Hungerford Town Plan

The request was partially successful.

Dear West Berkshire Council,

I unerstand that the Hungerford Town Plan (refresh) has been put forward for adoption by West Berkshire Council by Individual Executive Member decision in two days time on Thursday 14th March 2013.

http://decisionmaking.westberks.gov.uk/d...

Under the FOI Act I would like to know:

1 The date that the agenda and reports were published on the West Berkshire Council web site.

2 When the plan was put forward to West Berkshire Council for adoption and by whom.

3 How many versions of the plan have been considered by West Berkshire Council ( the report is referenced 'final' which implies that there have been several versions)

4 Which West Berkshire Council officers and councillors have had a say in/been consulted on the plan. If possible please supply names, otherwise positions/job titles and whether they live in Hungerford.

I would be grateful if you could supply all documentation held that might answer these questions, including correspondence, draft versions of the plan and responses from the consultees listed in the Executive Report. For your information the results of the 2011 Town Plan refresh survey and the plan itself are not due to be unveiled until Thursday evening (after the West Berkshire Council decision is due to be taken) at the Hungerford Annual Town Meeting. Contrary to the preamble to the plan, it has not yet been distributed to every household in Hungerford, if any, and we have therefore not had an opportunity to comment on it.

Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

J A Giggins

Sue Broughton, West Berkshire Council

FoI/2013/223

Dear Mrs Giggins,

Request for information: Hungerford Town Plan

Thank you for your request. We will seek to respond within twenty
working days (by 11th April).

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

* Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market
Street, Newbury RG14 5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

' 01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal)

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

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Sue Broughton, West Berkshire Council

14 Attachments

FoI/2013/223

Dear Mrs Giggins,

Request for information: Hungerford Town Plan

Please find a partial response to your request and covering letter. As
advised in the letter we would hope to respond to the remainder of the
request by 18th April.

Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

* Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market
Street, Newbury RG14 5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

' 01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal)

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

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Dear Sue Broughton,

Many thanks for this first tranche of information.

Would it be possible to refine the part of my request relating to whether or not individual consultees live in Hungerford to ask for the percentage of those consulted who live in Hungerford?

I look forward to receiving the rest of the information in due course.

Yours sincerely,

J A Giggins

Sue Broughton, West Berkshire Council

6 Attachments

FoI/2013/223

Dear Mrs Giggins,

Request for information: Hungerford Town Plan

We have now obtained the remaining information to respond to your
request. Some information is being withheld, and the relevant exemption
is explained below.

You have asked:

Which West Berkshire Council officers and councillors have had a say
in/been consulted on the plan. If possible please supply names,
otherwise positions/job titles and the percentage of those consulted who
live in Hungerford.

I would be grateful if you could supply all documentation held that
might answer these questions, including correspondence, draft versions
of the plan and responses from the consultees listed in the Executive
Report.

I have attached the responses provided by the officers within the
Services, including their job titles and the Service they represent. I
would stress that these responses represent a professional, legal and
technical view of the content of the Town Plan, and are submitted on
behalf of the Services and the Council. They are not personal views by
residents of the wider West Berkshire area or the town of Hungerford.

The "2012-09-17 Hungerford Refresh Comments" comprise the comments made
by officers at a meeting with The Hungerford Vision Group on 6th
November (the September date of the document indicates which version of
the Town Plan Refresh was being considered) and includes earlier
comments made by officers not present at that meeting. I have also
attached the email sent with the comments submitted in February 2013 and
the "Comments on the Action Plan template" and copies of two
spreadsheets submitted at that time in respect of the later version of
the Plan.

We have carefully considered your revised request to know the percentage
of the officers who submitted comments who live within Hungerford. This
information would have to be accessed from personnel records for the
officers who have responded.

Personnel records are retained solely to allow the authority to carry
out its employment obligations, and it is our view that this is an
invasive use of this personal data, and would breach the First and
Second Principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 (fair and lawful
processing of personal data, and processing for the specific purpose for
which the personal data was collected). As explained above, officers
commenting are providing a professional, legal and technical view on
behalf of their Service and the Council on the content of the Town Plan,
not a personal view. Where they live is an immaterial consideration to
this purpose, and the information is therefore refused under S40(2) &
S40(3)(a)(i) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. A copy of the
exemption is attached. This is an absolute exemption, not subject to the
public interest test.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you may
ask for an internal review. You should contact David Lowe, Scrutiny &
Partnerships Manager, Strategic Support, Council Offices, Market Street,
Newbury RG14 5LD, email [email address] if you wish to request a
review. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review,
you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for
a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
www.ico.gov.uk


Yours sincerely

Sue Broughton

Information Management Officer

* Strategic Support West Berkshire Council, Council Offices, Market
Street, Newbury RG14 5LD

Email: [West Berkshire Council request email]

' 01635 519747 (external) ' 2747 (internal)

You should be aware that all emails received and sent by this Council
are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be
disclosed to a third party.

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

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