Senior Officers - A Requirement to Declare and Register Personal Interests
Paul Cardin made this Freedom of Information request to Brighton and Hove City Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Brighton and Hove City Council,
Upon checking the brighton-hove.gov.uk website it was
reassuring to find comprehensive details within each councillor's
web page, declaring their registered interests. There are a large
number of councillors serving the authority, and you've confirmed
that it is possible to be very thorough in this area. Thank you for addressing the transparency requirements.
However, I cannot locate a webpage, or find information anywhere
else, detailing the registered interests of senior council
officers. These senior officers make important decisions on the
public's behalf on a daily basis. I feel it is very much in the
public interest to know precisely the extent of undeclared
associations these officers possess. These may be ties to people,
businesses, charities, organisations, et al. who may stand to gain
from favourable council decisions. This may have been in the past,
happening now or may occur in the future.
Please forward a full and comprehensive list of the names and
interests of council officers as follows:
The Chief Executive, his direct reports and the direct reports of
these senior officers. Please include the heads of department and
those such as senior planning officer. Anyone who has delegated
authority from members should also be declared.
Please provide any and all personal interests they have, such as
ownership of property, family associations, business interests,
shareholdings and membership of organisations that may conflict
with their decision-making role. Such a list would run along
similar lines to the one you currently display for Brighton and Hove's councillors, and would I suggest be available for
inspection on the website, and personally at the Town Hall in the
near future.
Please make the list retrospective for the last 5 years, in order
that the public can examine the decisions made, the officers
involved and check against the list of interests at that
particular time. Any conflict can then be highlighted and acted
upon as required, in the public interest,
Yours faithfully,
Paul Cardin
Thank you for your request for information and I confirm we shall respond as quickly as possible but not later than 22 July 2011.
Wendy Kassamani
Information Compliance Officer
Tel: 01273 296636
Regarding your request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000: Ref: foi/468/11
"Upon checking the brighton-hove.gov.uk website it was
reassuring to find comprehensive details within each councillor's
web page, declaring their registered interests. There are a large
number of councillors serving the authority, and you've confirmed
that it is possible to be very thorough in this area. Thank you
for addressing the transparency requirements.
However, I cannot locate a webpage, or find information anywhere
else, detailing the registered interests of senior council
officers. These senior officers make important decisions on the
public's behalf on a daily basis. I feel it is very much in the
public interest to know precisely the extent of undeclared
associations these officers possess. These may be ties to people,
businesses, charities, organisations, et al. who may stand to gain
from favourable council decisions. This may have been in the past,
happening now or may occur in the future.
Please forward a full and comprehensive list of the names and
interests of council officers as follows:
The Chief Executive, his direct reports and the direct reports of
these senior officers. Please include the heads of department and
those such as senior planning officer. Anyone who has delegated
authority from members should also be declared.
Please provide any and all personal interests they have, such as
ownership of property, family associations, business interests,
shareholdings and membership of organisations that may conflict
with their decision-making role. Such a list would run along
similar lines to the one you currently display for Brighton and
Hove's councillors, and would I suggest be available for
inspection on the website, and personally at the Town Hall in the
near future.
Please make the list retrospective for the last 5 years, in order
that the public can examine the decisions made, the officers
involved and check against the list of interests at that
particular time. Any conflict can then be highlighted and acted
upon as required, in the public interest,
Yours faithfully,
Paul Cardin"
Please find set out below the information in response to the above
request:
"Thank you for your email where you requested information about registered
interests of senior officers.
We do not hold the register of interests for officers on our website. In
relation to senior council officers, we can provide you with the names of
all senior officers and the name of their department and section. I attach
for your attention a copy of our organisational structure containing this
information.
In terms of your request for information on senior officer declared ties
to people, ownership of property and family associations; this information
is exempt under section 40(2) Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) as it
constitutes personal data. Section 40(2) provides that personal data about
third parties is exempt information if one of the conditions set out in
section 40(3) is satisfied. Under the FOIA, disclosure of this information
would breach the fair processing principle contained in the Data
Protection Act 1998.
In relation to business interests and shareholdings, ties to charities and
membership of organisations, this information may constitute personal data
and be exempt under section 40(2) FOIA depending on the type of charity or
the organisation. We have considered that information does not benefit
from the personal data exemption if it relates to the senior officer's
personal employment, consultancy, holding the position of a director, a
partner, holding shares or engagement on a retainer within a business
where such interests would potentially conflict with the interests of the
Council. We do not hold information within these latter categories.
We have not considered a senior planning officer to not be senior enough
within the organisation to warrant disclosure of information. We have
considered information relating to disclosures made within the last five
years."
Should you have any queries concerning this request please contact me,
remembering to quote the reference number shown above.
If you are not satisfied how your request has been handled, you can
appeal. Please write to:
Freedom of Information Appeals
Brighton & Hove City Council
ICT Room lst Floor
Hove Town Hall
Norton Road
Hove BN3 4AH
[1][email address]
If you are still not satisfied after your complaint has been investigated,
you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioners Office.
The contact details are:
The Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone number: 01625 545745
e-mail: [2][email address]
Website: [3]www.dataprotection.gov.uk
If you have any queries regarding this process, please contact me via the
contact details below.
Wendy Kassamani
Information Compliance Officer
Brighton & Hove City Council
Hove Town Hall
Norton Road
Hove, BN3 4AH
Tel: 01273 296636
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Dear Brighton and Hove City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Brighton and Hove City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Senior Officers - A Requirement to Declare and Register Personal Interests'.
Thanks for your response.
To take each point one by one:
I know you don’t have a register of interests for Officers on your website. I didn’t ask for a register for Officers. I asked for a register for Senior Officers to be supplied
I did NOT ask for a copy of your organisational structure, although I appreciate that this may prove useful
The fact that you do not hold the information I’ve requested does not mean the request is now satisfied or stops here. I expected you to ask each of the specified Senior Officers to declare their own information in the same way Councillors do, and then make it publicly available.
To assist you in this internal review, if you overturn the previous decision, I’d like the resulting information to be presented in the following format:
1. Name
2. Work title / Role
3. Section
4. Department
5. Name and Address of additional business or other employment
6. Nature of additional business or other employment
7. Name and Address of Company, Firm or other body or individual of
whom consultancy is undertaken
8. Nature of the consultancy with an indication of frequency or
volume of such work
9. Name and address and nature of business of each company, Firm or
other body of which you are a Director, with an indication of
whether it is in a paid or unpaid capacity
10. Name and address and nature of business of each company in
which you hold shares
11. Address or description of land or property in which you have an
interest, the nature of the interest and the use to which the land
is put
12. Name and address of organisations to whom you are engaged on a
retainer basis and nature of the retainer
13. List any organisations with which you have membership or
association, including clubs and societies
14. List any voluntary bodies of which you have membership or
association
15. Please give any further information you may wish to record
about your business or financial interests
The above list is for guidance, and is by no means exhaustive.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/se...
I do NOT understand the following sentence, and believe it to be mealy-mouthed and unclear:
"We have not considered a senior planning officer to not be senior enough
within the organisation to warrant disclosure of information. We have
considered information relating to disclosures made within the last five
years."
The first sentence makes no sense to me and if read literally means he/she IS senior enough. Please explain. The second sentence is possibly addressed at the 'retrospective for 5 years' aspect of my request but doesn't address it. I didn't ask you to 'consider information relating to disclosures made within the last 5 years. I asked you to make the declared register retrospective for the last 5 years.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Cardin
Your request has been passed to Mr Paul O'Neill who will deal with your internal review. He will be in touch shortly.
Thank you.
Wendy Kassamani
Information Compliance Officer
Brighton & Hove City Council
Tel: 01273 296636
Dear Freedom Of Information,
Time is moving on, with no apparent progress.
Please provide some reassurance that your officer Paul O'Neill is dealing with this internal review.
Also, please describe his role within the organisation,
Yours sincerely,
Paul Cardin
Dear Mr Cardin
You have requested a review of our response to your FOI request. This has
been passes on to our Senior Solicitor for an independant review.
Our initial response was as follows:
We do not hold the register of interests for officers on our website. In
relation to senior council officers, we can provide you with the names of
all senior officers and the name of their department and section. I attach
for your attention a copy of our organisational structure containing this
information.
In terms of your request for information on senior officer declared ties
to people, ownership of property and family associations; this information
is exempt under section 40(2) Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) as it
constitutes personal data. Section 40(2) provides that personal data about
third parties is exempt information if one of the conditions set out in
section 40(3) is satisfied. Under the FOIA, disclosure of this information
would breach the fair processing principle contained in the Data
Protection Act 1998.
In relation to business interests and shareholdings, ties to charities and
membership of organisations, this information may constitute personal data
and be exempt under section 40(2) FOIA depending on the type of charity or
the organisation. We have considered that information does not benefit
from the personal data exemption if it relates to the senior officer's
personal employment, consultancy, holding the position of a director, a
partner, holding shares or engagement on a retainer within a business
where such interests would potentially conflict with the interests of the
Council. We do not hold information within these latter categories.
We have not considered a senior planning officer to not be senior enough
within the organisation to warrant disclosure of information. We have
considered information relating to disclosures made within the last five
years."
The Senior Solicitor has reviewed this response, the initial request and
your follow up with a suggested way of setting out material.
His comments were as follows:
Please forward a full and comprehensive list of the names and interests
of council officers as follows:
There is no such list in existence an under the requirements of the
legislation there is no obligation to produce that which does not already
exist. As such we could theoretically end any response on that point,
however we are a public body and I see the merit in the concept, so rather
than rely on this and with the public interest in mind I feel that we have
to take note of the spirit of the legislation and in addition the
decisions that have been made by the Information Commissioner. The most
relevant of which is The Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council case ( ref
FS50359348) which is directly applicable to this kind of situation as it
is in part a request for Senior Officers declaration.
The Chief Executive, his direct reports and the direct reports of these
senior officers. Please include the heads of department and those such
as senior planning officer. Anyone who has delegated authority from
members should also be declared.
There is an issue as to clarity here - what does the applicant mean by
senior officers? He refers to head of service then talks about the senior
planning officer who is not a head of service.
He also makes reference to all people who have delegated authority - this
is a vast undertaking as delegated authority is the cornerstone for all
decision making and runs from top to bottom of the organisation. I for
instance as Senior Solicitor have delegated authority to issue Court
proceedings on behalf of the Head of Law and all the lawyers have
delegated authority to act on the Councils behalf in Court. I don't
believe that this is what Mr Cardin intended, but again it may be prudent
to check. He should also be told that subject to what I say below, this
exercise would take several weeks in my estimation and so would mean that
we do not have to respond as it would take longer than the prescribed 2.5
days.
Please provide any and all personal interests they have, such as
ownership of property, family associations, business interests,
shareholdings and membership of organisations that may conflict
with their decision-making role
This is where the Bolton cases is directly applicable as it sets out what
the Commissioner views as personal information under s40(2) of the Act and
what he agrees would warrant disclosure under the Public interest test.
Can I suggest a copy of the decision is appended. Essentially the
commissioner says no disclosure on private personal matters such as land
in which you have an interest ( this for instance could be a family home);
list of organisations which an officer would have membership or
association including clubs and societies ( for instance trade unions);
voluntary bodies; further interests of business or financial interests.
What can be provided is names; departments; sections; additional business
or other employment; who they consult with; where they are a director;
where a business partner; shareholdings; details of any retainers paid.
I believe in relation to charities it will depend - if for instance you
are paid, then that should be declared, but if you make monthly payments
then almost certainly not.
Please make the list retrospective for the last 5 years
Alone this would suggest we have to go back 5 years, but read in context
with the lines above and below, this does not appear to me to a request
for information, rather a suggestion that when and if we set up such a
register then it goes back for the last 5 years.
It is not my decision that this register be set up, but the Bolton case
does have some interesting commentary on this - if I read the case
correctly he does not criticise Bolton's decision that their senior
officers ( he does not define senior officer) register is not publically
available and that it can be accessed only by a limited body of people
namely the monitoring officer and other authorised officers - so it does
not appear that there would be an obligation to publish all data declared
in any event.
Mr Cardin has kindly provided a suggested format which I think is very
useful, this relates to how we should approach disclosure if we do
overturn the decision. While I do not overturn the decision, I do agree
that we did not transmit our reasoning very clearly, nor clarify certain
points that may have assisted in giving a better response. so to combine
our response and the very helpful format suggested I would suggest that
this advice and the information below be sent to Mr Cardin.
1. Name This is disclosable information as a public record.
2. Work title / Role This is disclosable information as a public record.
3. Section This is disc losable information as a public record.
4. Department This is disclosable information as a public record.
5. Name and Address of additional business or other employment As I
understand it none has been declared, but as in all below this is only
what I have been told.
6. Nature of additional business or other employment As I understand it
none has been declared
7. Name and Address of Company, Firm or other body or individual of whom
consultancy is undertaken As I understand it none has been declared
8. Nature of the consultancy with an indication of frequency or volume of
such work As I understand it none has been declared
9. Name and address and nature of business of each company, Firm or other
body of which you are a Director, with an indication of whether it is in a
paid or unpaid capacity As I understand it none has been declared
10. Name and address and nature of business of each company in which you
hold shares As I understand it none has been declared
11. Address or description of land or property in which you have an
interest, the nature of the interest and the use to which the land is put
I do not believe this is disc losable and is protected by s40(2)
12. Name and address of organisations to whom you are engaged on a
retainer basis and nature of the retainer As I understand it none has been
declared
13. List any organisations with which you have membership or association,
including clubs and societies I do not believe this is disc losable and is
protected by s40(2)
14. List any voluntary bodies of which you have membership or association
I do not believe this is disc losable and is protected by s40(2)
15. Please give any further information you may wish to record about your
business or financial interests - very similar words were removed by the
IC in the Bolton case so I do not believe this needs to be acted on.
If you are still not satisfied after your complaint has been investigated,
you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioners Office.
The contact details are:
The Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone number: 01625 545745
e-mail: [1][email address]
Website: [2]www.dataprotection.gov.uk
If you have any queries regarding this process, please contact me.
Yours sincerely
Paul O'Neill
ICT Partnership Manager
Notice to recipient:
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and may contain information which is privileged and confidential, the
disclosure of which is prohibited by law.
If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please note
that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this
communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error please notify the sender immediately.
Thank you in anticipation of your co-operation.
You can visit our website at http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk
Please consider the environment, only print out this email if absolutely
necessary.
Please Note: Both incoming and outgoing Emails may be monitored and/or
recorded in line with current legislation.
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Paul Cardin left an annotation ()
Thank you Stygian, for your very helpful advice on this. I am now lodging an Appeal with the ICO.
Dear Mr Cardin
Our reference: Ico/03/11
Thank you for your request for information and your appeal via the
Information Commissioner’s Office regarding senior staff declaration of
interests.
Please see as requested in spreadsheet format the information extracted
from the councils registers. The information has been redacted applying
the same principles of redaction under section 40(2) of FOIA that were
adopted by the Commissioner in his decision on [1]FS50359348 and
subsequently refined by the Tribunal.
If you are still not satisfied after your complaint has been investigated,
you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioners Office.
The contact details are:
The Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone number: 01625 545745
e-mail: [2][email address]
Website: [3]www.dataprotection.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Paul O'Neill
ICT Information Integrity Manager
01273 291207
Hove Town Hall
stygian left an annotation ()
This latest answer is at least a step in the right direction.
It is noted that for the vast majority of cases, the nature of the declaration is declared as exempt information.
As has been stated above, it is NOT exempt information.
The nature of the Declaration of Interest must be made known.
The principle is simple.
The onus is on the local authority to demonstrate financial probity, the taxpayer does NOT have to prove otherwise.
Simply asking for these details does not imply financial impropriety, but the refusal to provide details does raise legitimate doubts in the minds of the taxpayers.
It is a criminal offence for the local authority not to prove financial probity.
Therefore, the nature of the Declarations of Interest must be made known.
The cut-off point for the making known the Declarations of Interest is also inappropriate and arbitrary. For example, you are seeking to eliminate any possibility of insider dealing involving, for example, a senior planning officer. Again, this is not to imply that Insider Dealing has taken place, but that, as a taxpayer, you are entitled to see the evidence demonstrating that, for at the least the next two tiers down, there is no possibility of Insider Dealing.
In summary, you may continue with the ICO, requiring that the ICO order the local authority to provide the details of the Declarations of Interest, and to extent the scope of the register to at least two levels further down the hierarchy.
Good luck
James Plant left an annotation ()
See my attempts to obtain details of employees who are Freemasons on this site in relation to this.
It is believed that the reason for the council being very obstructive over this matter is due to the fact they would have to reveal employees' membership of Freemasonry which they are determined to conceal.
James Plant.
Paul Cardin left an annotation ()
The following FoI request is also relevant. Showing us that Brighton Council involved itself in 123 compromise agreements, all applying to circumstances of dispute.... and many with the consent and participation of the UNISON representative, from his power base, flying a desk inside Brighton Town Hall:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/to...
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stygian left an annotation ()
Points 13 and 14 above are arguably incorrect.
Where a public servant has an association with an external organisation and that outside organisation has business with the employer of the public servant then a Declaration of Interest becomes mandatory.
Under the clauses of BOTH the Audit Commission Act and the Local Authority Act the onus is on the local authority to demonstrate financial probity and the member of the public is entitled to see the documented proof of financial probity, the failure to provide which is a statutory offence, as the local authority is unable to show that Insider Dealing is absent.
Where the public employee is associated with the outside organisation, and, more so, the rules of that organisation demand a level of secrecy ( such as Chatham House rules or non-disclosure of minutes of meetings for which attendance is by private invitation only ) then the argument for declaration is compelling. Where the public employee, by virtue of such association, is also expected to further the economic interests or increase the membership of the outside organisation, or undertake activities for the organisation using the time and resources of the public employer, then a failure to make a Declaration of Interest, thus showing openness, honesty and transparency, would be a criminal offence.
Issues of seniority are, in essence, an irrelevance. If a public employee can, on behalf of the outside organisation, have any influence, interest or control, then ALL such associations must be declared. In addition, for example where the outside organisation concerns itself with current and potential leaders, then there is every expectation that the personal associations of the public employee are to be made available in the public domain as that employee has a front-facing position.
For the above reasons, Setions 40(2) and 40(3)are NOT engaged, as existing law and the public interest considerations have primacy. In any case, the DPA concerns itself with FAIR processing of information, and does NOT automatically exclude disclosure.
Brighton and Hove City Council cite FS50359348. There is no reference by Brighton and Hove City Council as to whether this case is being challenged, so its absolute authority is not established. This reference applies: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/guid.... This reference cites EA/2011/0137, showing that the Decision of the Information Commissioner is being considered by the 1st Tier Tribunal. Brighton and Hove City Council could be said to have been negligent in failing to mention this.
It is therefore recommended that the above be considered in a request to the Information Commissioner to review the response from Brighton and Hove City Council, bearing in mind any considerations of the 1st Tier Tribunal.