Councillors complicit in 'sham' fraud/perjury investigation into Council's Revenues & Benefits officers

Neil Gilliatt made this Freedom of Information request to North East Lincolnshire Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, North East Lincolnshire Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear North East Lincolnshire Council,

Re: http://legalbeagles.info/forums/showthre...

In reference to email sent by Peter Hanmer 23 June 2016 (see above link) concerning a 'sham' investigation into the council's Local Taxation and Benefits Team over allegations of fraud and perjury, please disclose the following:-

1) The names of all those referred to in the email as made up the 'audit team'

2) Of those in answer to Q1, who of them are elected members (please identify the head/chair)

3) Copies of all correspondence, court papers which were claimed to have been reviewed

4) The names of those who are referred to as 'key officers' who were claimed to have been interviewed

5) details of any elected members who have either stood down over the sham investigation or have been asked to (or will be asked to)

6) details of any disciplinary action that has or will be taken against those complicit in the sham

Yours faithfully,

Neil Gilliatt

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Gilliatt (aka fFaudwAtch UK)

 

Further to our correspondence of July 6th, we consider that this request
2748_1617, along with the large number of related requests submitted over
the past 4 of years under your own name and pseudonyms such as fFaudwAtch
UK through the ‘whatdotheyknow’ website, form a campaign intended to
frustrate and challenge the Council’s ability to effectively administer
and collect Council Tax in accordance with the Local Government Finance
Act 1992.

 

Despite the Council answering and directing you to the information you
require, and signposting you to the established procedures in place to
formally challenge Council Tax decisions, you have continued to submit
regular and overlapping requests challenging the administration and
collection of Council Tax by the Council. This unreasonable persistence
and intransigence, is placing an unreasonable burden on the resources of
the Council. Further the inclusion in your requests of unfounded
accusations and the targeting of individuals addressing the issues you
have raised, appears to be a deliberate intention to personalise requests
and cause annoyance or distress. As your requests have no serious purpose
other than to continue your challenge of the Council’s administration of
Council Tax, I have determined by virtue of section 14 (1) of the Freedom
of Information Act that your request is vexatious in nature.

 

We will therefore not be responding to this request by virtue of section
14 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act.

 

The Council will consider any future requests received, on a request by
request basis, but would again draw your attention to guidance issued by
the Information Commissioner’s Office regarding what you should and should
not do when making an information request, which is available on their
website: [1]https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...  

 

Please note that requests made to continue your campaign to challenge the
administration and collection of Council Tax by the Council, or which
target the processes or individuals that are in place to handle and
address your requests for information and complaints, will be refused in
accordance with section 14 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the Council’s handling of your request, or
the decision of the internal review you can request an independent review
by contacting the Information Commissioner's Office at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

 

Feedback Officer

 

          

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Dear North East Lincolnshire Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of North East Lincolnshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Councillors complicit in 'sham' fraud/perjury investigation into Council's Revenues & Benefits officers'.

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

I am writing to request an internal review of North East Lincolnshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Councillors complicit in 'sham' fraud/perjury investigation into Council's Revenues & Benefits officers'.

It is is obvious that there is a purpose for submitting this request and so obviously not vexatious on those grounds.

Please don't delay reviewing your response, or better still refuse to so I can escalate a complaint to the Information Commissioner straight away.

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,

Neil Gilliatt

Dear PPD - FOI,

Considering the spurious statement made in your 26 August response regarding unreasonable persistence and intransigence, unfounded accusations and that my requests have no serious purpose, I will make you aware, if you aren't already, that I have not once had any straight answers; sometimes no answers and have more often than not been lied to.

Further more, NELC conducts its administration of Council Tax criminally which is the cause of the requests in the first place (the council's normal channels for addressing these issues are dysfunctional).

I don't see how you have the front to lecture me about how my persistence is placing an unreasonable burden on the resources of the Council considering the years of gross injustice I've suffered at the dishonest hands of NELC, especially when my taxes are contributing to the salaries of those responsible.

Yours sincerely,

Neil Gilliatt

PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Gilliatt, 

 

I am pleased to acknowledge your correspondence and wish to confirm that
an Internal Review of the handling of your Information Request
NEL/2748/1617 is to take place.

 

The Internal Review has been passed to the relevant department for
processing and you can expect your response within the 20 working day
limit. If it will take us longer than 20 working days to respond to you,
we will inform you of this and provide you with the expected date for
receiving a response.

 

Further information about how we will deal with your Freedom of
Information requests is available on our website at:
[1]https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council-infor....

 

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information or
assistance quoting the reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

 

Feedback Officer

 

 

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PPD - FOI, North East Lincolnshire Council

Dear Mr Gilliatt (aka fFaudwAtch UK)

Further to your request an Internal Review has taken place into North
East  Lincolnshire Council's handling of your information request
NEL/2748/1617.

 

I have reviewed the response provided to you and the handling of your 
request, and determine that this has been in accordance with the Freedom 
of Information Act, and your request was correctly refused on the basis
of  Section 14 (1) of the Freedom Information Act.

 

I trust that this Internal Review answers your queries in relation to your
request, and clarifies that your request has been handled in accordance 
with the Freedom of Information Act.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the Council’s handling of your request,
or  the decision of the internal review you can request an independent
review  by contacting the Information Commissioner's Office at Wycliffe
House,  Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

 

 

Yours sincerely on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

 

 

 

Feedback Officer

North East Lincolnshire Council

 

 

 

 

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Dear PPD - FOI,

Pathetic

Yours sincerely,

Neil Gilliatt

Neil Gilliatt (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Complaint to Information Commissioner's Office for the council's mishandling of this freedom of information request.

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF

4 October 2016

Dear Sir/Madam

RE: INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF FOI REQUEST NE LINC'S COUNCIL – REF NUMBER 2748-1617

I made a freedom of information request to North East Lincolnshire Council. The details can be found on the “what do they know” website at the following address:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
“Councillors complicit in 'sham' fraud/perjury investigation into Council's Revenues & Benefits officers”

BACKGROUND

North East Lincolnshire Council [redact] obtained a liability order by committing [redact]. There was no debt owing, however, the Council [redact] engineered a non-payment scenario. The Police, Local Government Ombudsman and judges are complicit because all of them have looked the other way when the matter brought to their attention.

The negligence of the organisations has enabled North East Lincolnshire Council unhindered to make further [redact] demands by appointing its [redact] bailiff firm Rossendales to enforce the liability order that was obtained by [redact] to the court about money that is not owed.

The Council’s Revenues & Benefits service had not as you would have expected considered it a close shave to have avoided being the subject of a criminal investigation, but emboldened it to take further liberties with the law and seen it as a green light to continue taking steps to recover the sum. It can only reasonably be assumed that because it was ultimately the judge's responsibility for granting permission the council would deem it appropriate to exploit that decision regardless of being aware it was not entitled to the sum being pursued.

A formal complaint had been submitted to the Council which contained an allegation of [redact] but was dealt with through the corporate complaints procedure where the Council flatly refused to address it, asserting that the concerns raised fell outside the scope of the complaints process.

It was later discovered that the a member of the Council’s complaints team should have referred the matter to the Audit, Risk, Insurance and Corporate Fraud team immediately in accordance with the 'Fraud Response Plan’.

Correspondence was entered into with the Council’s Monitoring Officer, Mr Maione, to ensure that the [redact] allegations were investigated internally by the audit and assurance team as Humberside Police would not cooperate and refused to investigate. Mr Maione seemed reluctant to deal with the matter and implied a threat in an email sent 18 May 2016. Concerning the allegations his correspondence contained the following:

“You will no doubt appreciate that making allegations including [redact] which are found to be unsubstantiated and/or not evidenced is itself a serious matter."

The audit and assurance team claimed to have carried out a detailed investigation which was reviewed by the head of audit and assurance (Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect) who concluded that, based on the evidence of the review, he had found no evidence that any [redact] activity had taken place and stated he would not be corresponding further on the issue.

Meanwhile, the [redact] charges continue increasing (currently around £540) and it is believed the internal investigation was a cover-up to protect the reputation of the council and those who, if the matter was investigated properly, would face serious consequences.

In light of the implied threat that was made prior to the investigation, it was viewed that if the investigation genuinely found no evidence that any fraudulent activity had taken place then there would be serious consequences for the person who had made the allegations.

It is believed that the council had no plans to act on its implied threat because the investigation was a sham. This is reinforced by Mr Maione stating he would not respond to further emails, and Mr Hanmer, that he would not be corresponding further on the issue when he was asked for details of the investigation.

The request referred to an email sent by Mr Hanmer, the council’s Head of Audit and Assurance (Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect), on 23 June 2016 (see contents below):

“As set out in previous correspondence from Mr Maione, the Council’s monitoring officer, the audit team has now reviewed the allegations contained in your email to me dated [21] April 2016 under the auspices of the Council’s whistleblowing policy. A review of all relevant correspondence, court papers and interviews with key officers has taken place as part of this process. It has been concluded that the actions taken by officers regarding your Council Tax account were correct based on the information and correspondence made available to them at the time, and we have found no evidence that any fraudulent activity has taken place.

I note your comments around the complaints policy and the fraud response plan in relation to the handling of complaints involving allegations of fraud and corruption and these will be considered when the Council updates both policies during 2016/17.”

There is a degree of uncertainty as to whether the ‘audit team’ referred to in the above correspondence comprised the listed members of the council’s ‘Audit and Governance Committee’. It was implied to a degree by the Head of Audit and Assurance’s title adjunct that it could have been an outsourced service, i.e., Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect.

The matter is equally serious whether the work of a contractor or an in-house team, though if elected members were covering up [redact] to the detriment of the Borough’s residents it was a greater matter of public importance for those details to be disclosed.

FOI REQUEST – 26 AUGUST 2016

The Council was asked to disclose the following in reference to the 23 June 2016 email sent by the council’s Head of Audit and Assurance (Northern Lincolnshire Business Connect):

1) The names of all those referred to in the email as made up the 'audit team'

2) Of those in answer to Q1, who of them are elected members (please identify the head/chair)

3) Copies of all correspondence, court papers which were claimed to have been reviewed

4) The names of those who are referred to as 'key officers' who were claimed to have been interviewed

5) details of any elected members who have either stood down over the sham investigation or have been asked to (or will be asked to)

6) details of any disciplinary action that has or will be taken against those complicit in the sham

RESPONSE – 26 AUGUST 2016

The Council asserted that the large number of related requests submitted over the past 4 of years have no serious purpose other than to continue challenging the Council’s administration of Council Tax. It therefore determined the request vexatious and refused to provide the information under section 14 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act.

REQUEST FOR INTERNAL REVIEW – 26 AUGUST 2016

The obvious was stated which was that there was a purpose for submitting this request and therefore not vexatious on those grounds.

FURTHER COMMUNICATION – 28 AUGUST 2016

The Council was emailed the following representations:

“Considering the spurious statement made in your 26 August response regarding unreasonable persistence and intransigence, unfounded accusations and that my requests have no serious purpose, I will make you aware, if you aren't already, that I have not once had any straight answers; sometimes no answers and have more often than not been lied to.

Further more, NELC conducts its administration of Council Tax criminally which is the cause of the requests in the first place (the council's normal channels for addressing these issues are dysfunctional).

I don't see how you have the front to lecture me about how my persistence is placing an unreasonable burden on the resources of the Council considering the years of gross injustice I've suffered at the dishonest hands of NELC, especially when my taxes are contributing to the salaries of those responsible.”

RESPONSE TO INTERNAL REVIEW – 26 SEPTEMBER 2016

The response and the handling of the request was determined to have been in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and the request correctly refused on the basis of Section 14 (1) of the Freedom Information Act.

Yours sincerely