Dear Mr Dimmock,

Thank you for your correspondence (copied below). We have considered your
set of questions and have determined that this is not a valid request for
information under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the FOIA”).

The FOIA grants individuals the right of access to recorded information
which is held by a public authority. However, rather than requesting
recorded information you appear to be seeking a legal opinion or advice on
how specific legislation is interpreted in various scenarios. The
Information Commissioner provides detailed guidance for members of the
public on requesting information under the FOIA:

[1]https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/off...

The House of Lords does not hold advice or an opinion in recorded form in
respect of the matters your raise. Please note that the Localism Act 2011
does not apply to the House of Lords.

Yours sincerely,

Kimberley Swift

Information Compliance Team

House of Lords

From: Mark Dimmock
Sent: 13 September 2018 14:45
To: HL External Communications Office
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Freedom Of Information Request –
Whether All Active and Dormant Private Limited Companies are Declarable
Pecuniary Interests

Date: 13 Sept 2018

Subject: Freedom Of Information Request – Whether All Active and Dormant
Private Limited Companies are Declarable Pecuniary Interests

Dear House of Lords,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request the following
information be provided to me within 20 working days (Thursday 11 October
2018).

Should you require any further information to answer this original
request, please ask for it early enough to ensure that it does not delay
the resolution of this original request, which is very urgent.

No further extension can be granted due to urgency.

The request is as follows:

Section 30 of the Localism Act 2011 provides that a member or co-opted
members of a relevant authority (as defined in section 27(6) of the
Localism Act 2011), on taking office and the circumstances set out in
section 31, must notify the authority’s monitoring officer of any
disclosable pecuniary interest which that person has at the time of
notification.

The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations
specify what a pecuniary interest is. Section 30 (3) of the Act sets out
the circumstances in which such an interest is a disclosable interest.

The first of these to have relevance to this matter is “Any employment,
office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.”

Question: In which of the following cases, would a member be legally
required to declare their interest, and in which case would they not be
legally required to declare an interest?

CASE ONE:
The member has a private limited company with a UK registration number.
The private limited company’s registration address is the same as the
member’s private home address.
The private limited company has its registered office address as the
member’s private home address plus the company’s registration address.
Both company registration address and office address are in the district
where the member holds office.
The member is 100 per cent shareholder.
The member is sole director and owns all company shareholding.
The company was registered after the Localism Act 2011 had been brought
into Law.
The directorship is active.
The company registration is active.
The company has made its annual tax filings.
The filed tax documents indicate no trading has occurred, at the time of
the last annual tax return filing.

Is such a company’s “dormant status” factor enough, to allow for full
dispensation or exemption from legally needing to declare such a company
as a “disclosable pecuniary interest”?

CASE TWO:

The member has a private limited company with a UK registration number.
The private limited company’s registration address is the same as the
member’s private home address.
The private limited company has its registered office address as the
member’s private home address plus the company’s registration address.
Both company registration address and office address are in the district
where the member holds office.
The member is 100 per cent shareholder.
The member is sole director and owns all company shareholding.
The company was registered after the Localism Act 2011 had been brought
into Law.
The directorship is active.
The company registration is active.
The company has made its annual tax filings.
The filed tax documents indicate some trading has occurred, at the time of
the last annual tax return filing.

Is such a company’s “active status” factor enough, to disallow for full
dispensation or exemption from legally needing to declare such a company
as a “disclosable pecuniary interest”?

Question’s Conclusion:

Are such private limited companies owned by members, outside of the Act’s
definition of declarable pecuniary interest if dormant at the time of
their registration up until the Company’s last tax filling?

Or, are such private limited companies owned by members, inside of the
Act’s definition of declarable pecuniary interest even if dormant at the
time of their registration up until the Company’s last tax filling?

Yours faithfully,

Mark Dimmock

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

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[2][FOI #519665 email]

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requests to House of Lords? If so, please contact us using this form:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

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For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
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Dear Mr Dimmock,

Thank you for your email of 21 September 2018. Your request still does not
constitute a valid request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (“the FOIA”). Under section 8 of the FOIA, in order
to be valid a request must meet the following criteria:

o It must be received in writing (this can be by email);
o The applicant must use their real and full name; and
o The request must describe the specific recorded information sought.

Your request meets the first two criteria but does not describe the
specific recorded information you are seeking from the House of Lords;
rather, you have asked for information in support of a scenario that may
or may not apply, which is not a valid request for information under the
FOIA.

As we have previously advised you, the Localism Act 2011 does not apply to
the House of Lords.

Outside the scope of the FOIA, I would advise that the only recorded
information relating to the Localism Act 2011 likely to be held by the
House of Lords would be the legislation itself (which is publicly
available via [1]www.legislation.gov.uk/) and information contained, and
published, within the House of Lords Hansard
([2]https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords).

Yours sincerely,

Kimberley Swift

Information Compliance Team

House of Lords

From: Mark Dimmock <[FOI #519665 email]>
Sent: 21 September 2018 16:34
To: HL FOI & Information Compliance <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Response to your request to the House of Lords - FOI 3109

Dear HL FOI & Information Compliance,

This is incorrect, not seeking a legal opinion or advice on how specific
legislation is interpreted in various scenarios but I am requesting
recorded information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

This legislations is already stated by the Localism Act 2011 and
Regulation 12.

I have requested all of YOUR recorded information that supports statutory
duty exists to declare any interest as a declarable pecuniary interest in
the case where there is a private limited company, of which 100 per cent
of the shareholding is the councillor's, and the office is in the district
that the member is councillor. And that this applies, even if the
company's trading has been dormant, because the company's private limited
registration exists as active, has an office and has shares of which one
hundred per cent of this shareholding is owned by the member/ councillor.

I request all recorded information which supports this fact be issued by
11 Oct 2018, under the Freedome of Information Act 2000.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Dimmock

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Dear Mr Dimmock,

The House of Lords Administration does not hold this information.

As you yourself have outlined in your original enquiry, the requirement to
declare any declarable (or disclosable) pecuniary interests to which you
refer is set out in the Localism Act 2011 and relates to “a member or
co-opted member of a relevant authority”. The term “relevant authority” is
specifically defined in section 27(6) of the Act, which lists the
authorities to which the Act applies. You will note that the list of
relevant authorities does not include the House of Lords. The Act applies
to local authorities only.

[1]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011...

As far as Members of the House of Lords are concerned, they are required
to register all relevant interests that might reasonably be thought to
influence their parliamentary actions. The Members’ Code of Conduct can be
found here:
[2]https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-...

Yours sincerely,

Kimberley Swift

Information Compliance Team

House of Lords

From: Mark Dimmock <[FOI #519665 email]>
Sent: 03 October 2018 13:28
To: HL FOI & Information Compliance <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Response to your request to the House of Lords - FOI 3109

Dear HL FOI & Information Compliance,

In response to my FOIR you previously advised me, the Localism Act 2011
does not apply to the House of Lords.
I therefore request the information you hold that states the House Lords
members are excempt from declaring any declarable pecuniary interests.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Dimmock

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