Ragwort - Availability of legal advice to officers drafting committee reports

Wiltshire Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Wiltshire Council,

On the 8th January 2019 the Council's Environment Select Committee received as Item 10 "a brief update on the Council's policies surrounding ragwort." Members were provided with a 'Briefing Note'
https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/documents/s...
authored by the Council's Head of Public Protection and a Senior Scrutiny Officer, which made a number of assertions regarding the Ragwort Control Act 2003, a purported Code of Practice, and the Weeds Act 1959. The document went on to claim that the Council has "responsibilities as a landowner [with regard to ragwort]".

According to the Law Society's online 'Find a solicitor' facility the Council employs 30 solicitors, many of whom were admitted as solicitors more than twenty years ago.
https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/org...
All in all the Council has (on an aggregated basis) several hundred years of legal experience in-house, which makes it all the more surprising that a Briefing Note purporting to expound the Council's legal responsibilities regarding ragwort was drafted without (on the face of it) any professional legal advice.

NOTES
1. The Ragwort Control Act 2003 merely inserted a new section into the Weeds Act 1959 (Section 1A), which allows but does not compel the Minister to issue a code of practice for the purpose of providing guidance on how to prevent the spread of ragwort (Section 1A(1)).

The most recent Code of Practice was issued in 2007, but was withdrawn 24 May 2016. Therefore the references to the Code in the briefing note are erroneous.

2. According to the briefing note "The Government has listed ragwort as one of the five weeds covered by the Weeds Act 1959; which states that ragwort is harmful to equines and other animals."

It is the statute that designates Common Ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, as an injurious weed, not the Government.

The Act does not say that ragwort is harmful to equines. The Act does not make any reference to animals. 'Injurious' means injurious to the land. The Weeds Act 1959 is a consolidation Act, that saved a provision originally inserted into the Corn Production Act 1917 by the Agriculture Act 1920. This was to protect landowners from tenants who abandoned the land letting it go to rack and ruin.

3. The briefing note states "The responsibility for controlling the spread and growth of ragwort rests with the occupier of the land on which ragwort is growing."

There is not, nor has there ever been, any general legal requirement to control ragwort in Great Britain. The Weeds Act 1959 allows, but does not compel, the Minister to serve notice requiring an occupier of land to prevent injurious weeds from spreading.

-o-o-o-

INFORMATION REQUIRED
1. I require a copy of any policy, procedure, protocol or whatever relating to the availability of legal advice to those Council officers drafting reports for committees and / or relating to the advisability of said officers obtaining legal advice from the Council's professionally qualified legal staff before purporting to expound to committee upon what the Council's legal responsibilities are.

Yours faithfully,

Bill Ellson

FOI, Wiltshire Council

Dear Mr Bill Ellson

Freedom of Information Request Case ID 202000299

Thank you for your request for information received on 31 July 2020 in which you asked for the following information:

INFORMATION REQUIRED
1. I require a copy of any policy, procedure, protocol or whatever relating to the availability of legal advice to those Council officers drafting reports for committees and / or relating to the advisability of said officers obtaining legal advice from the Council's professionally qualified legal staff before purporting to expound to committee upon what the Council's legal responsibilities are.

Your request is being processed under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and you will receive a response within 20 working days of receipt of your request, meaning you will receive a response on or before 28 August 2020.

Regards,

Miss Sukhvir Kaur

Information Governance Team

Legal and Governance

Wiltshire Council
[Wiltshire Council request email]

Wiltshire Council
Legal & Governance
Information Governance Team
County Hall – 1st Floor,
Trowbridge,
Wiltshire, BA14 8JN

[Wiltshire Council request email]
Web: www.wiltshire.gov.uk

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wisc

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FOI, Wiltshire Council

Dear Mr Bill Ellson,

Freedom of Information Request Case ID 202000299

Thank you for your request for information received on 31 July 2020, in which you asked for the following information:
INFORMATION REQUIRED
1. I require a copy of any policy, procedure, protocol or whatever relating to the availability of legal advice to those Council officers drafting reports for committees and / or relating to the advisability of said officers obtaining legal advice from the Council's professionally qualified legal staff before purporting to expound to committee upon what the Council's legal responsibilities are.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) the Council is obliged to:
Let you know whether we hold the information you have requested
Provide you with the requested information, if held, (subject to any exemptions to disclosure that may apply)

I can confirm that the council holds the information you requested which is as follows;

The Council has a dedicated legal team which are available to support officers drafting reports for committee and advise on the council’s legal duties and legal implications of the recommendations. The legal matters relevant each committee decision will vary on a case-by-case basis, and therefore the extent of legal advice needed will also vary.

Information supplied under the Act may be subject to protection under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You may use the information we have provided in response to your request under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

If you are dissatisfied with the response to your request you can ask for a review of the handling of your request for information. Details of the complaints procedure are below.
Regards,

Miss Sukhvir Kaur
Information Governance Team
Legal and Governance
Wiltshire Council
[Wiltshire Council request email]

Freedom of Information Complaints and Review Procedure
Any person who has requested information from Wiltshire Council which has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act is entitled to make a complaint and request an internal review of the handling of their request if they are dissatisfied with the response they have received.
Requests for review of a Freedom of Information requests should be made, in writing, which includes email, to:
Freedom of Information and Records Lead
Information Governance Team
Legal and Governance
Wiltshire Council
[Wiltshire Council request email]

Please include the Case ID number, the date of your request and details of why you are asking for a review. Requests for a review should be brought to our attention within 40 calendar days of our response to your request.
Any request for a review will be acknowledged in writing confirming the reasons for the review. The review will be allocated to someone who is independent of the original decision. The person conducting the review will set a target date for a response with the intention to complete the review within 20 working days. In more complex cases the review may take up to 40 working days.
The reviewer will conduct a full review of the handling of the request for information and the decisions taken, including decisions taken about where the public interest lies in respect of exempt information where applicable. The review enables a re-evaluation of the case taking into account any matters raised by the requester.
On completion of the review the reviewer will contact the requester with the result of the review. If the requester is still dissatisfied with the council's handling of their request they should contact the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The ICO can be contacted using the following details:

Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel; 0303 123 1113 (local rate)
01625 545 745 (national rate)
Email; [email address]

Wiltshire Council
Legal & Governance
Information Governance Team
County Hall – 1st Floor,
Trowbridge,
Wiltshire, BA14 8JN

[Wiltshire Council request email]
Web: www.wiltshire.gov.uk

www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wisc

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I am seeking a review of the response to my Information Request of 31 July 2020.

No information has been supplied, the response effectively repeats parts of my communication back to me.

My request was not about the availability of legal advice, but about how the availability of such legal advice (and the advisability of seeking such legal advice) is made known to officers writing reports for committees.

(If it is the case, as the response tends to infer, that Wiltshire Council relies on 'everybody knowing' that such legal advice is available rather than any document setting out such availability then you do not hold the information requested and should simply say so.)

Yours sincerely,

Bill Ellson

FOI, Wiltshire Council

Dear Mr Ellson,

Thank you for your email.

I've moved your request to the review stage. The review will be handled by Josie Convery, who will make contact directly in due course

Kind regards,

Kyle McCormack

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Convery, Josie, Wiltshire Council

Dear Mr Ellson,

Review of your request – reference 202000299

Thank you for your request for a review of the council’s processing of your information request.

Wherever possible, in accordance with the council’s review procedure, the review will be dealt with by an officer who was not involved in the original decision. I am now investigating the matter and will write to you when I have considered the issues involved.

The review procedure states ‘reviews should be completed as soon as possible, and in any event within 20 working days of the request for a review being received by the Governance Service.’ The time will depend on the workload and availability of the various officers involved, and the amount of information to review. I will be back in contact with you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Josie Convery
Senior Information Governance Officer – FOI and Records

Information Governance
Legal and Governance

Tel: 01225 712612
Email: [email address]
Web: www.wiltshire.gov.uk
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Convery, Josie, Wiltshire Council

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Ellson,

 

Please find my review response letter attached.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Josie

 

 

Josie Convery
Senior Information Governance Officer – FOI and Records

 

Information Governance

Legal and Governance

 

[1]cid:image004.png@01D588B9.B1489930
Tel: 01225 712612
Email: [2][email address]    
Web: [3]www.wiltshire.gov.uk

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[6]Sign up to Wiltshire Council’s email news service

 

Monday is a non-working day

 

 

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Dear Convery, Josie,

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Bill Ellson