Mrs Pat Thomas - Flights 2003-6

Dear Local Government Ombudsmen,

Please give details of flights abroad, paid for from public funds, taken by Mrs Pat Thomas in the years 2003-4, 2004-5 and 2005-6. What were the destination airports and the airports returned from and the dates.

Did her husband travel with her?

Yours faithfully,

chris taylor

Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Dear Mr Taylor

Our ref: CS/10/085

This is to acknowledge receipt of your I request below received on 27 July. I will respond within the 20 working day target (which would be by 24 August 2010) or, if unable to do so, I will write to you again explaining why.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | DL: 020 7217 4734 |
Local Government Ombudsman's office | 10th Floor |
Millbank Tower | Millbank | London | SW1P 4QP |
www.lgo.org.uk |

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Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Taylor

I attach a letter in response to your request below.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | DL: 020 7217 4734 |
Local Government Ombudsman's office | 10th Floor |
Millbank Tower | Millbank | London | SW1P 4QP |
www.lgo.org.uk |

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Trevor R Nunn left an annotation ()

WHAT? "As Mrs Thomas has left, we do not have the option of asking her what trips she can recall making, which would have given us a starting point for searching the paper records"

They asked her to sign a CLAE minute on June 20th this year. Less than 2 months ago.

Trevor R Nunn left an annotation ()

If they weren't in touch with Mrs Pat Thomas a couple of months ago in order for her to sign the document below

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/40...

Who signed it in her name?

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

chris taylor left an annotation ()

Spot on, Trevor.

Anne Hide left an annotation ()

Pat Thomas and her husband have run a pick your own fruit farm in Nether Kellet (Nr Lancaster) for years. I doubt they would have picked the summer months for a Redmond like taxpayer funded swan abroad. In addition, unlike all current Ombudsmen, Pat Thomas did not have any previous experience of the snout in the trough public sector culture before becoming a Local Government Ombudsman.

chris taylor left an annotation ()

Anne. Do you have any idea or theory about what her motivation might be for getting involved in protecting other peoples' snouts at this peculiar stage i.e. five years after retiring? Why respond to the request? Presumably because she realises that she was fully implicated in facilitating the trough draining even if not doing it herself(?).

Anne Hide left an annotation ()

With her legal background she would have known she was wrong to sign documents as Deputy Chair of CLAE 5 years after ceasing to be Deputy Chair. I personally don't think she would have been daft enough to sign the document but I could be wrong.

Pauline Nunn left an annotation ()

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

"I would like any information you hold including emails
and letters to and from Pat Thomas over the last 5 years that would explain how, why and where she signed the minutes of the said meeting on the 20th June 2010 nearly 5 years after she retired together with any information you hold that would explain why the said minutes were not signed earlier."

Trevor R Nunn left an annotation ()

It is very easy using free software to copy a signature from one document and insert it into another.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efAOsvfi4sU