Disabled toilet in St Peter’s Arcade

The request was successful.

Dear Peterborough City Council,

The disabled toilets in St Peter’s Arcade are closed and appear to have been open and closed for various periods last year as well.

The City Centre Enforcement Officers in conversation state that they are closed because local beggars use the premises to deal and take heroin.

Please provide copies of any information regarding complaints or meetings about the facility being closed and whether the disabled toilet will be reopened.

Yours faithfully,

Susan Russell

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Peterborough City Council

​Re: FOI202306000399​​

Dear Sir / Madam

This is a courtesy email to let you know your request for information has
been received on 07/06/2023. 

The Council aims to respond to all requests within 20 working days, in
this instance by 05/07/2023

Your unique reference number is FOI202306000399. Please keep this number
safe and please use it in any correspondence with ourselves.

Kind regards

Information Governance
Law & Governance
Peterborough City Council
Sand Martin House
Bittern Way
Fletton Quays
Peterborough
PE2 8TY
Contact details:
Kevin Taylor, Access to Information Officer - 01733 452576
Tazeem Akhtar, Access to Information Officer - 01733 207138
Sadaf Abdullah, Access to Records Officer - 01733 864668

Tracey Wright, Information Manager - 01733 452533

Ben Stevenson, Head of Information Governance/Data Protection Officer on
01733 452387 (non-working day Wed)

Emma Doran, Business Support Officer - 01733 453571

Email: [Peterborough City Council request email]
To find out more about Peterborough City Council please go to
www.peterborough.gov.uk.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Conditions apply to the confidentiality, copyright, legal liability and
use of this email.For full information relating to the transmission and
use of this email please visit www.peterborough.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Peterborough City Council

​​​Freedom of Information Act response – ref FOI-202306000399

Dear Susan Russell, 

Your request for information, reference number FOI-202306000399,  has now
been considered and the information requested is given below.

Request and Response

The disabled toilets in St Peter’s Arcade are closed and appear to have
been open and closed for various periods last year as well. The City
Centre Enforcement Officers in conversation state that they are closed
because local beggars use the premises to deal and take heroin. Please
provide copies of any information regarding complaints or meetings about
the facility being closed and whether the disabled toilet will be
reopened. 
 
The disabled toilets in St Peter's Arcade remain closed. We do not hold
any paper based/written records detailing this because the decision took
place between officers and members in person/over the phone. The closest
disabled toilet provision to this location is in Car Haven car park at the
rear of the Town Hall. Officers are currently undertaking investigatory
work to identify if there are any actions that could be taken to enable
this facility to be reopened in due course. 
 

show quoted sections

Dear Peterborough City Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Peterborough City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Disabled toilet in St Peter’s Arcade'.

As a local authority it is going to be very unlkely that you have no records with regards to the information requested concerning the disabled toilets which have been closed.

Even if as suggested that communication was conducted by telephone, surely this must have resulted in notes. emails r reports being created.

If as you say investigations are being conducted as to what can be done to reopen the toilets, again there must be some record of this including who is conducting the investigations and the information provided to those conducting the investigations.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...

Yours faithfully,

Susan Russell

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Peterborough City Council

​Re: FOI202307000477​​

Dear Sir / Madam

This is a courtesy email to let you know your request for information has
been received on 03/07/2023. 

The Council aims to respond to all requests within 20 working days, in
this instance by 31/07/2023

Your unique reference number is FOI202307000477. Please keep this number
safe and please use it in any correspondence with ourselves.

Kind regards

Information Governance
Law & Governance
Peterborough City Council
Sand Martin House
Bittern Way
Fletton Quays
Peterborough
PE2 8TY
Contact details:
Kevin Taylor, Access to Information Officer - 01733 452576
Tazeem Akhtar, Access to Information Officer - 01733 207138
Sadaf Abdullah, Access to Records Officer - 01733 864668

Tracey Wright, Information Manager - 01733 452533

Ben Stevenson, Head of Information Governance/Data Protection Officer on
01733 452387 (non-working day Wed)

Emma Doran, Business Support Officer - 01733 453571

Email: [Peterborough City Council request email]
To find out more about Peterborough City Council please go to
www.peterborough.gov.uk.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Conditions apply to the confidentiality, copyright, legal liability and
use of this email.For full information relating to the transmission and
use of this email please visit www.peterborough.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Peterborough City Council

​​​INT-202306000399 - Request for Internal Review

Dear Susan Russell,

Thank you for your email dated 30th June 2023, in which you have requested
an internal review of our response to your information request, our
reference INT-202306000399. You have specifically stated:
 
Dear Peterborough City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Peterborough City Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Disabled toilet in St Peter’s Arcade'.

As a local authority it is going to be very unlikely that you have no
records with regards to the information requested concerning the disabled
toilets which have been closed.

Even if as suggested that communication was conducted by telephone, surely
this must have resulted in notes. emails or reports being created.

If as you say investigations are being conducted as to what can be done to
reopen the toilets, again there must be some record of this including who
is conducting the investigations and the information provided to those
conducting the investigations.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address: 
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...
 
A senior manager or legal advisor who was not involved in the original
request will now carry out an internal review. We aim to handle simple
internal reviews in 20 working days, in this case by 31st July 2023. We
aim to handle internal reviews that involve complex issues that require
further investigation and those that require consideration of the public
interest test, in 40 working days, which would be 30th August 2023.
 
If you are dissatisfied with the internal review of our decision, or an
internal review was not available, you can seek an appeal from the
Information Commissioner by writing to:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Telephone:  01625 545 700

 

[2]www.ico.org.uk

Kind regards

FOI Team

Information Governance
Law & Governance
 
Peterborough City Council
Sand Martin House
Bittern Way
Fletton Quays
Peterborough
PE2 8TY
 
Contact details:
 
Kevin Taylor, Access to Information Officer - 01733 452576
Tazeem Akhtar, Access to Information Officer - 01733 207138
Sadaf Abdullah, Access to Records Officer - 01733 864668

Tracey Wright, Information Manager - 01733 452533

Ben Stevenson, Head of Information Governance/Data Protection Officer on
01733 452387 (non-working day Wed)

Emma Doran, Business Support Officer - 01733 453571

Email: [Peterborough City Council request email]
 
To find out more about Peterborough City Council please go to
www.peterborough.gov.uk.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Conditions apply to the confidentiality, copyright, legal liability and
use of this email.For full information relating to the transmission and
use of this email please visit www.peterborough.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Peterborough City Council

Freedom of Information Act Request FOI 202305000362

Dear Susan Russell,

You have requested (your email of 30th June 2023) an internal review. 
Your concern was regarding our response which you state.. ‘does not appear
feasible and certainly not in accordance with the Nolan principles and the
members code of conduct for the council..……..’

Your concerns

I am writing to request an internal review of Peterborough City Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Trial period for City Centre Enforcement
Officers'.

The response does not appear feasible and certainly not in accordance with
the Nolan principles and the members code of conduct for the council..

The council already had an in house city enforcement team and a decision
appears to have been made following complaints including from MP Paul
Bristow resulting in a private security company being contracted to carry
out the role.

From examination of other FOI requests it appears that the council's own
city centre enforcement officers were ineffective, the contracted security
company was also ineffective and you are now returning to using in house
employees to carry out this role.

There will no doubt have been reviews and other reports created to
evaluate a trial 6 month period of contracting a security company again
where public funds are being used to pay for this service.

The casual response given to an important issue of community safety is of
concern and gives the perception that there is either incompetence or some
other reason that the council seeks to avoid providing the information
requested.

I can confirm that the council’s legal department has carried out an
internal review. As part of that review the legal department has seen all
the correspondence relating to your information request and considered the
applicable legislation before providing advice in this matter.

This letter forms the council’s formal response to your request for a
review.  For ease of reference, the details of the initial request for
information and the council’s response are set out below. I will then
confirm the findings of my review.

The initial request

In your email of 31^st May 2023, you asked for the following information:

Original Request and Response 

From an article in the Peterborough Telegraph it mentioned that there was
a trial period for the contracted private security firm who were providing
staff and it was for a period of 6 months. The trial period is over and it
may be that the contract has been extended. 

1. Please provide documents concerning the result of the trial period and
any extension of the trial period or contract. 

The local authority had a trial contract in place with a private security
firm, this has ended.  Internal discussions took place, and a decision was
made to establish an in-house city centre team.  

We do not hold any review documentation. This was a short-term recruitment
via a 3rd party to improve safety and visibility in the city centre whilst
we developed a plan to build it as core business.

Your request for an internal review

Your request for an internal review was as stated above        

Internal review response

I have conducted a full review of your request and the council’s response,
and I am able to confirm the council has processed this request within the
FOI provisions, in a professional, timely and reasonable manner. The focus
of the Council is to build and develop the in-house service.

I am satisfied that the Council has not acted in any way which is
contradictory to the principles set out in the Seven Principles of Public
Life, or in contravention of the members Code of Conduct.

In conclusion, my findings are that I agree with the response provided and
require no further action be taken by the Council.

What happens now

I trust that this adequately answers your queries, and I now consider this
matter to be concluded.  However, if you are dissatisfied with this
decision you may request the Information Commissioner to investigate.  The
contact details are:-

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[1]www.ico.org.uk

Kind regards

Michelle Abbott

Senior Lawyer

Contract & Procurement Team, Litigation Team

& Land Charges 

Legal & Democratic Services

Peterborough City Council

Conditions apply to the confidentiality, copyright, legal liability and
use of this email.For full information relating to the transmission and
use of this email please visit www.peterborough.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Peterborough City Council

1 Attachment

INT-202306000399 - Request for Internal Review 

Dear Susan Russell,

You have requested (your email of 30^th June 2023) an internal review. 
Your concern was regarding the council’s response to your FOI request,
namely:-

I am writing to request an internal review of Peterborough City Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Disabled toilet in St Peter’s Arcade'.
As a local authority it is going to be very unlikely that you have no
records with regards to the information requested concerning the disabled
toilets which have been closed.

I can confirm that the council’s legal department has carried out an
internal review. As part of that review the legal department has seen all
the correspondence relating to your information request and considered the
applicable legislation before providing advice in this matter.

This letter forms the council’s formal response to your request for a
review.  For ease of reference, the details of the initial request for
information and the council’s response are set out below. I will then
confirm the findings of my review.

The initial request

In your email of 5^th June 2023, you asked for the following information:

Original Request and Response 

The disabled toilets in St Peter’s Arcade are closed and appear to have
been open and closed for various periods last year as well. The City
Centre Enforcement Officers in conversation state that they are closed
because local beggars use the premises to deal and take heroin. Please
provide copies of any information regarding complaints or meetings about
the facility being closed and whether the disabled toilet will be
reopened.  

The disabled toilets in St Peter's Arcade remain closed. We do not hold
any paper based/written records detailing this because the decision took
place between officers and members in person/over the phone. The closest
disabled toilet provision to this location is in Car Haven car park at the
rear of the Town Hall. Officers are currently undertaking investigatory
work to identify if there are any actions that could be taken to enable
this facility to be reopened in due course. 

Your request for an internal review

Dear Peterborough City Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Peterborough City Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Disabled toilet in St Peter’s Arcade'.

As a local authority it is going to be very unlikely that you have no
records with regards to the information requested concerning the disabled
toilets which have been closed.

Even if as suggested that communication was conducted by telephone, surely
this must have resulted in notes. emails or reports being created.

If as you say investigations are being conducted as to what can be done to
reopen the toilets, again there must be some record of this including who
is conducting the investigations and the information provided to those
conducting the investigations.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address: 

[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...

Internal review response

 1. What evidence was collected and presented to members in order for the
decision to be made ? Was any evidence gathered recorded ?
 2. Was there a report presented to a committee or cabinet detailing any
"savings" ?
 3. Were local councillors informed/advised of the closure; if so, how ?
 4. Will there be a written conclusion following the current investigation
as to reopening ?

If there were no written or otherwise retained evidence or information
presented to members when the decision to close was made, then the answer
stands. 

I respectively suggest that officers revisit their systems to ensure that
nothing has been inadvertently missed.

Service Area Response to Internal Review decision above

At the time we were getting regular reports from Aragon that they were
finding both used needles in the toilet, radiators, and bins. They also
were coming into contact with rough sleepers injecting when they came to
clean the toilets, and also bodily fluid including blood over the floors
and walls on a regular occasion. The cleaners were, in some circumstances,
receiving regular verbal abuse and threats. As such, at the time, we
discussed with Cllr Simons that we would shut the toilet whilst the
anti-social behaviour, (ASB), was at such a high level.

There has not been an official decision to close permanently or to
replace. There are options we can consider around this but at the present
time it was closed due to a Health and Safety decision to ensure Aragon
staff and residents were not put in risk of a needle strike.

As such it could be agreed to trial opening the toilets again and monitor
the ASB or bring forwards a formal proposal around future permanent change
of use.

We do have emailed complaints from Aragon around their staff being subject
to the dangers the facility was posing along with numerous phone calls
from same, reporting the state the cleaners are having to deal with. These
emails are attached, redacted*, as allowed by FOI regulations.

 

*Please note:-

You will notice from the attachment that it has been necessary to apply
some redactions.  This is in accordance with the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.  The exemption applied is:-

Section 40 – Personal Information

The redacted information in the main relates to personal information of
others, such as names and gender.  
The exemption we are relying on is Section 40(2) – personal information,
as detailed in the Data Protection Act 2018; the disclosure of which would
breach the first data protection principle as outlined in Article 5 of the
General Data Protection Regulation.  The exemption applies because
disclosure of this information would not be fair or lawful and we consider
that the individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy. 

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this email message
acts as a Refusal Notice where exemptions have been applied. 

What happens now

I trust that this adequately answers your queries, and I now consider this
matter to be concluded.  However, if you are dissatisfied with this
decision you may request the Information Commissioner to investigate.  The
contact details are:-

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[2]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely

Colin Miles

Litigation Lawyer

Legal Services

Peterborough City Council

Conditions apply to the confidentiality, copyright, legal liability and
use of this email.For full information relating to the transmission and
use of this email please visit www.peterborough.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Peterborough City Council

Dear Susan Russell,
Thank you for your email below. We are sorry to hear that you appear not
to have received our response to your Internal Review request. I have had
a look inside the case folder and can see that a response was sent out
on the 28^th July at 15:56 to a whatdotheyknow address of
'[FOI #987277 email]'.
I note from the above email address in use today that this is different
([email address]). Please find our response
again, in full, pasted below.
Kind regards
FOI Team
Information Governance
Law & Governance
Peterborough City Council
Sand Martin House
Bittern Way
Fletton Quays
Peterborough
PE2 8TY

Freedom of Information Act Request FOI 202305000362

Dear Susan Russell,

You have requested (your email of 30th June 2023) an internal review. 
Your concern was regarding our response which you state.. ‘does not appear
feasible and certainly not in accordance with the Nolan principles and the
members code of conduct for the council..……..’

Your concerns

I am writing to request an internal review of Peterborough City Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Trial period for City Centre Enforcement
Officers'.

The response does not appear feasible and certainly not in accordance with
the Nolan principles and the members code of conduct for the council..

The council already had an in house city enforcement team and a decision
appears to have been made following complaints including from MP Paul
Bristow resulting in a private security company being contracted to carry
out the role.

From examination of other FOI requests it appears that the council's own
city centre enforcement officers were ineffective, the contracted security
company was also ineffective and you are now returning to using in house
employees to carry out this role.

There will no doubt have been reviews and other reports created to
evaluate a trial 6 month period of contracting a security company again
where public funds are being used to pay for this service.

The casual response given to an important issue of community safety is of
concern and gives the perception that there is either incompetence or some
other reason that the council seeks to avoid providing the information
requested.

I can confirm that the council’s legal department has carried out an
internal review. As part of that review the legal department has seen all
the correspondence relating to your information request and considered the
applicable legislation before providing advice in this matter.

This letter forms the council’s formal response to your request for a
review.  For ease of reference, the details of the initial request for
information and the council’s response are set out below. I will then
confirm the findings of my review.

The initial request

In your email of 31^st May 2023, you asked for the following information:

Original Request and Response 

From an article in the Peterborough Telegraph it mentioned that there was
a trial period for the contracted private security firm who were providing
staff and it was for a period of 6 months. The trial period is over and it
may be that the contract has been extended. 

1. Please provide documents concerning the result of the trial period and
any extension of the trial period or contract. 

The local authority had a trial contract in place with a private security
firm, this has ended.  Internal discussions took place, and a decision was
made to establish an in-house city centre team. 

 

We do not hold any review documentation. This was a short-term recruitment
via a 3rd party to improve safety and visibility in the city centre whilst
we developed a plan to build it as core business.

Your request for an internal review

Your request for an internal review was as stated above        

Internal review response

I have conducted a full review of your request and the council’s response,
and I am able to confirm the council has processed this request within the
FOI provisions, in a professional, timely and reasonable manner. The focus
of the Council is to build and develop the in-house service.

I am satisfied that the Council has not acted in any way which is
contradictory to the principles set out in the Seven Principles of Public
Life, or in contravention of the members Code of Conduct.

In conclusion, my findings are that I agree with the response provided and
require no further action be taken by the Council.

What happens now

I trust that this adequately answers your queries, and I now consider this
matter to be concluded.  However, if you are dissatisfied with this
decision you may request the Information Commissioner to investigate.  The
contact details are:-

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[1]www.ico.org.uk

Kind regards

Michelle Abbott

Senior Lawyer

Contract & Procurement Team, Litigation Team

& Land Charges 

Legal & Democratic Services

Peterborough City Council

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Susan Russell <[email address]>
Sent: 25 October 2023 12:06
To: Freedom of Information Mailbox <[Peterborough City Council request email]>
Subject: Re: Trial period for City Centre Enforcement Officers -
Reference:#479-3196#
 
CAUTION: This email originates outside of Peterborough City Council's
network. Do NOT click on links or open attachments unless you recognise
the sender and know the content is safe. Please report any concerns or
issues to ICT
Dear Freedom of Information Mailbox,

Can you please provide an update with regards  to my request for an
internal review,

Yours sincerely,

Susan Russell

show quoted sections