Robin Hood Gardens Service Charges and other figures

The request was successful.

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Tower Hamlets Borough Council,

Please could you provide the following figures for the Robin Hood Gardens Estate;

1. Please provide a full breakdown of the weekly service charge elements that rented accommodation council tenants pay on the Robin Hood Gardens Estate. Please provide this in the following format by distinguishing firstly by building ie Robin Hood Gardens 1 - 214, Woolmore Street, Anderson House, and then by bedroom size for each building ie bedsit, studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, etc..

2. Please provide the rental element for each type of property stated above.

3. Now please provide the same level of breakdown for leaseholders on the Estate regarding their own particular type of service charge. This can be left at yearly figures

4. Please provide evidence of the council's own yearly cost of running the communal heating, hotwater and gas systems on the estate. ie; How much the maintenance of the communal boiler costs, the cost of the fuel etc..

5. Please provide all of the above figures going back at least five years and as many years as can be found.

Yours faithfully,

Muhammed Iqbal

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Tower Hamlets Borough Council,

Why have you still not even acknowledged this request yet?

Yours faithfully,

Muhammed Iqbal

Jane L Jones, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

Mr Iqbal

We have not received this request.

Thank you

Jane Jones
Information Governance Administrative Officer
Legal Services
6th Floor
Mulberry Place
London E14 2BG
0207 364 4736
[email address]

show quoted sections

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Jane L Jones,

Here is a link to the request on the "WhatdoTheyKnow.com" website:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ba...

and here for clarity is the content of that request;

"Please could you provide the following figures for the Robin Hood Gardens Estate;

1. Please provide a full breakdown of the weekly service charge elements that rented accommodation council tenants pay on the Robin Hood Gardens Estate. Please provide this in the following format by
distinguishing firstly by building ie Robin Hood Gardens 1 - 214, Woolmore Street, Anderson House, Mackrow Walk etc..and then by bedroom size for each building ie bedsit, studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, etc..

2. Please provide the rental element for each type of property stated above.

3. Now please provide the same level of breakdown for leaseholders on the Estate regarding their own particular type of service charge. This can be left at yearly figures

4. Please provide evidence of the council's own yearly cost of running the communal heating, hotwater and gas systems on the estate. ie; How much the maintenance of the communal boiler costs, the cost of the fuel etc..

5. Please provide all of the above figures going back at least five years and as many years as can be found."

This was sent as you will see from the website on the 14th June 2011

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Jane L Jones,

Here is a link to the request on the "WhatdoTheyKnow.com" website:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ba...

and here for clarity is the content of that request;

"Please could you provide the following figures for the Robin Hood Gardens Estate;

1. Please provide a full breakdown of the weekly service charge elements that rented accommodation council tenants pay on the Robin Hood Gardens Estate. Please provide this in the following format by
distinguishing firstly by building ie Robin Hood Gardens 1 - 214, Woolmore Street, Anderson House, Mackrow Walk etc..and then by bedroom size for each building ie bedsit, studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, etc..

2. Please provide the rental element for each type of property stated above.

3. Now please provide the same level of breakdown for leaseholders on the Estate regarding their own particular type of service charge. This can be left at yearly figures

4. Please provide evidence of the council's own yearly cost of running the communal heating, hotwater and gas systems on the estate. ie; How much the maintenance of the communal boiler costs, the cost of the fuel etc..

5. Please provide all of the above figures going back at least five years and as many years as can be found."

This was sent as you will see from the website on the 14th June 2011.

Please could you immediately confirm receipt of this email.

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Jane L Jones, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

Mr Iqbal

The link takes you to: IGT_FOI_06_4661-Barbara Brownlee's Appointment With
THH, which I answered yesterday. I will log the request Robin Hood
Gardens Service Charges and other figures shortly and send you an
acknowledgment with the new reference.

Thank you

Jane

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Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Jane L Jones,

Sorry about sending you the wrong link, here is the correct one;

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ro...

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Jane L Jones, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for your email.

Your request is being considered and if the information is held you will
receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20
working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to
the information not being exempt.

If the time taken to meet your request is likely to exceed 18 hours, we
will contact you and ask you amend your request to bring it below this
time limit. We will assist you with suggestions of how this might be
achieved.

I may also contact you if the request needs to be clarified; this is to
ensure that we provide you with the information you require.

Please note that some information you have requested may not be provided
to you; this will only be information that can be withheld by law. In
most cases the reasons will be explained to you along with your copy of
any information that can be released to you.

Yours faithfully,

Jane Jones

Information Governance Administrative Officer

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

0207 364 4736

[1][email address]

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4. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Borough Council request email]

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Jane L Jones,

Please re-adjust your time to reply as your own automated mail servers responded to this request when placed at 2011-06-14 at exactly 10:58:45. This has been confirmed and the volunteers and moderators have proved to me that your system responded acknowledging receipt.

The error is on your side not this side, and I feel it is be held accountable for your own authorities internal IT errors, so again i ask please re-adjust your time to reply as this was placed 9 days ago on the 14 June at 10:58 am and the time to respond is by and no later than 13 July.

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Tim Rodgers, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Iqbal,

Further to your request for information concerning Robin Hood Gardens,
please find attached our response. There are three documents - one with
explanatory text and two spreadsheets with the figures requested.

As technically we are refusing to disclose addresses of individual tenants
(being personal data), this email constitutes a Refusal Notice under
Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act.

Tim Rodgers
Information Governance Manager
Legal Services
Chief Executives Department
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Phone: 0207 364 4354
[mobile number]
Fax: 0207 364 4804
E-mail: [1][email address]
Website: http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
6th Floor, Town Hall, 5 Mulberry Place,
London E14 2BG

You have the right to complain to the Council about this decision. If you
wish to do this please write to:

Corporate Complaints Unit

Tower Hamlets Town Hall

Mulberry Place

5 Clove Crescent

London E14 2BG

If you are subsequently not satisfied with the Council's response to your
complaint you have a right of appeal to the independent Information
Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

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4. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Borough Council request email]

Dear Tim Rodgers,

You have left out some important figures from the response. In the service charge pdf, you have only accounted for 4 bedroom leasehold properties in Robin Hood Gardens 1-214 when the are also 1, 2 & 3 bedroom leasehold properties in Robin Hood Gardens 1-214. You also only deem to provide breakdowns for a 2 bed property in Anderson House and a 3 bed property in Mackrow Walk.

You have left out the other leasehold service charge breakdowns for other size properties on the estate, and not bothering to include any for Woolmore Street?

Please could you provide these figures as requested as now you are officially over the time-frame set out in the request.

Also I cannot understand why you would claim to have submitted spreadsheets in your official reply to this response.

Oxford English Dictionary Definition of the word 'Spreadsheet'

a computer program in which figures arranged in the rows and columns of a grid can be manipulated and used in calculations.
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition...

As these figures cannot be manipulated and used in calculations which is the whole point of spreadsheets, then these figures you submitted in response are clearly not spreadsheets and are in fact pdf's.

As these figures have obviously been taken from a spreadsheet program, it would be more cost-effective to keep these in spreadsheet formula for anyone wanting to manipulate this data. Please resubmit these figures in spreadsheet format preferably using Microsoft Excel

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Tower Hamlets Borough Council,

Also could you explain why the response tends to hint at the misguided view that there is no Boiler in Robin Hood Gardens?

In a previous FOI request to Tower Hamlets Homes your department clearly states that Robin Hood Gardens has a communal Boiler;

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/co...

So surely this must have a yearly maintenance contract?
Are you stating that this boiler is no longer connected and running heating or hotwater to tenants homes, and is in fact a derelict boiler system?

Also why did

Yours faithfully,

Muhammed Iqbal

Freedom of Information, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Iqbal,

Further to our disclosure earlier this week, please find attached
additional information concerning other properties on the Robin Hood
Gardens estate.

Thanks,
Tim Rodgers
Information Governance Manager
Legal Services
Chief Executives Department
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Phone: 0207 364 4354
[mobile number]
Fax: 0207 364 4804
E-mail: [email address]
Website: http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
6th Floor, Town Hall, 5 Mulberry Place,
London E14 2BG

show quoted sections

Dear Freedom of Information,

These figures for Robin Hood Gardens 1-214 Rent Maintenance.pdf are clearly inaccurate if not downright lies. Each figure for 1, 2, 3 & 4 bedroom properties within these buildings are inflated to almost twice the real rents for these type of properties. Please check your figures as this is a blatant abuse of the trust placed in yourself to provide accurate details.

Also as already requested and promised by yourself please re-submit these figures in spreadsheet format.

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Jane L Jones, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

Dear Sir/Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - IGT_FOI_06_4698 Robin Hood Gardens Service
Charges and other figures

Your request for information has been considered under the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and the information can be found at.

[1]http://www.towerhamletsfoi.org.uk/docume...

You can also search our Disclosure Log for any specific topics of interest

[2]http://towerhamletsfoi.org.uk/disclosure...

Complete our Customer Satisfaction Survey

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We are continuously looking at ways in which to improve our services and
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Please take the time to complete the online survey by clicking on the
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If you have any queries please get in touch with me to discuss them. You
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contains a section on the Freedom of Information Act that lists other
publications readily available from the Council under its Publication
Scheme.

Yours faithfully

Jane Jones

Information Governance Administrative Officer

Legal Services

6th Floor

Mulberry Place

London E14 2BG

0207 364 4736

[5][email address]

Most of the information we provide in response to Freedom of Information
Act 2000 request will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases
the copyright will be owned by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The
copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organization as indicated in the information itself.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
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For information where the copyright is owned by the London Borough of
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For information where the copyright is owned by another person or
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If you unhappy with this response or wish to complain about any aspect of
the handling of this request please write to:

Corporate Complaints Unit

Tower Hamlets Town Hall

Mulberry Place

5 Clove Crescent

London E14 2BG

If you are subsequently not satisfied with the Council's response to your
complaint you have a right of appeal to the independent Information
Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 700

[7]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Further information about the operation of the act is available from the
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in public reception areas in Council buildings.

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10. mailto:[Tower Hamlets Borough Council request email]

Dear Jane L Jones,

The figures in this response for rents are completly false, and misleading. Please re-check these figures as each one is incorrect.

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Jane L Jones,

By Law you should have responded by the 13 July 2011, and as you have sent information that is clearly false I do not take this as a response. Why you would try to ignore the fact that you have clearly given a fake response to a request for real information is beyond me. I would say that this is bordering on a criminal offense for yourselves to provide false information in this way, but then again when there is no real oversight it seems you can get away with anything.

Please rectify this situation as soon as possible, re-providing the correct figures for the rent maintenance payments, as I do not believe there are any 1 bedroom council properties in the borough that are rented out at £198 per week, and stating so is not a misprint but is clearly an abuse of the publics trust in a system which is supposed to protect their rights.

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Tim Rodgers,

I would like the figures for the rent maintanance payments resubmitted in Excel Format and this time with the correct figures not the false ones. This FOI is now 13 days late and counting

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Dear Freedom of Information,

Why are you ignoring this blatant abuse of the FOI Act in this way. Your figures for the Rent Maintenance for Robin Hood Gardens is grossly over inflated as an example below of your figures for 2011/2012 for 4 Bedroom properties in RHG

BulkGasChg = 3.06 Actual 1.52 - Diff = 1.54
CleanBlk01 = 3.15 Actual 3.08 - Diff = .7
CleanEst01 = 3.84 Actual 3.76 - Diff = .8
ConCCTV01 = 9.35 Actual 9.11 - Diff = .24
HeatingChg = 20.4 Actual 10.20 - Diff = 10.20
Horticultural= 0.4 Actual 0.39 - Diff = 0.01
ResidentRent01 = 210.22 Actual 97.97 - Diff = 112.24
WaterRates = 14.6 Actual 7.15 - Diff = 7.45
PropertGrssRent= 265.02 Actual 133.18 - Diff = 131.84

The first column is your figures the second is the actual real figures and the third is the difference. This has occurred for all of the properties listed in your response. You have for some reason exaggerated all of the figures but for the BulkGasChg, HeatingChg, ResidentRent01 and the Water Rates you have in each case either doubled the figure or there abouts doubled it. This does not seem to be an error but a clear attempt at misinformation by yourselves. Why would you corrupt the figures in such a way?

This response is now actually 18 days late, the errors which I first pointed out to you personally on the 18 July 2011 have still not been addressed and in fact you have not even confirmed or denied receipt of my accusations of fake figures

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Tim Rodgers, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

Dear Mr Iqbal,

I am happy to confirm receipt of a series of emails from you alleging that
we provided 'fake figures' in response to your Freedom of Information
request.

I have asked colleagues in Tower Hamlets Homes if there is any discrepancy
and will report back accordingly.

Tim Rodgers
Information Governance Manager
Legal Services
Chief Executives Department
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Phone: 0207 364 4354
[mobile number]
Fax: 0207 364 4804
E-mail: [1][email address]
Website: http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk
6th Floor, Town Hall, 5 Mulberry Place,
London E14 2BG

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Dear Tim Rodgers,

This response is now 22 days late, how long is going to take?

Yours sincerely,

Muhammed Iqbal

Tim Rodgers, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

I am out of the office on annual leave. I will return Monday 15 August
when I will deal with your email. For urgent assistance please contact
Aysha Mukhtar on 0207 364 4927 or by mailing
[email address]

If you wish to make an FOI or EIR request, please email
[Tower Hamlets Borough Council request email]. If you wish to make a request under the Data
Protection Act 1998, please email [email address]

Tim Rodgers

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Tim Rodgers, Tower Hamlets Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Iqbal,

Further to your recent correspondence, I attach the amended figures
in relation to our original FOI response.

When the original report was built the developer unknowingly
duplicated the original extracts. This made the total incorrect.
Following your challenge to the figures produced the report was
checked and corrected. A sample was also subsequently checked
manually against the core system (SX3) and the corrected version is
now attached.

Yours sincerely, Tim Rodgers Information Governance Manager