Fraud by the Council

The request was refused by Norfolk County Council.

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Norfolk County Council,

What documented procedures and procedures do you have in place if the Council admits to having engaged in fraud, and has committed fraud in the face of a Court / tribunal to correct the acts of fraud of the Council's staff. The admission of fraud by the Council is required to enable court orders to be set aside (finality of decision) that were obtained through acts of fraud by the Council staff.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Information Management, Norfolk County Council

Good Morning,

Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Information Request ENQ-342315-T5F0X3

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 received on 22 June 2019.

We have up to 20 working days in which to deal with your request. If we require clarification regarding your request, we will contact you to explain this. The 20 working day period will then start from the day that we receive your clarification.

You will also be informed in advance if there is a charge for supplying copies of the information.

Please also be aware that, if the requested information contains references to any third parties, we may need to consult these individuals about the release of their personal data before making a decision whether or not to release the information to you.

We will also provide an explanation if any information is not released to you.

Should you have any queries regarding your request, please contact the team by email [email address] or by telephone 01603 222661.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Cooper, Business Support Assistant
Information Compliance Team
Dept: 01603 222661
Room 043, County Hall, Norwich

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Information Management, Norfolk County Council

Dear Mr Carruthers

Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulation Requests

You made the following requests between 14 and 28 June 2019:

1.ENQ-340240-T5H5H3 dated 14 June 2019

Please identify:
(a) which function of the Norfolk County Council has responsibility for setting water tariffs on Gypsy Traveller sites 'owned' by the Norfolk County Council.
(b) the basis of the water charge (i.e. amount and what the water charge includes for each site).
(c) the charge made for each site for water and who the supplier is and what rate they charge for water.
(d) the profit made by Norfolk County Council in selling water for each site (i.e. price of water sold to occupier of a site - price of water purchased from water authority).

2.ENQ-340610-T7P7W6 dated 16 June 2019

The Norfolk County Council has identified that it has failed to conduct any fire safety assessment for any of the Gypsy / Traveller sites it claims to own despite this being a requirement of s9 of the regulatory reform (fire safety) Order 2005.

Please provide all documents that identify why the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service has failed to conduct a prosecution of the Norfolk County Council. There have been caravan fires at all of the sites that Norfolk County Council claims to own, and fires at neighbouring properties.

Is the reason that there has not been a prosecution is that Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service procure legal services from Norfolk County Council (nplaw) ? This issue was examined by the Information Commissioner in FS50506072. Could you confirm if NPLAW have been instructed to prosecute Norfolk County Council for what are very apparent and admitted breaches of the Regulatory Reform (fire safety) Order 2005 by Norfolk County Council.

There are more Gypsy Travellers die from caravan fires on Council caravan sites than die from fire in tower blocks over a ten year period.

3.ENQ-340619-V4P3K8 dated 16 June 2019

Please provide details of all properties claimed to be owned by Norfolk County Council (lease or freehold) that the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service have instructed NPLAW (Norfolk County Council) to prosecute and that Norfolk County Council (NPLAW) have not prosecuted.

4.ENQ-341725-J0T1W0 dated 19 June 2019

What Policies and Procedures do Norfolk County Council follow when it is identifiable that members of its staff or staff of Councils to which it provides legal services have suppressed information, fabricated information and have engaged in acts of abuse of position and have acted in this way before the Land Registry, Tribunal / Court and/or Members Complaints Panel to secure decisions, judgments and orders

The reason for the question is that there is expected to be finality in litigation unless there has been fraud. Fraud has to be certified / identified. A solicitor employed by the County Council owes no duty of care to the person they have committed fraud against, and can be instructed not to initiate the Council's fraud and corruption procedures.

There should be policies and practices in existence that enable identification of fraud by staff of a Council when it happens. This is the information I am seeking. It is prior to any complaint being made.

My understanding is that the Monitoring officers of two Council's (Norfolk and Norwich) have been engaged to investigate acts of fraud by lawyers employed by the Council to secure land registration documents..

There should be practices and procedures in place.. this is particularly important when a Council is also the court of first instance (planning authority).. these now supply information to Land Registry... via the County Council street gazateer function.

I am already aware that the City ofNorwich Monitoring has identified that stealing £7,5k of materials from a site in Great yarmouth is acceptable behaviour of Council staff.. so there do need to be policies and procedures in place. I simply want copies of them.

I have copied in the Monitoring officers for Norfolk CC and City of Norwich.

5.ENQ-342315-T5F0X3 dated 22 June 2019

What documented procedures and procedures do you have in place if the Council admits to having engaged in fraud, and has committed fraud in the face of a Court / tribunal to correct the acts of fraud of the Council's staff. The admission of fraud by the Council is required to enable court orders to be set aside (finality of decision) that were obtained through acts of fraud by the Council staff.

6.ENQ-344002-V8N2H1 dated 28 June 2019

The standards used by Norfolk County Council in relation to pitches on Gypsy Sites it claims to own appear to be different to those used by the Secretary of State, and that act as the basis for prosecutions on sites licensed under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. The Council is expected to take account of the Secretary of States standards. Please provide a copy of the Council's own standards.

Our response:

The Council considers your requests to be vexatious and all of the above requests are refused under S14 of the FOI Act/Regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR. This email acts as a refusal notice.

The reasons why the Council considers your requests to be vexatious are as follows:

•Your requests all relate to matters that have been dealt with via formal complaints processes and/or legal proceedings.
•They form a small part of a vast amount of correspondence and legal proceedings between you and the Council which has placed an unreasonable burden on the authority and you have demonstrated an unreasonable persistence in these matters.
•Your requests and the wider correspondence make unfounded allegations about the actions of the Council and its staff.
•Your requests have been sent in rapid succession and you have not allowed the authority time to deal with one matter before sending in further requests.

In considering whether complying with your requests is in the public interest, the council has carried out a balancing exercise and has concluded that the balance falls in favour of refusing your requests. Dealing with these requests would serve no wider public function that would outweigh the unreasonable amount of officer time that would be taken away from delivering services to the wider public.

If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your request you have the right of appeal through the Council’s internal review procedure by setting out the grounds of your appeal in writing to:

[email address]
or Information Compliance Team
Room 043
County Hall
Martineau Lane
Norwich
NR1 2DH

An appeal should be submitted within 40 working days of the date of this notice and should be identified as "FOI Appeal".

If you are dissatisfied after pursuing the complaints procedure, you may apply to the Information Commissioner under Section 50 of the Act for a decision whether your request for information has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of Part I of the Act. Refer to the ICO Website at: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ for advice on how to report a concern. Or you can write to them at:

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

Yours sincerely

Bev Whittaker, Information Compliance Officer
Information Management
Tel: 01603 638017 | Dept: 01603 222661
Room 43, Lower Ground South, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich

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Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Dear Norfolk County Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Norfolk County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Fraud by the Council'.

The Council has already admitted to engaging in acts of fraud and has supplied false information through its complaints process. Please provide the information requested.

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

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

Information Management, Norfolk County Council

Good Morning,

Thank you for your email.

I can confirm your Freedom of Information Request, ENQ-342315-T5F0X3, has been progressed to the Internal Review stage and assigned to an Information Compliance Manager to investigate and complete. They will be in contact soon.

Thank you,

Sarah Cooper, Business Support Assistant
Information Compliance Team
Dept: 01603 222661
Room 043, County Hall, Norwich

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Spicer, Lesley, Norfolk County Council

Dear Mr Carruthers

 

I have now reviewed our responses to your requests for information with
the following references: ENQ-340240-T5H5H3, ENQ-340610-T7P7W6,
ENQ-340619-V4P3K8, ENQ-342315-T5F0X3, ENQ-344002-V8N2H1.

 

You have not raised any specific reasons why you consider the responses
are incorrect.  I have therefore reviewed the responses as a whole and I
consider that the exemption was appropriately applied.  The Council
maintains its view that your requests are vexatious.

 

If you are dissatisfied following this review, you may apply to the
Information Commissioner under Section 50 of the Act for a decision
whether your request for information has been dealt with in accordance
with the requirements of Part I of the Act.  Refer to the ICO Website at:
https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ for advice on how to report a concern.  Or
you can write to them at:

 

First Contact Team

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane, Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

 

Kind regards

 

Lesley Spicer, Information Compliance Manager 

Information Compliance Team, Strategy and Governance Dept

Tel: 01603 223157 | Dept: 01603 222661

Room 043, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, NR1 2DH 

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