Number of Investigations by the Monitoring officers and reports to the Council

Waiting for an internal review by Ealing Borough Council of their handling of this request.

Dear Ealing Borough Council,

Under the FOIA please supply the following information relating to the work of the designated Monitoring Officers of the Council in line with the duties outlined in the council constitution and Sections 5 and 5A of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 covering the past 5 years

The number of investigations carried out

The areas of investigation (example: maladministration, contraventions of law, misconduct in office)

The number of reports made to the cabinet and or council (citing areas)

If none have occurred in the past 5 years, please indicate the date of the last investigation and report and relevant area.

Yours faithfully,

M Doyle

foirequests, Ealing Borough Council

1 Attachment

Thank you for contacting Ealing Council's Information Governance team
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If you have submitted a FOI/EIR request, we will respond with your
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Kind Regards,

 

 

Information Governance Team

[Ealing Borough Council request email]

 

show quoted sections

foirequests, Ealing Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mark Doyle,

 

Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000/Environmental Information
Regulations (EIR) 2004

Thank you for your information request which is being dealt with under the
terms of the relevant legislation.

Your request has been logged as: 20-0231

FOI and EIR requests will be answered within twenty working days.

If you have any queries about this request please contact us via
[1][Ealing Borough Council request email]  quoting the reference number quoted above.

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Team

Ealing Council

Freedom of Information

Perceval House

14-16 Uxbridge Road

London

W5 2HL

Tel: (020) 8825 8367

 

 

 

 

From: Mark <[FOI #643363 email]>
Sent: 05 February 2020 12:19
To: foirequests <[Ealing Borough Council request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Number of Investigations by the
Monitoring officers and reports to the Council

 

Dear Ealing Borough Council,

Under the FOIA please supply the following information relating to the
work of the designated Monitoring Officers of the Council in line with the
duties outlined in the council constitution and Sections 5 and 5A of the
Local Government and Housing Act 1989 covering the past 5 years

The number of investigations carried out

The areas of investigation (example: maladministration, contraventions of
law, misconduct in office)

The number of reports made to the cabinet and or council (citing areas)

If none have occurred in the past 5 years, please indicate the date of the
last investigation and report and relevant area.

Yours faithfully,

M Doyle

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[2][FOI #643363 email]

Is [3][Ealing Borough Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to Ealing Borough Council? If so, please contact us
using this form:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
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For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

foirequests, Ealing Borough Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mark Doyle,

 

Please find attached response to your recent Freedom of Information
request.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you can request
an internal review. 

Details of the Freedom of Information complaints process can be found at:

 

[1]http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200640/fre...

 

Your request for an internal review should be submitted to us within 40
working days of your receipt of this response.  Any such request received
after this time will only be considered at our discretion.

 

If you remain dissatisfied by the outcome of the Internal Review you have
the right to submit your complaint to the Information Commissioner at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

Kind Regards

 

Kam Ubhi

Information Governance Officer

Ealing Council

Freedom of Information

3rd  Floor, North East

Perceval House

14-16 Uxbridge Road

London W5 2HL

Tel: (020) 8825 5000

 

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200640/fre...

Dear Ealing Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Ealing Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Number of Investigations by the Monitoring officers and reports to the Council'.

The request centred around the duties of the Monitoring officer under S5 and S5A of the Local Government and Housing act 1989 which gives broad scope to the designated Monitoring officer of the Authority to which the request outlined key (but not all duties)

The request was made on the 5th February 2020 and a part response given in relation a single fact less than 3hrs of acknowledge proper a response was formulated covering information held for 5 years. That response in essence being that the Monitoring Officer has not investigated a single complaint (doubtful none made) or rendered a report to the council and or cabinet in the past 5 years.

Furthermore, S12 was cited in relation to the last question requesting the last date which such an investigation or report was made without S16 guidance in which to narrow the request in within a time frame in which the final question can be answered.

In stating that it should be noted by deduction of the period of discovery for 5 years would be in the region of 2hrs, the period to examine the very limited records of a monitoring officer going back to 1989 would not take longer than 13 hrs in it's entirety, unless that is, the response and information provided was incomplete.

I think it would be best consult Helen Harris on this matter and to review the files of Guy Hart in relation to the request prior to February 2015

Needless to say the Internal review should address the inconsistencies

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

Yours faithfully,

M Doyle

foirequests, Ealing Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mark Doyle,

 

Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 / Environmental Information
Regulations (EIR) 2004.

Thank you for your Internal Review request which is being dealt with under
the terms of the relevant legislation.

Your request will remain logged as: 20-0231

Internal Review requests will be answered within twenty working days.

If you have any queries about this request please contact us via
[1][Ealing Borough Council request email]  quoting the reference number quoted above.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart O'Brien

Information Governance Officer

Ealing Council

Freedom of Information

Perceval House

14-16 Uxbridge Road

London

W5 2HL

Tel: (020) 8825 8367

 

[2]cid:image001.png@01D5DDC9.82C23BB0

 

 

 

From: Mark <[FOI #643363 email]>
Sent: 06 February 2020 12:31
To: foirequests <[Ealing Borough Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Number of
Investigations by the Monitoring officers and reports to the Council

 

Dear Ealing Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Ealing Borough Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Number of Investigations by the Monitoring
officers and reports to the Council'.

The request centred around the duties of the Monitoring officer under S5
and S5A of the Local Government and Housing act 1989 which gives broad
scope to the designated Monitoring officer of the Authority to which the
request outlined key (but not all duties)

The request was made on the 5th February 2020 and a part response given in
relation a single fact less than 3hrs of acknowledge proper a response was
formulated covering information held for 5 years. That response in essence
being that the Monitoring Officer has not investigated a single complaint
(doubtful none made) or rendered a report to the council and or cabinet in
the past 5 years.

Furthermore, S12 was cited in relation to the last question requesting the
last date which such an investigation or report was made without S16
guidance in which to narrow the request in within a time frame in which
the final question can be answered.

In stating that it should be noted by deduction of the period of discovery
for 5 years would be in the region of 2hrs, the period to examine the very
limited records of a monitoring officer going back to 1989 would not take
longer than 13 hrs in it's entirety, unless that is, the response and
information provided was incomplete.

I think it would be best consult Helen Harris on this matter and to review
the files of Guy Hart in relation to the request prior to February 2015

Needless to say the Internal review should address the inconsistencies

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

Yours faithfully,

M Doyle

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[4][FOI #643363 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

foirequests, Ealing Borough Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mark Doyle,

 

Please find attached response to your recent internal review request.

 

Details of the Freedom of Information complaints process can be found at:

 

[1]http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200640/fre...

 

If you remain dissatisfied by the outcome of the Internal Review you have
the right to submit your complaint to the Information Commissioner at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

Kind Regards

 

Kam Ubhi

Information Governance Officer

Ealing Council

Freedom of Information

3rd  Floor, North East

Perceval House

14-16 Uxbridge Road

London W5 2HL

Tel: (020) 8825 5000

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200640/fre...

Dear Ms Cox,

I would ask that Ealing reconsider the position offered in the internal review response for the following reasons

1. That the same request was made to every London Borough without exception and was constructed in a manner which it could be rendered taking into consideration reasonable expectations arising from the seriousness of an occurrence warranting action by a Monitoring officer. in essence rare cases relating to serious complaints and or incidents.

2. That a number of London Boroughs have already responded early, including one stating the last recorded investigation/report was soon after the introduction of the 1989 act and another stating none had been carried out since the introduction of the act itself and in turn setting a level of reasonable expectations of responses within the permitted time-frame.

3. That your response in relation how you approached the researching and consolidating of the information requested and quantifying S12 along with failure to address S16 in relation to that of quantifying of S12 being deficient, in that you fail to provide a period which further checks could be made in order to gauge what would constitute reasonable grounds for S12. Simply you have not bothered the basic quantifying excise and therefore it is an misuse of S12 and in turn the use is void.

4. That in order to justify the timescales and should the matter proceed to the ICO, LBE will have to disclose the nature of type and status record keeping which creates a situation where records cannot be reasonably researched and or examined outside the memory of the current incumbent in order to render the request fully and or in part. For arguments sake, poorly indexed and or bad record keeping does not constitute reasonable grounds for refusal as it would in turn constitute a failure of duty by the authority and could result in the authority being challenged in relation to proper maintenance of personal records, let alone records of the authority itself.

5. The work of the Monitoring officer is that of Local Government appointed officer and role defined in the LG&HA 1989 and constitution and is a role separate from that of a legal department and should not be conflated under working practices of a legal department or practice itself , even if that appointed person is also a legal officer.

6. The information requested relates to official records are official records of LBE and therefore the holding of records for a period of 6 years in the context of is an irrelevance in this regard as it does not constitute a practice case.

I am not trying to be difficult but am pointing out that your response and internal review are indicative of internal issues of access to and or inspection of records affecting legal rights of access to information by the public. As such I would appreciate a proper response in line with S16 and more transparency in this regard.

I look forward to your more objective response.

Please note that this request thread has been conducted in the public domain throughout and the content is available for public scrutiny.

Yours Sincerely

M Doyle