Publica Group - Freedom of Speech

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, West Oxfordshire District Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Julian Saunders

Dear West Oxfordshire District Council,

I am a citizen journalist writing a blog about Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. Over the years the blog has written numerous pieces concerning Mr Jan Britton who was its Chief Executive but is now employed by Publica Group who have a business relationship with your Council.

Recently my Twitter account @SandwellSkidder was blocked by you. You have not communicated with me in any way as to the reason for this interference in my right to freedom of speech pursuant to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and/or at common law.

Please disclose pursuant to FOIA 2000:

1 All documentation of whatsoever nature relating to the decision to block the said Twitter account to specifically include any communication between officers of your Council, elected members of your Council and officers of Publica Group.

2 The grade of the person or persons within your Council who took the decision to block the account.

Yours faithfully,

Julian Saunders

Enquiries (WODC), West Oxfordshire District Council

Thank you for getting in touch. We aim to deal with all emails within 2
working days, however you may not receive a further response from us
unless we require further information.

 

If you are reporting a missed bin collection in the email you have just
sent, we will log this for you. Please leave your bin in the usual place
and crews will return to collect it.

 

In order for us to deal with your missed collection quicker in the future,
please report direct to our depot online via
[1]www.westoxon.gov.uk/missedbin

 

Did you know many things can be reported direct via our website-
[2]www.westoxon.gov.uk/report

 

You may also find the following email addresses useful for future
reference:

 

Housing - [email address]

Council Tax – [email address]

Benefits – [email address]

Planning – [email address]

 

Kind regards,

Customer Services Team.

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.westoxon.gov.uk/missedbin
2. file:///tmp/www.westoxon.gov.uk/report

Enquiries (WODC), West Oxfordshire District Council

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your request for information.

Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and will be answered within twenty working days from the date of receipt. This timescale may be extended under certain circumstances. If this happens you will be notified of this and the estimated date of response.

Kind regards,

FOI Team

show quoted sections

Julian Saunders

Dear West Oxfordshire District Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of West Oxfordshire District Council's handling of my FOI request 'Publica Group - Freedom of Speech'.

This is a very straightforward request which is long overdue.

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,

Julian Saunders

Enquiries (WODC), West Oxfordshire District Council

Thank you for getting in touch. We aim to deal with all emails within 2
working days, however you may not receive a further response from us
unless we require further information.

 

If you are reporting a missed bin collection in the email you have just
sent, we will log this for you. Please leave your bin in the usual place
and crews will return to collect it.

 

In order for us to deal with your missed collection quicker in the future,
please report direct to our depot online via
[1]www.westoxon.gov.uk/missedbin

 

Did you know many things can be reported direct via our website-
[2]www.westoxon.gov.uk/report

 

You may also find the following email addresses useful for future
reference:

 

Housing - [email address]

Council Tax – [email address]

Benefits – [email address]

Planning – [email address]

 

Kind regards,

Customer Services Team.

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.westoxon.gov.uk/missedbin
2. file:///tmp/www.westoxon.gov.uk/report

Enquiries (WODC), West Oxfordshire District Council

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your request for information.

Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and will be answered within twenty working days from the date of receipt. This timescale may be extended under certain circumstances. If this happens you will be notified of this and the estimated date of response.

Kind regards,

FOI Team

show quoted sections

Julian Saunders

Dear Enquiries (WODC),

This matter is long overdue.

It may assist you to know that I have now heard from Ms Claire Hughes of Cotswold DC. If I understand her correctly the decision to interfere with my Article 10 rights was not made by the legal body that is the council but by a separate company called Publica Group.

My understanding is that Publica is owned by various councils but it is still a separate legal entity and one without any democratic mandate.

I am told that David Neudegg, Jan Britton and Paul Martin decided to interfere with my legal rights and, seemingly, to action accordingly.

Is that the correct position ie that Publica Group has usurped the legal authority of the Council in these matters? If so, what is the legal basis for the transference of these legal powers from your Council to Publica?

Yours sincerely,

Julian Saunders

Enquiries (WODC), West Oxfordshire District Council

Thank you for getting in touch. We aim to deal with all emails within 2
working days, however you may not receive a further response from us
unless we require further information.

 

Did you know many things can be reported direct via our website-
[1]www.westoxon.gov.uk/report

 

You may also find the following email addresses useful for future
reference:

 

Housing - [email address]

Council Tax – [email address]

Benefits – [email address]

Planning – [email address]

 

Kind regards,

Customer Services Team.

 

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.westoxon.gov.uk/report

West Oxfordshire DC Customer Services, West Oxfordshire District Council

[1]West Oxfordshire District Council logo
[2]Government guidance banner

Customer update
Further to your recent contact with us we are contacting you to Provide an
update

Update: Good morning Mr Saunders,

Thank you for your email.

I have passed this onto our Legal team who will investigate and will be in
contact in due course to discuss this matter.

Your reference number is 00374202.

If you need to provide further information then simply respond to this
email.

Help us prioritise those customers who need us the most. We’re taking a
large amount of enquiries right now and are making sure our essential
services keep running. Our staff are working as quickly as possible to
answer these but you may have to wait longer than usual.

If you can and your question isn’t urgent please visit our website to see
if you can find the information you need there. This could save you time
and will help us to support all of our customers.

[3]www.westoxon.gov.uk/coronavirus

Regards
Customer Services

How do you rate your overall experience of the service delivered by West
Oxfordshire District Council?
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West Oxfordshire District Council
Elmfield
New Yatt Road Date: 07/07/2020
Witney
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References

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Dear West Oxfordshire DC Customer Services,

This matter is long overdue. Your Council is independent of Cotswold District and I now expect a response from you within 7 days.

Yours sincerely,

Julian Saunders

West Oxfordshire DC Customer Services, West Oxfordshire District Council

[1]West Oxfordshire District Council logo
Thank you for contacting us
Your reference number is 00374202.

Your enquiry will be passed to one of our advisors who will be in contact
if required.

If you need to provide further information then simply respond to this
email.

Help us prioritise those customers who need us the most. We’re taking a
large amount of enquiries right now and are making sure our essential
services keep running. Our staff are working as quickly as possible to
answer these but you may have to wait longer than usual.

If you can and your question isn’t urgent please visit our website to see
if you can find the information you need there. This could save you time
and will help us to support all of our customers.

[2]www.westoxon.gov.uk/coronavirus

Regards
Customer Services
West Oxfordshire District Council
Elmfield
New Yatt Road Date: 07/07/2020
Witney
OX28 1PB [4]Privacy notice

[3]Visit our website

[5]Government guidance banner

References

Visible links
2. https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/coronavirus
3. https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/
4. https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/privacy

West Oxfordshire DC Customer Services, West Oxfordshire District Council

[1]West Oxfordshire District Council logo
[2]Government guidance banner

Customer update
Further to your recent contact with us we are contacting you to Provide an
update

Update: Good morning,

Thank you for your most recent email, which has been sent to our Legal
Department for their attention.

They will contact you in due course, as appropriate.

Kind regard
Customer Services

Your reference number is 00374202.

If you need to provide further information then simply respond to this
email.

Help us prioritise those customers who need us the most. We’re taking a
large amount of enquiries right now and are making sure our essential
services keep running. Our staff are working as quickly as possible to
answer these but you may have to wait longer than usual.

If you can and your question isn’t urgent please visit our website to see
if you can find the information you need there. This could save you time
and will help us to support all of our customers.

[3]www.westoxon.gov.uk/coronavirus

Regards
Customer Services

How do you rate your overall experience of the service delivered by West
Oxfordshire District Council?
[4][IMG] [5][IMG]
West Oxfordshire District Council
Elmfield
New Yatt Road Date: 07/07/2020
Witney
OX28 1PB [7]Privacy notice

[6]Visit our website

References

Visible links
3. https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/coronavirus
4. https://websurveys2.govmetric.com/theme/...
5. https://websurveys2.govmetric.com/theme/...
6. https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/
7. https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/privacy