CROYDON Blanket 20MPH PLANS - MEETINGS + EMAILS with Officers + Members

The request was refused by Croydon Borough Council.

Dear Croydon Borough Council,

With regards to the council's 20mph plans, please provide a list (XLS spreadsheet) of each meeting involving council Officers and / or elected Members to discuss / plan / question the council 20mph project, between May 2014 and February 2017

Information required
date of meeting
time + duration of meeting
location of meeting
persons attending
copy of Minutes taken / Notes made / Decisions taken

Please also provide copies of all emails between any of the following Officers / Members regarding he council's 20mph project between the same dates

Council Leader - Tony Newman
Cabinet Member - Kathy Bee
Cabinet Member - Stuart King
Director Of Streets - Steve Iles
Head of Transport - Ian Plowright
Highway Improvement Manager - Mike Barton
Engineer - Waheed Alam
Shadow Cabinet Member - Phil Thomas
Shadow Cabinet Member - Vidhi Mohan
Shadow Cabinet Member - Yvette Hopley
Shadow Cabinet Member - Sara Bashford

For the officers, it is emails to and from them, rather than their current job title at the time which is key.

Yours faithfully,

Simon Harman

Freedom of Information, Croydon Borough Council

 

Dear Mr Harman

 

Freedom of Information Request

 

Thank you for your recent request.

 

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Yours sincerely

 

Ahtisham Riaz

FOI Co-ordinator

Croydon Council

 

Information in relation to the London Borough of Croydon is available
at [1]http://www.croydonobservatory.org/. Also responses to previous
Freedom of Information requests can also be found on the following link

[2]https://croydondata.wordpress.com/

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Information, Croydon Borough Council

Dear Mr Harman

In order to further process your Freedom of Information request, reference: F/CRT/10007078, we require some clarification. Can you please specify

"With regards to the council's 20mph plans, please provide a list (XLS spreadsheet) of each meeting involving council Officers and / or elected Members to discuss / plan / question the council 20mph project, between May 2014 and February 2017"

Specifically in relation to elected members can you confirm if by this you mean MPs?

Kindly be informed that the time for processing your request stops until we hear from you.

Please quote the above reference in your correspondence with us.

When an authority receives an unclear or ambiguous FOIA request, its Section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance will be triggered and it must offer the requester help to clarify the request.

• Section 1(3) of the FOIA stipulates that, where an authority has informed the requester that it requires clarification, it will not be under any further obligation to comply until the requester supplies the information it requires.

• Where an authority receives an unclear or ambiguous EIR request, it must issue a refusal notice under Regulation 12(4)(c) whilst at the same time complying with its Regulation 9 duty to provide the requester with “reasonable” advice and assistance to help them clarify the meaning of that request.

https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
Thanks

Kind Regards

Ash Riaz
Information Coordinator
ICT Client Unit (ICU)
Customer Transformation and Communications Services
Information Team
Resources Department
7th Floor, Zone B
Bernard Weatherill House
8 Mint Walk
Croydon CR0 1EA

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Dear Information,

I am surprised by your enquiry below.

"In order to further process your Freedom of Information request, reference: F/CRT/10007078, we require some clarification. Can you please specify
"With regards to the council's 20mph plans, please provide a list (XLS spreadsheet) of each meeting involving council Officers and / or elected Members to discuss / plan / question the council 20mph project, between May 2014 and February 2017"
Specifically in relation to elected members can you confirm if by this you mean MPs?"

In the context of a local council, the normal assumption would be that "elected members" refers to Members of the Council, ie councillors,
and THAT IS THE CASE HERE.
It would be obtuse to infer this related instead to Members of Parliament, and it make no sense in this case, given the content of this FOI

Yours sincerely,

Simon Harman

Dear Information,

I note that the maximum time allowed for reply has now passed.

Could you kindly update on when you expect to provide the information.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Harman

Dear Croydon Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Croydon Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'CROYDON Blanket 20MPH PLANS - MEETINGS + EMAILS with Officers + Members'.

A week ago I sent a Reminder after the initial deadline passed 10 days ago.
No further reply has come since.

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,

Simon Harman

Freedom of Information, Croydon Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Harman

Freedom of Information Request

Please see attached the council's response to your Freedom of Information
request.

Yours sincerely

 

Ahtisham Riaz

FOI Coordinator

Croydon Council

 

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Council services, online, 24/7 www.croydon.gov.uk/myaccount Download our
new free My Croydon app for a faster, smarter and better way to report
local issues www.croydon.gov.uk/app

From 1 October 2015, it is a legal requirement for all privately rented
properties in Croydon to be licensed. Landlords without a licence could
face fines of up to £20,000. For more information and to apply for a
licence visit www.croydon.gov.uk/betterplacetorent

Please use this web site address to view the council's e-mail disclaimer -
http://www.croydon.gov.uk/email-disclaimer

Derby, James, Croydon Borough Council

Dear Mr Harman

I write further to your email of 27th February 2017 wherein you requested an internal review of your freedom of information request which you sent to the Council on 20th January 2017. You were dissatisfied the Council had not issued you with a response as at date of your request for internal review.

In undertaking this internal review, I have examined your request for information and have examined the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and relevant guidance notes and decision notices from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the First Tier Tribunal. I have then set out my decision as to whether or not the Council complied with its obligations under the FOIA.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) provides a general right of access to information held by public authorities. Under the legislation, the public authority is expected to conduct a search into its records (electronic and manual) to determine if the information requested is held by the public authority. Where the information is held, there should be a disclosure to the requestor subject to withholding any of such information pursuant to any of the 23 (twenty three) absolute or qualified exemptions available under the FOIA. The qualified exemptions require the public authority to apply the public interest test before making a decision regarding disclosing or withholding the information.

Section 10 FOIA provides that a public authority must comply with providing the information requested promptly and in “any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt. In line with guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), a public authority may extend the time for response for another 20 working days were the public authority is considering applying one of the exemptions where the public interest test is engaged.

Your FOI request was received by the Council on 20th January 2017; a response was therefore due no later than 17th February 2017. Unfortunately you were not issued a response on the due date. In this regard, I am of the view the Council has failed to meet its obligations under Section 10 of the FOIA. I hereby, offer to you, the Council's sincere apologies for any inconvenience the delay may have caused you.

I understand you have now been issued with a response by the Council.

I trust you find this response satisfactory; if you however remain dissatisfied with this decision, you may refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or at [email address].

James Derby
Corporate Solicitor
Legal & Democratic Services
Resources Department
London Borough of Croydon
Bernard Weatherhill House
8 Mint Walk
CR0 1EA
Tel: 020 8760 6000 Ext. 61359
Fax: 020 8760 5657

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