Our reference: 18590  EIR

Dear Mr Parnham,

Thank you for your correspondence received on 29 July 2021 in which you
asked for the following information:

In today's East Oxford LTN decision, Cabinet member Tim Bearder asserted
that - while he was in regular discussions with other OCC cabinet members
about the planned east Oxford LTNs - this planned LTNs did not have a
significant impact on other OCC Cabinet members' portfolios. This, it was
indicated, was a justification for the LTN decision to be ultimately made
by him alone, rather than the full OCC cabinet.

With that in mind, I would like to see all official email correspondence
between Tim Bearder and the following cabinet members on the subject of
LTNs in Oxford, from their point of their appointment as OCC cabinet
members to today's date (close of business).

OCC leader, Liz Leffman;

OCC deputy leader and cabinet member for Children, Education and Young
People’s Services, Liz Brighthouse;

OCC cabinet member for Community Services and Safety, Neil Fawcett; and

OCC cabinet member for Travel and Development Strategy, Duncan Enright.

I am happy to have non-LTN matters redacted from the disclosed
correspondence.

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
requested as soon as possible and in any event within the next 20 working
days in compliance with the Environmental Information Regulations
2004/Freedom of Information Act 2000, unless an exception applies. This
means that the council will respond to you by the end of 27  August 2021
at the latest.

If appropriate, the information requested can be made available in
alternative formats, including other languages, Braille, large print, and
audiocassette. If you require any of these formats then please let me
know.

Please contact me if you have any have further enquiries about your
request. I would be grateful if you could quote the reference number given
at the top of this email.

Kind regards

Renata Malinowski

Freedom of Information Support Officer

Email: [1]E&[email address] and
[2][email address]

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D6010C.B8A402C0

Save money and paper - do you really need to print this email.

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. [4]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [5]Privacy Notice.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:E&[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
5. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...

Our reference:  18590 EIR

Dear Mr Parnham,

Thank you for your request dated 29 July in which you asked for the
following information:

In today's East Oxford LTN decision, Cabinet member Tim Bearder asserted
that - while he was in regular discussions with other OCC cabinet members
about the planned east Oxford LTNs - this planned LTNs did not have a
significant impact on other OCC Cabinet members' portfolios. This, it was
indicated, was a justification for the LTN decision to be ultimately made
by him alone, rather than the full OCC cabinet.

With that in mind, I would like to see all official email correspondence
between Tim Bearder and the following cabinet members on the subject of
LTNs in Oxford, from their point of their appointment as OCC cabinet
members to today's date (close of business).

OCC leader, Liz Leffman;

OCC deputy leader and cabinet member for Children, Education and Young
People’s Services, Liz Brighthouse;

OCC cabinet member for Community Services and Safety, Neil Fawcett; and

OCC cabinet member for Travel and Development Strategy, Duncan Enright.

I am happy to have non-LTN matters redacted from the disclosed
correspondence.

The Council has attached information that it holds which falls in scope of
your request. However, please note that there is one further email which
the Council considers is excepted from disclosure. As this is a very
current and ongoing matter, it is imperative that the Council has the
“safe space” to work through and evaluate options and freely express their
views. In light of this, the Council considers that this one email is
excepted from disclosure under Regulation 12(4)(e) of the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) in that it constitutes internal
communications.

Disclosure of this information would be likely to prejudice the Council
from being able to carry out thorough and self-critical analyses of
potential options relating to the LTNs. The information that has been
withheld is opinion and comments on matters such as the press release
which is being disclosed to you in full in any event. As this is live and
very much ongoing, these views are subject to being significantly altered
over the course of this process. At this early stage of the process,
disclosure would prejudice the ability of Oxfordshire County Council to
explore all of the options as freely and frankly, if there were risks of
disclosure of incomplete information which would not present an accurate
account of Oxfordshire County Council’s position.

The Council has taken its decision having regard to the public interest
test required under EIR 2004. In reaching its conclusion the council
considered the following factors in favour of and against disclosure:

Public interest test

Factors in favour of disclosure:

1. That there is an explicit presumption in favour of disclosure;

2. Disclosure could further the understanding of, and participation in,
public debate;

3. Disclosure increases the transparency of decision making and allows
those decisions to be challenged publicly: and

4. Disclosure may promote good decision-making in circumstances where
decisions affect the environment.

Factors against disclosure:

1. Protecting the “safe space” wherein Cabinet Members can explore their
views and deliberate on the same, freely and frankly, so all options can
be thoroughly evaluated, and decisions reached away from external
interference and distraction.

2. This matter is still very much live and ever evolving. Releasing this
information creates a significant risk of safe or over cautious decision
making. This may ultimately result in possible options not being fully
explored because of those concerns.

3. As this is an area of difficult and sensitive policy formation, it is
in the public interest that any such policies benefit at the outset from
the freedom from any constraints.

In all the circumstances of the case, the council considers that the
public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest
in disclosing the information.

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:

[1][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 or complaint,
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: [2]https://ico.org.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,

Ben Smith

Infrastructure Locality Lead – Central

Environment and Place

Oxfordshire County Council|County Hall|Oxford|OX1 1ND
[3]www.oxfordshire.gov.uk

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. [4]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [5]Privacy Notice.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Oxfordshire County Council request email]
2. https://ico.org.uk/
3. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
5. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...

Our reference: 18590 EIR IR

Dear Mr Parnham,

In accordance with the council's Freedom of Information policy, I will
arrange for an internal review of your request to be undertaken.

The review will be undertaken by Joanne Fellows, Growth Manager Central, a
manager not involved in the original handling of your request. In line
with guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office, we will aim to
provide a full response within 20 working days beginning the day your
complaint was received. This means you will receive a response by 24
September 2021.

Kind regards,

Renata Malinowski

Freedom of Information Support Officer

Email: [1]E&[email address] and
[2][email address]

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D67C47.D9E2A5C0

Save money and paper - do you really need to print this email.

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. [4]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [5]Privacy Notice.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:E&[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
5. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...

Our reference: 18590 EIR Internal Review

Dear Mr Parnham,

Thank you for your email dated 27 August 2021.  As you have indicated that
you are not satisfied with the response made by the County Council, the
issue has been referred to me to conduct an internal review.

My investigation

I have completed the internal review and have looked at the correspondence
afresh.

On 29 July 2021 you asked for the following information:

In today's East Oxford LTN decision, Cabinet member Tim Bearder asserted
that - while he was in regular discussions with other OCC cabinet members
about the planned east Oxford LTNs - this planned LTNs did not have a
significant impact on other OCC Cabinet members' portfolios. This, it was
indicated, was a justification for the LTN decision to be ultimately made
by him alone, rather than the full OCC cabinet.

With that in mind, I would like to see all official email correspondence
between Tim Bearder and the following cabinet members on the subject of
LTNs in Oxford, from their point of their appointment as OCC cabinet
members to today's date (close of business).

OCC leader, Liz Leffman;

OCC deputy leader and cabinet member for Children, Education and Young
People’s Services, Liz Brighthouse;

OCC cabinet member for Community Services and Safety, Neil Fawcett; and

OCC cabinet member for Travel and Development Strategy, Duncan Enright.

I am happy to have non-LTN matters redacted from the disclosed
correspondence.

In its response, dated 27 August, the Council provided information that it
held which fell within the scope of your request.  The Council also noted
that there was one further email which, having regard to the public
interest test, it considered to be exempt from disclosure under Regulation
12(4)(e) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 in that it
constituted internal communications and to release it would compromise the
‘safe space’ which allows the Council to work through options and freely
express views. You were also advised that the information that was
withheld was opinion and comments on matters such as a press release which
was disclosed to you in full.

Following receipt of the Council’s response you indicated that you were
not satisfied with the response and requested that an internal review be
conducted. 

My conclusion

In conducting this review, I have considered your original request, the
response which the Council provided and the email which was considered to
be exempt from disclosure, together with the public interest test.  I
confirm that the correspondence referred to in the response is the only
correspondence held by the Council in relation to your request.

The Council set out in its response to you the basis on which it
considered the exception to apply, namely that disclosure would prejudice
the ability of the Council to explore views freely and frankly without
external influence.

As set out in the initial response, this exception is subject to a public
interest test which was stated in full in the Council’s response. I don’t
intend to repeat that here, but I agree with the arguments in favour of
and against disclosing this information to you and find that the balance
of the public interest test in this case does lie in withholding the
information.

In conclusion I agree that it is not appropriate to release the email and
it is correct that the stated exemption applies to the release of this
information. 

To advise and assist, the crux of your concern appears to be whether the
council was acting in accordance with its Constitution by allowing the
decision on Divinity Road, St Mary's and St Clements Areas: Proposed Low
Traffic Neighbourhoods (and Quietways) to fall under delegated powers to
the Cabinet Member for Highways Management.  The Council’s website
outlines the responsibilities which fall within the remit of the decision
maker.  The [1]webpage for the Delegated Decisions by the Cabinet Member
for Highways Management lists Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) under the
list of responsibilities of the Cabinet Member for Highways Management.

The Information Commissioner

I trust that the above review demonstrates that the Council has considered
your request fully.  However, if you remain dissatisfied with the handling
of your request or complaint, 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: [2]https://ico.org.uk/

Yours sincerely

Joanne Fellows

Growth Manager – Central

Oxfordshire County Council

Email:  [3][email address]

[4]www.oxfordshire.gov.uk

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. [5]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [6]Privacy Notice.

References

Visible links
1. https://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ieL...
2. https://ico.org.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
5. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
6. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...