Why do some Westminster Conservative councillors enjoy free parking?

Dear Sir or Madam,

In your response to FOI request number 3645 dated 23rd April 2009
and titled "City Council's official parking permits usage", you
advised that the following councillors held a free parking permit:-

Councillor Barrow
Councillor Richardson
Cllr Connell
Cllr Roe
Cllr Chalkley
Cllr Moss
Cllr Astaire
Cllr Burbridge
Cllr Lewis
Cllr Davis
Cllr Roberts
Cllr Warner
Cllr Nemeth
Cllr Flight
Cllr Brahams
Cllr Havery
Cllr Floru
Cllr Hampson
Cllr Hyams
Cllr Prendergast
Cllr Marshall
Cllr Lee Rowely
Cllr Mustaq Qureshi
Cllr Nicola Aiken
Cllr Duncan Sandys
Cllr Barrie Taylor
Cllr Angela Harvey
Cllr Mark Page
Cllr Ian Adams
Cllr Alan Bradley
Cllr Lindsey Hall
Cllr Blois
Cllr Keen
Cllr Tabari
Sir Simon Milton - up to the date of his resignation in September.

The same FOI request was subsequently put in to the Royal Borough
of Kensington & Chelsea (RBK&C) and Camden Borough Council, both of
which are Central London councils, in the same position as
Westminster City Council.

Both the RBK&C and Camden Borough Council advised in their response
to their respective FOI request that NONE of their councillors
holds a free parking permit in their own borough.

Would you therefore please explain and justify, with reasons, why
Westminster City Council grants a free parking permit to the above
named councillors in its borough, while other Central London
councils don't offer a similar benefit to their councillors. Why
don't the above named Westminster councillors pay for their parking
and have a taste of their own medicine, like councillors from other
Central London councils do?

I believe that should have I sent an e-mail to the City Council's
parking department asking the above questions, my e-mail would have
been ignored, hence this FOI request.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Jones

Dear Sir or Madam,

A response to this FOI request is now overdue. The Council is in
breach of the Information Act 2000 and if no response is received
within 7 working days, I will report the matter to the Information
Commissioner.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Jones

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Westminster City
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Why do some Westminster
Conservative councillors enjoy free parking?'.

A response to this FOI request is now overdue. The Council is in
breach of the Information Act 2000 and if no response is received
within 7 working days, I will report the matter to the Information
Commissioner.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/wh...

Yours faithfully,

Mr Jones

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Westminster City
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Why do some Westminster
Conservative councillors enjoy free parking?'.

Your response is unacceptable and doesn't make any sense.

The question set is "would you please explain and justify, with
reasons, why Westminster City Council grants a free parking permit
to councillors in its borough, while other Central London councils
don't offer a similar benefit to their councillors".

In your response to FOI number 3645 (titled "City Council’s
official parking permits usage"), you advised that Conservative
councillors enjoy the benefit of free parking. Here is the link to
this FOI request:-

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

Although this facility has of course been given to them behind the
back of the public, it's a fact, so please don't deny it by running
around the houses and saying that "Councillors can apply for all
zones permits for use when they are undertaking official duties as
Councillors", which implies that they are required to pay for their
all zones permit when they're not, and we all know that from your
response to FOI number 3645 above. So, as initially requested in
this FOI, please provide your reasons as to why the Councillors
named in your response to FOI number 3645 enjoy free parking in all
zones of Westminster, when Councillors of other Central London
councils don't.

Also, as you say that Westminster Councillors "are required to
obtain residents parking permits, if they require them, which are
paid for", please explain why these Councillors would do, given
that they have a free Westminster-wide parking permit. I wonder why
you refuse to answer FOI request number 4006
(http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/co...),
as you state here that these Councillors "are required to obtain
residents parking permits". So why do you say in FOI request number
4006 that this information is private and confidential, since you
are happy to divulge it here? I believe that's because none of
these councillors have a paid for parking permit, as they don't
require one, given that they have a free official Westminster-wide
parking permit. Please confirm this.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/wh...

Yours faithfully,

Mr Jones

Dear T Holden,

Thank you for your latest response with regards to my FOI request
number 3933. At last I have received an answer that makes more
sense than as usual, after so many weeks of waiting time that have
made the Council be in breach of Freedom of Information Act 2000. I
am glad to hear that you have recruited additional staff to answer
FOI requests, as the number of FOI requests to Westminster City
Council have increased dramatically in the past few months. This,
in my opinion, clearly shows how unhappy the public are with your
Council's policies, otherwise they would not be putting in so many
FOI requests to find out what is happening.

Anyway, before I can finally close this FOI request, I have one
more question that remains unanswered. I do agree with you that
under section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, personal
details cannot be disclosed, and I perfectly accept this. However,
section 40 does not exempt you from advising the number of
Conservative councillors that did have a paid for residents'
parking permit as at 30th June 2009. Please note that I am not
asking for any personal details such as names, surnames, personal
addresses etc, which would be unacceptable under section 40 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am only asking for a number of
Conservative councillors who had a paid for residents' parking
permit as at 30th June 2009. The answer to this is simple and only
requires a number, including "zero" if applicable. If you go on
again to say that you cannot provide this information under section
40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please quote the
specific part of section 40 that you are referring to in your
answer.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Jones

Dear Mr Daly,

So per the Council's response to FOI 3645, there are 31
Conservative Councillors who hold a free parking permit in the
borough of Westminster, and only 13 of them have purchased a
resident's parking permit. This is less than half of them, which
demonstrates that a significant proportion of Conservative
Councillors take advantage of their free parking permit to carry
out their professional duties for personal use, without public
knowledge until now. In the absence of this FOI request, such
information would not have been disclosed.

I hope that this FOI request will make the large number of
Conservative Councillors, who make personal use of their free
parking permit granted for work purposes, realise that they don't
currently comply with their duties as residents.

I will submit a similar Freedom of Information request in a few
months time to find out whether some action has been taken, as I
find it totally unacceptable that a large number of Conservative
Councillors make personal use of the free parking permit granted to
them for work purposes. These individuals are not exempt from the
parking regulations, in their private capacity.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Jones