Dear Cardiff Council,

This is a follow up to FOI07092, which you refused on the grounds of public interest, stating that 'the outcome of the re-shaping budget exercise that you have requested will be available as background information to the Cabinet report which approves the budget proposals for public consultation'.

I have been unable to find such material in the recently published documents associated with the agenda item to be considered at the forthcoming Cabinet meeting. Either I am looking in the wrong place or the background document(s) I requested have not be published yet. Please can you advise me how best to proceed?

Yours faithfully,

Paul Byers

Dear Cardiff Council,

I note that your response to my FOI request, which relates to a report that was presented to the full council at its meeting on 23 July 2015, has been delayed beyond the normal statutory period.

Are you now in a position to give me an update on progress?

All the best,

Paul Byers

Dear Cardiff Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Cardiff Council's handling of my FOI request 'Reshaping Base Budget - Background Papers - Follow Up to FOI07092'.

As stated in the subject heading, this is a follow up to FOI07092, which I sent in at the end of July last year. You refused my original request on the grounds of public interest, stating that 'the outcome of the re-shaping budget exercise that you have requested will be available as background information to the Cabinet report which approves the budget proposals for public consultation'.

You expected that material to be made public towards the end of last year. When I was not able to find any such relevant documentation online in December, I asked for advice and assistance in locating it if it was available through the council's website. To date I have not had any guidance or useful response beyond acknowledgements of my interest, even though this request has gone beyond the normal response time , and a substantial period has elapsed since FOI07092 was lodged.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...

All the best,

Paul Byers

Dear FOI,

Some time has passed since I lodged my request for an internal review.

Are you now in a position to formally acknowledge this and give me an idea of the progress being made?

All the best,

Paul Byers

Dear FOI,
Thank you for your outline of your internal review and the attached spreadsheet.

As you know, this request started live in July 2015, after the full council report ‘Budget Strategy 2016/17 and the Medium Term’ made reference to a ‘ Reshaping Base Budget’ approach, and resultant exercise, and the implication was that this formed the basis for the recommendations.

At first, even though it was a background paper behind a council decision, the council refused to supply details of the process used and its results on the grounds of public interest, but made a commitment to release the full information around November 2015. It took a second FOI request and a subsequent internal review before the spreadsheet contained in yesterday’s publication was released.

I have difficulty, from a council that claims openness and transparency, to go along with the statement that:
‘It would not have been appropriate for the information produced in the reshaping exercise to have been provided prior to issuing of budget proposals for consultation as it would have implied that the exercise was producing budget proposals rather than looking at the impact of some scenarios.’

I’m not convinced that the information currently put in the public domain is the complete narrative behind the ‘Reshaping Base Budget’ exercise. In particular I have yet to discover what the council found when it ‘identified services at their minimum statutory level’, what understanding it reached about ‘how services contribute to the organisation’s strategic priority outcomes’ and where the ‘estimations of impact’ appear.
I’d be very happy if the council were to now release the information mentioned in the above paragraph and referenced in the 23 July 2015 full council agenda item, particularly in pages 8 to 10. I would be interested to know what substantive document is involved by the handwritten reference to ‘updated Appendix 6’ attached to your 31 July 2015 response.

I look forward to your response

All the best

Paul Byers

Yours sincerely,

Paul Byers

Dear FOI,

Thank you for your email, though I'm sure you'll appreciate the view I take on the council's treatment of my requests on this matter, especially given the numerous references to the 'Reshaping the Base Budget' exercise in the relevant agenda item being tabled at full council today.

I have today received confirmation from the Information Commissioner that my complaint has been accepted as eligible for further consideration.

All the best,

Paul Byers