Complaints against Members
Dear Oxfordshire County Council,
Please supply a summary of complaints made against Councillors to the Monitoring Officer in the calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date. Please list the complaints, the member concerned, a summary of the nature of the complaint and the stage the complaint was resolved at.
For all complaints where a Decision Notice was issued, please attach this notice.
Yours faithfully,
Debbie
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FOI Team
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Our reference: 22278 FOI
Dear Ms Brooks,
Thank you for your request of 27 September 2023 in which you asked for the
following information:
Please supply a summary of complaints made against Councillors to the
Monitoring Officer in the calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date.
Please list the complaints, the member concerned, a summary of the nature
of the complaint and the stage the complaint was resolved at.
For all complaints where a Decision Notice was issued, please attach this
notice.
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 25 October 2023.
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
Renata Malinowski
Freedom of Information Support Officer
Voice of the Customer Team
Customers and Organisational Development
Oxfordshire County Council
Email: [1][email address]
[2]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. [3]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [4]Privacy Notice.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
3. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...
Our reference: 22278 FOI
Dear Ms Brooks
Please find attached the response to your request for information. On
behalf of the council I apologise for the delay in responding to your
request, a result of staff changing roles within the organisation.
Regards,
James Willoughby
Access to Information Team Leader
Law & Governance
Customers, Culture and Corporate Services
Oxfordshire County Council, New Road, Oxford, OX1 1ND
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. [1]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [2]Privacy Notice.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
2. 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 'Complaints against Members'.
My view is that the public interest in knowing what complaints have been raised and the outcome/decision outweighs any interest in keeping this confidential. There is a strong interest in maintaining democratic confidence by publishing at least a summary of the complaint, the name of the member as a public figure and the decision notice. Public confidence in this important democratic process is undermined by not publishing this information. Further a risk of 'embarrassment' is not a legitimate reason for not publishing - if a public figure has done something 'embarrassing' then there is a strong argument for publishing it. Details of complaints not upheld give confidence in a process
Further, I am disappointed that OCC remains extremely slow in responding to requests.
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,
Debbie
Dear Debbie
Thank you for your email.
Unfortunately the Council is not able to accept your request for an
Internal Review as it has been over 40 working days since our response was
sent to you in October.
You therefore need to submit a new request for consideration.
Kind Regards
Lucy
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Voice of the Customer Team
Customers and Organisational Development
Oxfordshire County Council
Email: [1][email address]
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Debbie <[FOI #1032134 email]>
Sent: 24 February 2024 15:14
To: FOI Team <[Oxfordshire County Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Complaints
against Members
[You don't often get email from
[FOI #1032134 email]. Learn why this is important
at [2]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organisation. Do not
click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know
the content is safe.
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 'Complaints against Members'.
My view is that the public interest in knowing what complaints have been
raised and the outcome/decision outweighs any interest in keeping this
confidential. There is a strong interest in maintaining democratic
confidence by publishing at least a summary of the complaint, the name of
the member as a public figure and the decision notice. Public confidence
in this important democratic process is undermined by not publishing this
information. Further a risk of 'embarrassment' is not a legitimate reason
for not publishing - if a public figure has done something 'embarrassing'
then there is a strong argument for publishing it. Details of complaints
not upheld give confidence in a process
Further, I am disappointed that OCC remains extremely slow in responding
to requests.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[3]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
Debbie
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #1032134 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
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[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
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If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
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 'Complaints against Members'.
In your response you say you have refused to undertake an internal review as it is more than 40 days since you replied.
I do not believe you can rely on this as the FOI code of practice at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...
states that you must draw attention to this 40 day limit in your original response which you did not do. It is therefore unreasonable to rely on this period as you have not yourselves followed the requirements for handling an FOI.
"5.3 It is usual practice to accept a request for an internal review made within 40 working days
from the date a public authority has issued an initial response to a request and this should be
made clear in that response to the applicant. Public authorities are not obliged to accept
internal reviews after this date. Internal review requests should be made in writing to a public
authority."
As such my original request for an internal review is, i believe valid and is repeated now.
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,
Debbie
Dear Debbie
In accordance with the County Council's policy, and also the guidance
issued by the Information Commissioner Officer to public authorities,
requests for internal reviews must be made within 40 working days from the
day the initial response was sent to you.
In this case, the Council responded to you on 31^st October 2023.
40 working days from that date was 28^th December, and we had not received
any request for internal review from you.
You submitted your internal review request on 24^th February 2024, which
is 80 working days, therefore it is has not been accepted.
You can submit a new request for consideration, but this internal review
request will not be dealt with as it is outside the 40 working days.
Kind Regards
Lucy
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Voice of the Customer Team
Customers and Organisational Development
Oxfordshire County Council
Email: [1][email address]
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Debbie <[FOI #1032134 email]>
Sent: 29 February 2024 20:29
To: FOI Team <[Oxfordshire County Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Complaints
against Members
[You don't often get email from
[FOI #1032134 email]. Learn why this is important
at [2]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organisation. Do not
click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know
the content is safe.
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 'Complaints against Members'.
In your response you say you have refused to undertake an internal review
as it is more than 40 days since you replied.
I do not believe you can rely on this as the FOI code of practice at:
[3]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...
states that you must draw attention to this 40 day limit in your original
response which you did not do. It is therefore unreasonable to rely on
this period as you have not yourselves followed the requirements for
handling an FOI.
"5.3 It is usual practice to accept a request for an internal review made
within 40 working days
from the date a public authority has issued an initial response to a
request and this should be
made clear in that response to the applicant. Public authorities are not
obliged to accept
internal reviews after this date. Internal review requests should be made
in writing to a public
authority."
As such my original request for an internal review is, i believe valid and
is repeated now.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
Debbie
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #1032134 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
[7]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
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