Car parking charge increases
Dear Oxfordshire County Council,
One page 75 (p63 as marked) of the OCC cabinet papers from Tuesday 18th January, plans were announced to increase three-hour parking charges from £5 to £18. As described on page, the paperwork indicated the price increases would apply to Oxford’s “central area”. In fact, it was later discovered that the council paperwork announcing these car parking increases appeared to contain errors. Rather than just affecting the central area, it is my understanding that the planned car parking increases instead impacts on some (or all) of “zone 2” area of Oxford – that is: Walton Street, Great Clarendon Street, Northam Gardens, Northam Road, Fyfield Road, and Crick Road. But, due to errors in the paperwork, the hours of operation of the scheme remain unclear - no public documents have been produced to correct this error. It is also unclear which roads are affected by Cabinet's decision at that meeting to reduce (some or all?) of the proposed increases for three hours car parking from £18 to £15.
Please therefore me with:
1) details of the specific streets that will be affected by the £18 / £15 car parking charge plan (i.e. maps, street lists etc)
2) details of the precise times / days will be affected by the £18 / £15 car parking charge plan ;
3) details of which streets / times will be affected by the £18 / £15 car parking charge plan, in the event that some streets will be charged at £15 and others at £18 for three hours parking.
4) a copy of any council motion, decision etc, which specifically permits the cessation of the current "Zone 2" Oxford car parking zoning arrangements (which this policy appears to do);
5) any non-privileged correspondence which discusses whether these proposals are compliant with competition law and / or other public law principles (i.e. rationality, reasonableness, proportionality etc)
If OCC does not have any these materials available, please confirm that also.
Richard Parnham
Our reference: 19449 FOI
Dear Mr Parnham,
Thank you for your correspondence received on 08 February 2022 in which
you asked for the following information:
One page 75 (p63 as marked) of the OCC cabinet papers from Tuesday 18th
January, plans were announced to increase three-hour parking charges from
£5 to £18. As described on page, the paperwork indicated the price
increases would apply to Oxford’s “central area”. In fact, it was later
discovered that the council paperwork announcing these car parking
increases appeared to contain errors. Rather than just affecting the
central area, it is my understanding that the planned car parking
increases instead impacts on some (or all) of “zone 2” area of Oxford –
that is: Walton Street, Great Clarendon Street, Northam Gardens, Northam
Road, Fyfield Road, and Crick Road. But, due to errors in the paperwork,
the hours of operation of the scheme remain unclear - no public documents
have been produced to correct this error. It is also unclear which roads
are affected by Cabinet's decision at that meeting to reduce (some or
all?) of the proposed increases for three hours car parking from £18 to
£15.
Please therefore me with:
1) details of the specific streets that will be affected by the £18 / £15
car parking charge plan (i.e. maps, street lists etc)
2) details of the precise times / days will be affected by the £18 / £15
car parking charge plan ;
3) details of which streets / times will be affected by the £18 / £15 car
parking charge plan, in the event that some streets will be charged at £15
and others at £18 for three hours parking.
4) a copy of any council motion, decision etc, which specifically permits
the cessation of the current "Zone 2" Oxford car parking zoning
arrangements (which this policy appears to do);
5) any non-privileged correspondence which discusses whether these
proposals are compliant with competition law and / or other public law
principles (i.e. rationality, reasonableness, proportionality etc)
If OCC does not have any these materials available, please confirm that
also.
Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
requested as soon as possible and in any event within the next 20 working
days in compliance with the Environmental Information Regulations
2004/Freedom of Information Act 2000, unless an exception applies. This
means that the council will respond to you by the end of 08 March 2022 at
the latest.
If appropriate, the information requested can be made available in
alternative formats, including other languages, Braille, large print, and
audiocassette. If you require any of these formats then please let me
know.
Please contact me if you have any have further enquiries about your
request. I would be grateful if you could quote the reference number given
at the top of this email.
Kind regards
Renata Malinowski
Freedom of Information Support Officer
Law and Governance
Oxfordshire County Council
Email: [1]E&[email address] and
[2][email address]
[3]www.oxfrodshire.gov.uk
[4]cid:image001.jpg@01D6010C.B8A402C0
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Dear Mr Parnham,
Please find attached our response to your Freedom of Information Request.
Kind Regards
Renata Malinowski
Freedom of Information Support Officer
Joint Commissioning and E&E
Oxfordshire County Council
Email: [1][email address] and
[2]FOI-E&[email address]
This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of
Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. [3]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [4]Privacy Notice.
References
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2. mailto:FOI-E&[email address]
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4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...
Dear Oxfordshire County Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Oxfordshire County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Car parking charge increases'.
I specifically asked for any non-privileged correspondence which discusses whether these proposals are compliant with competition law and / or other public law principles (i.e. rationality, reasonableness,
proportionality etc). This may, for example, include any preliminary internal discussions between non-lawyer staff members or councillors, prior to to seeking legal instruction either from the council's lawyers or from external counsel . By making a blanket refusal to release this information, you seem to have expanded the scope of legal priveldege beyond its actual meaning, and potentially included correspondents who are not protected by it. Please revisit my request, and only exclude correspondence that is actually covered by legal privilege.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
Richard Parnham
Our reference: 19449 FOI IR
Dear Mr Parnham,
In accordance with the council's Freedom of Information policy, I will
arrange for an internal review of your request to be undertaken.
The review will be undertaken by a manager not involved in the original
handling of your request. In line with guidance from the Information
Commissioner’s Office, we will aim to provide a full response within 20
working days beginning the day your complaint was received. This means you
will receive a response by 08 07 April 2022..
Kind regards,
Renata Malinowski
Freedom of Information Support Officer
Email: [1]E&[email address] and
[2][email address]
[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D67C47.D9E2A5C0
Save money and paper - do you really need to print this email.
This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of
Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. [4]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [5]Privacy Notice.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:E&[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
5. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...
Our reference: 19449 FOI IR
Dear Mr Parnham,
Thank you for your email dated 10 March 2022. As you have indicated that
you are not satisfied with the response made by the County Council, the
issue has been referred to me to conduct an internal review.
My investigation
I have now completed an internal review of this matter and I have examined
how the original response was handled. On that latter point, I can see
that we replied within the statutory timeframe.
Your request dated 8 February 2022 asked for the following:
1) details of the specific streets that will be affected by the £18 / £15
car parking charge plan (i.e. maps, street lists etc)
2) details of the precise times / days will be affected by the £18 / £15
car parking charge plan ;
3) details of which streets / times will be affected by the £18 / £15 car
parking charge plan, in the event that some streets will be charged at £15
and others at £18 for three hours parking.
4) a copy of any council motion, decision etc, which specifically permits
the cessation of the current "Zone 2" Oxford car parking zoning
arrangements (which this policy appears to do);
5) any non-privileged correspondence which discusses whether these
proposals are compliant with competition law and / or other public law
principles (i.e. rationality, reasonableness, proportionality etc)
The Council responded to you on 8 March 2022, exempting information for
Questions 1-3 by virtue of Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act
(2000): information that is already reasonably accessible to the applicant
by other means, and provided responses to Questions 4 and 5 separately.
Following receipt of the Council’s response, on 10 March 2022 you
indicated that you would like an internal review of the response,
requesting that the Council review its answer to question 5:
I specifically asked for any non-privileged correspondence which discusses
whether these proposals are compliant with competition law and / or other
public law principles (i.e. rationality, reasonableness, proportionality
etc). This may, for example, include any preliminary internal discussions
between non-lawyer staff members or councillors, prior to seeking legal
instruction either from the council's lawyers or from external counsel .
By making a blanket refusal to release this information, you seem to have
expanded the scope of legal privilege beyond its actual meaning, and
potentially included correspondents who are not protected by it. Please
revisit my request, and only exclude correspondence that is actually
covered by legal privilege.
I have looked into the matter with the officers involved and have reviewed
the initial response and the information held by the Council. am satisfied
that the Council does not hold the requested information. I accept the
last sentence which is a general one could have caused confusion for which
I apologise. I can confirm though that the Council does not hold any
specific written correspondence or recorded meetings which discusses
whether these proposals are compliant with competition law and / or other
public law principles. Other than the public question and answer given at
Cabinet. I apologise that this wasn’t made clear in the initial response.
I trust that the Council’s position is now clear.
The Information Commissioner
I trust that this information now satisfies your request. However, if you
remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you
have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: [1]https://ico.org.uk/
Yours sincerely
Paul Fermer
Assistant Director Community Operations
Community Operations
Oxfordshire County Council
Email: [2][email address]
[3]www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of
Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. [4]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [5]Privacy Notice.
References
Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
5. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...
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