Especially since he ended up flying back from Toronto because the Quebec flight was full. Why not from Montreal????

It is certainly interesting that he didn't fly into or out of Quebec where the conference was being held but did he stay in Quebec? Or did he stop in Montreal with his wife and only use the train to visit the conference to sign in.

http://ombudsmanwatchers.org.uk/blogs/?p...

The answer given to my FOI request above was "Dear Mrs Colvin, In response to your email request of 11 August, the route Mr Redmond took was the cheapest route available."

If he flew to Montreal then caught a train to his destination (a very unusual thing to do unless he had business in Montreal, the Ballet?) why didn't he return the same way? If it was the cheapest way to do it one way it must have been the cheapest way to do the return journey. Return flights are normally cheaper than two singles. Why two singles, not the cheapest way and why a different return route?

There is very little difference in the cost of flights to Montreal and Quebec. Costs can't have been a seriou factor when deciding to fly to Montreal rather than directly to Quebec. By the time you add on the extra train time and costs it makes the decision irrational. Proven by the fact he didn't return the same way.

I think you will find that they just took his word, that is was cheaper to fly they way he did. As they have about many other things including the unwritten policy for long haul flights that only he could remember. The Commission for Local Administration and it's members has always lacked any effective scrutiny. Hence the reason why members of the public are now using the FOI Act to do something the Government should have been doing since 1974.

I think so too Trevor, which is why I have sent the followup. Looking back, there is a not insignificant amount of times that Ms Pook, once queried, has revealed that she has answered FOI requests on the basis of what Tony Redmond has told her, rather than on the basis of fact, evidence or recorded information. So even the CLAE's FOI answers are suspect.

As Mandy Rice-Davies famously said "Well, he would say that".

Yes, Mrs Pook often supplies information based on what someone has stated or recently fabricated instead of just stating they don't hold the information requested.

That in itself is very suspicious especially since one of the obvious exemptions to the FOI Act is that they don't hold the information.

However, I have had experience of this tactic before. They use it when the damage done in admitting they don't have the information may be greater than the damage dome by fabricating an FOI response out of thin air.

http://lgowatcher.blogspot.com/2010/07/h...

Look at the third annotation above Ms Pooks reply.

FOI Act shines a torch on public services, says Information Commissioner.

“Freedom of Information has a key role to play in helping to deliver greater transparency and accountability. These are key priorities in public policy”, says Information Commissioner Christopher Graham in a message to mark International Right to Know Day.

http://foia.blogspot.com/2010/09/foi-act...

Mr Redmond has an abiding passion for Ballet and the 21st annual Gala des Étoiles in Montréal was in September 2004.

http://www.galadesetoiles.com/intro.html

I made a comment on another FOI request which also applies to this one.

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