Make and explore Freedom of Information requests
Alex Skene
Joined WhatDoTheyKnow in 2008
I am a volunteer for mySociety, and I help to maintain WhatDoTheyKnow.
I also make FOI requests in my personal capacity, or on behalf of others.
With the help of some other WDTK volunteers, I also run http://foiwiki.com which is a repository of useful information on Freedom of Information laws in the UK.
Sign in to change password, subscriptions and more (Alex Skene only)
This person's 59 Freedom of Information requests
Treasure Valuation Committee meeting minutes
Response
by Treasure Valuation Committee to Alex Skene on 25 January 2012.
Awaiting classification.
Dear Mr Skene,
Thank you for your request for information from the Treasure Valuation Committee. Your request has been dealt with in accordance with...
OSC Procedures and Guidance document
Request to Office of the Surveillance Commissioners by Alex Skene. Annotated by Alex Skene on 11 January 2012.
Refused.
I have since found a copy of the document on the internet, on Gedling Borough Council's website:
http://committee-web.gedling.gov.uk/aksgedling/imag...
Cycle Hire Contract - redacted information
Partially successful.
TfL has decided to appeal the ICO's decision that the information should be released. The First-tier Tribunal reference number is EA/2012/0002
Invoices over £500
Partially successful.
by Transport for London to Alex Skene on 9 June 2011.
Partially successful.
Dear Mr Skene
Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 4 May
2011, asking for information relating to the publication o...
Confidentiality agreements
Successful.
by High Speed Two (HS2) Limited to Alex Skene on 9 March 2011.
Successful.
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
FOI REQUEST FOI10/139
Dear Mr Skene,
I am writing regarding your request for information received on 10
February...
FS50277632 / cellar stock list
Successful.
by Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine to Alex Skene on 21 January 2011.
Successful.
Dear Mr Skene,
I can now confirm the information has been published on our website.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Walpole
Case Manager
Information Rights...
London Cycle Hire Scheme contract
Partially successful.
I've made a follow-up FOI request here:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/cycle_hire_contract_redacted_inf
LBI-owned trees
Follow up
sent to Islington Borough Council by Alex Skene on 9 November 2010.
Successful.
FOI ref no: 358465
Many thanks for the data.
Kind regards,
Alex Skene
FOI request logs - 2008, 2009
Follow up
sent to House of Commons by Alex Skene on 27 October 2010.
Successful.
Many thanks for the helpful update and fixed links.
Kind regards,
Alex
Highways Agency managed roads
Successful.
by Highways Agency to Alex Skene on 20 October 2010.
Successful.
I am away from the office until Friday 22nd October. If your matter is urgent please forward it to [email address]
ICO's Lines to Take
Successful.
by Information Commissioner’s Office to Alex Skene on 11 October 2010.
Successful.
Link: [1]File-List
11 October 2010
Case Reference Number IRQ0326678
Dear Mr Skene
I write further to my email dated 23 September 2010, i...
Legislation.gov.uk website
Successful.
Here's a blog post summarising the development of legislation.gov.uk which provides further information:
http://www.jenitennison.com/blog/node/144...
Request for Internal Review of I&PS FOI response on Passport Photos
Partially successful.
A decision notice has been issued: <http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/decisionnotices/2010/fs_50273609.pdf>
"The Commissioner’s decision is tha...
Passport photos - Post Office template & rejected photos
Request to Identity and Passport Service by Alex Skene. Annotated by Ben Harris on 8 September 2010.
Partially successful.
The internal review of this request continues at <http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/request_for_internal_review_of_i>.
Expenditure over £500
Successful.
by Islington Borough Council to Alex Skene on 5 August 2010.
Successful.
Dear Mr Skene
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REF No: 343394
Thank you for your information request, received on 15 July.
You requested the...
Information Rights Tribunal - withdrawn cases
Follow up
sent to The Tribunals Service by Alex Skene on 31 July 2010.
Successful.
FOI/64701/10
Many thanks for your very helpful response!
Kind regards,
Alex Skene
Integrated Safety Guards for HGVs
Follow up
sent to Department for Transport by Alex Skene on 15 April 2010.
Successful.
Dear Pat
Thank you very much for the reports you sent - they're very helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Skene
Non-Domestic Energy Performance Certificate Register
Request to Department for Communities and Local Government by Alex Skene. Annotated by Dan DeLion on 24 March 2010.
Refused.
To add to the point made by Francis Irving, Martin Rosenbaum was given the information free of charge. However, some in the DCLG were not so keen on t...
Fare Information for 2010
Successful.
by Transport for London to Alex Skene on 4 February 2010.
Successful.
Ref: TFL101723
Dear Mr Skene
Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 4
January 2010. I am sorry for the delay in respo...
Current FOI case list
Request to Information Commissioner’s Office by Alex Skene. Annotated by Francis Irving on 22 August 2009.
Successful.
BBC post about how the ICO is now going to start publishing this information routinely.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/opensecrets/2009/08/foi_investiga...
Government Hospitality Cellar stock list
Request to Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine by Alex Skene. Annotated by John Cross on 30 July 2009.
Partially successful.
Blogged about this here: http://confirm-or-deny.blogspot.com/2009/07/wine-paid-for-by-tax-payer.html
Green Book - publication scheme request
Successful.
by House of Commons to Alex Skene on 23 June 2009.
Successful.
Alex,
Thank you for providing an address.
I will put copies in the post today.
Mandy Kelly
Freedom of Information Assistant
Islington Town Hall Auditorium refurbishment
Successful.
by Islington Borough Council to Alex Skene on 18 June 2009.
Successful.
Dear Alex,
This is in response to your request for an internal review of how we responded to your Freedom of Information request (our reference 24406...
Technical details for publication of MPs' expenses in July
Partially successful.
"Questions 1 and 2
The functional and technical spefications have not yet been finalised. Therefore this information is not held by the House of Comm...
Annex to EC Regulation No 622/2003
Partially successful.
Section 44 exemption:
"Prohibitions on disclosure.
— (1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure (otherwise than under this Act) by the...
This person's 505 annotations
Legible London Walking Maps
Awaiting internal review.
Seems strange that TfL did not obtain the copyrights. Usually transfer of copyright is negotiated so that it passes to the person who commissions the...
Staff Misconduct
Refused.
The WhatDoTheyKnow email censor had problems with this PDF.
I've uploaded the file here: http://files.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_misconduct...
Copying historical archives v Copyright Act 1988
Successful.
This is sometimes called a "technical refusal", even when information is provided - most FOI officers usually just provide a link to the information h...
Personal attacks are not allowed on this website, and I have removed annotations from this request in line with our moderation policy:
http://www.wh...
Properties in each Council Tax Band
Request to Brighton and Hove City Council by Paul Perrin. Annotated by Alex Skene on 11 January 2012.
Awaiting classification.
There was an issue with how WhatDoTheyKnow handled the Excel attachment. It's been mirrored here:
http://files.whatdotheyknow.com/request/propertie...
OSC Procedures and Guidance document
Request to Office of the Surveillance Commissioners by Alex Skene. Annotated by Alex Skene on 11 January 2012.
Refused.
I have since found a copy of the document on the internet, on Gedling Borough Council's website:
http://committee-web.gedling.gov.uk/aksgedling/imag...
Cycle Hire Contract - redacted information
Partially successful.
TfL has decided to appeal the ICO's decision that the information should be released. The First-tier Tribunal reference number is EA/2012/0002
Male Primary School Teachers
Request to Department for Education by Daniel Robert Tye. Annotated by Alex Skene on 2 January 2012.
Successful.
It's Crown Copyright, so you're free to either use it under the OGL (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/) or under the "fa...
Queries relating to Postcomm
Awaiting classification.
The reference number provided was:
"request 1-195209315"
Kind regards,
Alex - WhatDoTheyKnow volunteer
Request to Clarify
Refused.
The email address provided is:
NationalityPolicyTeam.Liverpool [at] ukba.gsi.gov.uk
Regards
Alex - WhatDoTheyKnow volunteer
PACSPE Consultancy Fees
Request to Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council by Martin Harrison. Annotated by Alex Skene on 30 December 2011.
Successful.
This FOI request was mentioned in this Liverpool Daily Post news article:
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/12/3...
Cycle Hire Contract - redacted information
Partially successful.
Decision Notice pdf:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/~/media/documents/decisionnotices/2011/fs_50387116.ashx
FoI requests affected by passage of time.
Information not held.
The web address was wrapped over 2 lines - this is the correct one:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/foi/implementation.ht...
Cycle Hire Contract - redacted information
Partially successful.
The ICO have emailed me today to tell me they issued their decision notice on 5 December, and have upheld all my complaints.
The DN should be on t...
Cycle Hire Contract - redacted information
Partially successful.
The latest release has included one useful nugget of information:
-----
"a) - The redacted text from Schedule 5 relating to the Service Level Agre...
Cycle Hire Contract - redacted information
Partially successful.
TfL has awarded Serco a new £50m contract to cover the expansion of the Cycle Hire scheme to East London
http://www.cityam.com/news-and-analysis/ser...
GP Practice Managers Email addresses.
Request to North East Essex Primary Care Trust (PCT) by Paul Morgan. Annotated by Alex Skene on 25 October 2011.
Successful.
I've also uploaded a copy of the embedded Word Doc as a more accessible PDF:
http://files.whatdotheyknow.com/request/gp_practice_managers_email_addr...
Stray dog information.
Successful.
News article from the Ilkeston Advertiser based on this FOI request:
http://www.ilkestonadvertiser.co.uk/news/council_puts_down_22_dogs_1_3885463...
WhatDoTheyKnow doesn't have a technical limit on filesizes sent to it.
I'd recommend that you ask that TfL split the information up and send via a...
Christmas Tree Loxley House 2010
Successful.
Related news article on This Is Nottingham.co.uk
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Christmas-tree-rented-city-council-cost-taxpayers/story-13481197-...
Cycle Hire Contract - redacted information
Partially successful.
Josh - good luck with your appeal!
On 7 October, the ICO gave an update on my case:
=======
Since I last wrote to you I have obtained copies of t...
Staff suspensions 2006-2010
Request to Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust (PCT) by PJBallinger. Annotated by Alex Skene on 14 October 2011.
Partially successful.
NHS Birmingham East and North originally provided their full reply to the request on 16 September 2011, however this indadvertently included the perso...
Issue of Summons by a Local Authority
Request to Her Majesty’s Courts and the Tribunals Service by Bret Tom O'Hawks. Annotated by Alex Skene on 15 September 2011.
Information not held.
I can confirm that HMCS was referring to this FOI request:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/court_summons
Regards
Alex - WhatDoTheyKnow.com...
Board's Annual Report for 1964
Successful.
We've been sent a scanned copy (at 4.7MB) of the Annual Report:
http://files.whatdotheyknow.com/request/boards_annual_report_for_1964/1964_BWB_Annual...
Email or phone number requested for warmfront complaint
Request to Department of Energy and Climate Change by Mrs M Fyfe. Annotated by Alex Skene on 12 September 2011.
Successful.
The email address provided is:
customer.management [at] carillionplc.com
Regards
Alex - WhatDoTheyKnow volunteer
