Taxi Complaints
Dear Brighton and Hove City Council,
Please supply information about the following:
1. Number of Hackney Carriage taxis, rank spaces and number of HC
taxis per capita
2. Number of enforcement officers -part-time and full-time- and enforcement budget for 2010,2011, 2012, 2013?
3. Complaints received about HC taxis in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,
2013? How many of these complaints proceeded into corporate complaints? How many corporate complaints proceeded to the LGO? How many complaints were dissolved in agreement and how many complainants stopped progressing their complaints?
4. List of these complaints according to their nature,, including assault, rape, empty taxi ranks (no taxi available), touting, nuisance caused at ranks, bye-law offences, e.g.-. failure to proceed, obstructing other carriages,etc.
how many parking fines were given to on-duty HC taxis in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013? How many fines for traffic offences were given in that period?
5. Which actions did the complaints result in, i.e. how many
warnings, licence revocation, prosecution, DVLA points, parking fines etc. For each category?
6. Has the recession led to any queuing taxis and failure to proceed offences? in which areas of town?
6. Which exact parameters are used to identify a failure to proceed
problem and hotspot? e.g. Number of complaints by the public, traffic wardens etc
7. Which failure to proceed hotspot areas were identified and recorded in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013?
8. How many complaints were made about failure to proceed to the taxi office during 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013? And how many resulted in warnings? Cautions? Licence revocation or prosecution? How many complaints were received taxi availability at ranks in that period of time?
7. Which parameters are used to decide whether a driver is failing
To proceed? Which parameters are used to decide whether ranks have adequate taxi availability?
8. What exactly constitutes a failure to proceed offence? E.g. Do
the taxis have to queue immediately adjacent to a rank or does
queuing along the entirety of a street -and occupying various
parking bays, disabled bays, double yellow lines along the length
of the road etc - also constitue a failure to proceed offence?
9. What exactly constitutes as - obstructing another carriage - byelaw offence? How many were recorded in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013?
9. Under which circumstances is a driver given a warning, a caution
or prosecuted for failing to proceed? Can you give examples for
each? How many prosecutions were undertaken for failure to proceed
in 2011, 2012 and 2013? How many were successful?
10. Under which circumstances is a licence revoked for failure to
proceed? How many licences were revoked for this in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013?
11. Which steps were taken regarding failure to proceed offences by
the taxi office, parking and traffic police individually and
jointly?Did this include three-pronged enforcement actions at known
over-ranking hotspots? And how were these organised? E.g. Were
enforcement officers present over an extended period of time? If
so, over how many hours/days and were all three forces present
simultaneously?
13. Has any enforcement been undertaken by CCTV Or solely through enforcement officers?
14. What is the cost of CCTV enforcement camera? What is the cost of a taxi Marshall?
15. How was it ensured that the enforcement actions are pro-active
and react to evading strategies by the trade?
16. How many routine enforcement actions were undertaken in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013? And at what dates and times and over which period of time, e.g. 15mins? what sanctions did these result in, e.g. Failure to have badge, bad tyres etc.
17. How many special enforcement actions were undertaken by the taxi office in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013? at which dates and times and over which period of time, e.g. 15 mins? What did these actions result in, e.g. Warnings for failure to proceed?
16. How successful were those actions in reducing the failure to
proceed offences and act as a deterrent ?
17. Which air quality measures recommended in the 2011 AQAP have been implemented to ensure taxis produceleast emissions in the AQMA? And when?
Yours faithfully,
Manuela Krachan
Yours faithfully,
Manuela Krachan
Thank you for your request for information and I confirm we shall respond no later than 12th August 2013.
Regarding your request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000: Ref: foi/679/13
Please find set out below the information in response to the above
request:
1. Number of Hackney Carriage taxis, rank spaces and number of HC taxis
per capita
Please see link to the Hackney Carriage Unmet Demand Survey
[1] http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ieLi...
(item 16)
2. Number of enforcement officers -part-time and full-time- and
enforcement budget for 2010,2011, 2012, 2013?
There is no separate enforcement budget as enforcement is part of the
officers work and not calculated separately.
Currently there is
1 x Hackney Carriage Officer
2.1 x Licensing Enforcement Officers
3. Complaints received about HC taxis in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013?
The folling also includes Private Hire complaints as not recorded
separately
2008/9 - 226
2010/11 - 267
2011/12 - 317
2012/13 - 488
How many of these complaints proceeded into corporate complaints?
Not known/recorded
How many corporate complaints proceeded to the LGO?
Not known/recorded
How many complaints were dissolved in agreement and how many complainants
stopped progressing their complaints?
Not known/recorded
4. List of these complaints according to their nature, including assault,
rape, empty taxi ranks (no taxi available), touting, nuisance caused at
ranks, bye-law offences, e.g.-. failure to proceed, obstructing other
carriages,etc.
how many parking fines were given to on-duty HC taxis in 2009, 2010, 2011,
2012 and 2013? How many fines for traffic offences were given in that
period?
Information not held / recorded.The majority of the offences listed above
would be investigated by the Police not the Hackney Carriage Office.
5. Which actions did the complaints result in, i.e. how many warnings,
licence revocation, prosecution, DVLA points, parking fines etc. For each
category?
Information not held/recorded
6. Has the recession led to any queuing taxis and failure to proceed
offences? in which areas of town?
Information not held/recorded
6. Which exact parameters are used to identify a failure to proceed
problem and hotspot? e.g. Number of complaints by the public, traffic
wardens etc
Please see link to Licensing Enforcement Policy
[2]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
7. Which failure to proceed hotspot areas were identified and recorded in
2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013?
Information not held/recorded
8. How many complaints were made about failure to proceed to the taxi
office during 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013?
Information not held/recorded
And how many resulted in warnings? Cautions? Licence revocation or
prosecution? How many complaints were received taxi availability at ranks
in that period of time?
Information not held/recorded
7. Which parameters are used to decide whether a driver is failing To
proceed?
Every case is looked at on its own merit
Which parameters are used to decide whether ranks have adequate taxi
availability?
Hackney Carriage Unmet Demand Survey
8. What exactly constitutes a failure to proceed offence? E.g. Do the
taxis have to queue immediately adjacent to a rank or does
queuing along the entirety of a street -and occupying various parking
bays, disabled bays, double yellow lines along the length
of the road etc - also constitue a failure to proceed offence?
Every case is looked at on its own merit
9. What exactly constitutes as - obstructing another carriage - byelaw
offence?
Not a Hackney Carriage byelaw
How many were recorded in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013?
Not known/ Recorded
9. Under which circumstances is a driver given a warning, a caution or
prosecuted for failing to proceed? Can you give examples for
each?
Please see link to Licensing Enforcement Policy
[3]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
How many prosecutions were undertaken for failure to proceed in 2011, 2012
and 2013?
Not known/recorded
How many were successful?
Not known/recorded
10. Under which circumstances is a licence revoked for failure to proceed?
Please see link to Licensing Enforcement Policy
[4]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
How many licences were revoked for this in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013?
Not known / recorded
11. Which steps were taken regarding failure to proceed offences by the
taxi office, parking and traffic police individually and
jointly?
Not known /recorded
Did this include three-pronged enforcement actions at known over-ranking
hotspots?
Not known / recorded
And how were these organised? E.g. Were enforcement officers present over
an extended period of time? If so, over how many hours/days and were all
three forces present simultaneously?
Not known / recorded
13. Has any enforcement been undertaken by CCTV Or solely through
enforcement officers?
Not known / recorded
14. What is the cost of CCTV enforcement camera?
Not known
What is the cost of a taxi ?
Not known
15. How was it ensured that the enforcement actions are pro-active and
react to evading strategies by the trade?
Please see link to Licensing Enforcement Policy
[5]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
16. How many routine enforcement actions were undertaken in 2010, 2011,
2012 and 2013? And at what dates and times and over which period of time,
e.g. 15mins? what sanctions did these result in, e.g. Failure to have
badge, bad tyres etc.
2010/11 - 527
2011/12 - 1145
2012/13 - 617
Detailed information not known/recorded
17. How many special enforcement actions were undertaken by the taxi
office in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013? at which dates and times and over
which period of time, e.g. 15 mins? What did these actions result in, e.g.
Warnings for failure to proceed?
Not known / recorded
16. How successful were those actions in reducing the failure toproceed
offences and act as a deterrent ?
Not known / recorded
17. Which air quality measures recommended in the 2011 AQAP have been
implemented to ensure taxis produceleast emissions in the AQMA? And when?
Please see link to AQAP
[6]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
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
Council
Hove Town Hall
Norton Road
Hove BN3 4AH
[7][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: 03031231113
e-mail: [8][email address]
Website: [9]www.ico.gov.uk
If you have any queries regarding this process, please contact me via the
contact details below.
[10]freedomofinformation@brighton-hove,gov.uk
Re-use of Public Sector Information and Copyright Statement
Where information has been supplied, you are advised that the copyright in
that material is owned by Brighton & Hove City Council and/or its
contractor(s) unless otherwise stated. The supply of documents under the
Freedom of Information Act does not give the recipient an automatic right
to re-use those documents in a way that would infringe copyright, for
example, by making multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies to the
public.
Brief extracts of the material can be reproduced under the “fair dealing”
provisions of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1998 (S.29 and S.30)
for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes, private study,
criticism, review and news reporting.
Authorisation to re-use copyright material not owned by Brighton & Hove
City Council and/or its contractor(s) should be sought from the copyright
holders concerned. If you are considering re-using the information
disclosed to you through this request, for any purpose outside of what
could be considered for personal use, then you are required under the
Public Sector Re-use of Information Regulations 2005 to make an
Application for Re-use to the organisation from which you have requested
the information. Applications for Re-Use should be directed to Mr Peter
Bode at the address above.
Chris Flynn
01273 296618
Security and Standards Team
Brighton & Hove City Council
Notice to recipient:
The information contained in this electronic mail message is intended only
for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed
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.
References
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http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
7. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email%20address]
8. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email%20address]
9. http://www.ico.gov.uk/ http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
10. mailto:freedomofinformation@brighton-hove,gov.uk
Dear Christopher Flynn,
1.Your response appears to only link to and repeat information that is already in the public realm. You have, for example, supplied again the link to the Air Quality Action Plan, which i was referring to, rather than respond to my request.
Please supply information about which air quality measures listed in the AQAP from 7/2011 have been actually been implemented by 7/2013 and when were they implemented?
2. Please also review all other requests with due diligence. A council must surely have some kind of procedures in place to ensure consistency when dealing with taxi offences and a recording system for complaints, enforcement actions and decisions of the HCO and licensing committee, such as warnings and licence revocations.
Judging by the level of information and statistics you have supplied in your response, it appears that Brighton & Hove council does not keep any records or statistics concerning this very vital and basic aspect of its taxi licensing or air quality measures to efficiently and effectively fulfill its legal duties. I therefore suspect that a mistake has been made in supplying this information.
The local government ombudsman has highlighted that, with 89 complaints, Brighton & Hove is far above average with residents' complaints, however it should be possible to find out how many of these 89 were related to taxis - to name but one basic statistic.
Please let me know, if you can make any further efforts to retrieve the requested information in order to comply with your freedom of information duty.
Yours sincerely,
Manuela Krachan
I will be out of the office until Monday the 19th of August. Please send anything concerning Freedom of Information to Wendy Kassamini or '[Brighton and Hove City Council request email]'.
For any non Freedom of Information requests please email [email address] or alternativly i will try to respond ASAP following my return to work.
Regards
Chris Flynn
FOI Officer
Security and Standards Team
Brighton and Hove Council
Notice to recipient:
The information contained in this electronic mail message is intended only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed
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.
Dear Brighton and Hove City Council,
Could I please have an update on this request and its review.
Yours faithfully,
Manuela Krachan
Please see below copy of response sent to you on 9 August 2013. I am
sorry but we have no record of further correspondence or of a request for
a review. Can you please resend to me at [1][email address] please ?
Many thanks.
Wendy Kassamani
Information Compliance Officer
Tel: 01273 296636
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From:
Sent: 09 August 2013 15:31
To: 'Manuela Krachan'
Subject: FOI/679/13 Freedom of Information Request
Regarding your request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000: Ref: foi/679/13
Please find set out below the information in response to the above
request:
1. Number of Hackney Carriage taxis, rank spaces and number of HC taxis
per capita
Please see link to the Hackney Carriage Unmet Demand Survey
[2] http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ieLi...
(item 16)
2. Number of enforcement officers -part-time and full-time- and
enforcement budget for 2010,2011, 2012, 2013?
There is no separate enforcement budget as enforcement is part of the
officers work and not calculated separately.
Currently there is
1 x Hackney Carriage Officer
2.1 x Licensing Enforcement Officers
3. Complaints received about HC taxis in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013?
The folling also includes Private Hire complaints as not recorded
separately
2008/9 - 226
2010/11 - 267
2011/12 - 317
2012/13 - 488
How many of these complaints proceeded into corporate complaints?
Not known/recorded
How many corporate complaints proceeded to the LGO?
Not known/recorded
How many complaints were dissolved in agreement and how many complainants
stopped progressing their complaints?
Not known/recorded
4. List of these complaints according to their nature, including assault,
rape, empty taxi ranks (no taxi available), touting, nuisance caused at
ranks, bye-law offences, e.g.-. failure to proceed, obstructing other
carriages,etc.
how many parking fines were given to on-duty HC taxis in 2009, 2010, 2011,
2012 and 2013? How many fines for traffic offences were given in that
period?
Information not held / recorded.The majority of the offences listed above
would be investigated by the Police not the Hackney Carriage Office.
5. Which actions did the complaints result in, i.e. how many warnings,
licence revocation, prosecution, DVLA points, parking fines etc. For each
category?
Information not held/recorded
6. Has the recession led to any queuing taxis and failure to proceed
offences? in which areas of town?
Information not held/recorded
6. Which exact parameters are used to identify a failure to proceed
problem and hotspot? e.g. Number of complaints by the public, traffic
wardens etc
Please see link to Licensing Enforcement Policy
[3]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
7. Which failure to proceed hotspot areas were identified and recorded in
2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013?
Information not held/recorded
8. How many complaints were made about failure to proceed to the taxi
office during 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013?
Information not held/recorded
And how many resulted in warnings? Cautions? Licence revocation or
prosecution? How many complaints were received taxi availability at ranks
in that period of time?
Information not held/recorded
7. Which parameters are used to decide whether a driver is failing To
proceed?
Every case is looked at on its own merit
Which parameters are used to decide whether ranks have adequate taxi
availability?
Hackney Carriage Unmet Demand Survey
8. What exactly constitutes a failure to proceed offence? E.g. Do the
taxis have to queue immediately adjacent to a rank or does
queuing along the entirety of a street -and occupying various parking
bays, disabled bays, double yellow lines along the length
of the road etc - also constitue a failure to proceed offence?
Every case is looked at on its own merit
9. What exactly constitutes as - obstructing another carriage - byelaw
offence?
Not a Hackney Carriage byelaw
How many were recorded in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013?
Not known/ Recorded
9. Under which circumstances is a driver given a warning, a caution or
prosecuted for failing to proceed? Can you give examples for
each?
Please see link to Licensing Enforcement Policy
[4]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
How many prosecutions were undertaken for failure to proceed in 2011, 2012
and 2013?
Not known/recorded
How many were successful?
Not known/recorded
10. Under which circumstances is a licence revoked for failure to proceed?
Please see link to Licensing Enforcement Policy
[5]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
How many licences were revoked for this in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013?
Not known / recorded
11. Which steps were taken regarding failure to proceed offences by the
taxi office, parking and traffic police individually and
jointly?
Not known /recorded
Did this include three-pronged enforcement actions at known over-ranking
hotspots?
Not known / recorded
And how were these organised? E.g. Were enforcement officers present over
an extended period of time? If so, over how many hours/days and were all
three forces present simultaneously?
Not known / recorded
13. Has any enforcement been undertaken by CCTV Or solely through
enforcement officers?
Not known / recorded
14. What is the cost of CCTV enforcement camera?
Not known
What is the cost of a taxi ?
Not known
15. How was it ensured that the enforcement actions are pro-active and
react to evading strategies by the trade?
Please see link to Licensing Enforcement Policy
[6]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
16. How many routine enforcement actions were undertaken in 2010, 2011,
2012 and 2013? And at what dates and times and over which period of time,
e.g. 15mins? what sanctions did these result in, e.g. Failure to have
badge, bad tyres etc.
2010/11 - 527
2011/12 - 1145
2012/13 - 617
Detailed information not known/recorded
17. How many special enforcement actions were undertaken by the taxi
office in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013? at which dates and times and over
which period of time, e.g. 15 mins? What did these actions result in, e.g.
Warnings for failure to proceed?
Not known / recorded
16. How successful were those actions in reducing the failure toproceed
offences and act as a deterrent ?
Not known / recorded
17. Which air quality measures recommended in the 2011 AQAP have been
implemented to ensure taxis produceleast emissions in the AQMA? And when?
Please see link to AQAP
[7]http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/br...
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
Council
Hove BN3 4AH
[8][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: 03031231113
e-mail: [9][email address]
Website: [10]www.ico.gov.uk
If you have any queries regarding this process, please contact me via the
contact details below.
[11]freedomofinformation@brighton-hove,gov.uk
Re-use of Public Sector Information and Copyright Statement
Where information has been supplied, you are advised that the copyright in
that material is owned by Brighton & Hove City Council and/or its
contractor(s) unless otherwise stated. The supply of documents under the
Freedom of Information Act does not give the recipient an automatic right
to re-use those documents in a way that would infringe copyright, for
example, by making multiple copies, publishing and issuing copies to the
public.
Brief extracts of the material can be reproduced under the “fair dealing”
provisions of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1998 (S.29 and S.30)
for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes, private study,
criticism, review and news reporting.
Authorisation to re-use copyright material not owned by Brighton & Hove
City Council and/or its contractor(s) should be sought from the copyright
holders concerned. If you are considering re-using the information
disclosed to you through this request, for any purpose outside of what
could be considered for personal use, then you are required under the
Public Sector Re-use of Information Regulations 2005 to make an
Application for Re-use to the organisation from which you have requested
the information. Applications for Re-Use should be directed to Mr at the
address above.
Chris Flynn
01273 296618
Security and Standards Team
Brighton & Hove City Council
Notice to recipient:
The information contained in this electronic mail message is intended only
for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed
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.
References
Visible links
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2. http://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ieLi...
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9. mailto:[email address]
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http://www.ico.gov.uk/
11. mailto:freedomofinformation@brighton-hove,gov.uk
Dear Wendy Kassamani,
I sent a request for review to BHCC as you can confirm on this publicly available link:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/t...
It appears that BHCC is not sufficiently organised to fulfill its legal duties. Neither is there a default setting to transfer FOI requests to an appropriate officer, when one is on holiday, nor does the officer pick up his emails upon return - Mr Flynn was scheduled to return on 19/8/13 according to his automated email response and should have been working on the review for the past week, as it is now 28/8/13. Please ensure the review is undertaken within the legal timeframe.
Yours sincerely,
Manuela Krachan
Thank you for your email and again I apologise for the delay in progressing your request for an internal review. I have located your request on the whatdotheyknow.com website, set out below, and it has been forwarded to Jan McCartney who deals with all such reviews and who will be in touch with you shortly.
Thank you.
" From: Manuela Krachan
9 August 2013
Dear Christopher Flynn,
1.Your response appears to only link to and repeat information that
is already in the public realm. You have, for example, supplied
again the link to the Air Quality Action Plan, which i was
referring to, rather than respond to my request.
Please supply information about which air quality measures listed
in the AQAP from 7/2011 have been actually been implemented by
7/2013 and when were they implemented?
2. Please also review all other requests with due diligence. A
council must surely have some kind of procedures in place to ensure
consistency when dealing with taxi offences and a recording system
for complaints, enforcement actions and decisions of the HCO and
licensing committee, such as warnings and licence revocations.
Judging by the level of information and statistics you have
supplied in your response, it appears that Brighton & Hove council
does not keep any records or statistics concerning this very vital
and basic aspect of its taxi licensing or air quality measures to
efficiently and effectively fulfill its legal duties. I therefore
suspect that a mistake has been made in supplying this information.
The local government ombudsman has highlighted that, with 89
complaints, Brighton & Hove is far above average with residents'
complaints, however it should be possible to find out how many of
these 89 were related to taxis - to name but one basic statistic.
Please let me know, if you can make any further efforts to retrieve
the requested information in order to comply with your freedom of
information duty.
Yours sincerely,
Manuela Krachan"
Wendy Kassamani
Information Compliance Officer
Brighton & Hove City Council
Tel: 01273 296636
Dear Manuela Krachen,
I write in response to your request for an internal review.
I have now had the opportunity to return to the department supplying the information and it appears that you should have been sent the attached breakdown of service complaints with your response. Therefore I find that we did not provide an adequate original response. Please accept our apologies for this omission, I trust this now provides you with the information you requested access to.
If you are still not satisfied you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), their contact details are below.
Yours sincerely,
Jan McCartney
Data Protection Manager
Security and Standards Team
Brighton and Hove City Council
Hove Town Hall
Norton Road
Hove
BN3 3BQ
Tel: 01273 291207
Internal ext: 1207
[mobile number]
" From: Manuela Krachan
9 August 2013
Dear Christopher Flynn,
1.Your response appears to only link to and repeat information that is already in the public realm. You have, for example, supplied again the link to the Air Quality Action Plan, which i was referring to, rather than respond to my request.
Please supply information about which air quality measures listed in the AQAP from 7/2011 have been actually been implemented by
7/2013 and when were they implemented?
2. Please also review all other requests with due diligence. A council must surely have some kind of procedures in place to ensure consistency when dealing with taxi offences and a recording system for complaints, enforcement actions and decisions of the HCO and licensing committee, such as warnings and licence revocations.
Judging by the level of information and statistics you have supplied in your response, it appears that Brighton & Hove council does not keep any records or statistics concerning this very vital and basic aspect of its taxi licensing or air quality measures to efficiently and effectively fulfill its legal duties. I therefore suspect that a mistake has been made in supplying this information.
The local government ombudsman has highlighted that, with 89 complaints, Brighton & Hove is far above average with residents'
complaints, however it should be possible to find out how many of these 89 were related to taxis - to name but one basic statistic.
Please let me know, if you can make any further efforts to retrieve the requested information in order to comply with your freedom of information duty.
Yours sincerely,
Manuela Krachan"
Wendy Kassamani
Information Compliance Officer
Brighton & Hove City Council
Tel: 01273 296636
Dear Janet McCartney,
Could you please inform me what section 29 stands for? And if Operation Crackdown has ceased after 1/4/13 as there is no relevant entry for 2013/14.
Are you certain that you have now provided all information as requested by me and held by BHCC? It appears to me that most queries made in my request are still open and have not been responded to.
Yours sincerely,
Manuela Krachan
Dear Manuela Krachen,
We will process your additional questions as a new FOI request.
My review is complete on your original request.
Yours sincerely,
Jan McCartney
Data Protection Manager
Security and Standards Team
Brighton and Hove City Council
Hove Town Hall
Norton Road
Hove
BN3 3BQ
Tel: 01273 291207
Internal ext: 1207
[mobile number]
Dear Janet
I have not supplied any additional questions to you that would constitute as a new FOI request.
My query is a request to clarify your terminology (section 29 and Operation Crackdown) as the information you supplied was neither self-explanatory nor did it contain a key, required to understand what sect. 29 is. In any case my queries referred very clearly to the existing FOI request and was clearly not a new FOI request.
I wish to point out, that I do not wish to make a new FOI as long as the existing one has, in my opinion, not been responded to in a satisfactory way.
Please inform me whether you are willing to clarify your terminology (section 29) and parts of the information you've supplied (operation crackdown) under the existing FOI request or not.
Yours sincerely,
Manuela Krachan
To avoid any confusion please set out your request for information and submit your request for further information to the above address.
Thank you.
Wendy Kassamani
Information Compliance Officer
Tel: 01273 296636
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Manuela Krachan left an annotation ()
The review undertaken has still failed to supply any information on any actions taken in response to any of these taxi complaints.
None of the complaints made to Brighton council and Sussex Police relating to byelaw offences, inconsiderate parking and road obstruction, parking on and blocking disabled bays, driver conduct at rank and harassment at the Sussex Hospital rank have resulted in any actions. These complaints were made by local residents and the Disability Federation. They were all supported by video evidence. These videos and some more can be seen on YouTube Brightontaximania. Whether ANY complaints about taxis in Brighton have been successful is not known as the review still leaves this open.
The review undertaken has still not responded to the query about which of the air quality measures outlined for taxis in the AQAP July 2011 were actually implemented by July 2013. It is acknowledged that taxis are the main contributor to air pollution and produce dangerous particulate matter, which the World Health Organisation has reported in July 2013, to have NO safe exposure limit.