Employees who are members of the Freemasons

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

Dear Copeland Borough Council,

I understand that your conditions of service for employees indicate as follows

5.4. Employees must declare to their Head of Service membership of any organisation not open to the public without formal membership and commitment of allegiance and which has secrecy about its rules, membership or conduct (e.g. Freemasons)

Please advise as to which senior officers have indicated their membership of the Freemasons.

Yours faithfully,

Steven Robinson

info@copeland.gov.uk, Copeland Borough Council

Hello [FOI #402202 email],
You've contacted us outside our regular hours of operation.
Please expect a response during our regular business hours.

Thank you.

Copeland - the best place to live in Cumbria This email is confidential
and is for the attention of the addressee only. Copeland Borough Council
accept no responsibility for information, errors or omissions contained in
it. We make every effort to keep our network free from viruses. You should
independently check this e-mail and any attachments for viruses, as we can
take no responsibility for any computer viruses that might be transferred
by way of this e-mail.

Copeland Borough Council

2 Attachments

 
 
Thank you for your Freedom of Information Request.  Your request for
information has been forwarded on to our Freedom of Information Officer,
who will respond to your request as soon as possible, and not later than
20 days after receiving your request
 
Customer Services Officer
Copeland Borough Council
 
Tel: 01946598300
Email: [1][Copeland Borough Council request email]
 
Copeland Borough Council, The Copeland Centre, Catherine Street,
Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 7SJ. Tel: 0845 054 8600. Fax: 01946 598303.
[2]www.copeland.gov.uk, [3][Copeland Borough Council request email]

Working to improve lives, communities and the prosperity of Copeland
 
 

Customer Service Officer

Copeland Direct

Copeland Borough Council 

Copeland Borough Council, Market Hall, Market Place, Whitehaven, CA28 7JG.
Tel: 01946 598300. Fax: 01946 598303. [4]www.copeland.gov.uk,
[5][Copeland Borough Council request email]

 



Working to improve lives, communities and the prosperity of Copeland

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Steven Robinson <[FOI #402202 email]>
Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2017, 9:36:22 PM
To: FOI requests at Copeland Borough Council <[Copeland Borough Council request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Employees who are members of the
Freemasons
Dear Copeland Borough Council,

I understand that your conditions of service for employees indicate as
follows

5.4. Employees must declare to their Head of Service membership of any
organisation not open to the public without formal membership and
commitment of allegiance and which has secrecy about its rules, membership
or conduct (e.g. Freemasons)

Please advise as to which senior officers have indicated their membership
of the Freemasons.

Yours faithfully,

Steven Robinson

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #402202 email]

Is [Copeland Borough Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Copeland Borough Council? If so, please contact us using this
form:
https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

Peter Harry left an annotation ()

When you get an answer, have you got measures in place to get the answer (whatever it is) authenticated?

Clifford Walker, Copeland Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Sir,

 

Thank you for your email of 19 April 2017 in which you request information
held by Copeland Borough Council.

 

Unfortunately following the advice we have received from the Information
Commissioners Office (ICO) which relates to Freedom of Information (FOI)
requests made via social media and whatdotheyknow.com, 'Public authorities
do not need to respond to such requests for information unless the
requestor's real name is clear. If their name is not clear, for example
their username is a pseudonym or only contains part of their real name,
the request is ‘not valid'.

However the ICO does recommend that should you wish to resubmit your
request using your full name then we will be able to process and provide a
response to your request.

A request for information is not valid if it does not, in accordance with
s.8 (1b) Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), state the name of the
applicant and an address for correspondence. As your request uses a
pseudonym instead of your actual name we do not consider it to be a valid
request. Accordingly, we are not obliged to respond to it.

However, if you provide a name we will be able to consider your request
and respond in accordance with FOIA. Further guidance about submitting a
freedom of information request can be found on the Information
Commissioner's website here: [1]www.ico.org.uk

 

Regards,

 

 

Cliff Walker

Information Management Officer

Copeland Borough Council

 

Tel: 01946 59 8529

Email: [2][email address]

 

Copeland Borough Council, The Copeland Centre, Catherine Street,
Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 7SJ. Tel: 01946 598300. Fax: 01946 598303.
[3]www.copeland.gov.uk, [4][Copeland Borough Council request email]

[5]Description: cid:image001.png@01CE1E6D.7E7E5480

Working to improve lives, communities and the prosperity of Copeland

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Steven Robinson <[6][FOI #402202 email]>
Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2017, 9:36:22 PM
To: FOI requests at Copeland Borough Council <[7][Copeland Borough Council request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Employees who are members of the
Freemasons

Dear Copeland Borough Council,

I understand that your conditions of service for employees indicate as
follows

5.4. Employees must declare to their Head of Service membership of any
organisation not open to the public without formal membership and
commitment of allegiance and which has secrecy about its rules, membership
or conduct (e.g. Freemasons)

Please advise as to which senior officers have indicated their membership
of the Freemasons.

Yours faithfully,

Steven Robinson

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[8][FOI #402202 email]

Is [9][Copeland Borough Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Copeland Borough Council? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[10]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[11]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[12]https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outl...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

Dear Clifford Walker,

I wonder if you could actually deal with this correctly. You have my full name so I fail to understand your logic that you cannot reply without my full name. This is simply a silly game that is being played out by your office.

You may like to join the transparency agenda for local Authorities and simply provide the information requested. I would refer you to the views expressed in Corporate Officer of the House of Commons [2008] EWHC 1084 where the High Court expressly held that seeking to “contract-out” of a legislative regime created with disclosure in mind was wholly unreasonable. This is what you appear to be doing. Add to that the principles in John Greenwood and Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council v Information Commissioner (EA/2011/0131 and EA/2011/0137)(17-2-2012) means that the information requested has to be provided

Now, I have been in communication with the ICO over a number of matters and that office has responded with courtesy and diligence. It has even investigated certain issues I have raised without the kind of attempt to avoid its legal obligations we see with your Council. It has gone so far, recently, to rebuke the Whitehaven Town Council for its breaches of the the law.

A reputable national audit company has also dealt with issues I have raised and rebuked a local authority for its unlawful conduct.

So you see others are more than happy to deal with issues I have raised. I fear that what we may be seeing here is a desire by the Borough Council to hide certain information and that can only lead to certain conclusions. Is that what you wish to infer here?

Can you now please deal with this request unless the Council wishes it to be seen that it has something to hide?
Yours sincerely,

Steven Robinson

B McLean left an annotation ()

So it's not only games they play with me .but many others they don't want to answer