Minutes Not Fit For Purpose

The request was partially successful.

Dear Wales Audit Office,

I am concerned that the minutes of meetings of Merthyr Council are not fit for purpose.

The minutes often record the details of questions asked by members but no record of the answers to those questions are recorded.

The only record of the answers is a generic statement that all questions were answered.

Will you please let me have copies of any letters or reports that exist that deal with advice given or complaints received regarding the minutes of meetings of Merthyr Council over the last 5 years.

Yours faithfully,

Geoff Jones

Information Officer, Wales Audit Office

6 Attachments

Dear Mr Jones

 

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for information in
your email below.

 

I am considering your request in accordance with the procedures set out on
the Wales Audit Office website at:
[1]http://www.audit.wales/openness-and-tran....

 

The procedures are intended to ensure that requests are dealt with in
accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, the Code of Practice set under section 45 of the 2000 Act and
other relevant legislation.

 

I shall write to you again once I am in a position to provide a
substantive response, though I may write to you before then if I need to
clarify your request.

 

Please note that we have a policy of publishing in a disclosure log on our
website information that we provide in response to requests where we
consider that this is in the public interest. We will not, however,
publish personal information if this would be unfair and so breach the
first data protection principle. In line with this, we will generally not
disclose the identity or other personal information of requesters. We
will, however, disclose the identity of requesters if this is in the
public interest and doing so would be fair, such as in the case of holders
of public office. If you have any concerns regarding inclusion of our
response to you in the disclosure log, please let me know.

 

In the meantime, if you have any queries, you are welcome to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Katherine Drysdale

Swyddog Gwybodaeth/ Information Officer

Y Gyfraith a Moeseg/ Law & Ethics

 

Ffôn / Tel: 02920 320572

E-bost: [2]katherine.drysdale@archwilio.cymru

E-mail: [3]katherine.drysdale@audit.wales

 

Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru: [4]www.archwilio.cymru

Wales Audit Office: [5]www.audit.wales

 

 

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Information Officer, Wales Audit Office

7 Attachments

Dear Mr Jones

 

I am writing in response to your request for information dated 04
September 2019 in which you requested information regarding Merthyr Tydfil
CBC - Meeting Minutes Advice or Complaints. For ease of reference, I have
reproduced your question below and set out our corresponding response.

 

Will you please let me have copies of any letters or reports that exist
that deal with advice given or complaints received regarding the minutes
of meetings of Merthyr Council over the last 5 years.

 

We hold some information matching this description, and I attach relevant
extracts from the communications received and our responses.

 

I am unable to supply full copies of the communications as this contains
names and other personal information which is exempt from disclosure by
virtue of s40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) relating to
personal information. In relation to personal data of an applicant for
information s40(1) states ‘Any information to which a request for
information relates is exempt information if it constitutes personal data
of which the applicant is the data subject.’ An individual may of course
request their own personal data under the data subject access provisions
of data protection legislation, though it would not be appropriate to do
so via WDTK.com due to the public nature of the site.

 

In relation to third party personal data, section 40(2) and 40(3) of the
Act state that third party personal data is exempt from disclosure where
it would breach the data protection principles to release it. The first
data protection principle states that processing must be fair and lawful.
Disclosures under the Act are into the wider public domain and I consider
that release of this information would not be within the reasonable
expectation of individuals concerned. As such, the disclosure is likely to
be unfair and to disclose would be a breach of the data protection
principles.

 

We published a report in October 2018 “ Overview and Scrutiny: Fit for the
future? – Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council” which makes reference to
the documentation of Council meetings and this report is available on the
WAO website at
[1]http://www.audit.wales/publication/merth....
Accordingly, this information is reasonably accessible to you by other
means and is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

 

If you wish to complain about the handling of your request, please write
to Martin Peters, Head of Law and Ethics, by email to
[2]martin.peters@audit.wales or by post to 24 Cathedral Road, Cardiff,
CF11 9LJ.

 

I must also refer you to section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act
under which you may apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision
on whether or not your request has been dealt with in accordance with the
Act. The Information Commissioner’s contact details are:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office               
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

email : [3][email address]

Tel: 01625 545745
Fax: 01625 524510

 

You should note, however, that the Information Commissioner would normally
expect you to have exhausted our internal complaints procedures before
dealing with such an application. Further guidance may be found on the
Information Commissioner’s website: [4]https://ico.org.uk/

 

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Katherine Drysdale

Swyddog Gwybodaeth/ Information Officer

Y Gyfraith a Moeseg/ Law & Ethics

 

Ffôn / Tel: 02920 320572

E-bost: [5]katherine.drysdale@archwilio.cymru

E-mail: [6]katherine.drysdale@audit.wales

 

Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru: [7]www.archwilio.cymru

Wales Audit Office: [8]www.audit.wales

 

 

[9]cid:image001.png@01D4540A.F7028290 [10]Dilynwch / Follow @WalesAudit
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From: Information Officer
Sent: 04 September 2019 12:45
To: 'Geoff Jones' <[FOI #601396 email]>
Subject: IR713 Merthyr Tydfil CBC - Meeting Minutes Advice or Complaints

 

Dear Mr Jones

 

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for information in
your email below.

 

I am considering your request in accordance with the procedures set out on
the Wales Audit Office website at:
[19]http://www.audit.wales/openness-and-tran....

 

The procedures are intended to ensure that requests are dealt with in
accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, the Code of Practice set under section 45 of the 2000 Act and
other relevant legislation.

 

I shall write to you again once I am in a position to provide a
substantive response, though I may write to you before then if I need to
clarify your request.

 

Please note that we have a policy of publishing in a disclosure log on our
website information that we provide in response to requests where we
consider that this is in the public interest. We will not, however,
publish personal information if this would be unfair and so breach the
first data protection principle. In line with this, we will generally not
disclose the identity or other personal information of requesters. We
will, however, disclose the identity of requesters if this is in the
public interest and doing so would be fair, such as in the case of holders
of public office. If you have any concerns regarding inclusion of our
response to you in the disclosure log, please let me know.

 

In the meantime, if you have any queries, you are welcome to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Katherine Drysdale

Swyddog Gwybodaeth/ Information Officer

Y Gyfraith a Moeseg/ Law & Ethics

 

Ffôn / Tel: 02920 320572

E-bost: [20]katherine.drysdale@archwilio.cymru

E-mail: [21]katherine.drysdale@audit.wales

 

Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru: [22]www.archwilio.cymru

Wales Audit Office: [23]www.audit.wales

 

 

[24]cid:image001.png@01D4540A.F7028290 [25]Dilynwch / Follow @WalesAudit
[26]cid:image002.png@01D4540A.F7028290 [27]Hoffwch ein tudalen / Like us on
Facebook
[28]cid:image003.png@01D4540A.F7028290 [29]Darllenwch ein blog [30]/ Read
our blog
[31]cid:image005.png@01D4540F.F41645D0 Ysgrifennwch ataf yn Gymraeg neu’n
Saesneg

Please write to me in Welsh or English
[32]cid:image007.jpg@01D4540F.F41645D0 [33]cid:image009.png@01D4540F.F41645D0

 

 

 

 

 

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