Barbara Richards

Dear Charity Commission for England and Wales,

I am very concerned about the BFMS Registered Charity No: 1040683

Please can you provide me with the details of the people who applied for this organisation to recieve charitable status, and who granted it, plus the dates?

Yours faithfully,

Barbara Richards

Web Enquiries, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Thank you for your email to the Charity Commission.

We aim to give you a full and clear response within fifteen working days
from receipt of your email. We will ensure that our response is both
accurate and appropriate.

This is the same service standard we apply to letters and faxes but
Charity Commission Direct will usually respond to general email enquiries
within five working days where there is no need for referral to one of our
specialist operational teams.

If we cannot give you a full response within fifteen days, we will contact
you and let you know the reasons why this is not possible and indicate
when we expect to be in a position to give you a full response. We will
also let you have the name and contact number of the person dealing with
your query.

You can find the Commission*s contact details on our website at
[1]http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/...

Diolch am eich e-bost i*r Comisiwn Elusennau.

Rydym yn anelu at ymateb yn llawn o fewn pymtheg diwrnod gwaith o dderbyn
eich e-bost.

Hwn yw*r un targed ac ymateb i lythyron ond mae Comisiwn Elusennau
Uniongyrchol fel arfer yn ymateb i e-byst o fewn pum diwrnod gwaith, ble
does yna ddim angen cyfeirio at un o*n timau gweithredol arbenigol.

Os na fedrwn roi ymateb llawn o fewn pymtheg diwrnod, fe wnawn gysylltu â
chi i esbonio pam, gan nodi pryd y byddwn yn medru ymateb yn llawn. Fe
fyddwn hefyd yn rhoi gwybod enw a rhif uniongyrchol y person sy*n delio
gyda*ch ymholiad.

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RTN Registration Applications, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Ms. Richards

Thank you for your email of 13 January 2011 (copy below), concerning the
British False Memory Society (Registered Charity No: 1040683).

You have requested details of the people who applied for this organisation
to receive charitable status, and who granted it, plus the dates.

The organisation was registered by the Charity Commission on 9 September
1994.

The entry on the register of charities is available on our website
([1]www.charitycommission.gov.uk). This provides the name and address of
the current correspondent for the charity.

I am unable to provide details of the names of the individuals involved
with the original application. This information is exempt under section
40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act. This provides that information
is exempt where it is personal information relating to a third party.
Disclosure of this information would contravene the principles of the
Data Protection Act 1998.

If you are unhappy with our response to your Freedom of Information
request, have a complaint or wish to request a review of our Freedom of
Information decision, you should write to: Charity Commission Direct by
email to [2][Charity Commission request email] or by post to P.O. Box
1227, LIVERPOOL, L69 3UG. Please state what it is you are dissatisfied
with, which will assist us when we review our response.

If you request a Decision Review, you will be notified of our final
decision. Please note that we will accept requests for a Decision Review
up to a maximum of 3 months after the original decision. The 3 months will
be calculated from the date on which you receive written notification of
the original decision. You will be deemed to have received written
notification on the day after the letter enclosing the decision was sent,
or the same day, if the decision was sent by email.

If after this you remain unhappy with the decision, you may apply directly
to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO
cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our complaints
procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The
Information Commissioner***s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Sarah McKean

Registration Division

------------------- Original Message

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Barbara Richards left an annotation ()

I am very unhappy about this decision, as I am aware that one of the men who was involved in setting up the British False Memory Society was Ralph Underwager, and he said in an interview for a sex magazine called Paidika certain statements endorsing paedophilia.

Barbara Richards left an annotation ()

The reason it has taken me so long to get back to dealing with this is because I am a child abuse survivor, have PTSD because of the abuse and the persecution of the attempts to cover up the abuse and struggle to do anything on top of day to day living.

Dear RTN Registration Applications,

I am not happy with this decision. I would have replied before but struggle with PTSD on account of being a survivor of child abuse and persecution of authorities desperate to cover up the Pindown child abuse scandal.

Ralph Underwager was one of the men who set up the British False Memory Society, and he expressed strong endorsement for paedophilia in a sex magazine interview called Paidika. The BFMS has been involved in the discrediting of police institutional child abuse investigations, and lobbied Parliament to try to limit police powers to conduct investigations of abuse, therefore I think it is in the public interest to be given disclosure on who set up this charity.

Yours sincerely,

Barbara Richards

Registration Applications, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Sir / Madam

Thank you for your email.

A member of our Registration team will contact you within the next 15
working days.

Thank you
Registration Division

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Litigation & Review, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Ms Richards

Review of the Commission's response to your request for information under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your email which we received on 22 February 2012 in which
you asked the Commission to review its decision not to supply some or all
of the information you requested under the Freedom of Information Act
2000.  Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your
request.

The review will be conducted by a Commission lawyer, Louise Platt, who
will consider your request for information afresh.  The review will
consider whether our original response was correct in the circumstances
and whether there are any factors that enable us to release the
information you have requested, either in full or in part.  Further
information about our decision review service can be found on our website
using the following link:

[1]www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Library/about_us/decision_review.pdf  

The section about Freedom of Information Decision Reviews can be found on
page 17 onwards.

We aim to complete reviews of Freedom of Information decisions within 20
working days, unless there are exceptional circumstances.  In this case,
we aim to complete our review and issue a response to you by 22 March
2012.  However, we will contact you again if this timescale is likely to
change.

I trust you will find the attached information helpful, but if you have
any questions about the review, please do contact me.

Yours sincerely

Ann Marshalsea

Litigation & Review Support Officer

Charity Commission Direct

PO Box 1227, Liverpool, L69 3UG

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Madeline Greenhalgh left an annotation ()

Dear Requester,

I would like to personally reassure you that Ralph Underwager did not have any part whatsoever in the setting up or running of the BFMS. As far as I know he lived and worked in America and never in the UK.

We were made aware of the statements to which you refer when they were made back in 1993 and do not condone or agree with his comments. We have a disclaimer on our website to reiterate that point. (www.bfms.org.uk)

We have not lobbied Parliament to limit police powers to conduct investigations of abuse nor had any involvement in discrediting of police institutional child abuse investigations. We acknowledge and abhor the fact that there are many genuine cases of child abuse that require the application of the criminal law.

Madeline Greenhalgh
Director
BFMS

Barbara Richards left an annotation ()

Dear Madeline Greenhalgh,

You have not personally reassured me of anything.

Ralph Underwager was certainly involved in the BFMS, and the BFMS has tried to distance itself from Ralph Underwager, since he made those disgraceful comments for that Dutch sex magazine. I can well understand why the BFMS would want to do that.

Whilst he was alive Ralph Underwager repeatedly advised his followers to be bold, and they have certainly heeded his advice.

It is dreadful for child abuse victims to have to put up with being persecuted, plotted against and called disgraceful names by devotees of False Memory Syndrome. False Memory Syndrome has to be one of the cruelest methods of psychological torture ever invented.

Members of the BFMS have certainly been lobbying Parliament to prevent the UK police from doing their duty in investigating the Pindown child abuse, and the evidence for that is in Hansard.

I prefer to wait for the charity commission to give their answer on this matter than take your response as the truth Madeline Greenhalgh.

Platt, Louise, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Ms Richards

 

I am writing further to my colleague Ann Marshalsea’s letter of 2 March. 
I am one of the Commission’s legal advisors and I am conducting a review
of the Commission’s response to your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”) dated 13 January.

 

In carrying out this review I am considering whether several exemptions
apply including exemptions such as s.40(2) (disclosure of personal
information) and s.38 (health and safety) which requires that the public
interest in disclosure or withholding be considered. I have not yet
concluded this consideration.  The Commission's Final Decision processes
and FOIA oblige the Commission to respond to requests promptly and I have
aimed to do this in this case and within 20 working days, however, this
has not been achievable. Both our FDT process and FOIA allow the
Commission to extend the timescale for making the decision by a reasonable
period in order to allow proper consideration, and in this case I estimate
that I will be able to complete this consideration by 30 March. If it
becomes apparent that I will be unable to meet this deadline I will let
you know promptly.

 

If you think my decision to extend the deadline is wrong you have a right
to appeal to the Information Commissioner at The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Website: [1]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely

 

Louise Platt

Legal Services Division

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Barbara Richards

Dear Platt, Louise,

Thank you for explaining what you are doing. I do hope you will base your decision on disclosure of information on the protection and safety of the children of the UK rather than using legal loopholes to protect people who may be a danger to children.

Yours sincerely,

Barbara Richards

Louise Platt, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Ms Richards,

I am writing further to my email of 22 March.

Unfortunately, I am not yet in a position to finally conclude whether the
information you have requested that the Commission holds can be
disclosed. 

I appreciate that the information that you have requested relates to
issues that are important to you, and for that reason I want to fully
explore all the legal issues surrounding this disclosure before I complete
this review, to ensure that I can properly consider the legal position and
whether the public interest lies in disclosing this information.

I therefore propose to extend the deadline again, to 27 April.  I
appreciate that this is a long extension, but I am on leave for two of
those weeks. However, in light of the work I have already done on this
matter I do not feel that it would be appropriate to hand the matter to
someone else.  I will endeavour to complete the review and let you have my
final decision before that date.

As I mentioned in my last email, if you think my decision to extend the
deadline is wrong you have a right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner at The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

    

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

    

Website: [1]www.ico.gov.uk

I will contact you again in due course.

Yours sincerely

Louise Platt

Legal Services Division

Charity Commission

(   Phone: 0151 703 1512

*   Mail:   [2][email address]

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Barbara Richards

Dear Louise Platt,

I feel quite shocked about the delay in providing this information, because I don't think I have asked for anything unreasonable, and feel strongly that this information is certainly in the public interest. I cannot see any reason why this information should be withheld, or that legal advice should be necessary.

Yours sincerely,

Barbara Richards

Louise Platt, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Thank you for your email.

I am out of the office on leave, returning on Monday 16th April.  If your
matter is urgent please contact Jane McGarry at
[email address] or Elise Millington at
[email address]

Kind regards,

Louise Platt

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Barbara Richards

Dear Louise Platt,

It is now the 20th April, and I would like a response to my request for information about the BFMS.

Yours sincerely,

Barbara Richards

Louise Platt, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Thank you for your email.

I am out of the office on Friday 20th April, returning on Monday 23rd
April.  If your matter is urgent please contact Elise Millington at
[email address] or Jane McGarry at
[email address].

Kind regards,

Louise Platt

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Louise Platt, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Ms Richards,

I am sorry that this decision review has taken much longer to deal with than was first anticipated. As I explained in my last email, if you consider that my decision to extend the deadline was unreasonable you can contact the Information Commissioner.

In my email that I sent you on 30 March, in which I explained why I would have to extend the deadline again, I said that I would complete the review by 27 April, which is Friday of this week. Given that you have had to wait a long time to receive the Commission's response to your request for a decision review, it is my priority to meet this deadline and I will contact you again as soon as possible this week and in any event by Friday with my response.

Kind regards.

Yours sincerely,

Louise Platt
Legal Services Division
Charity Commission
Phone: 0151 703 1512
Mail:   [email address]

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Barbara Richards

Dear Louise Platt,

Thank you for your reply. I have already waited quite a long time for the information, and can certainly wait a few more days, I do have a lot of patience, us Pindown survivors do tend develop patience as a virtue, as we often have to have to wait a long time for answers and explainations for why were were treated so badly as children.

I am not on a witch hunt against the Charity Commission, I simply want to do my bit in keeping children safe in the UK. I just do not want any child to go through what I went through as a child.

Since posting this FOI I have discovered very clear links between the BFMS and the FMSF. Please, I do urge you, put aside your lawyers caution when responding to this request, and do what it right for the protection of the children of this country. I would never blame the Charity Commission for being decieved by bad people, but the thing to do now is to do what is right.

Yours sincerely,

Barbara Richards

Louise Platt, Charity Commission for England and Wales

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Richards,

Please find attached a letter containing the Commission's final decision
in relation to your request for information concerning the British False
Memory Society.

I am aware that it has taken me quite a long time to carry out this review
and I thank you for your patience.

Kind regards,

Louise Platt

Louise Platt

Legal Services Division

Charity Commission

(   Phone: 0151 703 1512

*   Mail:   [1][email address]

<<20120427 FOI DR Response - BFMS - to B Richards.pdf>>

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Barbara Richards

Dear Louise Platt,

I am left shocked by all of this. I want to complain but I do not have a clue who to complain to.

Yours sincerely,

Barbara Richards

Louise Platt, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Thank you for your email.

I am out of the office until Monday 28th May.  If your matter is urgent
please contact my colleagues Jane Lake at
[email address], Elise Millington at
[email address] or Jane McGarry at
[email address].

Kind regards,

Louise Platt

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Louise Platt, Charity Commission for England and Wales

Dear Ms Richards,

I am sorry that you feel that way.

If you wish to complain about the Commission's decision not to release some of the information you have requested, you can contact the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner has power to reconsider your request, and if he disagrees with our decision he can require us to release further information.

You can contact the Information Commissioner using the following contact details:

The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline: 0303 123 1113

The ICO has a Complaints Form that you can complete and you can find it at this link:

http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...

If you wish to complain about the charity then in the first instance you should raise your concerns with the charity. If the charity does not address your concern you may be able to raise the issue with us. We are not able to get involved in every issue that members of the public raise with us, but we will consider some issues. You can find some information about the types of issues that we will consider in our publications on making complaints about a charity. You will find them at this link:

http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Our_...

I hope this is helpful to you.

Kind regards.

Yours sincerely

Louise Platt
Legal Services Division
Charity Commission
Phone: 0151 703 1512
Mail:   [email address]

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