Question about car clubs
Dear Sir or Madam,
I would to know what, if any, commercial relationship there is between the various car clubs (such as Zipcar & Streetcar) and Brent Council, in particular what the agreement is with respect to their being allowed parking spaces on Brent's streets.
Yours faithfully,
Matthew Turner
Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST
Our Reference: 562804
====================================================
Dear Mr. Turner
Thank you for your request for information received on 4 December 2009. We
aim to respond to your request within 20 working days.
However, whilst we may send the formal notification of the decision to the
email address you have provided we will not send the information requested
to that address. This is because we are aware that doing so will
automatically result in the information being published on the
whatdotheyknow website. Publication of information in this way may
constitute an unauthorised re-use (under the Re-use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005) and may infringe copyright. I would therefore
be grateful if you will provide me with an alternative disclosure address.
This can be a postal address, fax number or an email address, as long as it
does not result in automatic publication and re-use.
If you wish to apply for permission to re-use any of the requested
information you may do so by writing to the IT Standards Manager at Brent
Council, Floor 5, 349-357 High Road, Wembley HA9 6BZ , telephone 020 8937
1402, e-mail [Brent Borough Council request email]
If you wish to appeal against the requirement to provide an alternative
disclosure address you can do so by writing to the IT Standards Manager at
the address given above.
You also have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner. However,
the Information Commissioner will not normally consider an appeal until you
have exhausted your rights of redress and complaint to the Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted as follows: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF; Telephone: 01625 545 700, www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Stephen F Williams,
For Brent ITU
[email address]
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The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system and other lawful purposes.
Dear Mr Williams
Thank you very much for replying so swiftly - it is much appreciated.
I have sought advice and am informed that "the FOI act requires the council to respond to your request using the means of communication which you prefer" and frankly I don't understand the copyright point.
I would like you to reconsider and if you still don't want to release the information publicly specify the exemption in the FOI act which you are applying.
Yours faithfully,
Matt Turner
Dear Mr Turner
Thank you for your below message.
We will deal with you expression of dissatisfaction as a request for an internal review and will aim to respond within 20 working days of your complaint.
The information required to answer your request is available to be sent to you on provision of the alternative address.
Stephen Williams
FOI & DPA Consultant
Brent ITU
020 8937 1426
Floor 5
349-357 High Road
Wembley
HA9 6BZ
Gadawodd Trevor R Nunn anodiad ()
This perverse policy was introduced in late September early October 2009. Unfortunately until the ICO rules on the issue there is not a lot one can do. It was obviously introduced by a council officer who doesn't understand the law. It also brings into question the competence of the monitoring officer (usually head of legal), who is supposed to ensure the council do not break the law. Something they are doing by breaching the FOI act. One must also question the sanity of local councillors for letting their officers bring the whole council into disrepute and turning Brent Council into a laughing stock.
Dear Mr Williams,
Thank you for your reply. It has now been more than 20 working days and so I was wondering whether the internal review on whether FOI information can be made public has been concluded.
Yours sincerely,
Matt Turner
Gadawodd Trevor R Nunn anodiad ()
My complaint about Brent's policy of refusing to send responses to the What Do They Know website because of copyright fears has already been submitted. I suggest you do the same at the earliest opertunity.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lg...
The response to my FOI request consists of two numbers, just how Brent can argue two numbers are copyright is beyond me.This is nothing to do with copyright and everything to do with Brent trying to stop information about their performance being available for public scrutiny.
Gadawodd Trevor R Nunn anodiad ()
Complain to the ICO, my complaint has already been allocated for investigation and the more people who complain about Brent's ridiculous and illegal policy the better.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lg...
Gadawodd Michael Traill anodiad ()
I emailed the Commissioners office asking if they had a position on this:
Response:
15th February 2010
Case Reference Number ENQ0294611
Dear Mr Traill
Thank you for your recent enquiry.
The primary duty of public authorities in replying to requests for information under the FOIA is to provide the information to the person requesting it. How the information is provided is of secondary importance, particularly if the method of communication does not involve inconvenience to either party.
If a person requesting information is not satisfied that their request has been handled in accordance with the provisions of the FOIA, they can complain to us. If we receive a complaint that Brent Council has not replied to a request for information in accordance with the provisions of the FOIA, we will consider it. We do, of course, have the option to refuse to investigate a complaint if we are satisfied that it raises a frivolous issue. In saying this, I am not at all suggesting that the method of communication, or the address to which information is sent, would always be considered a frivolous issue, but there may be circumstances when it could be.
Yours sincerely
Graham S Smith
FOI Good Practice
Information Commissioner’s Office
____________________________________________________________________
The ICO’s mission is to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.
If you are not the intended recipient of this email (and any attachment), please inform the sender by return email and destroy all copies. Unauthorised access, use, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted.
Communication by internet email is not secure as messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. Therefore we strongly advise you not to email any information, which if disclosed to unrelated third parties would be likely to cause you distress. If you have an enquiry of this nature please provide a postal address to allow us to communicate with you in a more secure way. If you want us to respond by email you must realise that there can be no guarantee of privacy.
Any email including its content may be monitored and used by the Information Commissioner's Office for reasons of security and for monitoring internal compliance with the office policy on staff use. Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you write or forward is within the bounds of the law.
The Information Commissioner's Office cannot guarantee that this message or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted and amended. You should perform your own virus checks.
__________________________________________________________________
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510 Web: www.ico.gov.uk
Gadawodd Matt Turner anodiad ()
Thanks for everyone's help. I am going to give Brent Council a little longer to reply and then take further action.
Dear Mr Williams,
It has now been about 150 days since you last letter and 130 days after you said you would reply. Any progress?
Yours sincerely,
Matt Turner
Gadawodd Trevor R Nunn anodiad ()
A must read for those wanting Brent to respond to their FOI requests via this website.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/d...
Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST
Our Reference: 562804
====================================================
Dear Mr. Turner,
Your request for information has now been considered and the answer to
each of the questions you ask is none.
Please note that the information provided may be subject to copyright and
you may require further permission from the Council to re-use it. If you
require further guidance please write to the IT Standards Manager (contact
details below).
If you are dissatisfied with the response or how the Council has handled
your request you can complain to the Council by writing to the following
address: IT Standards Manager at Brent Council,Floor 5, 349-357 High Road,
Wembley HA9 6BZ, telephone 020 8937 1402, e-mail [Brent Borough Council request email]. It is
the Council's policy to ensure that, where practicable, your complaint is
dealt with by someone who was not involved in the original decision.
You also have a right of appeal about our decision to the Information
Commissioner, however, the Information Commissioner will not normally
consider an appeal until you have exhausted your rights of redress and
complaint to the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted as
follows:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF; Telephone: 01625 545 700,
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Stephen F Williams,
for Brent ITU
[email address]
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The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system and other lawful purposes.
Gadawodd Trevor R Nunn anodiad ()
The answer to your FOI request highlights the stupidity of their efforts to block publication of their answer.
Gadawodd Matt Turner anodiad ()
Ok, so I got a reply within a year, and it consists of "none", which apparently I neeeded to get permission to repeat.
I'll will make a complaint IN WRITING as clearly a) it wasn't handled in the correct timeframe and b) I'm not sure 'none' is an answer to the second question, as clearly such clubs do have parking spaces on Brent streets and I find it hard to believe they didn't get Council permission.
I will update here with information on how the written section goes. Thank you everyone for your help.
Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST
Our Reference: 562804
====================================================
Dear Mr. Turner
I have considered your appeal relating to the above information request.
Following recent instructions from the Information Commissioner about the
'whatdotheyknow' website, I can confirm that the information that you have
requested has been sent to you using the original email address. The
Information Commissioner has instructed the council to send information to
the orginal email addresses associated with the website.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted as follows:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF; Telephone: 01625 545 700,
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
As part of our commitment to improve our service to our customers we would
welcome any feedback on the way that we have dealt with your request.
Yours sincerely,
Raj Seedher
Phone: 020 8937 1402
[email address]
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The use of Brent Council's e-mail system may be monitored and communications read in order to secure effective operation of the system and other lawful purposes.
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Gadawodd Michael Traill anodiad ()
Why do other public authorities find it acceptble to fully answer FOI enquries using this website, including providing copies of documents etc; but Brent dont find this acceptable.?.!