Advice provided by legal assistants to committees

The request was partially successful.

Dear Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council,
Please can you confirm how many times and on what dates a legal assistant has provided legal advice to the Councils Licensing Miscellaneous Committee , or to any committee whatsoever since 1st January 2013 to present and what that advice was?
Can you please also confirm which Officers attendedthese committees and the capacity in which they attended, prior to the meeting being closed to the public.
How many of the matters on which legal assistants provided legal advice at these committees progressed to an Appeal hearing at the Magistrates Court and what where the outcomes?
Can you please state when information about officers attending such committees ceased to be published on the CMIS system when it was previously available to the public and why this change was made?

Yours faithfully,

Mrs J M Sumner.

Sandwell MBC, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Mrs J M Sumner
 
 
Your request for information has been passed to an investigating officer.
 
Your reference is FS-Case-14048588
 
 
Thank you
 
Sandwell MBC

Stewart Wright, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Sir

 

Please find attached response to your FOI

 

Stewart Wright

Legal Manager

 

[1]sandwell_mbc

 

Sandwell Council... working for you

 

Sandwell Council

Oldbury

West Midlands

B69 3DE

W: [2]www.sandwell.gov.uk

 

T: 0121 569 3267

F: 0121 569 3210

E: [3][email address]   

 

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information.  It
may also be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the individual
to whom it is addressed. If this email has been misdirected, please notify
the sender as soon as possible. If you are not the intended recipient you
must not disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on any of the
information contained, and all copies must be deleted immediately.

 

References

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2. file:///anita_rose/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/HLEDWZWD/www.sandwell.gov.uk
3. mailto:[email address]

Dear Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Advice provided by legal assistants to committees'.
The response to question 2 is unsatisfactory in that it assumes that this question is connected with question 1 when in fact it is an entirely separate question. Please state which officers attended the committee and in what capacity?

[ GIVE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE ]

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

Yours faithfully,

J M Sumner

Sandwell MBC, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Mrs J M Sumner
 
 
Your request for information has been passed to an investigating officer.
 
Your reference is FS-Case-51319728
 
 
Thank you
 
Sandwell MBC

Info Management, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

This information has been marked as: IL0: UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Mrs Sumner,

Can you please clarify that what you are asking for in your original request is 'which officers have attended the Licensing Miscellaneous Committee since 1 January 2013 and the capacity in which they attended, prior to the meeting being closed to the public.'

Regards

David Berney
Information Governance Officer
Governance

Sandwell Council...working for you

Sandwell Council
Oldbury
West Midlands
B69 3DE
W: www.sandwell.gov.uk

T: 0121 569 3248
E: [email address]

show quoted sections

David Berney, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Mrs Sumner,

As I have not received a response to my email of the 25th April, I will proceed with the Review as if the question was worded in the way stated in my email.

I shall be back in touch with you soon with the result of my review.

Regards

David Berney

show quoted sections

Sandwell MBC, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Mrs J M Sumner,
 
Information Request - FS-Case-51319728
 
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. In response to your
request I can confirm the following:
 
 
I have reviewed your original request dated 13 March and the response
dated 10 April. You have requested a review of the response to Q2, stating
the answer should not be connected with Q1. I have read the request and it
seems reasonable in the circumstances, with the fact both questions are in
the same request and the wording used in Q2 refers to Q1, that the
response was formulated in this way. Now that you have asked for a review
stating this should not be read in this way, and as you have not responded
to my request for clarification, I can only take the question to mean that
you want to know which officers have attended the Councils Licensing
(Miscellaneous) Committee since 1 January 2013 and in what capacity,
regardless of whether they have provided legal advice. This information is
not held as part of the minutes of each meeting. Some information is held
within other departments but not in a structured format as per the
request. There have been between 80 and 90 Committees in this timescale,
and at an estimate of 15 minutes per meeting to look up this would exceed
the limit set out in legislation and so would be refused under section 12
of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. If you would like to submit a
request which would fall within the limit, you could try reducing the
timescale, stating particular committees or officers or using some other
criteria that would reduce the scope of the search. If you are not
satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner's
Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF Please remember
to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
 
 
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your
request, and should be addressed to:
 
Information Management Unit
Sandwell Council House
Freeth Street
Oldbury
West Midlands
B69 3DE
 
Email – [Sandwell Council request email]
 
If you are not content with the outcome of an internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
 
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
 
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Sandwell MBC