Dear Mr. Bonar,

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 15th April, 2014 and is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000/Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

We are therefore required to provide you with a response within 20 working days, which will be on or before 16th May, 2014.

If we require any clarification or further details, we will contact you as soon as possible - if this is the case, then the timescale for response specified above may be subject to change.

In the meantime, if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me, remembering to quote the reference number provided above in any communications.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council
Mewnol/Internal: 4127
Allanol/External: 01267 224127

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Dear Mr Bonar,

I refer to your request for information, which was received on 15th April, 2014 and has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I will respond to your request in the order it was presented using numbered points as headings for ease of reference.

"1. A list of vehicles owned or leased to the council. Please include; registration mark, fleet number (if used), make & model and body type."

Please refer to the attached file. However, after careful consideration, we are not providing the registration numbers for reasons I will set out below.

Providing vehicle details along with registration numbers enables a vehicle to be cloned, which is of course a criminal activity.

Under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act, a public authority may refuse to release information if to do so would, or would be likely to prejudice the prevention and detection of crime.

Disclosure of information under the Act has the effect of placing it in the public domain. I must therefore disregard who has asked for the information and am required to consider the effect of making it available to the world at large.

I am of the view that this exemption is engaged in this case, as the registration numbers, once in the public domain, could be used along with the other information to clone a vehicle.

Having established that the exemption found in Section 31 is engaged, I am now required to apply the public interest test. This requires me to consider whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. In doing so, it is important to draw a distinction between what may be of interest to members of the public and what is genuinely in the public interest – that is, what serves the interests of the public.

The case for disclosing the number is in my view fairly weak, resting solely on providing information in the interests of openness and transparency. Beyond, this, disclosure serves no other purpose (such as furthering public understanding, accountability, and so forth).

This factor is more than outweighed by very strong countervailing considerations, namely:

• The inherent public interest in avoiding likely prejudice to the prevention of crime.
• The impact that any crimes likely to occur would have on individuals.

I therefore consider that the exemption should be maintained and the information withheld.

As such, in accordance with Section 17 of the Act, please consider this email to be a formal notice that I am refusing to release this information.

"2. Of the vehicles leased, a list of the companies from which the vehicles are leased."

Days Leasing
Sinclairs Leasing
JCT 600
Automotive Leasing
TCH

"3. Name, position and email address of the staff responsible for these vehicles."

Mr A Elkin, Fleet Manager
Email: [email address]

"4. If your refuse collection is outsourced please provide the name of the company responsible and a list of the vehicles used for this purpose including vehicle registration mark, fleet number (if used), make & model and body type."

Our refuse collection is not outsourced and is carried out in-house.

Your Right of Appeal

If you disagree with this decision, or the way in which your request has been dealt with, is to make a complaint in the first instance to:

The Head of Administration & Law
Carmarthenshire County Council
County Hall
Carmarthen
SA31 1JP

Email: [email address]

If you remain unhappy with the handling of your request or complaint, you have a right to make an appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.gov.uk

There is no charge for making an appeal.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Mewnol/Internal: 4127
Allanol/External: 01267 224127

Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau yn gyfrinachol ac wedi'u bwriadu at ddefnydd yr unigolyn y'u cyfeiriwyd ato/ati yn unig. Os derbyniwch y neges hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i'r sawl a'i hanfonodd ar unwaith, dilëwch y neges o'ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gopïau papur ohoni. Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i neb arall, na gweithredu ar sail y cynnwys. Eiddo'r awdur yw unrhyw farn neu safbwyntiau a fynegir, ac nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwynt y Cyngor. Dylech wirio am firysau eich hunan cyn agor unrhyw atodiad. Nid ydym yn derbyn unrhyw atebolrwydd am golled neu niwed a all fod wedi'i achosi gan firysau meddalwedd neu drwy ryng-gipio'r neges hon neu ymyrryd â hi.

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed.
If received in error please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your computer and destroy any hard copies. The e-mail should not be disclosed to any other person, nor the contents acted upon.

Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Council.

You should carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. We accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software viruses or interception/interruption of this mail.

Dear Mr Bonar,

I refer to your email of 16th May, 2014.

The list did not include refuse vehicles as the question you asked was:

"4. If your refuse collection is outsourced please provide the name of the company responsible and a list of the vehicles used for this purpose including vehicle registration mark, fleet number (if used), make & model and body type."

As our refuse collection service is provided in-house, the details regarding the vehicles was not included.

However, given your further email, please find attached this information.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Mewnol/Internal: 4127
Allanol/External: 01267 224127

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