To provide Information identifiying the impact of the Attfield v Barnet High Court Ruling on North East Lincolnshire Council's Parking Policy of raising Revenue by using Parking Charges

Stan Higgleston made this Rhyddid Gwybodaeth request to North East Lincolnshire Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Roedd y cais yn rhannol lwyddiannus.

Dear North East Lincolnshire Council,

1) In the recent case reported by WLR Daily on 22 July 2013, Regina (Attfield) v Barnet London Borough Council [2013] EWHC 2089 (Admin); [2013] WLR (D) 303, (where, although judgement went against Barnet LBC, Barnet have decided not to appeal), it was found that :-

"A local authority was not entitled to exercise its powers under section 45 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purposes of raising surplus revenue to defray other road expenditure and reduce the need to raise income from other sources, such as fines, charges and council tax".

2) Would your Authority please provide any and all recorded
information, including information held on computers, in emails and in printed or handwritten documents (including minutes of formal meetings of either Officers and / or Members together with any attendance notes taken by either Officers and / or Individual Members at any formal and / or informal meetings) as well as images, video and audio recordings, minutes etc, and which is held by your Authority and relates to the effect of any changes in your Authority's existing Parking Policy & Practice and which has already occurred, or which changes your Authority is intending should occur, as a result of the recent Barnet High Court Ruling on Parking by Lady Justice Lang on 22 July 2013, and as identified above?

Yours faithfully,

Stan Higgleston

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Higgleston

 

I am pleased to acknowledge your request for information, which has been
allocated the reference number 6120/1314

Your request has been passed to the relevant department for processing and
you can expect your response within the 20 working day limit. If it will
take us longer than 20 working days to respond to you, we will inform you
of this and provide you with the expected date for receiving a response.

Further information about how we will deal with your Freedom of
Information requests is available on our website at:
[1]http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council/the-co....

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information or
assistance quoting the reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Higgleston

 

Thank you for your information request made on 5th November 2013 reference
number FOI 6120_1314. I wish to confirm that North East Lincolnshire
Council holds the following information.

 

1) In the recent case reported by WLR Daily on 22 July 2013, Regina
(Attfield) v Barnet London Borough Council [2013] EWHC 2089 (Admin);
[2013] WLR (D) 303, (where, although judgement went against Barnet LBC,
Barnet have decided not to appeal), it was found that :-

 

"A local authority was not entitled to exercise its powers under section
45 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purposes of raising
surplus revenue to defray other road expenditure and reduce the need to
raise income from other sources, such as fines, charges and council tax".

 

2) Would your Authority please provide any and all recorded information,
including information held on computers, in emails and in printed or
handwritten documents (including minutes of formal meetings of either
Officers and / or Members together with any attendance notes taken by
either Officers and / or Individual Members at any formal and / or
informal meetings) as well as images, video and audio recordings, minutes
etc, and which is held by your Authority and relates to the effect of any
changes in your Authority's existing Parking Policy & Practice and which
has already occurred, or which changes your Authority is intending should
occur, as a result of the recent Barnet High Court Ruling on Parking by
Lady Justice Lang on 22 July 2013, and as identified above?

 

I write to confirm that North East Lincolnshire Council has not made any
further changes with regards to this case.  All information is publicly
available on the website in relation to the existing scheme.

 

[1]http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/resident/trans...

 

We have not and to the very best of my knowledge, will not be making any
further changes to the existing schemes as a result of the High Court
ruling.

 

If you are unhappy with the response you have received, you have the right
to request an internal review by the Council. If following this you are
still dissatisfied you may contact the Office of the Information
Commissioner. If you wish to request an internal review, please contact me
and I will make the necessary arrangements.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Freedom of Information Officer

North East Lincolnshire Council 

 

Confidentiality Note:  I am not authorised to bind my authority
contractually, nor to make representations or other statements which may
bind the authority in any way via electronic means.

 

Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email?

 

Not protectively marked

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear PPD - FOI,

"I write to confirm that North East Lincolnshire Council has not made any further changes with regards to this case. All information is publicly available on the website in relation to the existing scheme.

[1]http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/resident/trans...

We have not and to the very best of my knowledge, will not be making any further changes to the existing schemes as a result of the High Court ruling."

From looking at the document, "Residents' Parking Policy", it seems that a private firm (Balfour Beatty) is running the scheme and assume not out of the kindness of its heart, therefore profiting.

http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?...

In the following; "Residents’ Parking Policy (July 2012)" it states:

http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?...

"13.2. It is intended that all schemes will be fully self‐financing, including set up costs. Any incidental surplus will be used to improve parking facilities within the borough."

Are the above not possible reasons why (if the council wanted to avoid legal challenge) the High Court ruling would require NELC to consider making further changes to the existing schemes?

Yours sincerely,

Stan Higgleston

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Higgleston,
 
Thank you for your comments on your request for information, reference
number 6120_1314.
 
In our previous response we have stated:
 
I write to confirm that North East Lincolnshire Council has not made any
further changes with regards to this case. All information is publicly
available on the website in relation to the existing scheme.
 
[1]http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/resident/trans...
 
We have not and to the very best of our knowledge, will not be making any
further changes to the existing schemes as a result of the High Court
ruling.
 
We feel these comments highlights the Council's position on this matter.
 
If you are unhappy with the response you have received, you have the
right  to request an internal review by the Council. If following this you
are still dissatisfied you may contact the Office of the Information
Commissioner. If you wish to request an internal review, please contact me
and I will make the necessary arrangements.
 
Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council
 
Feedback Officer
Resources Directorate
 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear North East Lincolnshire Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of North East Lincolnshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'To provide Information identifiying the impact of the Attfield v Barnet High Court Ruling on Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council 's Parking Policy of raising Revenue by using Parking Charges'.

From looking at the document, "Residents' Parking Policy", it seems that a private firm (Balfour Beatty) is running the scheme, therefore by definition are profiting.

NELC must be aware of the Attfield v Barnet High Court Ruling and feel sure there must be some information relevant to this FOI request and is the reason I am asking the authority to review its decision.

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

Yours faithfully,

Stan Higgleston

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Higgleston

I am pleased to acknowledge your request for an Internal Review of Freedom of Information Request 6120_1314

Your request for an Internal Review has been passed to the relevant department for processing and you can expect your response within the 20 working day limit. If it will take us longer than 20 working days to respond to you, we will inform you of this and provide you with the expected date for receiving a response.

Further information about how we will deal with your Freedom of Information requests is available on our website at: http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council/the-co....

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information or assistance quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

Feedback Officer
Resources Directorate

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear PPD - FOI,

I'm made to believe that it was revealed either on local radio or TV news on 23 December 2013, that North East Lincolnshire Council made around one and a quarter million pounds profit from parking charges, fines etc.

I expect this may have some bearing on the response given in the review.

Yours sincerely,

Stan Higgleston

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

1 Atodiad

Dear Mr Higgleston

 

Further to your request an Internal Review has taken place into North East
Lincolnshire Council's handling of your information request 6120_1314,
concerning Information identifying the impact of the Attfield v Barnet
High Court Ruling on Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council's Parking Policy
of raising Revenue by using Parking Charges.

 

I have reviewed the response provided to you and the handling of your
request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and find:

That your request was responded to within the statutory time of 20 working
days and that your response provided you with your rights of appeal.
Further investigations reveal that our response did not provide you with
all of the information held by the Council which matched the criteria of
your request.

 

In your request for an internal review you stated: NELC must be aware of
the Attfield v Barnet High Court Ruling and feel sure there must be some
information relevant to this FOI request and is the reason I am asking the
authority to review its decision.

 

Upon further inspection a document has come to light which fits the
criteria of your request. Please accept my apologies for not providing
this information in the first instance. We were not aware of a document
that was circulated through the Council’s Management Team. This document
has now been attached for your viewing.

 

Further information in relation to the existing scheme is publicly
available on the Council website at the following address:
[1]http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/resident/trans...

 

I trust that this Internal Review answers your queries in relation to your
request, and clarifies that your request has been handled in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the Council’s handling of your request, or
the decision of the internal review you can request an independent review
by contacting the Information Commissioner's Office at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

 

Stacey Chaplin

Parking Strategy Manager

 

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear PPD - FOI,

I believe North East Lincolnshire Council must have been aware of the information it has needed prizing from it. The document (now disclosed) could not have been more relevant to the requested information outlined in the 4 November 2013 submission. I therefore have serious concerns that a negligent approach to dealing with the FOA 2000 is taken more generally and this is not just an isolated incident.

Also my 24 December 2013 email pointed out (as reported) that North East Lincolnshire Council made around one and a quarter million pounds profit from parking charges, fines etc. I note the review has not taken this into account and would therefore like a breakdown of what is being funded with these monies, as would be required to demonstrate the council is acting within the law.

Yours sincerely,

Stan Higgleston

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Higgleston
 
I am pleased to acknowledge your request for information, which has been
allocated the reference number 6629_1314.
Your request has been passed to the relevant department for processing and
you can expect your response within the 20 working day limit. If it will
take us longer than 20 working days to respond to you, we will inform you
of this and provide you with the expected date for receiving a response.
Further information about how we will deal with your Freedom of
Information requests is available on our website at:
[1]http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council/the-co....
Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information or
assistance quoting the reference number above.
 
Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council
 
Feedback Officer
Resources Directorate
 
 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Gadawodd Hump Balustrade anodiad ()

Why has this request been reported as needing administrator attention?

The Council obviously has a "F**k You" attitude to the public in regards the Freedom of Information Act and the requester was perfectly within his rights to say so.

Gadawodd Dave Rogers anodiad ()

Sooner they ban you Hump the better (btw what an awful name, could explain why your such an ass)

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Higgleston 

 

Thank you for your information request, reference number 6629_1314.

 

I wish to confirm that North East Lincolnshire Council holds the following
information.

 

The figures provided by the RAC relate to surplus before capital charges
are applied and do not match with our figures for surplus.

 

Any surplus arising from the issue of Penalty Charge Notices must be
reinvested back into highway improvements. However, it is perfectly
legitimate for NELC to re-invest any profit arising from pay and display
in any way that they see fit. Due to complexities of trying to break each
element down, we have provided figures of income and expenditure against
the whole of the parking service.

 

Expenditure  
Contract Fee 730,000
Other Exp 885,725
Total 1,615,725
     
Income  
All income 1,945,493  
   
NET Position 329,768  

 

The first £250k was reinvested back into the highway through an annual
£250k winter emergency fund. The remainder was spent on one-off programmes
and repairs.

 

If you are unhappy with the response you have received, you have the right
to request an internal review by the Council. If following this you are
still dissatisfied you may contact the Office of the Information
Commissioner. If you wish to request an internal review, please contact me
and I will make the necessary arrangements.

 

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

 

Feedback Officer

Resources Directorate

 

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Gadawodd Ben Harris anodiad ()

The request was marked as requiring administrator attention because its title mistakenly named Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council instead of North East Lincolnshire Council. I have now corrected the title.

--
Ben Harris, WhatDoTheyKnow volunteer.