Dear Local Government Ombudsmen,

Regarding Tony Redmond's tax-payer funded "tour" of Australia in the financial year 05/06.

The response to Mr Byrne (24 May 2010) stated that this "tour" included flights "to and from Australia costing £2,898 and two internal flights costing £266.20".

Did the flights to/from Australia cost £2898 each way or in total?

Did the internal flights cost £266.20 each or in total?

What date was the outbound flight from the UK and what was its destination?

On what date did the inbound flight to the UK arrive and where did it originate in Australia?

Did anybody accompany Mr Redmond?

What was the total bill for car hire, rail travel, taxis and any other form of transportation (apart from the flights detailed above) from, and including, the date of leaving the UK to, and including, the date of arriving back in the UK?

Please include in your response to the above all items paid for by the Commission and all items claimed for by Mr Redmond. Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Smith

Dear Communications and Records Manager,

You said in your letter that you should be able to give a delayed answer by 28 to 30 June, but twelve/ten full working days have passed since then without a word.

Could I please have an explanation of

1. why your own delayed deadline (28 to 30 June) wasn't achieved.

2. why thirty six working days have passed with no answer to the question about car hire etc. The FOI Act required your response in twenty working days, by 23 June.

May I also know when you now expect to give the answer, please.

Yours sincerely,

Ms S Smith

Dear Ms Pook,

Thank you for your response to my question "What was the total bill for car hire, rail travel, taxis and any
other form of transportation from, and including, the date of leaving the UK to, and including, the date of arriving back in the UK?"

You wrote "Mr Redmond claimed £112.30 for all the taxi fares he incurred while working during his trip to Australia."

Firstly. It hasn't previously been suggested that Mr Redmond was working in Australia. Did your earlier FOI Act responses contain misinformation? Could you please state precisely what work Mr Redmond was doing in Australia, at considerable expense to the British taxpayer, while his wife was on holiday there with him.
Or was he not working, as per the earlier answers?

Secondly. Even after all of the delay you still have not fully answered the question. You have omitted from your response the cost of transportation to and from the UK airport. This was an integral part of the cost of the trip. Did the Commission i.e. the British taxpayer, pay for Mr and Mrs Redmond to get to and from their home to and from the UK airport? If so, what was the method and how much did it cost?

Yours sincerely,

Ms S Smith