Correspondence and e-mails regarding the ex-Royal British Legion site

The request was successful.

Dear Swansea Council,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with copies of the following: ·

Copies of all correspondence and e-mails between the Council (its members and officials) and other parties regarding the ex-Royal British Legion site in Newton Road since January 2009.

I understand that under the Act I am entitled to a response within 20 working days of your receipt of this request. Some parts of the request may be easier to answer than others. Should this be the case, I request that you release information as soon as possible.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees.

I would prefer to receive the information electronically.

If you require any clarification, I expect you to contact me under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance if you find any aspect of this FOI request problematic.

Please acknowledge receipt of this request, and I look forward to receiving the information in the near future.

Yours faithfully,

H. M. Banham

Barnett, Marc, Swansea Council

1 Attachment

Brown, Andrew (Culture & Rec), Swansea Council

 

Dear H. M. Banham,

 

Thank you for your request for information dated the 23rd November in
which you requested:

 

Copies of all correspondence and e-mails between the Council (its members
and officials) and other parties regarding the ex-RoyalBritish Legion site
in Newton Road since January 2009.

    

I understand that under the Act I am entitled to a response within 20
working days of your receipt of this request. Some parts of the request
may be easier to answer than others. Should this be the case, I request
that you release information as soon as possible.

    

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all
deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also
expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to
appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive
fees.

     

I would prefer to receive the information electronically.

 

If you require any clarification, I expect you to contact me under your
section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance if you find any aspect of
this FOI request problematic.

    

Please acknowledge receipt of this request, and I look forward to
receiving the information in the near future.

 

This request has been handled under the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004, (not under the Freedom of Information Act as requested),
because the information is “environmental information”.

 

Under the Regulations; the Authority can refuse to respond to a request or
part of a request if it believes that an exception applies. The Authority
believes that an exception does apply to the identity and subject of the
complaint under Regulations 12(3) and 13 which relate to the personal data
of third parties. An exception applies to the personal data of a third
party under Regulations 12(3) and 13 if its disclosure to a member of the
public would contravene one or more of the data protection principles. The
Authority believes that disclosure of personal data relating to a third
party will breach the first data protection principle of fair and lawful
processing.

 

There is a legitimate expectation by the third parties that this
information would remain confidential and it would not be fair to them to
disclose to the public. Regulations 12 and 13 are subject to the public
interest test in that the Authority, having decided that an exception does
apply, must also determine whether or not it is in the public interest to
disclose this information. The Authority has carefully considered the
arguments for disclosing the personal information of third parties and has
decided that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in
maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the
information.

 

Under regulation 12(5)(b) a public authority can refuse to disclose
information to the extent that its disclosure would adversely affect the
course of justice, the ability of a person to receive a fair trial or the
ability of a public authority to conduct an inquiry of a criminal or
disciplinary nature.

The withheld information in this case consists of correspondence which
relates to prospective planning enforcement which the Council has a duty
to investigate under Planning law. The Authority has carefully considered
the arguments for disclosing the information and has decided that in all
the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the
exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request a review by writing to the Corporate Complaints
Manager, City & County of Swansea, Room 2.2.3, The Civic Centre, Swansea
SA1 3SN.

 

If you are still unhappy with the handling of your request, you have a
right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

 

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office – Wales,

2nd Floor, Churchill House,

Churchill Way,

Cardiff CF10 2HH

Telephone: 029 2067 8400

E-mail: [1][email address]

 

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Andrew Brown MSc. Econ. Records Management

 

Freedom of Information Officer Directorate of Place

01792 (63) 6590

 

[2][email address]

Records Management Service, Room 2.4.5, Civic Centre, Swansea. SA1 3SN

 

 

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References

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2. mailto:[email address]

Dear Swansea Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Swansea Council's handling of my FOI request 'Correspondence and e-mails regarding the ex-Royal British Legion site'.

I am requesting a review because the FoI request I made regarding the British Legion car park in Mumbles was refused. I made two identical requests for information about correspondence regarding this site, one to Swansea Council, and one to the Mumbles Community Council.

Mumbles Community Council have responded by providing a series of emails between themselves and Swansea Planning Department on the subject.

I light of this, I question why Swansea Council have refused to provide the very same information to me, and also whether other information has been withheld that should be available.

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,

H. M. Banham

Davies, Jan, Swansea Council

Dear Mr Banham,

Thank you for your email. This has been passed to Andrew Taylor, Complaints Manager, who will undertake the review of your request and a further response will follow in due course.

Regards,
Jan Davies
Corporate Complaints

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Taylor, Andrew, Swansea Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Banham

 

Please find attached review response letter, together with additional
information.

 

Regards

 

Andrew Taylor 

Complaints Manager, City & County of Swansea
01792 63 7290

 

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Dear Taylor, Andrew,
Thank you for the information you have made available. I am requesting now that you provide the same information without the redactions.

I have two reasons for requesting this.

The first is a matter of principle. It must be right that the names of public servants acting in the course of their work, should be available to the public.

The second reason is that Mumbles Community Council have provided me with their side of the correspondence without redactions, and therefore the names of the parties sending and receiving the emails, together with persons referenced in those emails, are already a matter of public record.

For the avoidance of doubt, the emails are mainly between Planning Department employees Rhian Ball and Rob Latham, and the Clerk to Mumbles Community Council, Steve Heydon.
Emails have been copied to Thomas Ryan and Chris Healey of Swansea Planning Department, and Councillor Tony Colburn. The subject of the complaint is named as Pittsburgh Holdings.

Yours sincerely,

H. M. Banham

Taylor, Andrew, Swansea Council

Dear Mr Banham

Thank you for your email. I will make enquiries and respond further in due course.

Regards

Andrew Taylor 
Complaints Manager, City & County of Swansea
01792 63 7290

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H. M. Banham left an annotation ()

My request was initially denied, and then when I asked for a review I received redacted information. I have latterly requested the same information without redactions, and I have had an acknowledgement. I am still waiting for the full details of my original request.

Taylor, Andrew, Swansea Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Banham

 

Please find attached further letter and revised information

 

Regards

 

Andrew Taylor 

Complaints Manager, City & County of Swansea
01792 63 7290

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