Still trying to get access to Chief officers Declarations of interest 😒

The request was partially successful.

Dear City of York Council

As you will see from the correspondence below (started 8 September) I have been asked by you to FOI my request for publication/sight of the Chief Officers' Declaration of Interests. This request is as a direct result of my ( & others) concerns regarding secret payments made to both the S151 officer and AD PS ( as Directors in both CYT & CYC) . There are also many related concerns regarding the lack of checks and balances and conflicts of interests surrounding the City of York Trading and top staff, including Director Floyd, and all his direct reports, especially including the Monitoring officer.

I am Concerned with their involvement in (all) CYC businesses in all their forms, including Veritau.

In order that we do not have to go through the usual prevarication please be aware of the Tribunal decision on page 21/22 regarding the obligation to declare interests from senior officers. I know that I am entitled to see these documents and all this effort could have been saved if you, like the best authorities publish on their web sites.

https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

1. Please provide the declaration of interests register as at April 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & September 2014 and April 2015 and September 2015 for each of the personnel listed below Please also furnish all updates by date for S151 Floyd, MO Docherty, ADs Stuchfield and Carter since September 2014 to date.
* CX past and present
* All Directors incl current interims
* All ADs in Ian Floyd's and Sally Burn's Dept.
* Head of HR
2. Provide the basic document staff need to fill in each year and the guidance they are given.
3. An explanation of the process that leads to the completion of these documents and what role in the council is responsible for maintaining these records. What processes are in place to
check these? The specific aim is to establish which staff declared interests and income from those interests in which CYC companies and holdings, and when they did that.

Thank you

Gwen

From: "Halliday, Stewart" Date: 14 October 2015 12:09:05 BST
To: 'Gwen Swinburn' >
Cc: Gareth Davies , "" <MW>
Subject: RE: Staff register of interests

Hi Gwen,

The information will need to be redacted and we will need, in the interests of transparency to explain what has been redacted and why. So on reflection, would you please raise an FOI – I would do that for you but I know you prefer WDTK and we will start preparing a response.

Regards

Stewart

From: Gwen Swinburn [mailto:xxxx]
Sent: 13 October 2015 17:55
To: Halliday, Stewart
Cc: Gareth Davies; Gwen Swinburn; MW
Subject: Re: Staff register of interests

Stewart

Thank you can you supply the following

CX, All Directors incl interim and acting -everyone in I Floyd's management team, including all please. I expect to see their Directorships, pecuniary or not - and for council related Directors the income. Please send me a blank form the staff are using and guidance.
I was shocked not to find this in the public domain. You may want to look at more open councils in this regard as clearly staffers getting remunerated on Cyc businesses yet no one knows, never declaring & so on -well clearly this is completely wrong on every level.
Thank you
gwen

On Tuesday, 13 October 2015, Halliday, Stewart <Stewart.Hallidayxxxxxx> wrote:
Good afternoon Gwen,

My apologies if I have missed this. The Register of Staff Interests is not a public document and therefore we will not be able to provide you with access to it. However, if you could let me know which entries you specifically want to see then I will endeavour to send you the information.

Regards

Stewart

From: Gwen Swinburn [mailto:xxxxxx]
Sent: 13 October 2015 16:27
To: Halliday, Stewart; Floyd, Ian
Cc: Gwen Swinburn; Gareth Davies
Subject: Re: Staff register of interests

Stewart

Have I missed a reply on this ( I may have done). Needless to say it is clear why I need this information now. I would now also want to see any late additions.

Gwen

On Tuesday, 8 September 2015, Gwen Swinburn xxxxxxx wrote:
Stewart and Ian

I would like to view the staff register of interests ideally tomorrow afternoon or Thursday morning please.

Can you confirm where I can see it please?

Gwen

Yours faithfully,

Gwen Swinburn

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your enquiry. We will ensure it is passed to the relevant service(s) and you will receive a response within 20 working days. We will contact you if we have any queries, need clarification or to let you know if we need more time to answer your enquiry in full.

However, if you are contacting us to ask for a review of a previous FOI response from us, we will pass your request to Veritau/Information Governance who will contact you about this.

Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other person.

If you have received this communication in error, please return it immediately to the sender, then delete and destroy any copies of it.

City of York Council disclaims any liability for action taken in reliance on the content of this communication.

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Dear [email address],

Please review this late FOI. As the external auditors are investigating the conduct of Director Floyd, the Monotoring Officer Andrew Docherty & Assistant Director Pauline Stuchfield in the matter of 'secret payments' and their Directorships of City of York trading -I find it implausible that this information has not already been supplied to the external auditors as part of their detailed investigation. In fact the very team under investigation is (once again) the team responsible for obeying the law on #foi Is this information being deliberately withheld? And if so by whom? This is an obvious question as those top staff being investigated are still at their desks where they can 'gate keep' this information.

Yours sincerely,

Gwen Swinburn

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your enquiry. We will ensure it is passed to the relevant service(s) and you will receive a response within 20 working days. We will contact you if we have any queries, need clarification or to let you know if we need more time to answer your enquiry in full.

However, if you are contacting us to ask for a review of a previous FOI response from us, we will pass your request to Veritau/Information Governance who will contact you about this.

Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other person.

If you have received this communication in error, please return it immediately to the sender, then delete and destroy any copies of it.

City of York Council disclaims any liability for action taken in reliance on the content of this communication.

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foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Dear Gwen Swinburn,

Thanks you for your request for an internal review. To help me locate the original information request and our response, I would be grateful if you provide me with the CFT number relating to this case. If you don't have this reference number, please advise, the date you sent this request in as this will help me locate it.

Regards

Geoff Beveridge | Information Governance Adviser
t: 01904 554145 | e: [City of York Council request email]

City of York Council | Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer & Business Support Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
www.york.gov.uk | facebook.com/cityofyork | @CityofYork

-----Original Message-----
From: Gwen Swinburn [mailto:[FOI #297594 email]]
Sent: 17 November 2015 09:40
To: [City of York Council request email]
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Still trying to get access to Chief officers Declarations of interest 😒

Dear [City of York Council request email],

Please review this late FOI. As the external auditors are
investigating the conduct of Director Floyd, the Monotoring Officer
Andrew Docherty & Assistant Director Pauline Stuchfield in the
matter of 'secret payments' and their Directorships of City of York
trading -I find it implausible that this information has not
already been supplied to the external auditors as part of their
detailed investigation. In fact the very team under investigation
is (once again) the team responsible for obeying the law on #foi Is
this information being deliberately withheld? And if so by whom?
This is an obvious question as those top staff being investigated
are still at their desks where they can 'gate keep' this
information.

Yours sincerely,

Gwen Swinburn

-----Original Message-----

Thank you for your enquiry. We will ensure it is passed to the
relevant service(s) and you will receive a response within 20
working days. We will contact you if we have any queries, need
clarification or to let you know if we need more time to answer
your enquiry in full.

However, if you are contacting us to ask for a review of a previous
FOI response from us, we will pass your request to
Veritau/Information Governance who will contact you about this.

Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you
know we have received your email.

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other person.

If you have received this communication in error, please return it immediately to the sender, then delete and destroy any copies of it.

City of York Council disclaims any liability for action taken in reliance on the content of this communication.

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information.governance@veritau.co.uk,

Dear Ms Swinburn
 
Thank you for your request for a review of the Council’s handling of your
enquiry, CFT2544.
 
We will contact you in due course.
 
Kind regards
 
Miriam Townsend
 
 
Miriam Townsend
Information Governance Officer
Veritau Limited | Veritau North Yorkshire Limited
Assurance Services for the Public Sector
Telephone: 01609 536985
E-mail: [1][email address]
 
For further information about the company please visit our website:
[2]www.veritau.co.uk
 
 
 
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VERITAU EMAIL DISCLAIMER

This communication is from a Veritau group company. Veritau provides
internal audit, counter fraud and information governance services and
other related assurance services to the public sector. Any opinions or
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necessarily those of Veritau, or its clients.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is
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information.governance@veritau.co.uk,

Dear Ms Swinburn
 
Thank you for your request dated 17 November 2015 asking for an internal
review of your enquiry, CFT2544.
 
I have made enquiries with the service responsible for responding to your
enquiry and you can expect to receive a response as soon as possible.   On
behalf of the Council, I would like to apologise for the Council’s failure
to respond within the 20 working day timescale required by the Freedom of
Information Act.  
 
Please be assured that the Council continually monitors its performance in
responding to FOI enquiries in order to identify any areas of improvement.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Miriam Townsend
 
 
Miriam Townsend
Information Governance Officer
Veritau Limited | Veritau North Yorkshire Limited
Assurance Services for the Public Sector
Telephone: 01609 536985
E-mail: [1][email address]
 
For further information about the company please visit our website:
[2]www.veritau.co.uk
 
 
 
SAVE COSTS - PLEASE DON'T PRINT UNLESS YOU HAVE TO

VERITAU EMAIL DISCLAIMER

This communication is from a Veritau group company. Veritau provides
internal audit, counter fraud and information governance services and
other related assurance services to the public sector. Any opinions or
statements expressed in this e-mail are those of the individual and not
necessarily those of Veritau, or its clients.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is
confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the
intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please
note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication,
or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other
person.

If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender
at the above address, then delete and destroy all copies of it.

Veritau's computer systems and communications may be monitored to ensure
effective operation of the system and for other lawful purposes.

Although we have endeavoured to ensure that this e-mail and any
attachments are free from any virus we would advise you to take any
necessary steps to ensure that they are actually virus free.

Veritau disclaims any liability for action taken in reliance on the
content of this communication.

Veritau Limited (6794890) and Veritau North Yorkshire Limited (7931990)
are companies registered in England and Wales. The registered office for
both companies is West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA.

Please visit the Veritau website [3]www.veritau.co.uk for details of each
company’s ownership.

References

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Dear [email address],

This request was first sent on 8th September it is now 25th November. I will be making a follow up FOI to see who is sitting on this. You are obliged by law to hold that register of staff interests. I will be sending this to the ICO to the four party leaders as well as the external auditors ( the latter I suspect will have had this information for some time as part of their investigation into S151 Director Floyd, The Monitoring Officer, Docherty, ADs Stuchfield and Carter- all of whom are involved with the city of York trading affair and external audit investigation)

Yours sincerely,

Gwen Swinburn

Halliday, Stewart, City of York Council

2 Attachments

 
 
Stewart Halliday | Assistant Director Transformation & Change
t: 01904 553402  | e: [1]mailto:[email address]
City of York Council  |
West Offices | Station Rise  |  York | YO1 6GA
[2]www.york.gov.uk | [3]facebook.com/cityofyork | [4]@CityofYork
 
 
 
 
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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is
confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the
intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please
note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication,
or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other
person.

If you have received this communication in error, please return it
immediately to the sender, then delete and destroy any copies of it.

City of York Council disclaims any liability for action taken in reliance
on the content of this communication.

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Halliday, Stewart, City of York Council

2 Attachments

 
 
Stewart Halliday | Assistant Director Transformation & Change
t: 01904 553402  | e: [1]mailto:[email address]
City of York Council  |
West Offices | Station Rise  |  York | YO1 6GA
[2]www.york.gov.uk | [3]facebook.com/cityofyork | [4]@CityofYork
 
 
 
 
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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is
confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the
intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please
note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication,
or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other
person.

If you have received this communication in error, please return it
immediately to the sender, then delete and destroy any copies of it.

City of York Council disclaims any liability for action taken in reliance
on the content of this communication.

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Dear City of York Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of City of York Council's handling of my FOI request 'Still trying to get access to Chief officers Declarations of interest 😒'.
Please can you confirm that all the declarations of interest of the 5 specific Chief officers that I requested, that you hold, have been submitted. I cannot see the declarations of interest for either Tracey Carter or Ian Floyd for the 2013-4. May I assume that neither of these Chief Officers declared their interests nor filled in their forms in that year? Clearly it is a very serious business if neither of those officers completed the form, especially serious that the S151 officer did not. So please can you confirm this.

I would like to place on record my concern regarding the consistently of these declarations, allowing for corruption. I will address this formally. I am assuming that you have sent me the full records. But want to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Gwen

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

Yours faithfully,

Gwen Swinburn

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your enquiry. We will ensure it is passed to the relevant service(s) and you will receive a response within 20 working days. We will contact you if we have any queries, need clarification or to let you know if we need more time to answer your enquiry in full.

However, if you are contacting us to ask for a review of a previous FOI response from us, we will pass your request to Veritau/Information Governance who will contact you about this.

Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other person.

If you have received this communication in error, please return it immediately to the sender, then delete and destroy any copies of it.

City of York Council disclaims any liability for action taken in reliance on the content of this communication.

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foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Dear Ms Swinburn,

I confirm receipt of this request for a review of the response to your FoI request and that you will be provided with the outcome of the review when it has been completed.

Yours sincerely,

Cath Murray

Cath Murray | Customer Complaints & Feedback Manager
t: 01904 554145 | e: [email address]

City of York Council | Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer & Business Support Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
www.york.gov.uk | facebook.com/cityofyork | @CityofYork

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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other person.

If you have received this communication in error, please return it immediately to the sender, then delete and destroy any copies of it.

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foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Swinburn,
 
Please find attached my response to your request for a review of this
Freedom of Information enquiry.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Cath Murray
 
 
Cath Murray | Customer Complaints & Feedback Manager  
t: 01904 554145 | e: [1][City of York Council request email]
 
City of York Council  | Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer &
Business Support Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
[2]www.york.gov.uk | [3]facebook.com/cityofyork | [4]@CityofYork
 
 
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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is
confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the
intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please
note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication,
or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other
person.

If you have received this communication in error, please return it
immediately to the sender, then delete and destroy any copies of it.

City of York Council disclaims any liability for action taken in reliance
on the content of this communication.

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