Council.

If you have any queries or concerns please contact the Corporate
Information Governance Officer at Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices,
Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2AL, telephone 023 9268 8482,
e-mail [2][email address].

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

[3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Helen Magri

Corporate Information Governance Officer.

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From: Keith edmunds

28 September 2010

Dear FoI,

Thank you for the information. Please provide evidence of the date
of the planning specialist lawyer's report that you forwarded.

There have been a number of anomalies in the information I have
received so I would like now to return to my original FOI request
for ALL correspondence between Portsmouth City Council and the
Local Government Ombudsman on this matter, this includes the
Ombudsman's original letter to you and any subsequent letters that
you have received, except for the ones forwarded above. I also
request that you forward to me, your response to him in total. I am
sorry for any misunderstanding in agreeing to a partial release
above, but as I have already stated I now require to receive ALL
the information.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

Link to this

From: FoI
Portsmouth City Council

8 October 2010


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+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|[1]logo_engFOI Customer, Community and Democratic Services | |
| | |
| Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2AL | |
| | |
|Telephone:    023 9268 8482 | |
| | |
| Fax:                023 9284 1327 | |
| | |
|                                               | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                                                                                   

Reference: FOI2010536

Dear  Mr Edmunds

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thank you for your request for information received on 28 September 2010

Your request is being considered and, subject to the points made below,
you will receive the information requested as promptly as possible within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

If we need to obtain more information from you in order to understand what
information you require, we will contact you. If this is the case, the 20
days time limit will not commence until your request has been clarified.

 

The Act defines a number of exemptions that may prevent release of certain
information.  The City Council will consider whether any of these
exemptions apply and, where required by the Act, whether it is in the
public interest to release the information.  If we have to make a public
interest test, the 20 day time limit might be extended. We will inform you
if the time scale has to be extended and if any information is withheld
and of your rights of appeal.

The City Council would like to make you aware that disclosure of
information obtained through FOIA is a disclosure into the public domain.

The City Council’s standard approach is to provide the information in
the form in which we hold it.  If you require alternative formats, e.g.
audio, large print, etc. or a different language, please let me know and
we will provide it if reasonably practicable to do so. If your request is
a question and we do not hold the answer in recorded form we will try and
provide an answer where we are able.

There may be a fee payable for this information request and we will send
you a Fees Notice if this is the case. Any fee must be paid before the
request is provided.  The time between the issue of the Fees Notice and
receipt of payment is excluded from the calculation of the 20 working day
time limit.

Any personal information you provide in relation to this request will only
be used for the purposes of processing your request for information.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact the Corporate
Information Governance Officer at Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices,
Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2AL, telephone 023 9268 8482,
e-mail [email address].

Yours sincerely

Helen Magri
Corporate Information Governance Officer

Portsmouth City Council
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth
PO1 2BQ

T: 023 9268 8482
E: [2][email address]
E: foi[3]@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
[4]www.portsmouth.gov.uk

.

                                                                                                                       
F2A

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From: Keith edmunds

8 October 2010

Dear FoI,

http://ombudsmanwatchers.org.uk/personal...

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

Link to this

From: Harding, Peter
Portsmouth City Council

25 October 2010


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[1]Picture (Device Independent Bitmap)FOI Customer, Community and
Democratic Services

Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2AL

Telephone: 023 9268 8482

Fax: 023 9284 1327

Our Ref: FOI2010536

Date:24 October 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds,

INFORMATION REQUEST - LGO COMPLAINT, 2 WEST STREET

Thank you for your request for information received on 28 September 2010,
which was considered under the Environmental Information Regulations. As
your request relates to planning matters that affect the environment the
Environmental Information Regulations are the appropriate legislation.

You asked us for:-

"...evidence of the date of the planning specialist lawyer's report that
you forwarded."

In accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations, I confirm
Portsmouth City Council holds this information.

The following response was provided by the Legal Services Officer
concerned:-

"I prepared a report dated 12^th June, which I submitted to colleagues for
comment. It seems from how I keep my file order, that the final draft
sent to Claire Upton-Brown was prepared by me on 9^th July"

Having checked the "properties" of the documents myself, I am able to
confirm this date is correct, however, I do not have a method of providing
this evidence to you.

Additionally, you asked us for:-

"ALL correspondence between Portsmouth City Council and the Local
Government Ombudsman on this matter, this includes the Ombudsman's
original letter to you and any subsequent letters that you have received,
except for the ones forwarded above. I also

request that you forward to me, your response to him in total."

In accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations, I confirm
Portsmouth City Council holds this information. I attach all
correspondence held fitting your request that has not already been
provided.

[2]Acrobat Document

Any appendices identified in the PCC to LGO response has already been
provided to you.

Under the Re- Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 (SI
2005/1515) the supplied information may not be re-used without obtaining
the permission of Portsmouth City Council.

Portsmouth City Council in complying with their statutory duty under
sections 1 and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act to release the
enclosed information, will not breach the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988. However, the rights of the copyright holder of the enclosed
information will continue to be protected by the law. If you wish to use
this information, you may require approval or licence from the copyright
holder.

You have the right to appeal against this decision or to complain about
our treatment of your request. If you wish to do so, please set out in
writing your grounds of complaint and send to the Corporate Information
Governance Officer at Portsmouth City Council, Civic Offices, Guildhall
Square, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2AL, telephone 023 9268 8482, e-mail

[3][email address].

Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaints decision you
may wish to follow the Portsmouth City Council's Compliments and
Complaints procedure which can be found on the Portsmouth City Council
website or by contacting the Civic Offices.

Once these processes have been exhausted you have a further right of
appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

[4]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Mrs Helen Magri

Corporate Information Governance Officer
Portsmouth City Council
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2AL

023 9268 8482
Email: [5][Portsmouth City Council request email]
Website: [6]www.portsmouth.gov.uk

If you are submitting a request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act, please send it to the FoI team at
<[7]mailto:[email address]>

Did you know?

The latest issue of Term Times is out now. View online at
http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/yourcouncil...

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References

Visible links
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
5. mailto:[Portsmouth City Council request email]
6. http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/
7. mailto:[email address]

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From: Keith edmunds

25 October 2010

Dear Harding, Peter,

Thank you for your response. I cannot find the information you say
you have provided. The two links at the top of your communication
provide downloads of 12K and 1K respectively, obviously not the
Acrobat document referred to. I apologise in advance if I am being
stupid; please indicate how I might find the information you say
you have provided, or, if a mistake has been made, please provide
it separately. As you are aware tomorrow is the deadline to provide
this information.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

Link to this

From: Harding, Peter
Portsmouth City Council

25 October 2010


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Dear Mr Edmunds, Keith edmunds [[FOI #44239 email]]

Clearly the Acrobat document did not get to you. Now attached.

Peter Harding
Corporate Information Governance Officer
(please note my working days are Monday to Wednesday am inclusive)
Portsmouth City Council
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2AL

023 9268 8482
Email: [1][Portsmouth City Council request email]
Website: [2]www.portsmouth.gov.uk

If you are submitting a request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act, please send it to the FoI team at
<[3]mailto:[email address]>

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From: Keith edmunds

25 October 2010

Dear Harding, Peter,

The Acrobat document you sent is garbled and completely unreadable.
Please resend it either as a PDF or a text document.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

Link to this

From: Harding, Peter
Portsmouth City Council

25 October 2010


Attachment Acrobat Document.pdf
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Dear Mr Edmunds,

Apologies there appears to be a technical issue this end with copying from one folder to the emil.

Please try this attachment. I can open it this end s hopefully t should be okay for you.

Peter Harding
Corporate Information Governance Officer
(please note my working days are Monday to Wednesday am inclusive)
Portsmouth City Council
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2AL
023 9268 8482
Email: [Portsmouth City Council request email]
Website: www.portsmouth.gov.uk
If you are submitting a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act, please send it to the FoI team at <mailto:[email address]>

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Link to this

From: Keith edmunds

25 October 2010

Dear Harding, Peter,

Thank you. I have now been able to download the documents.
Unfortunately, some of them are missing; specifically, Appendix 1,
Appendices 2a and 2b, and Appendix 3 to the Chief Executives letter
to the LGO:

Ref: 10 000 639/B2/BAM dated 12 July 2010

Please also provide a written explanation why the original LGO's
letter to the Chief Executive PCC is dated 11 September 2010 and
the Chief Executive's reply is dated 12 July 2010, exactly two
months before receiving the letter of complaint from the LGO.

I need not remind you that providing false information under the
Freedom of Information Act, is a criminal offence.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

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Keith edmunds left an annotation (25 October 2010)

I put in this FOI request to demonstrate that a corrupt Local Government Ombudsman is in collusion with Councils, to cover up maladministration by Councils in contravention of both the Local Government Act 1974, and natural justice. At the same time I put in a similar FOI request to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) which is here:

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

You will see from the link, that I identified that documents were created by the LGO to respond to my FOI request that were falsely manufactured to show that they were doing their job properly.I was provided with documents that clearly show that the LGO wrote a letter to Portsmouth City Council (PCC), clearly two months after PCC had responded to the letter. The documents released in this FOI request confirm this false declaration of information by the LGO. I also hold a hard copy of this document, sent to me by the LGO.

Provision of false information, by a public body, to a FOI request is of course a criminal offence.

This corruption by the LGO, clearly demonstrated here is the main reason Local Government is demonstrably unaccountable, and providing deteriorating services, while at the same time its costs are increasing exponentially. There is self evidently no proper regulation of Local Government by it's supposed Regulator the LGO.

More evidence here:

http://www.ombudsmanwatch.org/

http://www.psow.co.uk/

Link to this

Trevor R Nunn left an annotation (25 October 2010)

And this is why they can get away with it

http://lgowatcher.blogspot.com/2010/08/i...

Link to this

From: Harding, Peter
Portsmouth City Council

26 October 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds,

I have now had the opportunity to review the information provided for this request and that provide to you under request Id FOI2010428.

1. I can confirm that the appendices "missing" from the CX letter were in fact provided to you in the response to FOI2010428.

2. The CX response dated 12th July was to the initial letter from the LGO dated 11th June 2010.

My colleague has advised that you have now had all the information that is held at this time by PCC regarding this LGO complaint in response to the two request FOI2010428 and FOI2010536..

My understanding is that the LGO is still working on the complaint.

Peter Harding
Corporate Information Governance Officer
(please note my working days are Monday to Wednesday am inclusive)
Portsmouth City Council
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2AL
023 9268 8482
Email: [Portsmouth City Council request email]
Website: www.portsmouth.gov.uk
If you are submitting a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act, please send it to the FoI team at <mailto:[email address]>

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From: Keith edmunds

26 October 2010

Dear Harding, Peter,

I do not have the 'confidential' Appendix 3 to the letter referred
to above. I would also like evidence, also under the FOI Act, to
corroborate the statement by the Legal Department that their report
is dated 9 July 2010.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

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From: Harding, Peter
Portsmouth City Council

26 October 2010

Mr Edmunds,

To clarify you have had all the information including the "confidential" appendix in the attachment to the latest response. The information is not marked confidential but was provided to the FOI team as such and who determined it acceptable for release.

Regarding your second point - this is covered in the main body of the covering email/letter (FOI2010536).

I am now going to advise you that this FOI request is now closed and any further correspondence relating to this matter will be considered under exemption S14 of the Freedom of Information act. This exemption s14(1) relates to vexatious and repeated requests and a public authority does not have to comply with vexatious requests.

Peter Harding
Corporate Information Governance Officer
(please note my working days are Monday to Wednesday am inclusive)
Portsmouth City Council
Civic Offices
Guildhall Square
Portsmouth PO1 2AL
023 9268 8482
Email: [Portsmouth City Council request email]
Website: www.portsmouth.gov.uk
If you are submitting a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act, please send it to the FoI team at <mailto:[email address]>

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From: Keith edmunds

26 October 2010

Dear Harding, Peter,

Thank you for all your trouble, the Appendices were not clearly
marked, hence my trouble. I still need proof of the date of the
Legal Advice document.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

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Trevor R Nunn left an annotation (26 October 2010)

Hi Keith

After reading just the first two letters the Council sent you I would like to know how Portsmouth Council manage to respond to the complaint you submitted to the LGO on the 12 July 2010 when the LGO's letter to the Council outlining your complaint to them wasn't sent to the Council until 11th September 2010.

The reason I ask is because I also asked for a copy of the initial letter they had sent to my Council regarding my complaint. I was suspicious that no such letter had been sent. My Council didn't have a copy, which they should have had but instead of just admitting it, they conspired with the LGO's office to fabricate the document in question. In my case they got the date right but the letter they had fabricated was different to the letter they had sent me years earlier, supposedly as a copy of what they had sent the Council.

http://ombudsmanwatchers.org.uk/evidence...

Link to this

Trevor R Nunn left an annotation (26 October 2010)

Another link to my blog post about the problem with fabricated documents.

http://lgowatcher.blogspot.com/2010/07/h...

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From: FoI
Portsmouth City Council

29 November 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds,

There have been three recent requests FOI2010536, FOI2010428 & FOI2010567 from you that are interrelated and I will try and clarify the position of each:

FOI2010428- LGO complaint 2 West Street. All the information relating to this request was provided. However out of that response you requested Provenance of a document which PCC logged as FOI210567 and FOI2010536.

FOI2010567 - Originally your request was for provision of document but became confused with your request for Provenance of legal document which came out of FOI2010428 and FOI2010536.
FOI2010567 - you have now requested an internal review as well as stating PCC is overdue on its response.

To summarise:

FOI2010428 LGO complaint 2 West Street is closed.
FOI2010536 PCC response to LGO and Provenance of document. We provide the PCC response to LGO and is closed. The request for Provenance of Document became FOI2010567.
FOI2010567 - we have provided the information that we can but you have requested an internal review - so it remains under appeal.

I have sent this email to all your Whatdotheyknow references i order for each request be updated.

Peter Harding
Corporate Information Governance Officer (please note my working days are Monday to Wednesday am inclusive) Portsmouth City Council Civic Offices Guildhall Square Portsmouth PO1 2AL
023 9268 8482
Email: [Portsmouth City Council request email]
Website: www.portsmouth.gov.uk
If you are submitting a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act, please send it to the FoI team at <mailto:[email address]>

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From: Keith edmunds

29 November 2010

Dear FoI,

This FOI request has been fulfilled.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Edmunds

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From: Harding, Peter
Portsmouth City Council

6 December 2010


Attachment No AttachName.bmp
13K Download


[1]Picture (Device Independent Bitmap)FOI customer, community and
democratic Services

Civic Offices, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth, PO1 2AL

Telephone: 023 9268 8482

Fax: 023 9284 1322

Our Ref: FOI2010536

Your Ref: [email address]

3 December 2010

Dear Mr Edmunds

INFORMATION REQUEST - Internal Review - Provenance of a Document

I write to communicate the outcome of the Internal Review of our response
to your recent request for information.

The Internal Review was conducted in accordance with Portsmouth City
Council's procedure outlined on its website at the following web address:
[2]http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/yourcouncil...

I was joined on the review Panel by a representative from Legal Services
and a Technical Expert from the Information Service (Operations).

In your original request, you asked us for:-

"evidence of the date of the planning specialist lawyer's report that you
forwarded."

In response to this request, you were provided with the following:-

1. A statement from the Lawyer and Author of the report confirming
the date the draft and final draft reports were created (PCC's e-mail to
you dated 25/10/10)

2. A copy of the screen print showing the "properties" of the
document (e-mail dated 8/11/10)

3. Copies of e-mails of recipients of the report showing the date it
was received (e-mail dated 15/11/10)

It is the opinion of the Internal Review Panel that you have been provided
with all information held by Portsmouth City Councils to show provenance
of the document. There are no further paper or electronic records or
functions available to add to the information already provided.

Having determined this, the panel then considered whether your request was
handled in accordance with the relevant legislation which, in this case
was the Environmental Information Regulations.

Regulation 11 of the Environmental Information Regulations gives
applicants the right to ask for an internal review of a request. The
public authority must also complete its review and notify the complainant
of the outcome as soon as possible; and in any event within 40 working
days from when the complaint was received.

It is noted by the panel that Portsmouth City Council failed to
acknowledge your request for an internal review when it was originally
received 8 November, for which we apologise. An acknowledgement was
however sent to you 25 November and the outcome within this letter is
provided within 40 working days of your original request for a review, in
accordance with the Regulations.

If you are still dissatisfied with this outcome, you have a further right
of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

[3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Helen Magri

Corporate Information Governance Officer.

Email: [4][Portsmouth City Council request email]

Website: [5]www.portsmouth.gov.uk

If you are submitting a request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act, please send it to the FoI team at
<[6]mailto:[email address]>

Did you know?

Did you know there are an estimated 15,000 unpaid carers in Portsmouth. If
that's you, or someone you know, support is available at the carers centre
http://portsmouthcarers.org

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3. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
4. mailto:[Portsmouth City Council request email]
5. http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/
6. mailto:[email address]

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