The case EA/2013/0072 has gone to Tribunal:
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: FOI request goes to tribunal ..... yet further reports
Futures Forum: Knowle relocation project: FOI request goes to tribunal ..... further reports
This is the original Decision Notice from the ICO:
ico.org.uk/~/media/documents/decisionnotices/2014/fs_50498100.ashx
Here is a helpful set of directions to the Tribunal in Exeter for Thursday 28th August, from the East Devon Alliance blog:
28 August 2014
Exeter Magistrates Court, 10 am , Court 3
First Tier Tribunal hearing: EDDC v Information
Commissioner
(half day scheduled –
Exeter Magistrates Court is close to the Exeter branch of Waitrose and next to
the Police Station within walking distance of Exeter city centre)
background
information on this important case
Parking
and public transport if attending court:
(If
going into Exeter by car be aware that currently the road is being dug up just
beyond the Magistrates Court, outside Waitrose on the lane outbound from Exeter
up to its junction with Barrack Road but inbound road currently clear and exit
into Waitrose car park unaffected – best to check.)
1. Sowton or
Honiton Road Park and Ride and Park and Ride bus into Exeter then 8-10 minute
walk uphill from City Centre. Bus passes can be
used after 9,30 am
2. Time-limited
parking in Waitrose car park and pay-car park behind Waitrose at Heavitree
Hospital. Both around 2 minutes walk from Magistrates Court –
Waitrose has a coffee bar and restaurant for those who arrive early or simply
need a break from the proceedings!
3. Car Parks
around Paris Street bus station and Princeshay/Dix’s Field – 8-10 mins walk
uphill to Magistrates Court.
4. X53 has a bus
stop almost opposite the Magistrate’s Court – but you would need to catch the
bus which leaves Seaton at 07.33 or Sidford at 08.00 arriving Exeter 08.38 to
be there in time as the bus after that does not arrive in Exeter until 10.42.
5. Bus 52A and
52B leave Sidmouth half-hourly into Paris Street Bus Station and you would need
to catch the 09.00 52B to arrive in Exeter at 09.52
**********
East Devon Alliance | Bringing together the people of East Devon
The press have taken some interest in the upcoming case:
EDDC v Information Commissioner – press release from J Woodward | East Devon Alliance
Court to hear Knowle case - News - Sidmouth Herald
SIDMOUTH: Knowle relocation dispute is to go before a tribunal - View from Sidmouth
SIDMOUTH: Knowle relocation dispute is to go before a tribunal - View from Sidmouth
There have been several relevant insightful reports from the EDA blog on the issue of transparency:
OPENNESS, TRANSPARENCY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, POOR MINUTES, INADEQUATE SCRUTINY …
August 22nd 2014
“The values of any well governed Council include openness and transparency, honesty and integrity, tolerance and respect, and equality and fairness. “In recent years these values have evidently not been applied or followed”.
Sir David believes that this is not the fault of the general body of councillors but that responsibility lies in the hands of the Executive Board and the Chief Executive. “There needs to be a change in culture”.
It is not that the rules are procedures are not adequate, more a case that they are not applied in practice because of “the internal culture in County Hall”.
Basic rules and values concerning conflicts of interest which should be obvious to all have not been applied by some members of the Executive Board and senior management. “They are not mere technicalities as some have suggested”
As for ‘recent events’, he says they “will not happen if there is a proper professional relationship between the Chief Executive, the Executive Board and the Council generally and if the Scrutiny Committees are given the full facts.”
As for the notoriously brief Minutes of meetings, he states that “there is a culture of hiding difficult or troublesome items” and goes on to say, “It is unclear to me whether or not the committee clerks are instructed to adopt this unhelpful approach and if so by whom.”
Relax, councillors this is a comment on the situation at a council in Wales – but today Wales, tomorrow …..
Openness, transparency, conflicts of interest, poor minutes, inadequate scrutiny … | East Devon Alliance
KNOWLE
RELOCATION: INTERESTING CASE LAW ON DISCLOSURE
August 7th 2014
Recently
we reported on a case where the London Borough of Southwark was forced to
disclose contract information in a planning matter. Below is a lawyer’s summary
of the points raised by the judgement.
Of great
interest is the section where it states clearly that a viability forecast comes
under Environmental Information Regulations and not Freedom of Information.
This may have implications for the case of EDDC v Information Commissioner
where EDDC is refusing to disclose information about Knowle relication. EIR
requires far more disclosure than FOI. Note also the remarks about transparency.
The ICO
heard the challenge to LB Southwark’s decision to refuse disclosure last year:
It
accepted that disclosure of redacted elements of the reports would be
commercially harmful. Nonetheless, applying the public interest test under the
EIR regime, it decided that the interest in disclosure outweighed the harm. LB
Southwark appealed the decision to the First Tier Tribunal, which has now held
that:
The
viability assessment is “environmental information” under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.
The EIR
regime operates with a presumption of disclosure, unlike the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 regime.
Publication
of viability forecast data relating to deals to be done with other businesses
should not be disclosed, because the commercial harm was not in the public
interest, but private sales and registered provider deals should be.
The ICO
was wrong to refuse to treat Lend Lease’s development model as a “trade secret”
and there was no need to show monetary loss arising from disclosure.
The
Council’s suggestion of absolute confidentiality in relation to the activities
of its staff was wrong. Likewise, there is not always a public interest in
maintaining secrecy around public private partnership negotiations – the law on
information disclosure is drawn to ensure transparency where it matters.
Disclosure
of the starting point in negotiations (i.e. the initial viability reports) is
not the same as the disclosure of the full continuum of those negotiations –
the likelihood of a chilling effect on other deals should be viewed in that
light. The public interest warranted disclosure of much of the information – given
“the importance, in this particular project, of local people having access to
information to allow them to participate in the planning process”. That factor
was held to outweigh the public interest in maintaining the remaining rights of
Lend Lease and those subcontractors who contributed to the document.
See more
at: Planning Law Blog | Brought To You By Dentons
Knowle relocation: interesting case law on disclosure | East Devon Alliance
INFORMATION TRIBUNAL RULES ON COUNCILS KEEPING EMPLOYEE GRADE CRITERIA SECRET: THEY CAN’T
July 31st 2014
Bradford Council loses its appeal as they tried to stop an employee finding out how posts are graded:
It seems that the push is for greater transparency …..
Information Tribunal rules on councils keeping employee grade criteria secret: they can’t | East Devon Alliance
DEVELOPERS ALLOWED BY HIGH COURT TO SEE SECRET CONTRACT DOCUMENTS
July 29th 2014
So why not electors? We shall see on 28 August 2014 at Exeter Magistrates Court perhaps:
A Deputy High Court judge has ordered a local authority to make early specific disclosure to a leisure services provider bringing a claim over a recent £120m concession procurement.
July 31st 2014
Bradford Council loses its appeal as they tried to stop an employee finding out how posts are graded:
The tribunal said it agreed with the Commissioner and the requester in their analysis of the public interest test, concluding that there was a significant public interest in favour of disclosure of the disputed information.
It seems that the push is for greater transparency …..
Information Tribunal rules on councils keeping employee grade criteria secret: they can’t | East Devon Alliance
DEVELOPERS ALLOWED BY HIGH COURT TO SEE SECRET CONTRACT DOCUMENTS
July 29th 2014
So why not electors? We shall see on 28 August 2014 at Exeter Magistrates Court perhaps:
A Deputy High Court judge has ordered a local authority to make early specific disclosure to a leisure services provider bringing a claim over a recent £120m concession procurement.
Local Government Lawyer - Council ordered to make specific disclosure in dispute over £120m procurement
Developers allowed by High Court to see secret contract documents | East Devon Alliance
To conclude: A letter to the Express & Echo from last year:
Council poor at consultation | Exeter Express and Echo
.
Developers allowed by High Court to see secret contract documents | East Devon Alliance
To conclude: A letter to the Express & Echo from last year:
Council
poor at consultation
By Exeter Express
and Echo | Posted:
March 07, 2013
HOW
easily words flow from the mouths of certain EDDC councillors, as reported in
your Exmouth and East Devon pages.
Council leader Diviani talks of a willingness to partake in
"well-informed discussion and debate". May I invite those of your
readers who have internet access to look at EDDC's shocking record of dealing
with Freedom of Information Act requests as found on WhatDoTheyKnow - Make and browse Freedom of Information (FOI) requests
Currently the Information Commissioner is investigating eight complaints from
me of failure by EDDC in respect of their FOI duties. Already they have been
instructed to get on and answer a number, some as old as seven months. The
Information Commissioner is also considering placing EDDC on a special watch
list, a dubious "honour" reserved for the worst offenders. The
evidence is that EDDC is appallingly bad, indeed obstructive when it comes to
providing the very information that will enable "well-informed
discussion". If it does appear, it has a habit of appearing too late to
use in planning or decision-making debates. Cllr Diviani should check his
council's record.
Cllr
Moulding is also less than forthright in his comments about recent
consultations. EDDC have been appallingly bad at determining local opinion
across the district. I believe firmly in genuine consultation but think that if
it is to be meaningful and accurate, then it must be done properly and overseen by people with a
knowledge of research methods and not a committee tasked with delivering the
program. I have been trying for months to determine if any of those running
EDDC's consultations have relevant research qualifications and, though fobbed
off with all manner of rubbish, have yet to be given any evidence that there is
any recognised expertise at EDDC.
We need
to see an end to sham consultations. Let me give but one example from many of
how questionable they have been.
In the
masterplan consultation there was a question about whether people wished to see
the Elizabeth Hall site improved. There was no simple question asking if the
hall should be knocked down. Their question committed the cardinal sin of
ambiguity, something that a qualified researcher would have spotted and
corrected.
A
"yes" to improving the site (which we would all like to have seen improved) is
interpreted, by EDDC, as a yes to knocking down the hall. Five hundred and
seventy people completed the questionnaire, many of whom wanted the hall kept,
12,000 petitioned to keep Elizabeth Hall (and improve its appearance).
Elizabeth Hall has been sold to Premier Inn. That's how it works in EDDC. Don't
take my word, look at the website above and attend an EDDC council meeting to
see how badly the council is run.
Tim Todd
East
Devon Alliance member, Exmouth
Council poor at consultation | Exeter Express and Echo
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