Planning application concerning Metrobus AVTM and Avon Crescent
Dear Bristol City Council,
I would like to see all internal emails and Whatsapp phone and other electronic messages passing between Kevin Slocombe, John Smith (Head of Growth and Regeneration) and officers in Development Control Management such as Gary Collins and Peter Westbury, and Transport Development Management, pertaining to Metrobus AVTM and Avon Crescent, in the last nine months, please.
Yours faithfully,
M C Rands
Dear Bristol City Council,
You seem to have received my F.O.I. Act request, but have not responded within the 20 working days the law allows.
I am therefore requesting an internal review please.
If you also ignore this request, then I shall complain to the Information Commissioners Office.
Thank you
Yours faithfully,
M C Rands
Dear M C Rands
Thank you for your email. Can you confirm the BCC reference number for your case, which you would have had if it was received by Bristol City council.
At present looking at our systems there is no request, under your name or WDTK email address.
If you do not have a reference number can you please re-send your request and we can get this logged.
Yours sincerely
Bristol City Council
Dear Freedom of Information,
This is W.D.T.K. case number 980465 I believe. Please read the 'delivered' logs by clicking on 'delivered' above. You should be able to read my request, and certainly trace the emails from the logs.
I am going to the Information Commissioners Office, due to your apparently deliberate stalling.
Yours sincerely,
M C Rands
Thank you for your submission.
Information request
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Information request
Information required Dear Bristol City Council,
I would like to see all internal emails and Whatsapp
phone and other electronic messages passing between
Kevin Slocombe, John Smith (Head of Growth and
Regeneration) and officers in Development Control
Management such as Gary Collins and Peter Westbury,
and Transport Development Management, pertaining to
Metrobus AVTM and Avon Crescent, in the last nine
months, please.
Yours faithfully,
M C Rands
Requester details
Title Mr
First name M
Surname Rands
Address
Town
County
Postcode
Preferred contact method
Email address [1][FOI #980465 email]
Phone
Mobile
Supporting documents
About this request
Issued by Bristol City Council
Information Request Team
PO Box 3399
Bristol
BS1 9NE
Status Submitted on 21/06/2023 10:56
Request reference 37311921
Bristol City Council
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mailto:[FOI #980465 email]?subject=Information+request-37311921
Dear Mc Rands
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 21 June
2023.
We are dealing with your request and we aim to send a response within 20
working days from the date we received your request.
For further information regarding FOI requests, please visit
[1]https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/off...
If you have any further queries about your request please contact
[2][email address].
Yours sincerely
Customer Relations Team
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Bristol City Council
This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of
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specifically states these to be the views of Bristol City Council.
This email has been scanned for all viruses and all reasonable precautions
have been taken to ensure that no viruses are present. Bristol City
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the use of this email or attachments.
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2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mc Rands
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 21 June
2023.
We are dealing with your request and we aim to send a response within 20
working days from the date we received your request.
For further information regarding FOI requests, please visit
[1]https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/off...
If you have any further queries about your request please contact
[2][email address].
Yours sincerely
Customer Relations Team
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Bristol City Council
This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of
which may be legally privileged and/or subject to the provisions of
privacy legislation. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you are
not the intended recipient, an addressing or transmission error has
misdirected this e-mail; you must not use, disclose, copy, print or
disseminate the information contained within this e-mail. Please notify
the author immediately by replying to this email. Any views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender, except where the sender
specifically states these to be the views of Bristol City Council.
This email has been scanned for all viruses and all reasonable precautions
have been taken to ensure that no viruses are present. Bristol City
Council cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from
the use of this email or attachments.
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Dear M C Rands
I apologise for the confusion with your requests. Subsequently we have lodged your request twice since you have resubmitted it. Please note our FOI request reference is 37313522 has been closed and the response will be under refence number 37311921.
I apologise again for the confusion.
Kind regards
Bristol City Council
Dear M C Rands,
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Bristol City Council may hold information that falls within the scope of
your request, however we consider that the cost of complying with your
request would exceed the limit provided under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 (FOI Act). We are therefore refusing your request on the
following grounds:
Section 12 - Exceeds cost limit
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a
request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the
information, locating and retrieving it, and extracting it from other
information would exceed the appropriate limit (currently £450 for Bristol
City Council). This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on
the activities described and is the equivalent of 18 hours.
In order to estimate how long it would take to respond to your request, we
searched records and identified a number of items that may fall within the
scope of your request. We estimate that it would take four minutes to
review each item to consider whether it falls within the scope of your
request and to identify any duplicate items. Based on this, it would take
one officer over the 18 hour limit to fully comply with your request.
As we estimate that it would take over the 18 hour limit provided in the
FOI Act to identify, retrieve, and extract the information requested, we
consider that section 12 applies and are refusing your request. Your case
has now been closed.
Narrowing your request
Under the FOI Act, a public authority is not obliged to search for, or
compile some of the requested information before refusing a request that
it estimates will exceed the appropriate limit. You may wish to narrow the
scope of your request by revising the timeframe and/or otherwise focusing
more on the information that is most important to you.
Please note that any refined request we receive will be treated as a fresh
request and we cannot guarantee that any relevant exemptions under the FOI
Act will not apply to a revised request.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your
original letter and should sent to [1][email address].
If you are still dissatisfied with the Council's response after the
internal review you have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner
at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF; Telephone: 0303 123 1113; Website:
www.ico.gov.uk
Yours faithfully,
Bristol City Council
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Bristol City Council
This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of
which may be legally privileged and/or subject to the provisions of
privacy legislation. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you are
not the intended recipient, an addressing or transmission error has
misdirected this e-mail; you must not use, disclose, copy, print or
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the author immediately by replying to this email. Any views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender, except where the sender
specifically states these to be the views of Bristol City Council.
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have been taken to ensure that no viruses are present. Bristol City
Council cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from
the use of this email or attachments.
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Dear Bristol City Council,
I would be grateful if you could offer me guidance into how I could best reframe the request in order to obtain as much of the information as possible, while bringing it below the cost limit.
As you may be aware, Section 16 of the FOI Code of Practice (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...) advises that bodies should 'provide advice and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to expect the authority to do so' and ICO guidance (https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...) interprets this as a suggestion that the authority should provide suggestions of this nature.
Yours faithfully,
M C Rands
Dear Bristol City Council,
Rather than wait for you to tell me how to make my request for information less expensive to comply with, I have truncated my request to:
"Please let me see all emails between Kevin Slocombe, John Smith (interim director of G&R) and Development Control, Gary Collins and Peter Westbury about 'Avon Crescent' in the three months leading up to the Avon Crescent planning application being 'pulled' on the morning of the development control committee hearing, on 10th May 2023.
A simple search of the term 'Avon Crescent' in emails between the named subjects, will clearly be within the officer costs limit.
I look forward to you finally being able to comply with my lawful request.
Many thanks
Yours sincerely,
M C Rands
Dear M C Rands
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 24 July
2023.
We are dealing with your request and we aim to send a response within 20
working days from the date we received your request.
For further information regarding FOI requests, please visit
[1]https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/off...
If you have any further queries about your request please contact
[2][email address].
Yours sincerely
Customer Relations Team
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Bristol City Council
This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of
which may be legally privileged and/or subject to the provisions of
privacy legislation. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you are
not the intended recipient, an addressing or transmission error has
misdirected this e-mail; you must not use, disclose, copy, print or
disseminate the information contained within this e-mail. Please notify
the author immediately by replying to this email. Any views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender, except where the sender
specifically states these to be the views of Bristol City Council.
This email has been scanned for all viruses and all reasonable precautions
have been taken to ensure that no viruses are present. Bristol City
Council cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from
the use of this email or attachments.
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Dear Bristol City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Bristol City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Planning application concerning Metrobus AVTM and Avon Crescent'.
My initial request for information has been refused on the pretext that it would exceed the officer time limit, which I dispute.
But in any event, I have radically reduced the scope of my request above.
I request the information I have asked for, either in the original or truncated form.
Please review this reasonable and lawful request.
Many thanks
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Yours faithfully,
M C Rands
Dear M C Rands,
Thank you for your email. I note that you submitted the below internal
review request only three working days following the submission of the
request it relates to. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 permits public
bodies up to 20 working days to comply with a request for information, and
as such the council cannot accept your internal review request at this
time.
Please note, you are free to request an internal review if a substantive
response is not provided within the statutory timeframe, if you consider
that the response you have received is inadequate, or you have any other
concerns about how your request was handled.
Kind regards,
B Hodge
Disclosures Manager
Information Governance | Legal and Democratic Services
Resources Directorate | Bristol City Council
Dear B Hodge
Thank you for your reply. I was requesting an internal review of my *original* request, whuch was refused, and not the more recent one. The more recent request was submitted asking for less information, in order to overcome the (in my view invalid) argument, that the original request would occupy too many officer hours.
I will wait for the council's response to my second, more limited request, and will ask for your help again if it is refused again.
Many thanks.
Yours sincerely,
M C Rands
Dear M C Rands,
Further to the below correspondence, please note that, due to officer
absence, we are still considering your request.
Please note, with our apologies, that a substantive response will not be
possible within the initial timescale.
We now hope to be able to provide a substantive response by 1 September
2023.
Yours sincerely,
Bristol City Council
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: [email address]
Sent: 31/07/2023 21:55
To: [FOI #980465 email]
CC: [Bristol City Council request email]
Subject: RE: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Planning
application concerning Metrobus AVTM and Avon Crescent (ref:38389737)
(Attachments:) Email (original message) from
[email address] received on 31/07/2023.eml, Email from
[email address] - RE: Internal review of Freedom of
Information request - Planning application concerning Metrobus AVTM and
Avon Crescent .pdf, [email address],
[email address]
Dear M C Rands,
Thank you for your email. I note that you submitted the below internal
review request only three working days following the submission of the
request it relates to. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 permits public
bodies up to 20 working days to comply with a request for information, and
as such the council cannot accept your internal review request at this
time.
Please note, you are free to request an internal review if a substantive
response is not provided within the statutory timeframe, if you consider
that the response you have received is inadequate, or you have any other
concerns about how your request was handled.
Kind regards,
B Hodge
Disclosures Manager
Information Governance | Legal and Democratic Services
Resources Directorate | Bristol City Council
Dear Bristol City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Bristol City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Planning application concerning Metrobus AVTM and Avon Crescent'.
I submitted this request on 14th May 2023. I still do not have my answer. Lawfully, I should have the information within 20 working days. It is now nearly four months. Please let me have the information that I am lawfully entitled to receive.
I am simultaneously submitting a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office, as prima facie, it appears that you are deliberately witholding this information, which is of great interest to me, and other
Bristolians.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Yours faithfully,
M C Rands
Thank you for your request for information. Next time why not speed things
up and use our new web service to make your request? It's here at
[1]https://services.bristol.gov.uk/foi
If your email is a Freedom Of Information request you should expect to
receive a response within the 20 working day limit.
If your email is a request for an internal review you should receive a
response within the 20 - 40 working day limit.
On Behalf of
The Freedom Of Information team
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Dear Bristol City Council,
About five days ago, the Information Commissioner's Office asked you to respond to my F.O.I. request within ten days. I have been waiting for my information since May. You are required by law to provide it within 20 working days.
Please give me the information that I requested.
Yours faithfully,
M C Rands
Dear Mc Rands
Thank you for your request for a review received on 7 September 2023. I am
sorry that you are unhappy with our response under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
I can confirm that we are considering your concerns and we will aim to
provide you with a response by 2 November 2023.
While we would normally aim to respond within 20 working days, on this
occasion we will require the maximum 40 working days as set out in the FOI
Code of Practice.
Yours sincerely
A Pannett
Lead Disclosures Officer
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Bristol City Council
This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of
which may be legally privileged and/or subject to the provisions of
privacy legislation. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you are
not the intended recipient, an addressing or transmission error has
misdirected this e-mail; you must not use, disclose, copy, print or
disseminate the information contained within this e-mail. Please notify
the author immediately by replying to this email. Any views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender, except where the sender
specifically states these to be the views of Bristol City Council.
This email has been scanned for all viruses and all reasonable precautions
have been taken to ensure that no viruses are present. Bristol City
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Dear Bristol City Council,
Here is a previous reply of yours:
" Bristol City Council 21 August 2023
Dear M C Rands,
Further to the below correspondence, please note that, due to officer
absence, we are still considering your request.
Please note, with our apologies, that a substantive response will not be
possible within the initial timescale.
We now hope to be able to provide a substantive response by 1 September
2023.
Yours sincerely,
Bristol City Council "
Will your next response be "We now hope to to be able to provide a substantive response by 1st January 2024" I think I might be waiting until early May 2024 if I am honest. You are breaking the law. I made this request last May.
Dear M C Rands,
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Please find attached information within the scope of your request, with
our apologies for the delayed response.
Please note that some information has been redacted from disclosure under
Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA). The information is
personal data as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). As it is
information about someone else I'm unable to give this to you; release of
this information would constitute a breach of Principle 1 of the DPA.
Principle 1 states that personal data shall be processed (used) fairly and
lawfully and, in particular, shall not be used unless at least one of the
conditions in Schedule 2 of the DPA is met; in this case none of those
conditions have been met. This response therefore acts as a refusal notice
under section 17 of the FoIA.
Your case has been closed as of today's date. Please quote the reference
number 38389737 in any future communications.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your
original letter and should be sent to
[1][email address].
If you are still dissatisfied with the Council's response after the
internal review you have a right of 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.gov.uk
Yours faithfully,
Bristol City Council
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Bristol City Council
This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of
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privacy legislation. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you are
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misdirected this e-mail; you must not use, disclose, copy, print or
disseminate the information contained within this e-mail. Please notify
the author immediately by replying to this email. Any views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender, except where the sender
specifically states these to be the views of Bristol City Council.
This email has been scanned for all viruses and all reasonable precautions
have been taken to ensure that no viruses are present. Bristol City
Council cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from
the use of this email or attachments.
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Dear M C Rands
Please see attached response to your request for an internal review.
Yours sincerely
A Pannett
Lead Disclosures Officer
Bristol City Council
This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of
which may be legally privileged and/or subject to the provisions of
privacy legislation. It is intended solely for the addressee. If you are
not the intended recipient, an addressing or transmission error has
misdirected this e-mail; you must not use, disclose, copy, print or
disseminate the information contained within this e-mail. Please notify
the author immediately by replying to this email. Any views expressed in
this email are those of the individual sender, except where the sender
specifically states these to be the views of Bristol City Council.
This email has been scanned for all viruses and all reasonable precautions
have been taken to ensure that no viruses are present. Bristol City
Council cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from
the use of this email or attachments.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
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