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Local Government Ombudsman decisions against Cherwell District Council

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Christopher Harris

Dear Cherwell District Council,

I would be grateful if you can provide answers to the following questions, made through the FOIA 2000.

1. On how many occasions, since 01 January 2013 has the Local Government Ombudsman upheld complaints made against Cherwell District Council that the Council previously denied?
(Please could you break these down by service area - eg planning/council tax etc.?)

2. On how many occasions, since 01 January 2013, has Cherwell District Council not accepted the findings of the Local Government Ombudsman, when the LGO upheld a complaint made against the Council. (Please could you break these down by service area - eg planning/council tax etc.?)

3. On how many occasions, since 01 January 2013, has Cherwell District Council not apologised to the complainant, when the Local Government Ombudsman upheld a complaint made against Cherwell District Council. (Please could you break these down by service area - eg planning.council tax etc.?)

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Harris

Cherwell District Council

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL, if you wish to contact us regarding your request please email [Cherwell District Council request email] and quote case reference 101000779648

Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Council is dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act. This means the Council has 20 working days to respond to your request. Unless the Council does not have the information or determines that, if it has the information, it is not required to release it to you, the Council should send you the information requested, or a notification of the cost of supplying that information.

There are two circumstances in which you may be asked to pay for information provided as a result of your request.

1. If you are provided with any information as a result of your request, you will be required to pay the Council's disbursements in providing that information. Please note there is no limit on the amount you may be charged, although you will not be charged at all if the disbursements amount to less than £450.00.

Disbursements consist of any costs arising from:

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You will be notified of any disbursement costs once the Council is in a position to provide the information requested and the Council will not release the information until these costs have been paid. You will have 3 months to pay the disbursement costs from the date you are notified of these costs.

2. The Council may also determine that it is not obliged to release the information because it will cost more than £450 to locate, retrieve and extract the requested information. If this is the case, the Council may still offer to provide the information for the amount it will cost for it to do this. In this case you will be notified of the cost of this information before it is supplied at which point you will have 3 months to decide whether or not you wish to pay this cost.

You may also be required to pay disbursements on top of this amount.

If the Council confirms it has the information but considers that it is not required to release it, you will be given a written notification detailing why the information is not being released.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information
Email: [Cherwell District Council request email]

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL, if you wish to contact us regarding your request please email [Cherwell District Council request email] and quote case reference 101000779648
This e-mail (including any attachments) may be confidential and may contain legally privileged information.
You should not disclose its contents to any other person. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately.

Whilst the Council has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise the risk of computer software viruses, it cannot accept liability for any damage which you may sustain as a result of such viruses. You should carry out your own virus checks before opening the e-mail(and/or any attachments).

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the contents of this e-mail represent only the views of the sender and does not impose any legal obligation upon the Council or commit the Council to any course of action.

Richard Hawtin,

Dear Mr Harris

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Ref: 101000779648

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 19 February 2017,
in relation to Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) upheld decisions, please
find attached below our reply.

 

1. On how many occasions, since 1 August 2008 has the Local Government
Ombudsman upheld complaints made against Cherwell District Council that
the Council previously denied?

(Please could you break these down by service area - eg planning/council
tax etc.?)

 

Since the 1 August 2008 to present, 9 complaints investigated by the LGO
have been up-held, the results broken down into the relevant service areas
are as follows:

 

Planning                                  =          5

Building Control                       =          1

Benefits & TAX                       =          1

Housing                                   =          1

Anti-Social behaviour              =          1

 

Full details of the investigations are available for public reading using
the following link,  [1]http://www.lgo.org.uk/decisions and completing the
search facility as required.

 

2. On how many occasions, since 1 August 2008, has Cherwell District
Council not accepted the findings of the Local Government Ombudsman, when
the LGO upheld a complaint made against the Council. (Please could you
break these down by service area - eg planning/council tax etc.?)

 

There have been no occasions when Cherwell District Council have not
accepted the findings of the LGO, when the LGO have upheld a complaint
made against the Council.

 

3. On how many occasions, since 1 August 2008, has Cherwell District
Council not apologised to the complainant, when the Local Government
Ombudsman upheld a complaint made against Cherwell District Council.
(Please could you break these down by service area - eg planning.council
tax etc.?)

 

Of the LGO final decision statements received in relation to the nine
upheld complaint investigations, a total of five decision statements did
not require that the Council forward an apology letter to the
complainant.  The results broken down into the relevant service areas are
as follows:

 

Planning                      x 3

Building Control           x 1

Benefits & Tax                        x 1

 

We can confirm that of the remaining four complaint investigations an
apology letter was sent to the complainant as an agreed course of action
or as recommended by the LGO.  The results broken down into the relevant
service areas are as follows:

 

Planning                               x2

Housing                                x1

Anti-social behaviour     x1

The Council endeavours to answer requests for information as fully and
accurately as possible.  If you are not satisfied with this response, you
may request an internal review by contacting the Council’s Freedom of
Information Officer at Bodicote House, Bodicote, Banbury, Oxon, OX15 4AA
or at [2][Cherwell District Council request email].  If, following the review, you are still
not satisfied with the Council’s response, you are advised to contact the
Information Commissioner directly at the Information Commissioners Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF or on
[3][email address]

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Richard Hawtin
Team Leader – Non-contentious
Cherwell and South Northamptonshire Councils Shared Legal Service

Extension No.: 1695
Direct Dial: 01295 221695
mailto: [4][email address]
[5]www.cherwell.gov.uk

[6]www.southnorthants.gov.uk

P Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

This e-mail (including any attachments) may be confidential and may
contain legally privileged information. You should not disclose its
contents to any other person. If you are not the intended recipient,
please notify the sender immediately.

 

Whilst the Council has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise the
risk of computer software viruses, it cannot accept liability for any
damage which you may sustain as a result of such viruses. You should carry
out your own virus checks before opening the e-mail(and/or any
attachments).

 

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the contents of this e-mail represent
only the views of the sender and does not impose any legal obligation upon
the Council or commit the Council to any course of action.

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.lgo.org.uk/decisions
2. mailto:[Cherwell District Council request email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.cherwell.gov.uk/
6. http://www.southnorthants.gov.uk/

Christopher Harris

Dear Cherwell District Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Cherwell District Council's handling of my FOI request 'Local Government Ombudsman decisions against Cherwell District Council'.

While I am grateful for your response I disagree wholeheartedly with the accuracy of your response to Q2.

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

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Harris

Freedom of Information, Cherwell District Council

Message from FOI at Cherwell District Council, if you wish to contact us
regarding your request please email [1][Cherwell District Council request email] and quote
case reference numbers 101000786002 and 101000779648

 

Dear Mr Harris

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Request Reference 101000786002 (review of response to FOI 101000779648)

 

We note that you wish to request an internal review of the Council’s
response to your request for information.  We can therefore confirm that
your request has been forwarded for review by the Council’s Chief
Executive.

 

The Council will endeavour to respond to your request for a review within
20 days.

 

Should you need to contact the Council about your request, please do not
hesitate to contact us on [2][Cherwell District Council request email] quoting the above
reference numbers.

 

Kind regards

Freedom of Information

Email: [3][Cherwell District Council request email]

 

 

This e-mail (including any attachments) may be confidential and may
contain legally privileged information. You should not disclose its
contents to any other person. If you are not the intended recipient,
please notify the sender immediately.

 

Whilst the Council has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise the
risk of computer software viruses, it cannot accept liability for any
damage which you may sustain as a result of such viruses. You should carry
out your own virus checks before opening the e-mail(and/or any
attachments).

 

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the contents of this e-mail represent
only the views of the sender and does not impose any legal obligation upon
the Council or commit the Council to any course of action.

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Cherwell District Council request email]
2. mailto:[Cherwell District Council request email]
3. mailto:[Cherwell District Council request email]

Peta Miers,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Harris

Please find attached the Internal Review of the FOI as requested in your email of 9 March.

Kind regards

Peta Miers
Senior Executive Assistant to the Joint Chief Executive
Cherwell District & South Northants Councils
Direct Dial: 01295 221573
[email address]
www.cherwell.gov.uk
www.southnorthants.gov.uk
Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/cherwelldistrictcouncil or www.facebook.com/southnorthantscouncil
Follow us on Twitter @Cherwellcouncil or @SNorthantsCouncil

This e-mail (including any attachments) may be confidential and may contain legally privileged information.
You should not disclose its contents to any other person. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately.

Whilst the Council has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise the risk of computer software viruses, it cannot accept liability for any damage which you may sustain as a result of such viruses. You should carry out your own virus checks before opening the e-mail(and/or any attachments).

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the contents of this e-mail represent only the views of the sender and does not impose any legal obligation upon the Council or commit the Council to any course of action.

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Christopher Harris please sign in and let everyone know.