Councillor declarations
Dear Oxfordshire County Council,
It is a matter of public record that, shortly before standing for office for Oxfordshire County Council, Charlie Hicks lived on a LTN boundary road in the Cowley part of Oxford, on a road that then had LTN planter installed on it.
It is also a matter of public record that, at this time, the house Charlie Hicks lived at is currently co-owned by Oxfordshire County Council's Active & Healthy Travel Officer, Patrick Lingwood.
It is also a matter of public record that, following his election to Oxfordshire County Council, Charlie Hicks became deputy chair of the Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee, a committee that effectively scrutinises OCCs LTN policies.
A recent complaint to OCC's monitoring officer has revealed that Charlie Hicks continued to live at the house belonging to Patrick Lingwood (i.e. on a road with an LTN planter on it) after being elected to OCC as a councillor, right up until the month before he became deputy chair of the Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee.
It has been concluded by the monitoring officer that this close accommodation-based relationship between an officer with responsibility for active travel and an councillor now responsible for scunitising activity travel, is acceptable, notwithstanding that both lived on a closed LTN road. "The complaint is in relation to an address that the Subject Councillor previously lived at and was disclosed on his register of interests at the relevant time (May 2021).". "The Subject Councillor no longer lives at the address in question, nor were they living there at the material times of the complaint."
I would like to be provided with all relevant declarations made by Charlie Hicks relating to relation to his accommodation / relationship with Patrick Lingwood, made between his election to OCC in May 2021 and his move-out date (August 2021) from Patrick Lingwood's property. These declarations do not appear to be in the public domain currently. If any are, please direct me to them.
I wish to see not only Charlie Hicks's OCC declaration following his election to office, but also his declarations at all relevant OCC meetings, where declations of this type of relationship might reasonably be expected to be made. In particular, I would like to see any declarations made by Charlie Hicks at OCC meetings where active travel / LTNs issues were discussed, irrespective of whether or not those meetings were public meetings.
The public interest in disclosure of these declations can be justified in light of the road that both lived on (closed under the LTN scheme), and the direct policy linkage between Patrick Lingwood's job and Charlie Hick's later job scrutinising policies promoted by Patrick Lingwood.
That said, I would be happy for Charlie's address to be redacted in your response, even though these details are already in the public domain, on official Land Registry records (Patrick Lingwood's property address) / OCC paperwork (Charlie Hick's former Cowley address), both of which are available online.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Parnham
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FOI Team
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Dear Mr Parnham,
Our reference 22725 EIR
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) in
which you asked for the following information:
It is a matter of public record that, shortly before standing for office
for Oxfordshire County Council, Charlie Hicks lived on a LTN boundary road
in the Cowley part of Oxford, on a road that then had an LTN planter
installed on it.
It is also a matter of public record that, at this time, the house Charlie
Hicks lived at is currently co-owned by Oxfordshire County Council's
Active & Healthy Travel Officer, Patrick Lingwood.
It is also a matter of public record that, following his election to
Oxfordshire County Council, Charlie Hicks became deputy chair of the Place
Overview & Scrutiny Committee, a committee that effectively scrutinises
OCCs LTN policies, promoted by Patrick Lingwood.
A recent complaint to OCC's monitoring officer has revealed that Charlie
Hicks continued to live at the house belonging to Patrick Lingwood (i.e.,
on a road with an LTN planter on it) after being elected to OCC as a
councillor in May 2021, right up until the month before he became deputy
chair of the Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee, which happened in
September 2021.
It has been concluded by the monitoring officer that this close
accommodation-based relationship between Patrick Lingwood, an officer with
responsibility for active travel and Charlie Hicks, an councillor now
responsible for scunitising activity travel, is acceptable,
notwithstanding that both lived on a closed LTN road. "The complaint is in
relation to an address that the Subject Councillor previously lived at and
was disclosed on his register of interests at the relevant time (May
2021).". "The Subject Councillor no longer lives at the address in
question, nor were they living there at the material times of the
complaint."
In light of the above, I would like to be provided with all relevant
declarations made by Patrick Lingwood relating to:
a) the LTN policy for Cowley from initial formation onwards - i.e. up to
and including the decision regarding replacing the physical barriers with
an APNR alternative.
b) Mr Lingwood's accommodation arrangements with Charlie Hicks from the
point that Charlie became a councillor for Cowley until his move out date
(August 2021).
I wish to all of Patrick Lingwood's OCC declaration regarding his home
ownership and / or living arrangements with Charlie Hicks, where
declarations of this type of relationship might reasonably be expected to
be made. In particular, I would like to see any declarations made by
Patrick Lingwood at OCC meetings where active travel / LTNs issues were
discussed, irrespective of whether or not those meetings were public
meetings.
I do not believe officer's declarations are routinely made public - please
direct me to them if they are. If Mr Lingwood's declarations are not
already in the public domain, the public interest in disclosure of these
declarations can be justified in light of the road Mr Lingwood lived on a
road that a policy he promoted helped close to through traffic, and the
direct policy linkage between Patrick Lingwood's job and Charlie Hick's
later job scrutinising policies promoted by Patrick Lingwood.
That said, I would be happy for Mr Lingwood's address to be redacted in
your response, even though these details are already in the public domain,
on official Land Registry records (Patrick Lingwood's property address) /
OCC paperwork (Charlie Hick's former Cowley address), both of which are
available online.
We are writing to acknowledge your request. Your request has been logged
under reference 22725 FOI.
Your request is being considered and we aim to send your response by 25
January 2024 in accordance with the Legislation. However, if there are
circumstances where this is not possible, we will write to further inform
you of when you will expect to receive your response.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further enquiries
about your request, quoting your reference number above.
Kind regards
Renata
Renata Malinowski
FOI Support Officer
Voice of the Customer Team
Oxfordshire County Council
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Our reference: 22725 FOI
Dear Richard Parnham
Thank you for your request of 22^nd December 2023 in which you asked for
the following information:
Your Request
I would like to be provided with all relevant declarations made by Charlie
Hicks relating to relation to his accommodation / relationship with
Patrick Lingwood, made between his election to OCC in May 2021 and his
move-out date (August 2021) from Patrick Lingwood's property. These
declarations do not appear to be in the public domain currently. If any
are, please direct me to them.
I wish to see not only Charlie Hicks's OCC declaration following his
election to office, but also his declarations at all relevant OCC
meetings, where declarations of this type of relationship might reasonably
be expected to be made. In particular, I would like to see any
declarations made by Charlie Hicks at OCC meetings where active travel /
LTNs issues were discussed, irrespective of whether or not those meetings
were public meetings.
Our Response
We attach the Register of Interests published for Councillor Hicks on his
election to the Council in May 2021. On 9 September 2021, the Monitoring
Officer, Anita Bradley, agreed to a request from Councillor Hicks to
remove his address from the council website, including the Register of
Interests. On the Register of Interests his entry under “Land” has
subsequently been shown as “Sensitive interest”.
He is one of a number of councillors who have asked for their addresses
not to be published out of concerns that it might expose them to
unacceptable behaviour by some people opposed to their views.
With regard to declaration of interests, when councillors make a
declaration of interest at full Council, Cabinet and committee meetings,
it is included in the minutes under that item. The minutes of meetings
are available on the website [1]Browse Meetings, 2024 | Oxfordshire County
Council
We do not hold information relating to the declaration of interests by
councillors at other meetings.
Internal review
If you are dissatisfied with the service or response to your request, you
can ask for an internal review as follows:
· Contact the Freedom of Information team in Law &
Governance: [2][Oxfordshire County Council request email]
· Write to the Freedom of Information team at the FREEPOST
address:
Freedom of Information Team
Oxfordshire County Council
FREEPOST (RTLL-ECKS-GLUA)
Oxford OX1 1YA
If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, 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: [3]www.ico.gov.uk
Please let me know if you have further enquiries. I would be grateful if
you could use the reference number given at the top of this email.
Yours sincerely,
James Willoughby
Access to Information Team Leader
Law & Governance
Customers, Culture and Corporate Services
Oxfordshire County Council, New Road, Oxford, OX1 1ND
Email : [4][email address]
My working hours are Monday to Friday 6:00 AM to 3:30 PM
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If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
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References
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4. mailto:[email address]
5. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
6. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...
Dear Individual Rights,
I am writing to ask for an internal review of the information (not) provided to me in 22725 FOI.
Please check (again) whether Charlie Hicks attended any internal OCC meetings (not cabinet, full council etc, details of which are in the public domain) in which active travel was discussed, in the period immediately after he was elected until his move-out date (August 2021) from Patrick Lingwood's property.
This is a short window of scrutiny, and I think it's reasonable to be provided with any such declarations made by Charlie at such meetings as part of this FOI request. I do not know when (and if) such meetings occurred, because they are not made public. OCC will know, because they have access to the OCC active travel team (and Charlie's) electronic diaries for this period, and will have the minutes of any relevant meetings.
Given that he was living in a (shut) LTN boundary road at the time, in a house belonging to Patrick Lingwood (i.e. OCC's active travel lead), one assumes that Charlie Hicks would have voluntarily declared an interest in any such meetings, along the lines of "my landlord plays a leading role in this policy," or "I live on a road directly affected by this policy."
If he didn't, then I want to be absolutely clear that he didn't. I want to know on what evidential basis that the monitoring officer and independent person came to a conclusion that all relevant declarations were made. A singular declaration (of an registered home address), without any context to explain the significance of that address, does not appear to be a substantial evidence base on which to conclude that all necessary declarations were made. I am expecting more. Please provide it, if such declarations from Charlie exist.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Parnham
Dear Mr Parnham
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) for
an Internal Review of your initial request.
The review will be undertaken by an officer that was not involved in the
original handling of your request. As part of the review, they will
consider how your original request was handled.
You will receive your response no later than 26^th February
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further enquiries
about your request, quoting your reference number above.
Kind Regards
Lucy
Senior Freedom of Information Officer
Voice of the Customer Team
Customers and Organisational Development
Oxfordshire County Council
Email: [1][email address]
Dear Richard Parnham,
Initially, I would like to offer my apologies in the time lapsed since your email dated 29th January 2024 requesting a review of the information provided to you under 22725 FOI.
I can confirm that an internal review of 22725 FOI has been conducted and I attach a letter outlining the findings.
has been held, and attached is a letter outlining the findings of said review.
Kind Regards
Access to Information Team
On Behalf of - 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. email disclaimer<https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...>. For information about how Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see our Privacy Notice.<https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...>
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