Bequest of Haulfre

The request was partially successful.

Beaumaris Town Councl

Dear Isle of Anglesey Council,

In 1967 James Chadwick bequeathed Haulfre its land and buildings and various personal chattels to the County Council for use as an old people’s home. The will also set up a trust fund, the annual income from which was to be used in connection with an old people’s home.

The Town Council request that you provide the following information:

1. What property etc. did the county council receive as a result of this bequest.
2. Is all the property still owned. If not what has been disposed of, when and for what sums.
3. What income has been received from the trust fund.
4. What income has been generated from other parts of the bequest (for example the land and buildings attached to Haulfre).

Yours faithfully,

Prof TW Ashenden
Town Clerk
Beaumaris Town Council

Legal Policy,

I write to acknowledge receipt of your request, made under access to information legislation, for information held by the Council.

Please be advised that, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, we aim to respond to your request within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Beryl Jones

Information Compliance Officer
Isle of Anglesey County Council

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Beaumaris Town Councl

Dear Beryl Jones

The 20 day deadline for responding to our request has now passed. The law required you to provide a response promptly and by 5 December.

Please provide the information requested as a matter or urgency.

Yours sincerely

Prof Trevor Ashenden
Town Clerk
Beaumaris Town Council

Legal Policy,

Dear Prof Ashenden,
Please accept my apology for the delay in responding .
I am currently awaiting some further information in order to be able to fully respond to your request and
I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can.

Regards

Beryl Jones
Information Compliance Officer.

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Legal Policy,

1 Attachment

Dear Professor Ashenden,

Please see attached our response to your FOIU request and please accept my apologies for the delay.

Regards

Beryl Jones
Information Compliance Officer.

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Beaumaris Town Councl

Dear Beryl Jones, Information Compliance Officer

REQUEST FOR INTERNAL REVIEW

Thank you for your response to the council's FOI request which was discussed at their meeting on 17 December 2012.

Councillors expressed surprise that the records of the bequest were incomplete and that in particular there appeared to be no audit trail relating to the trust fund that had been set up. The council notes that a separate FOI request to Gwynedd County Council has identified that a file relating to the trust fund (JF Chadwick Haulfre Trust Fund ref GSS/E/2/14B) was transferred to Anglesey County Council – probably on local government reorganisation in 1996.

The will clearly sets up a trust fund, the income from which was to be used for the benefit of the old people’s home. It is to be expected that sufficient records were kept to demonstrate that the fund was appropriately managed and used. There is evidence that some records at least existed in the 1990’s.

Beaumaris Town Council therefore requests that you conduct an internal review of your response in particular to locate the records relating to the management of the trust fund.

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

Yours faithfully,

Prof Trevor Ashenden
Town Clerk
Beaumaris Town Council

Legal Policy,

1 Attachment

Dear Prof Ashenden,
Please see attached letter confirming that your request for an Internal Review has been registered.

Regards

Beryl Jones

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Beaumaris Town Councl

Dear Beryl Jones

Thank you for your acknowledgement of our request for an internal review (ref CCO/381).

You said that it should have been completed in 20-30 days (i.e. by 6 March). We do not appear to have received a reply yet. I would be grateful if you would provide one as soon as possible.

ICO good practice guidelines on internal reviews suggest that organisations should so aim to complete internal reviews within 20 days.

Yours sincerely,

Prof Trevor Ashenden
Beaumaris Town Council

Legal Policy,

Dear Professor Ashenden,
Further to your e-mail below, please accept my apologies for the delay in holding the Internal Review.

Internal Reviews have to be undertaken by the "Responsible" officer in order that an objective view of the original response can be taken. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, the Responsible Officer has not been available to undertake this work.

It is anticipated that the Internal Review into your response should be held in the next two weeks and unfortunately, I cannot provide you with a more definite estimation of timescale.

I will get back to you with the result of the Internal Review as soon as I am able.

Regards

Beryl Jones
Customer Care Officer.

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Beaumaris Town Councl

Dear Beryl Jones

The Town Council discussed this Freedom of Information request at their meeting on 22 April.

They were unhappy that the internal review has dragged on for so long. While there is no statutory time limit on internal reviews the Information Commissioner's good practice guidelines are that organisations should have procedures in place to allow reviews to be completed within 20 working days.

The Councillors have instructed me to write asking that the internal review be completed at the earliest opportunity. If the information requested has not been provided by 14 May (10 working days from today) the Council will be escalating the matter to the Information Commissioner.

Yours sincerely

Professor Trevor Ashenden
Town Clerk
Beaumaris Town Council

Legal Policy,

2 Attachments

Dear Professor Ashenden,
Please see attached letter and Internal Review decision.

Regards

Beryl Jones
Information Compliance Officer.

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Beaumaris Town Councl left an annotation ()

Beaumaris Town Council have lodged a complaint with the Information Commissioner about this request. It is the Town Council's view that Anglesey County Council's inability to fully account for the request means that they are in breach of the Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice on records management in particular the requirements to: know what records are held, know where they are, and be able to explain why records are no longer held.