Chief executive

The request was partially successful.

Dear Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority,

I would like to receive all emails and documents (including drafts or ones which have been deleted) and minutes and details of meetings which are related in any way to the departure of Martin Whiteley.

I would like to find out why he left and to see his notice of resignation.

I also want to find out whether he has signed any agreement with the combined authority in relation to his departure (e.g. a confidentiality agreement) and when his departure was triggered (for example, when he handed in his resignation notice).

In addition, I want to find out how long he will continue to be paid for and if he received any extra financial (or other) benefit as a result of him leaving. And if so, what this was.

Yours faithfully,

Joel Lamy

Contact Us, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

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Dear Mr Lamy
 
Thank you for your email. Your request will be dealt with in line with the
Freedom of Information Act and its regulations. In accordance with the
Act, the Combined Authority aims to respond to all requests within 20
working days, in this instance by 19 October 2018.
 
If we require further information, clarification or a fee in order to
fulfil your request we will contact you again.
 
Please quote reference number CA21 in all future correspondence concerning
this request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Contact Us, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

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Dear Mr Lamy
 
Ref No: CA21
 
Thank you for your email of 20 September where you requested information
about the Chief Executive.
 
From our preliminary assessment, it is clear that we will not be able to
answer your request without further clarification.
 
We require further information in order to identify and locate the
information you have asked for.  In regarding to your request for ‘all
emails and documents’, would you please let me know what timescale you
require and the names of who you would like to receive correspondence
from/to.
 
Once you have clarified your request, I will be able to begin to process
your request. If I do not receive clarification within three months your
request will be considered to have lapsed. Please note that under section
1(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, a public authority need not
comply with a request unless any further information reasonably required
to locate the information is supplied.
 
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Dear Contact Us,

Thank you for seeking the clarification.

The timescale is from the start of Mr Whiteley's tenure as interim chief executive to the present day.

I wish to see correspondence to and from all members of the combined authority.

Yours sincerely,

Joel Lamy

Susan Hall, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

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Dear Mr Lamy

 

We are in the process of compiling our reply to your Freedom of
Information Request and, out of courtesy, I am writing to let you know
that you will receive a response next week.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay.

 

 

[1]Sue H Email Footer

 

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Contact Us, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Lamy

 

Please find attached the response to CA21.

 

[1]Sue H Email Footer

 

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Richard Taylor left an annotation ()

The response reveals ex Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Chief Executive Martin Whiteley was handed £94,500 of public money on leaving the role.

This has been reported locally:

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news...
http://www.cambstimes.co.uk/news/combine...
https://twitter.com/BBCCambs/status/1055...
https://twitter.com/JoshThomasLDR/status...
https://twitter.com/Hannahjourno/status/...

Dear Contact Us,

Thank you for the responses to my questions.

I would like to request an internal review over two exemptions.

Firstly, I said: "I would like to receive all emails and documents (including drafts or ones which have
been deleted) and minutes and details of meetings which are related in any way to the
departure of Martin Whiteley."

Official information should be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. This includes information on public body email accounts. A blanket ban on providing this information goes against the provisions of the act.

Moreover, your response states that I have requested information over a "prolonged period of time". Seeing as Mr Whiteley had been in office just a year when he left, and I was only asking for information about his departure, I fail to see how this classes as a prolonged period.

Secondly, I asked about any agreements Mr Whiteley had with the combined authority regarding his departure. You have told me about the Settlement Agreement. I would like to see a copy of this agreement (any personal information including addresses, bank details etc can be redacted) as I believe it is in the wider public interest.

The combined authority is a major public body spending hundreds of millions of pounds. Mr Whiteley's departure, and his large severance payment, have raised significant questions, and the public deserve to see the terms of the agreement as they are the ones who pay for the combined authority to operate, and indeed any salaries/payments.

Moreover, data protection law has journalism and public interest exemptions. I believe on this occasion those make disclosure the right course of action.

Finally,

Yours sincerely,

Joel Lamy

Contact Us, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Lamy
 
Thank you for your email. Your request to review will be dealt with in
line with the Freedom of Information Act and its regulations. In
accordance with the Act, the Combined Authority aims to respond to all
requests within 20 working days, in this instance by 23 November.
 
If we require further information, clarification or a fee in order to
fulfil your request we will contact you again.
 
Please quote the reference CA21  in all future correspondence concerning
this request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
 
 

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Rupert Moss-Eccardt left an annotation ()

It looks (from other news reports) that the Authority are about to make a mistake. Kim Sawyer is quoted as saying the ex-CEO has been spoken with and doesn't want any more of his personal details being published.

This is a hint that they are relying on the commercial confidentiality and personal data qualified exemptions without realising that the "public interest" at CEO level is much stronger than at lower grades and, in summary, the CEO gets very little choice.

Susan Hall, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Lamy

 

Please find attached the response to the internal review.

 

Regards

 

 

[1]Sue H Email Footer

 

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Rupert Moss-Eccardt left an annotation ()

Oh dear. Paul Raynes fails in one of his first duties in the new role.
I would have expected acknowledgement that this is often a qualified exemption and the public interest test should have been applied.