Meetings with the Oyston family and Blackpool family club
Dear Blackpool Borough Council,
I have raised this FOI request through whatdotheyknow.com to provide visibility and tracking of the request.
I am interested in discovering the details of meetings between Councillor Simon Blackburn and members of the Oyston family who own Blackpool Football Club, Segesta Limited and other businesses. I understand that the family members that he has met include Owen Oyston and Karl Oyston. I am interested in receiving this information for the last 24 months.
I would be grateful if you could provide.
1. A list of meetings or scheduled telephone discussions between the
Councillor and Oyston family members whether formal or informal. What I wish to
see include
a) who the Councillor met and who was present including officers and other
elected members
b) where the meeting took place or if they were conducted by
phone
c) whether minutes were taken and who was responsible for taking
them
2. Correspondence by email from members of the Oyston family, or employees of their businesses, addressed to the Councillor
3. Copies of meeting minutes and emails
4. Advice sought from the Councillor from the Monitoring Officer in relation to these discussions
5. Details of any occasions when the Councillor has attended football matches at Blackpool football club and whether or not the ticket or any food/entertainment was paid for or given as a gift
6. The Councillor's register of interest (1).
Yours faithfully,
Peter Wells
(1) I note that the Council's online publication of register of interests is incomplete: https://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Your-Counci...
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Blackpool Council
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peter wells left an annotation ()
Thank you to the helpful person at the council who guided me past some strange navigation to find Councillor Blackburn's register of members interests here: http://democracy.blackpool.gov.uk/mgConv...
Good Morning Mr Wells
Thank you for your FOI enquiry regarding meetings between the Leader of
the Council, Councillor Simon Blackburn and the Oyston family.
1. A list of meetings or scheduled telephone discussions between the
Councillor and Oyston family members whether formal or informal.
What I wish to see include:
a) who the Councillor met and who was present including officers and
other elected members
b) where the meeting took place or if they were conducted by phone
c) whether minutes were taken and who was responsible for taking them
27 May 2014 - Meeting at the request of Mr Karl Oyston who attended with
Reverend Ward.
Councillor Blackburn met Karl Oyston and Rev. Ward and Alan Cavill,
Director of Places was present. The meeting took place in the Leader’s
office. No minutes were taken.
7 September 2015 - Meeting at the request of Cllr Blackburn.
Councillor Blackburn met with Karl Oyston no other parties were present.
The meeting took place in the Leader’s office. No minutes were taken.
2. Correspondence by email from members of the Oyston family, or employees
of their businesses, addressed to the Councillor
There is no correspondence addressed to Councillor Blackburn.
3. Copies of meeting minutes and emails
No minutes of meetings were taken.
4. Advice sought from the Councillor from the Monitoring Officer in
relation to these discussions
No advice was sought from the Monitoring Officer.
5. Details of any occasions when the Councillor has attended football
matches at Blackpool football club and whether or not the ticket or any
food/entertainment was paid for or given as a gift
No football matches have been attended in the past 24 months at Blackpool
Football Club
6. The Councillor's register of interest (1).
The Councillor’s register of interest is accessible on the Council's
website and is complete.
The legislation allows you to use the information supplied to you for your
own personal use. Please be aware that any commercial use or other use
such as publication or sale may be a breach of copyright under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 unless you obtain the copyright
holders prior permission.
Not all of the information that the Council supplies to you that is
subject to copyright, will be the Council’s copyright. You should see
consent from the Council or the copyright holder as appropriate. If you
wish to reuse the information supplied, you should contact the Council for
advice on this.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you may ask for
an internal review and you should submit this in writing to: FOI Internal
Review, Blackpool Council, Town Hall, Blackpool FY1 1NA. Your request for
an internal review should be submitted within 40 working days of receipt
by you of this response.
If you are not happy with the outcome of the review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision,
You can contact the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner’s
Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
([1]www.ico.org.uk)
If you have any queries about this email, you can contact me or write to
FOI, Town Hall, Blackpool, FY1 1NA or email us at
[2][email address]. Please remember to quote the
reference number when you contact us.
Regards
Yvonne
Yvonne Burnett
Democratic Governance Senior Advisor
Democratic Governance
Governance and Regulatory Services | Blackpool Council | Number One|
Bickerstaffe Square| Blackpool | FY1 3AH
Post to: Blackpool Council | PO Box 4 | Blackpool | FY1 1NA
T: 01253 477034
W: [3]www.blackpool.gov.uk
Dear Yvonne Burnett,
thank you for your reply. I would like to ask some follow-on questions to clarify the answers.
1. I note that no minutes were taken at either of the meetings in the last two years.
Can I ask for any information that the council holds regarding the agenda and/or a summary of the remit/scope and/or any other information related to those meetings?
2. I note that the meeting on 27 May 2014 was "at the request of Mr Karl Oyston who attended with
Reverend Ward." and also that no emails were sent from members of the Oyston family to Councillor Blackburn
Can I ask for any information that the council holds regarding Karl Oyston's request for that meeting?
3. The response stated that the Councillor had two meetings with the Oyston family in the last two years and that both meetings were with Karl Oyston.
In a column in the Evening Gazette written by Karl Oyston and published on or around 2 December 2014 Karl stated "Over the weekend I attended the wedding of Blackpool Council leader Simon Blackburn" (1). In the council meeting on 20 January 2016 (2) Councillor Blackburn stated that he "meets with Karl and Owen Oyston from time to time". In a news article published on the Blackpool FC website on 6 February 2016 the author referred to "Regular discussions held between Chairman Karl Oyston and leader of Blackpool Council Simon Blackburn" (3).
Given these disparities would be grateful if you could recheck the council's records and the councillor's diary and confirm that the council only holds information related to two meetings between the Oyston family and Councillor Blackburn?
Yours sincerely,
Peter Wells
(1) http://www.backhenrystreet.co.uk/thread-...
(2) http://www.blackpool.public-i.tv/core/po...
(3) http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/news/articl...
Good Morning Mr Wells
Thank you for your recent email. Please find below the response to your
follow on questions:
1. I note that no minutes were taken at either of the meetings in the
last two years. Can I ask for any information that the council holds
regarding the agenda and/or a summary of the remit/scope and/or any other
information related to those meetings?
The meeting held on 27 May 2014 was to discuss the attempted purchase of
the building on Field Street from the Council.
The meeting held on 7 September 2015 was a ‘catch up’ meeting.
2. I note that the meeting on 27 May 2014 was "at the request of Mr
Karl Oyston who attended with Reverend Ward." and also that no emails were
sent from members of the Oyston family to Councillor Blackburn. Can I ask
for any information that the council holds regarding Karl Oyston's request
for that meeting?
Karl Oyston’s PA sent the email requesting this meeting, not Karl Oyston.
3. The response stated that the Councillor had two meetings with the
Oyston family in the last two years and that both meetings were with Karl
Oyston. In a column in the Evening Gazette written by Karl Oyston and
published on or around 2 December 2014 Karl stated "Over the weekend I
attended the wedding of Blackpool Council leader Simon Blackburn" (1). In
the council meeting on 20 January 2016 (2) Councillor Blackburn stated
that he "meets with Karl and Owen Oyston from time to time". In a news
article published on the Blackpool FC website on 6 February 2016 the
author referred to "Regular discussions held between Chairman Karl Oyston
and leader of Blackpool Council Simon Blackburn" (3).
Given these disparities would be grateful if you could recheck the
council's records and the councillor's diary and confirm that the council
only holds information related to two meetings between the Oyston family
and Councillor Blackburn?
The Council only holds records regarding the meetings mentioned. The
attendees at Councillor Blackburn’s wedding is not a matter for the
Council to comment on.
The legislation allows you to use the information supplied to you for your
own personal use. Please be aware that any commercial use or other use
such as publication or sale may be a breach of copyright under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 unless you obtain the copyright
holders prior permission.
Not all of the information that the Council supplies to you that is
subject to copyright, will be the Council’s copyright. You should see
consent from the Council or the copyright holder as appropriate. If you
wish to reuse the information supplied, you should contact the Council for
advice on this.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you may ask for
an internal review and you should submit this in writing to: FOI Internal
Review, Blackpool Council, Town Hall, Blackpool FY1 1NA. Your request for
an internal review should be submitted within 40 working days of receipt
by you of this response.
If you are not happy with the outcome of the review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision,
You can contact the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner’s
Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
([1]www.ico.org.uk)
If you have any queries about this email, you can contact me or write to
FOI, Town Hall, Blackpool, FY1 1NA or email us at
[2][email address]. Please remember to quote the
reference number when you contact us.
Regards
Yvonne
Yvonne Burnett
Democratic Governance Senior Advisor
Democratic Governance
Governance and Regulatory Services | Blackpool Council | Number One|
Bickerstaffe Square| Blackpool | FY1 3AH
Post to: Blackpool Council | PO Box 4 | Blackpool | FY1 1NA
T: 01253 477034
W: [3]www.blackpool.gov.uk
Dear Yvonne Burnett,
thank you for your quick response and apologies for my slow reply. I would like to ask three clarification questions on this request.
1. Could you ask Councillor Blackburn and Alan Cavill, Director of Places, whether they took any informal notes or provided any updates to colleagues after the 27 May 2014 meeting?
2. If they did take any notes or provided any updates to colleagues can you ask whether they would be willing to publish this information?
3. Could you provide the email from Karl Oyston's PA requesting the meeting on 27 May 2014?
Yours sincerely,
Peter Wells
I will not be in the office until Monday 22 January and will therefore not
be accessing my emails.
If your query is urgent, please contact Lennox Beattie
([email address]), who will be pleased to assist you.
Thank you.
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Good Morning Mr Wells
Thank you for your recent email. Please find below the response to your
follow on questions:
1. Could you ask Councillor Blackburn and Alan Cavill, Director of
Places, whether they took any informal notes or provided any
updates to colleagues after the 27 May 2014 meeting?
No informal notes were provided and no updates given following the
meeting. However, the building in question on Field Street has not been
sold to the Football Club.
2. If they did take any notes or provided any updates to colleagues
can you ask whether they would be willing to publish this
information?
As per above, no notes were taken.
3. Could you provide the email from Karl Oyston's PA requesting the
meeting on 27 May 2014?
The email requesting the meeting has not been kept, however the document
we have provided was attached to the meeting request in the diary. For
further information, Mr John Donnellon was invited to the meeting, but did
not attend
The legislation allows you to use the information supplied to you for your
own personal use. Please be aware that any commercial use or other use
such as publication or sale may be a breach of copyright under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 unless you obtain the copyright
holders prior permission.
Not all of the information that the Council supplies to you that is
subject to copyright, will be the Council’s copyright. You should see
consent from the Council or the copyright holder as appropriate. If you
wish to reuse the information supplied, you should contact the Council for
advice on this.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you may ask for
an internal review and you should submit this in writing to: FOI Internal
Review, Blackpool Council, Town Hall, Blackpool FY1 1NA. Your request for
an internal review should be submitted within 40 working days of receipt
by you of this response.
If you are not happy with the outcome of the review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision,
You can contact the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner’s
Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
(www.ico.org.uk)
If you have any queries about this email, you can contact me or write to
FOI, Town Hall, Blackpool, FY1 1NA or email us at
[email address]. Please remember to quote the reference
number when you contact us.
Regards
Yvonne
Yvonne Burnett
Democratic Governance Senior Advisor
Democratic Governance
Governance and Regulatory Services | Blackpool Council | Number One|
Bickerstaffe Square| Blackpool | FY1 3AH
Post to: Blackpool Council | PO Box 4 | Blackpool | FY1 1NA
T: 01253 477034
W: [1]www.blackpool.gov.uk
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peter wells left an annotation ()
For interested parties the Councillor stated in this council meeting that he has held several meetings with Karl and Owen Oyston:
http://www.blackpool.connect.citizenscap...