Hothamton "Linear Park" consultation results.

The request was refused by Arun District Council.

Dear Arun District Council,

At Full Council on 10th January 2018, Cllr Mrs. Brown said that there had been "overwhelming approval" of the Council's Hothamton Linear Park proposals expressed by the public via the Consultation carried out on 13th October 2017.

I wish to understand precisely where Mrs. Brown obtained the figures showing this "overwhelming approval" and what those figures were. The information provided on pages 31 to 33 of your Bognor Regis Regeneration Sub-Committee agenda for its 14th December 2017 meeting is entirely inadequate, vague and contradictory for this purpose, for example not even conclusively indicating how many people actually responded.

I should be grateful therefore if you would supply me with the following information:

1. How many paper response forms were received by the Council?
2. How many online response forms were received by the Council?
3. In the agenda Pie charts, there were 9 'gender not given' and 21% 'distance travelled not disclosed' which indicates postcode not given, since the question is not asked elsewhere. This shows that the "your details" box was not properly completed by some people. How many response forms did not disclose the person's name?
4. If a name wasn't given, was the response form counted in the results?
5. The 'who attended' pie chart shows 56 attendees and the 'what gender' pie chart shows 61 attendees. Which is correct and please explain the difference?
6. What measures were taken to ensure that more than one response form was not completed by one person giving different and/or false names?
7. The agenda pie chart shows 378 website visits. How many of these were single unique visits, and how many were repeat and/or multiple visits?
8. Does the Council have any means of knowing whether those website visitors were also attendees at the exhibition? If so, what were the figures?
9. In the bar charts on page 33 of the agenda each bar of each question appears to represent an overall view of the number of forms (or individual responses) providing the comment the bar is set against. This is because the total number of responses to each question varies from 56 (Q3) to 70(Q2) which vaguely correlates to the 'who attended' pie chart (56) and 'what gender' pie chart (61). Is this correct, or is it that random multiple comments from a few response forms have been selectively extracted for these bar charts?
10. Many of the comments against which the bars are set are unclear as to whether they are favourable or critical of the proposal, e.g. Q1: 'other facilities' or Q3: 'use of space'. Please let me know which bars in which question Mrs. Brown has interpreted to be 'approval' and give more detail so that I can understand why this is so.
11. The Council must have created one or more analysis document(s) to provide the results to inform the pie and bar charts in the agenda. Please supply copies of any documents created or used for this purpose, together with copies of any internal or external letters or emails to/from or received by Karl Roberts or Denise Vine between 13.10.17 and 11.1.18, whether signed or not, which include comments related to these results.
12. Please supply any other information on which Mrs. Brown may have relied for her "overwhelming approval" comment, so that I may understand what that comment was based on.
13. Does the Council still hold the response forms from the public and how long will it continue to hold them? Can they be available in redacted form (ie showing reverse side only) for inspection by myself?
14. If there is any information which the Council does not have, please will you clearly say so.

Yours faithfully,
Hugh Coster

Infomanagement, Arun District Council

Dear Mr Coster

 

Thank you for your Information Request received on 11 March 2018.

 

REQUEST:

 

At Full Council on 10th January 2018, Cllr Mrs. Brown said that there had
been "overwhelming approval" of the Council's Hothamton Linear Park
proposals expressed by the public via the Consultation carried out on 13th
October 2017.

 

I wish to understand precisely where Mrs. Brown obtained the figures
showing this "overwhelming approval" and what those figures were.  The
information provided on pages 31 to 33 of your Bognor Regis Regeneration
Sub-Committee agenda for its 14th December 2017 meeting is entirely
inadequate, vague and contradictory for this purpose, for example not even
conclusively indicating how many people actually responded.

 

I should be grateful therefore if you would supply me with the following
information:

 

1.            How many paper response forms were received by the Council?

2.            How many online response forms were received by the Council?

3.            In the agenda Pie charts, there were 9 'gender not given'
and 21% 'distance travelled not disclosed' which indicates postcode not
given, since the question is not asked elsewhere.  This shows that the
"your details" box was not properly completed by some people. How many
response forms did not disclose the person's name?

4.            If a name wasn't given, was the response form counted in the
results?

5.            The 'who attended' pie chart shows 56 attendees and the
'what gender' pie chart shows 61 attendees. Which is correct and please
explain the difference?

6.            What measures were taken to ensure that more than one
response form was not completed by one person giving different and/or
false names?

7.            The agenda pie chart shows 378 website visits. How many of
these were single unique visits, and how many were repeat and/or multiple
visits?

8.            Does the Council have any means of knowing whether those
website visitors were also attendees at the exhibition?  If so, what were
the figures?

9.            In the bar charts on page 33 of the agenda each bar of each
question appears to represent an overall view of the number of forms (or
individual responses) providing the comment the bar is set against. This
is because the total number of responses to each question varies from 56
(Q3) to 70(Q2) which vaguely correlates to the 'who attended' pie chart
(56) and 'what gender' pie chart (61). Is this correct, or is it that
random multiple comments from a few response forms have been selectively
extracted for these bar charts?

10.          Many of the comments against which the bars are set are
unclear as to whether they are favourable or critical of the proposal,
e.g. Q1: 'other facilities' or Q3: 'use of space'. Please let me know
which bars in which question Mrs. Brown has interpreted to be 'approval'
and give more detail so that I can understand why this is so.

11.          The Council must have created one or more analysis
document(s) to provide the results to inform the pie and bar charts in the
agenda.  Please supply copies of any documents created or used for this
purpose, together with copies of any internal or external letters or
emails to/from or received by Karl Roberts or Denise Vine between 13.10.17
and 11.1.18, whether signed or not, which include comments related to
these results.

12.          Please supply any other information on which Mrs. Brown may
have relied for her "overwhelming approval" comment, so that I may
understand what that comment was based on.

13.          Does the Council still hold the response forms from the
public and how long will it continue to hold them?  Can they be available
in redacted form (ie showing reverse side only) for inspection by myself?

14.          If there is any information which the Council does not have,
please will you clearly say so.

 

 

 

 

RESPONSE:

 

 

Request Request Response
Reference
How many paper response Forty-four (44) completed forms were
forms were received by received on the day of the exhibition.
1. the Council? The Council received a further 4 paper
copies of the form after the
exhibition.
How many online response The consultation webpage invited
forms were received by people to email their submissions to
the Council? [1][email address] rather
than submit an online form.  The
Council received 2 emailed  responses
of the form. It also received emails
and documents from 11 people with
2. their comments on the proposals, one
of whom submitted 2 responses . One
person who emailed also submitted a
hard copy response form. Some
responses were based on the questions
on the form and others were more
random. All information received was
forwarded to the consultancy team. 
In the agenda Pie charts, Of the forty-four (44) completed forms
there were 9 'gender not received on the day, five (5) did not
given' and 21% 'distance provide a person’s names. Of the
travelled not disclosed' eighteen (18) responses provided by
which indicates postcode the LPA, post exhibition, all provided
not given, since the names.
question is not asked
elsewhere.  This shows  
that the "your details"
3. box was not properly  
completed by some people.
How many response forms  
did not disclose the
person's name?  

 

 

 
If a name wasn't given, Yes
4. was the response form
counted in the results?
The 'who attended' pie The ‘those who attended’ section
chart shows 56 attendees communicates the interest/s or type/s
and the 'what gender' pie of respondent to the ‘Are you a’
chart shows 61 attendees. section of the feedback form. This
Which is correct and records the type of attendee i.e.
please explain the Resident, Organisation Representative,
5. difference? Councillor, Trader, Student & Other.
It is possible for responders to
choose one or more boxes to clearly
define their interest/s, some fields
are also left blank. The gender
section records the title of the
respondent e.g. Mr/Mrs/not given.
What measures were taken The data is based on the information
to ensure that more than received.
6. one response form was not
completed by one person
giving different and/or
false names?
The agenda pie chart
shows 378 website visits. The data we have indicates 378 visits
7. How many of these were but does not discriminate between one
single unique visits, and time and repeat visits
how many were repeat
and/or multiple visits?
Does the Council have any
means of knowing whether
8. those website visitors No
were also attendees at
the exhibition?  If so,
what were the figures?
 In the bar charts on The common themes, messages and
page 33 of the agenda frequently used words are reported to
each bar of each question give a balanced overview of the
appears to represent an comments received.
overall view of the
number of forms (or
individual responses)
providing the comment the
bar is set against. This
is because the total
number of responses to
9. each question varies from
56 (Q3) to 70(Q2) which
vaguely correlates to the
'who attended' pie chart
(56) and 'what gender'
pie chart (61). Is this
correct, or is it that
random multiple comments
from a few response forms
have been selectively
extracted for these bar
charts?
Many of the comments
against which the bars
are set are unclear as to
whether they are
favourable or critical of
the proposal, e.g. Q1:
'other facilities' or Q3: This is not a Freedom of Information
10. 'use of space'. Please question. It is asking an opinion.
let me know which bars in
which question Mrs. Brown
has interpreted to be
'approval' and give more
detail so that I can
understand why this is
so.
The Council must have The pie and bar charts were created by
created one or more the consultants. There were no further
analysis document(s) to analysis documents created for the
provide the results to council other than these.
inform the pie and bar
charts in the agenda.  There are no internal or external
Please supply copies of letters or emails to/from or received
any documents created or by Karl Roberts or Denise Vine between
used for this purpose, 13.10.17 and 11.1.18 which include
11. together with copies of comments related to these results.
any internal or external
letters or emails to/from
or received by Karl
Roberts or Denise Vine
between 13.10.17 and
11.1.18, whether signed
or not, which include
comments related to these
results.
Please supply any other
information on which Mrs. The BR Regeneration Sub Committee
Brown may have relied for meeting in December 2017 that
12. her "overwhelming recommended the revised designs to
approval" comment, so Full Council Jan 2018 gave their
that I may understand support to the all recommendations.
what that comment was
based on.
Does the Council still The information obtained by the
hold the response forms Council was obtained for the sole
from the public and how purpose of seeking views on the
long will it continue to development proposals in relation to
hold them?  Can they be Hothamton Linear Park and there was no
available in redacted notification that it would be shared
form (ie showing reverse with others.  They cannot be made
side only) for inspection available. Whilst the overall results
13. by myself? were summarised any personal
information provided by respondents as
part of the consultation process has
not been disclosed.  The length of
time the information is kept will be
only as long as necessary for the sole
purpose to which it was obtained,
after which time the information will
be securely destroyed. 
If there is any
information which the Please see previous answers to the
14. Council does not have, questions above
please will you clearly
say so.

 

 

If you are dissatisfied with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can write asking for a review of the Council’s response,
within the next two months, to the Information Management Team at: Arun
District Council, Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, West
Sussex, BN17 5LF (email [2][Arun District Council request email]).

 

If, having exhausted our review procedure, you remain dissatisfied with
the handling of your request or complaint, you will 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 [3]www.ico.org.uk).  There is no charge for making an
appeal.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Information Management Team

Arun District Council

 

 

 

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| Location: First Floor, |
| |
| Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF |
| |
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NLPG UPRN 100062237016 
DX 57406 Littlehampton

Important Notice This e-mail is intended exclusively for the addressee and
may contain information that is confidential and/or privileged. If you are
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addressee), please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately;
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those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Arun
District Council. The information in this e-mail may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, therefore we cannot
guarantee that we will not provide the whole or part of this e-mail to a
third party. The Council reserves the right to monitor e-mails in
accordance with relevant legislation. Whilst outgoing e-mails are checked
for viruses, we cannot guarantee this e-mail is virus-free or has not been
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Dear Infomanagement,

Thank you for your response, but if you look at the WhatDoTheyKnow website it has come through as complete gobbledegook where you appear to have merged my questions with your answers. It is not at all understandable.

Could you please send a clear response to all my questions.

Yours sincerely,
Hugh Coster

Infomanagement, Arun District Council

1 Attachment

 

Dear Mr Coster

 

Thank you for your reply to our response on your Information Request
Mar18_26.

 

REPLY BACK:

 

Thank you for your response, but if you look at the WhatDoTheyKnow website
it has come through as complete gobbledegook where you appear to have
merged my questions with your answers.  It is not at all understandable.

 

Could you please send a clear response to all my questions.

 

RESPONSE:

 

The Council’s original response was sent as a table and it appears that
this may not have been compatible with the Whatdoyouknow website.

 

The Council’s response is now provided in a pdf format which it is hoped
will be acceptable.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can write asking for a review of the Council’s response,
within the next two months, to the Information Management Team at: Arun
District Council, Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, West
Sussex, BN17 5LF (email [1][Arun District Council request email]).

 

If, having exhausted our review procedure, you remain dissatisfied with
the handling of your request or complaint, you will 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]www.ico.org.uk).  There is no charge for making an
appeal.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Information Management Team

Arun District Council

 

 

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Information Management Team  |  [3]Arun District Council | |
| Location: First Floor, |
| |
| Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF |
| |
| Internal: 37709 | External: +44 (0) 1903 737709 | E-mail: |
| [4][Arun District Council request email] |
| |
| Visit Arun's web site at [5]www.arun.gov.uk  P Save the environment - |
| think before you print. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

 

[6]http://www.arun.gov.uk
NLPG UPRN 100062237016 
DX 57406 Littlehampton

Important Notice This e-mail is intended exclusively for the addressee and
may contain information that is confidential and/or privileged. If you are
not the intended recipient (or authorised to receive it for the
addressee), please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately;
using, copying, or disclosing it to anyone else, is strictly prohibited
and may be unlawful. Any views, opinions or options presented are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Arun
District Council. The information in this e-mail may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, therefore we cannot
guarantee that we will not provide the whole or part of this e-mail to a
third party. The Council reserves the right to monitor e-mails in
accordance with relevant legislation. Whilst outgoing e-mails are checked
for viruses, we cannot guarantee this e-mail is virus-free or has not been
intercepted or changed and we do not accept liability for any damage
caused. Any reference to "e-mail" in this disclaimer includes any
attachments.
**********************************************************************

References

Visible links
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2. http://www.ico.org.uk/
3. http://www.arun.gov.uk/
4. mailto:[Arun District Council request email]
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6. http://www.arun.gov.uk/

Dear Infomanagement,

Thank you for your revised response to my request.

I am unhappy with your response to my question 10. You claim I am asking an opinion. I am not asking for an opinion. Mrs. Brown, when she claimed "overwhelming approval" was speaking in Full Council on behalf of the Council. The only information available to her for this was, allegedly, the bar charts as set out in the consultants' report, which are mostly unclear as to whether they are favourable or critical. I am asking which of the bars in which question Mrs. Brown, in making the comment she did, selected as being "approval" and for any further detail you can provide so that I can understand why this is so.

However, if you are inferring that Mrs. Brown did not base her "overwhelming approval" claim on any of the bars in any of the questions, please clearly say so.

Also, re my question 11, I should be grateful if you would re-examine whether there were any communications as described in respect of Karl Roberts or Denise Vine. It is seriously not believable that there was nothing sent or received by them in connection with this matter during that period.

Yours sincerely,
Hugh Coster

Dear Infomanagement,

I wrote to you on 11th April. Please could you let me know when I can expect a response.

Yours sincerely,
Hugh Coster

Infomanagement, Arun District Council

Dear Mr Coster

 

I have been referred your request for a review of the information provided
in response to your Information Request Mar18_26.  This request related to
a statement made at the Full Council meeting on 10 January 2018 by
Councillor Mrs Brown and requested information related to the report made
to the Bognor Regis Regeneration Sub-Committee on 14 December 2017.

 

As your latest request of 11 April 2018 requested additional information
on the responses provided to Questions 10 and 11, I have dealt with this
as an internal review.

 

Your latest request was:

 

“I am unhappy with your response to my question 10.  You claim I am asking
an opinion.  I am not asking for an opinion.  Mrs. Brown, when she claimed
"overwhelming approval" was speaking in Full Council on behalf of the
Council.  The only information available to her for this was, allegedly,
the bar charts as set out in the consultants' report, which are mostly
unclear as to whether they are favourable or critical.  I am asking which
of the bars in which question Mrs. Brown, in making the comment she did,
selected as being "approval" and for any further detail you can provide so
that I can understand why this is so.

 

However, if you are inferring that Mrs. Brown did not base her
"overwhelming approval" claim on any of the bars in any of the questions,
please clearly say so.

 

Also, re my question 11, I should be grateful if you would re-examine
whether there were any communications as described in respect of Karl
Roberts or Denise Vine.  It is seriously not believable that there was
nothing sent or received by them in connection with this matter during
that period.”

 

In conducting my internal review, I have reviewed the information provided
to your initial request and discussed your further request with both the
Director of Place, Karl Roberts and the Group Head of Economy, Denise Vine
to establish what recorded information is held by Arun District Council.

 

Responding to your further request on Question 10 for “which bars in which
question” Councillor Mrs Brown was referring to in responding to the
public question at the Full Council meeting on 10 January 2018.  I confirm
that the Council has no further written analysis than the information
created by the Council’s consultants which was published in the agenda for
the meeting of the Bognor Regis Regeneration Sub-Committee of 14 December
2018 which Councillor Mrs Brown based her answer to this question on at
the Full Council meeting.  You can view the report containing the
consultation responses from this link:

 

[1]https://www.arun.gov.uk/regeneration-sub...

 

The full answer that Councillor Mrs Brown gave to this public question can
be viewed from this link:

[2]https://www.arun.gov.uk/public-question-...

 

Responding to your further request on Question 11 in which you ask that we
re-examine if there are any records of communication.  Karl Roberts and
Denise Vine have rechecked records held by the Council and this check
confirmed that they hold no records of internal or external letters or
emails, between 13.10.17 and 11.01.18, which include comments relating to
these results.

 

As I have concluded the internal review of your information request you
now have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner if you remain
dissatisfied with the way in which the Council has handled your request.
Appeals should be directed to the Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (telephone: 0303
123 1113). More details can be found on the website [3]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely

 

Liz Futcher

Data Protection Officer

 

 

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Information Management Team  |  [4]Arun District Council | |
| Location: Second Floor , |
| |
| Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF |
| |
| Internal: 37709 | External: +44 (0) 1903 737709 | E-mail: |
| [5][Arun District Council request email] |
| |
| Visit Arun's web site at [6]www.arun.gov.uk  P Save the environment - |
| think before you print. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

 

[7]http://www.arun.gov.uk
NLPG UPRN 100062237016 
DX 57406 Littlehampton

Important Notice This e-mail is intended exclusively for the addressee and
may contain information that is confidential and/or privileged. If you are
not the intended recipient (or authorised to receive it for the
addressee), please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately;
using, copying, or disclosing it to anyone else, is strictly prohibited
and may be unlawful. Any views, opinions or options presented are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Arun
District Council. The information in this e-mail may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, therefore we cannot
guarantee that we will not provide the whole or part of this e-mail to a
third party. The Council reserves the right to monitor e-mails in
accordance with relevant legislation. Whilst outgoing e-mails are checked
for viruses, we cannot guarantee this e-mail is virus-free or has not been
intercepted or changed and we do not accept liability for any damage
caused. Any reference to "e-mail" in this disclaimer includes any
attachments.
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7. http://www.arun.gov.uk/

Dear Infomanagement,

Thank you for your response to my email of 11th April

However, you have still failed to answer my Question 10. Please read this carefully and give a clear answer to my question.

Mrs Brown (who was speaking on behalf of the Council) stated that there was "overhwelming support" from the public in "our recent consultation". You have confirmed that there was no other information from the consultants that Mrs. Brown has relied on to support this comment. Therefore she must have relied on the bar charts I have mentioned that were illustrated in the agenda, as there is nothing else.

As the bars in that chart seem to be largely non-specific, I am simply asking you to tell me which bars in which question Mrs Brown had selected to be relied on as being supportive of her "overwhelming support" comment. The Council has this information in the person of Mrs Brown who made the statement on behalf of the Council, and cannot possibly have stated "overwhelming support" without a factual basis for her remarks. She will no doubt be able to supply you with this factual basis.

There is, of course, a possibility that Mrs Brown might have made notes in preparation for making that statement, in which case I would like to see those as well. Whatever, I am expecting you to obtain the above mentioned information from Mrs. Brown (who I will repeat was speaking on behalf of the Council) and to supply it to me in response to my question.

It is not reasonable for you to tell me you do not have this information, unless you wish to say that Mrs Brown has invented the "overwhelming support" and this had no factual basis at all. If that is your position, then please say clearly whether or not Mrs Brown had any factual basis at all for her "overwhelming support" comment. In other words, please either tell me the factual basis, or (unthinkably) that she was making it up out of thin air and lying to the Council and the public.

Yours sincerely,
Hugh Coster

Infomanagement, Arun District Council

Dear Mr Coster

Thank you for your email below.

Just to confirm we will endeavour to respond by Friday 25 May 2018 if not before.

Yours sincerely

Information Management Team
Arun District Council

Information Management Team  |  Arun District Council | Location: Second Floor ,
Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF
Internal: 37709 | External: +44 (0) 1903 737709 | E-mail: [Arun District Council request email]
Visit Arun's web site at www.arun.gov.uk Save the environment - think before you print.

show quoted sections

Infomanagement, Arun District Council

Dear Mr Coster

 

I have been referred your request dated 15 May 2018 for a further review
of the information provided in response to your Information Request
Mar18_26 specifically the findings from my internal review of Question
10.  Your latest request is:

 

“You have still failed to answer my Question 10.  Please read this
carefully and give a clear answer to my question.

 

Mrs Brown (who was speaking on behalf of the Council) stated that there
was "overwhelming support" from the public in "our recent consultation". 
You have confirmed that there was no other information from the
consultants that Mrs. Brown has relied on to support this comment. 
Therefore she must have relied on the bar charts I have mentioned that
were illustrated in the agenda, as there is nothing else.

 

As the bars in that chart seem to be largely non-specific, I am simply
asking you to tell me which bars in which question Mrs Brown had selected
to be relied on as being supportive of her "overwhelming support" comment.
The Council has this information in the person of Mrs Brown who made the
statement on behalf of the Council, and cannot possibly have stated
"overwhelming support" without a factual basis for her remarks.  She will
no doubt be able to supply you with this factual basis.

 

There is, of course, a possibility that Mrs Brown might have made notes in
preparation for making that statement, in which case I would like to see
those as well.  Whatever, I am expecting you to obtain the above mentioned
information from Mrs. Brown (who I will repeat was speaking on behalf of
the Council) and to supply it to me in response to my question.

 

It is not reasonable for you to tell me you do not have this information,
unless you wish to say that Mrs Brown has invented the "overwhelming
support" and this had no factual basis at all.  If that is your position,
then please say clearly whether or not Mrs Brown had any factual basis at
all for her "overwhelming support" comment.  In other words, please either
tell me the factual basis, or (unthinkably) that she was making it up out
of thin air and lying to the Council and the public.”

 

In conducting my further internal review, I have asked both the Director
of Place, Karl Roberts and the Group Head of Economy, Denise Vine what
information was relied on to make the statement in the response to the
public question at Full Council on 10 January 2018 that there was
“overwhelming support” from the public.  Both have re-confirmed, as
advised in my response of 10 May 2018, that they hold no further written
analysis from the information created by the Council’s consultants
published in December 2017.

 

I have also asked Councillor Mrs Brown whether she holds any records or
notes made in preparation for making this statement on 10 January 2018. 
She has confirmed that she holds no such information.

 

What I have been able to establish from my further review with Councillor
Mrs Brown is that the basis of her statement that there was “overwhelming
support” in responding to this public question on 10 January 2018 was made
in the context of the original consultation exercise undertaken by the
Council in July 2015 on Bognor Regis Regeneration which culminated in
agreement to the Linear Park going ahead.  This was on the basis of 62% of
the respondents supporting the proposal for public space/gardens on the
Hothamton site and 15% not supporting this proposal.  86% also wished to
see car parking on the site. This informed Councillor Mrs Brown’s
statement that there is “overwhelming support” for the new park and car
park on the Hothamton site and the consultation in 2017 did not change
that underlying position.  You can view the full consultation report from
2015 on the Council’s website at:

 

[1]https://www.arun.gov.uk/consultation-sur...

 

The latest consultation findings reported to the Bognor Regis
Sub-Committee on 14 December 2017 was the next stage of consultation on
the three possible design options referred to by Councillor Mrs Brown in
her statement.

 

As I have concluded the internal review of your information request you
now have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner if you remain
dissatisfied with the way in which the Council has handled your request.
Appeals should be directed to the Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (telephone: 0303
123 1113). More details can be found on the website [2]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely

 

Liz Futcher

Data Protection Officer

 

 

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Information Management Team  |  [3]Arun District Council | |
| Location: Second Floor , |
| |
| Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF |
| |
| Internal: 37709 | External: +44 (0) 1903 737709 | E-mail: |
| [4][Arun District Council request email] |
| |
| Visit Arun's web site at [5]www.arun.gov.uk  P Save the environment - |
| think before you print. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

 

[6]http://www.arun.gov.uk
NLPG UPRN 100062237016 
DX 57406 Littlehampton

Important Notice This e-mail is intended exclusively for the addressee and
may contain information that is confidential and/or privileged. If you are
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addressee), please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately;
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and may be unlawful. Any views, opinions or options presented are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Arun
District Council. The information in this e-mail may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, therefore we cannot
guarantee that we will not provide the whole or part of this e-mail to a
third party. The Council reserves the right to monitor e-mails in
accordance with relevant legislation. Whilst outgoing e-mails are checked
for viruses, we cannot guarantee this e-mail is virus-free or has not been
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References

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1. https://www.arun.gov.uk/consultation-sur...
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
3. http://www.arun.gov.uk/
4. mailto:[Arun District Council request email]
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6. http://www.arun.gov.uk/

Dear Infomanagement,

Many thanks for your email of 17th May and the information therein. I appreciate your efforts and am sorry to have to prolong this correspondence, but you still have not answered the question I have asked.

You will note from the first paragraph of my original request that I referred to Full Council of 10th January 2018 and that Mrs. Brown's comment was on the matter of the Hothamton Linear Park proposals and the view she claims was expressed by the public via the Consultation carried out on 13th October 2017. My question to you clearly related to just that and nothing else.

For your information Mrs. Brown said: "In our recent consultation on the proposals for the new park and parking areas at Hothamton there was overwhelming support from the public." There was a lot more, but in a supplementary question to this she was asked about the consultation she had mentioned and she replied: "The consultation was on the Linear Park."

It is quite impossible that she could have been in any way referring to the 2015 consultation that you are trying to direct me to, for seven reasons:

1) The 2015 consultation was not "recent," but the 2017 consultation was.
2) She did not mention anything that suggested or even hinted that she was referring to the 2015 consultation
3) Her words were "The consultation was on the Linear Park," but the 2015 consultation was not on the Linear Park which had not even been mentioned at that time.
4) Her words were "The consultation was on the Linear Park," but the 2015 consultation clearly stated that it was on the "Hothamton Car Park site" and did not mention the sunken gardens that the subsequent Linear Park proposals covered.
5) The plan on the 2015 consultants' report clearly outlined just the Hothamton car park site and the childrens' play area, and did NOT include the sunken gardens that the Linear Park proposals cover
6) The 2015 consultation (understandably) did not ask any question that mentioned the Linear Park.
7) The 2015 consultation (understandably) did not ask any question that enabled the public to indicate whether they supported the Linear Park proposals or not -- because the proposals didn't exist at that time.

In the light of the above and the precise words of Mrs. Brown mentioned above it is not acceptable or believable that the "basis of her statement" (your words) was the 2015 consultation as you (or she) suggests. She quite clearly said "recent consultation on the proposals for the new park" and later defined it as the "Linear Park" and those words quite clearly pointed to the 2017 consultation.

So please, again, will you answer my request, bearing in mind that in claiming that Mrs. Brown was referring to a DIFFERENT consultation which she hadn't specified and which was clearly NOT on the topic of the Linear Park that she had specifically mentioned, is to suggest that Mrs Brown was being deliberately deceitful and misleading in her answer to the public and the Council.

To remind you, I wish to know, since you say there was no other information on the 2017 consultation supplied to her, which of the bars in which questions in the consultants 2017 report Mrs Brown had selected to rely on to support her statement that there was "overwhelming support" for the Linear Park. If you find yourself obliged to tell me that she did not rely on any of them, please will you clearly say so.

Yours sincerely,
Hugh Coster

Infomanagement, Arun District Council

Dear Mr Coster

 

I refer to your further email of 17 May 2018 in which you state that we
have still not answered the question asked.

 

Firstly, I re-confirm the response given in my two previous emails of 10
and 17 May 2018 that neither the Director of Place, Karl Roberts and the
Group Head of Economy, Denise Vine hold any further written analysis from
the information created by the Council’s Consultants published in December
2017.

 

Secondly, my response of 17 May 2018 also confirmed that Councillor Mrs
Brown holds no records or notes made in preparation for making the
statement given in response to a public question at the Council meeting
held on 10 January 2018. 

 

Therefore I confirm that the Council holds no record or information, other
than the published report already referred to, that can answer your
specific request for information of which bars in the graphs in the 2017
consultant’s report were relied on in Councillor Mrs Brown’s statement.

 

Turning to the points you raise in your latest email about the information
provided in my email of 17 May 2018 from my review with Councillor Mrs
Brown.  She has confirmed that her statement at the Council meeting on 10
January 2018 was based on her opinion of the consultation results.  In her
view, the question had been vague in its content.  Her recollection of the
basis of her response was that she was referring to both stages of
consultation in using the term “overwhelming support” and “recent
consultation” as both exercises had informed the Council in taking the
decision to proceed with the regeneration of this site.

 

As Councillor Mrs Brown’s statement in answering this question was based
on an opinion and I have confirmed that the Council holds no further
written analysis or information to answer the question in your request, I
am now concluding this internal review of your Freedom of Information
request.

 

You now have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner if you
remain dissatisfied with the way in which the Council has handled your
request. Appeals should be directed to the Information Commissioner’s
Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (telephone:
0303 123 1113). More details can be found on the website [1]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely

 

Liz Futcher

Data Protection Officer

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Information Management Team  |  [2]Arun District Council | |
| Location: Second Floor , |
| |
| Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF |
| |
| Internal: 37709 | External: +44 (0) 1903 737709 | E-mail: |
| [3][Arun District Council request email] |
| |
| Visit Arun's web site at [4]www.arun.gov.uk  P Save the environment - |
| think before you print. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

 

[5]http://www.arun.gov.uk
NLPG UPRN 100062237016 
DX 57406 Littlehampton

Important Notice This e-mail is intended exclusively for the addressee and
may contain information that is confidential and/or privileged. If you are
not the intended recipient (or authorised to receive it for the
addressee), please notify the sender and delete the e-mail immediately;
using, copying, or disclosing it to anyone else, is strictly prohibited
and may be unlawful. Any views, opinions or options presented are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Arun
District Council. The information in this e-mail may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, therefore we cannot
guarantee that we will not provide the whole or part of this e-mail to a
third party. The Council reserves the right to monitor e-mails in
accordance with relevant legislation. Whilst outgoing e-mails are checked
for viruses, we cannot guarantee this e-mail is virus-free or has not been
intercepted or changed and we do not accept liability for any damage
caused. Any reference to "e-mail" in this disclaimer includes any
attachments.
**********************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
2. http://www.arun.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[Arun District Council request email]
4. blocked::blocked::http://www.arun.gov.uk/ blocked::http://www.arun.gov.uk/
file:///tmp/blocked::http:/www.arun.gov.uk/
5. http://www.arun.gov.uk/

Dear Infomanagement,

I am sorry to persist with this, but you are wrongly claiming that I am asking for an "opinion" and are also wrongly claiming that Mrs Brown was giving an "opinion". Neither of these claims are true, but you are using this to try and avoid answering my question.

Mrs Brown in her answer on 10th January stated a FACT. She said : "In our recent consultation on the proposals for the new park and parking areas at Hothamton there was overwhelming support from the public." She did not state or even hint that she was giving an opinion, this was a bald statement of a fact. See: https://www.arun.gov.uk/download.cfm?doc... on the 6th and 7th lines of the second page.

On the last line of the second page she stated another FACT: "The consultation was on the Linear Park." Again, not even any hint of giving an opinion.

In both these statements she was referring to a SINGLE consultation, and there was no mention or hint of an amalgamation of two separate consultations two years apart as you are trying to suggest with woolly expressions like "basis of her response" etc. She was making plain simple statements of fact, stated by her to be based on a SINGLE consultation.

In the last line she clearly defined this consultation as being "on the Linear Park". I have already given you seven reasons why she cannot have been referring to the 2015 consultation, the major ones being: a) the Linear Park had not even been invented or mentioned in 2015, and therefore could not have been consulted on, b) it excluded the major part of the area relating to the current Linear Park proposals and c) it wasn't "recent" which was the word she used.

Therefore, she must have only been referring to the 2017 consultation in making the factual statements that she did. She was representing the Council when making these statements, and to make these factual statements she must have been relying on factual information in the possession of the Council, and in her statements she defined this information as coming from "our recent consultation". Precisely which parts of the consultation she relied on is information in the possession of Mrs. Brown who, I will again remind you, was representing the Council at the time. So I will now repeat the last paragraph of my email of 17th May which asked you for factual information, and NOT an opinion.

To remind you, I wish to know, since you say there was no other information on the 2017 consultation supplied to her, which of the bars in which questions in the consultants 2017 report Mrs Brown had selected to rely on to support her statement that there was "overwhelming support" for the Linear Park. If you find yourself obliged to tell me that she did not rely on any of them, please will you clearly say so.

If you persist in refusing to give me a clear answer to this simple question, this email, together with necessary background information and a complaint will go the the Information Commissioner's Office.

Yours sincerely,
Hugh Coster

Liz Futcher, Arun District Council

Dear Mr Coster

 

I have been referred your further email of 24 May 2018 in which you
reiterate your request for information relating to the statement made by
Councillor Mrs Brown at the Full Council meeting on 10 January 2018.  I
confirmed in my email of 23 May 2018 that I had concluded the internal
review of your Freedom of Information request and that the Council holds
no further written analysis or information to answer your request.

 

I have therefore nothing further to add to the responses I have already
provided to you dated 10 May, 17 May and 23 May 2018.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Liz Futcher

Data Protection Officer

 

 

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [1]Liz Futcher | Group Head of Council Advice and Monitoring |
| Officer, [2]Arun District Council | Location: Second Floor, Arun Civic |
| Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF |
| Internal: 37610 | External: +44 (0) 1903 737610 | E-mail: |
| [3][email address] |
| |
| Visit Arun's web site at [4]www.arun.gov.uk  P Save the environment - |
| think before you print. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Dear Liz Futcher,

Thank you for your email of 25th May. You have failed to answer a perfectly straightforward question, probably because you don't wish to embarrass the Leader of the Council. In reality, she has embarrassed herself by making apparently totally unfounded remarks and is afraid to admit it. I appreciate this is not your fault, but you should have the courage to do your job properly and not involve yourself in trying to conceal the politicians' personal embarrassments.

I have made a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office.

Yours sincerely,

Hugh Coster

Liz Futcher, Arun District Council

Dear Mr Coster

Thank you for letting me know.

Yours sincerely

Liz Futcher
Data Protection Officer

Liz Futcher | Group Head of Council Advice and Monitoring Officer, Arun District Council | Location: Second Floor, Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF
Internal: 37610 | External: +44 (0) 1903 737610 | E-mail: [email address]
Visit Arun's web site at www.arun.gov.uk Save the environment - think before you print.

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