Payment of £6,873,434 to Renewi when they terminated waste contract.
Dear Dumfries and Galloway Council,
This is a follow up to a previous request on the same subject.
Please provide information as follows:
The terms of the termination of the contract. This to show how the payment of £6,873,434 was calculated.
Who was responsible for the negotiations with Renewi? The job title(s) will suffice and personal names are not necessary.
Did any council employee, their family, friends, or associates, benefit from this in any way?
Yours faithfully,
James Plant
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 28/05/2019 which we are dealing with in terms of the above legislation. We have given your request the unique reference 413885 and we would appreciate it if you could quote this on all correspondence to us.
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If you have any queries in the meantime, please contact [email address].
Kind Regards
FOI Unit
Dumfries and Galloway Council
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Dear Dumfries and Galloway Council,
You have failed to provide the information requested for which the time limit required this to be received by 25 June 2019. It is clear you consider compliance with the Freedom of Information Act is discretionary, rather than mandatory. Your conduct is now unlawful and needs to be remedied without further delay. You should ensure that the information is sent within the next 10 calendar days.
Yours faithfully,
James Plant
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) REGULATIONS 2004
Thank you for your request for a formal review which was received on 02/07/2019 and is being dealt with. We will respond within 20 working days from the day after the request was received. A response to your request will be sent promptly, and in any event not later than 30/07/2019.
If you have any queries in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact [email address].
This email, from Dumfries and Galloway Council, and any files transmitted with it, is confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you are not the intended recipient of this email (and any attachment) please inform the sender by return email and destroy all copies. If you are not the intended recipient or responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, disclosure, review, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this email is strictly prohibited. Please be aware that communication by internet email is not secure as messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. Dumfries and Galloway Council do not accept liability for any loss or damage which may result from this email or any files attached. It is your responsibility to scan this email and any attachments for computer viruses or other defects.
Any email including its content may be monitored and used by the Council for reasons of security and form monitoring internal compliance with the policy on staff use. Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used.
Any email message sent or received by the Council may require to be disclosed by the Council under the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. For further information and to view the Council’s privacy statement please go to https://www.dumgal.gov.uk/privacy
Dear Dumfries and Galloway Council,
I refer to your communication of 5 July 2019 and am at a loss to understand how you construe my message of 2 July last as being a request for a formal review. As no doubt you are well aware, this was a reminder to you in view of the fact you had failed to provide the information within the statutory time limit of 20 days. It is viewed as nothing short of gross misconduct that you decide to allow yourself a further 20 days to comply with the FOI Act.
The request was made to you on 28 May 2019. It is now 26 July 2019 and you have failed to comply with the time limit set down in the FOI Act once again. A perusal of this site reveals a cavalier attitude to the FOI laws by Dumfries and Galloway Council. It seems to think it can choose which requests to comply with, not the lawful approach required by the FOI Act. I appreciate that you won't care for this request as the subject of payments to Renewi is something that appears to be awkward for you. It can only be concluded that you have something to hide. It looks as though you have a considerable amount you want to keep out of the public eye in view of your repeated failures to provide information. Just how corrupt is this council?
It seems that matters need to be put into the public domain online. You need to respond without further delay.
Yours faithfully,
James Plant
Dear Dumfries and Galloway Council,
This request is extremely overdue and you have acted unlawfully in relation to the FOI Act yet again.
On 5 July 2019 you promised a response within 20 days, so where is it? What is abundantly clear is the contempt with which you treat the FOI Act and your Council Tax payers.
Yours faithfully,
James Plant
PUBLIC
Dear Mr Plant
Please accept our apologies for the delay in this response. We are still trying to locate whether there is any relevant information that can be released and will respond as soon as possible
Kind regards
FOI Unit
Dumfries and Galloway Council
Disclaimer:
This email, from Dumfries and Galloway Council, and any files transmitted with it, is confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you are not the intended recipient of this email (and any attachment) please inform the sender by return email and destroy all copies. If you are not the intended recipient or responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, disclosure, review, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this email is strictly prohibited. Please be aware that communication by internet email is not secure as messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. Dumfries and Galloway Council do not accept liability for any loss or damage which may result from this email or any files attached. It is your responsibility to scan this email and any attachments for computer viruses or other defects.
Any email including its content may be monitored and used by the Council for reasons of security and form monitoring internal compliance with the policy on staff use. Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used.
Any email message sent or received by the Council may require to be disclosed by the Council under the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. For further information and to view the Council’s privacy statement please click here
P SAVE PAPER - Please do not print this e-mail unless absolutely necessary
PUBLIC
Dear FOI,
This request was made on 28 May 2019. It is now 27 August 2019. You have had 2 months to provide the information. This should be sent without further delay. You are in breach of the FOI Act which requires a response within 20 days.
Dumfries and Galloway Council seem to think the FOI Act is discretionary, rather than mandatory.
Yours sincerely,
James Plant
Dear Dumfries and Galloway Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Dumfries and Galloway Council's handling of my FOI request 'Payment of £6,873,434 to Renewi when they terminated waste contract.'.
There is no good reason why you have failed to provide the information, or comply with the FOI Act. Please rectify this without further delay. It can only be concluded you have something to hide.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Yours faithfully,
James Plant
Dear FOI,
This FOI request was made on 10 May 2019. Various reminders followed this. A request for Internal Review was sent to you on 15 September 2019. Up to now, you have declined to respond, or provide the information requested.
Given the history of failing to comply with the FOI Act it is true to say Dumfries and Galloway Council operates at an abysmal level in relation to this. The conclusion is that it must have a considerable amount to hide. Just how corrupt a public body is it? The indications are that it is 100% bent and does not intend to clean itself up at all.
It needs to be sorted out and the Council Tax payers are entitled to better than this arrogant contempt displayed to them. Is there any chance of a response to save your integrity?
Yours sincerely,
James Plant
Gadawodd James Plant anodiad ()
Update as at 4 January 2020. There has been no further communication from the ivory towers in Dumfries. It is clear that the council considers itself above the law and can treat Council Tax payers with total contempt. There can only be this explanation, that is they have acted unlawfully, are corrupt and are determined to hide what they are up to. It is time for the Council Tax payers who fund their misdeeds to revolt and throw the lot of them out in the elections.
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Gadawodd James Plant anodiad ()
The council displays its usual contempt for the FOI Act, together with the Council Tax payers who fund their very dubious transactions. The conclusion is that they have something to hide in all of this.