Tony Redmond's documentation

Dear Local Government Ombudsmen,

A. Please forward copies of the documentation Tony Redmond supplied to support his claim for re-imbursement of £2898.20 spent on flights to Australia in May 2005. B. Please name the post of the person the supporting documents were supplied to and the post of the person who authorised payment of the re-imbursement.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Lumb

Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Dear Mr Lumb

Our ref: CS/10/088

This is to acknowledge receipt of your I request below received on 30 July. I will respond within the 20 working day target (which would be by 27 August 2010) or, if unable to do so, I will write to you again explaining why.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | DL: 020 7217 4734 |
Local Government Ombudsman's office | 10th Floor |
Millbank Tower | Millbank | London | SW1P 4QP |
www.lgo.org.uk |

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Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Lumb

I attach a letter in response to the request below.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | DL: 020 7217 4734 |
Local Government Ombudsman's office | 10th Floor |
Millbank Tower | Millbank | London | SW1P 4QP |
www.lgo.org.uk |

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mr lumb left an annotation ()

The answer was

Dear Mr Lumb

Request for information

In your email of 30 July you asked for copies of the documentation Tony Redmond supplied to support his claim for reimbursement of £2898.20 spent on flights to Australia in May 2005. You also asked for the name of the post of the person the supporting documents were supplied to and the post of the person who authorised payment of the reimbursement.

I will not send you copies of any documentation Mr Redmond supplied to support his reimbursement claim. Information has already been disclosed on what Mr Redmond claimed for on his trip to Australia - ie £2,898.20 for his flights there and back, £266.20 for internal flights, £122.30 for taxis, £576.12 for hotels, and £241.11 for subsistence. The Freedom of Information Act entitles members of the public to information - it does not entitle them to documents. The claim has been properly authorised, by the Deputy Chief Executive and Secretary, processed by our Finance Department. Expenses claims are audited in accordance with recognised procedures.

Dear Ms Pook,

Thank you. I know what figures have been given. The information held that I am requesting sight of is not the figures given previously. It is the other information on the documents that I wish to see. May I please have copies of the documents so that I may have the information held.

Yours sincerely,

mr lumb

Trevor R Nunn left an annotation ()

You are only legally entitled to information held not copies of documents. Although is is often easier for them to send a copy of a document they don't have to.

Anne Hide left an annotation ()

"Among quango chiefs now seen as vulnerable is former Labour Culture Secretary Lord Smith, chairman of the £1billion a year plus Environment Agency.......A second job on the line is that of Penny Ciniewicz, who took over last year as £105,000-a-year head of the Valuation Office Agency...Officials have also been criticised for taking expensive trips abroad to discuss tax with foreign counterparts."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...

Tony Redmond has also taken expensive trips abroad to discuss ombudsman issues with foreign counter parts!

Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Dear Mr Lumb

Perhaps you can tell what information it is that you want, then I can decide whether or not I can disclose it to you.
As explained in my letter, you are only entitled to ask for information, not for documents. You are again asking for documents.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | DL: 020 7217 4734 |
Local Government Ombudsman's office | 10th Floor |
Millbank Tower | Millbank | London | SW1P 4QP |
www.lgo.org.uk |

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Trevor R Nunn left an annotation ()

It is quite clear to an officious bystander what information you have requested.

However, In the short term I suggest you play Mrs Pook's game and make a slight amendment to your request by asking for any and all information in any and all documentation Tony Redmond supplied to support his claim for re-imbursement of £2898.20 spent on flights to Australia in May 2005. B. Please name the post of the person the supporting documents were supplied to and the post of the person who authorised payment of the re-reimbursement.

If Mrs Pook wants to make herself look like an idiot by playing silly word games so be it.

Alex Skene left an annotation ()

"Information not documents" is not a valid excuse - please see http://foiwiki.com/foiwiki/index.php/ICO...

Dear Local Government Ombudsmen,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Local Government Ombudsmen's handling of my FOI request 'Tony Redmond's documentation'.

My request was refused. The reason given was that the FOI Act is about information and not documents.

I refer to the following(from Wikipedia).

"Information, Not Documents"
The following ICO Decision Notice (FS50076355) shows that the Act
should allow for provision of documents under most circumstances.

Paragraph 18

"Defra has advised the Commissioner that public authorities are
only required to release information, not documents. Consequently,
it believes that to provide a summary is adequate. The Commissioner
does not accept this view. The Act provides a right of access to
recorded information held by a public authority. This will normally
be fulfilled through access to existing documents or electronic
media, though in some cases the information can, or should, be
disclosed through other means. The Commissioner’s approach is
consistent with paragraph 6 of the Explanatory Notes to the Act
which states that the Act provides access to documents, or copies
of documents as well as to information."

This is backed up by the Ministry of Justice in their FOI guidance:

"The right of access in the Freedom of Information Act is to
information not documents. However, if the requester asks for the
information to be made available in a particular way, you must
comply with this so far as is reasonably practical ... Sometimes
applicants will request information in a particular form, perhaps
asking for a copy of the minutes of a particular meeting. If it is
reasonable to comply with an applicant's request as to the form in
which information is disclosed, you are obliged to comply with that requested"

The ICO has a relevant "Line to take" policy document: LTT171

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

Yours faithfully,

mr lumb

Trevor R Nunn left an annotation ()

From Ms Pook's response "I will not send you copies of any documentation Mr Redmond supplied to support his reimbursement claim."

I doubt, other than receipts, any other documentation existed at the time. However, they may now decide to fabricate some, as they have done with other FOI requests, rather than admit none previously exist.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/to...

Dear Hilary Pook,

When will this review be complete, please?

Yours sincerely,

mr lumb

Foi Officer, The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Lumb

I attach a letter in response to your request for a review below.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook
Communications & Records Manager | DL: 020 7217 4734 |
Local Government Ombudsman's office | 10th Floor |
Millbank Tower | Millbank | London | SW1P 4QP |
www.lgo.org.uk |

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