Refs 3,5 & 6
Letter From Information Commissioner’s Office to LBH 19/09/08


Mr R Ingle
Data Protection & Freedom of Information Officer
London Borough of Hillingdon
Civic Centre
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB8 1UW


19th September 2008

Case FS50213593 (Mr S ref: 3) (Your reference: FOI/859)
Case FS50213873 (Mr S ref: 5) (Your reference: FOI/870)
Case FS50214010 (Mr S ref: 6) (Your reference: FOI/880)

Dear Mr Ingle

Complaints from Mr Peter Silverman
 
The Information Commissioner has received three new complaints from Mr Silverman stating that he has not received a decision regarding the internal review that he had requested. I have enclosed the relevant correspondence for each for your information.  I have also provided a summary in this letter for your convenience.

Case FS50213593 (Mr S ref: 3) (Your reference: FOI/859)

In this case Mr Silverman had asked for three categories of information.

He believes that there is more recorded information that falls within the scope of two of his requests that has not been provided. For convenience, these are:

1. All communications with Enterprise relating to the additional works they would carry out as part of the winter works programme and other remedial work referred to in the last paragraph of the first page of your letter.

3. Copies of correspondence with Enterprise / minutes etc recording the fact that the Council had made it clear that they were expecting improvements etc referred to in the third paragraph of page 2 of your letter.

Please conduct an internal review of your response to these two points.

Case FS50213873 (5) (Mr S ref: 5) (Your reference: FOI/870)

In this case the Council informed Mr Silverman that the cost limits applied.

In this case please conduct an internal review within twenty working days from this letter.

The Council should have regard for its obligations under section 16 of the Act when it does this. It also may be helpful to provide a breakdown of the costs in this case taking into account only the permitted activities in the Regulations.

Case FS50214010 (6) (Mr S ref: 6) (Your reference: FOI/880)

In this case the Council informed Mr Silverman that the cost limits applied.

I have spoken to the Council and you would like the opportunity to conduct an internal review.

The Council should have regard for its obligations under section 16 of the Act when it does its internal review. It also may be helpful to provide a breakdown of the costs in this case taking into account only the permitted activities in the Regulations.

Guidance

The Commissioner has issued guidance regarding the time limits on carrying out internal reviews (Good Practice Guidance 5). The Commissioner considers that a reasonable time for completing an internal review is 20 working days from the date of the request for review, and in no case should the total time taken exceed 40 working days.

A full copy of this guidance is available on our website (www.ico.gov.uk) under the Freedom of Information guidance section.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/freedom_of_information/guidance.aspx

Enforcement

The Commissioner wants to ensure that a complainant has exhausted a public authority’s internal review procedure, but at the same time the complainant should not be unreasonably delayed in having his complaint considered under section 50.

Internal reviews are referred to in the section 45 Code of Practice, and significant or repeated unreasonable delays in dealing with internal reviews will be monitored by the Enforcement team. In some instances structured intervention, for example the issuing of a Practice Recommendation, may be necessary.

More detail about the Commissioner’s enforcement strategy is available on our website under the Freedom of Information enforcement section.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/freedom_of_information/enforcement.aspx

Actions

If it is the case that you have not issued an internal review decision to Mr Silverman we recommend that you do so within 20 working days from the date of receipt of this letter.

If you need to contact us about this complaint please quote the reference number at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely



David McNeil
Case Reception Unit
Information Commissioner’s Office