Ref 6. Green Spaces Maintenance Contracts

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On  June 10th 2008 I asked LBH  how many such contract there were and how they were stored (on disc etc) in advance of making an information request. I received no reply and went ahead and asked for copies of the contracts on 26th June.

LBH then failed to respond to my request within the statutory 20 day working period. They failed, in my view, to properly “confirm or deny” whether or not the information was held. They said they would not provide the information as the cost of “locating and retrieving” it was in excess of the £450 statutory maximum. This was untenable as all they had to do was take the documents from were they were stored and place then somewhere for copying which would be at my expense.   LBH failed to supply a copy of their cost calculations when asked to do so.

Public bodies have a general duty to provide “advice and assistance” under the Act.  When a request is refused on cost grounds Public Bodies are expected to be pro-active in advising how a request could be be modified to fall within the cost criteria.  LBH have given no such advice.

LBH also failed to respond to my complaint under the final stage of their FOIA Complaints Procedure.

On 12th September 08 I therefore submitted a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.  The ICO wrote to LBH on 19th September asking them to conduct a internal review within 20 days and suggesting they provide a breakdown of the costs.  They reminded LBH of their duty to provide advice and assistance (s16).  On 21st Nov LBH confirmed that 5 contracts were held,  reversed their decision to withhold on cost grounds and agreed to supply copies at a fee to cover photocopying.  As there is such a volume of material I have asked to inspect the contacts at the Civic Centre before deciding what if any pages to copy. The Council are adamant that this is not practically feasible. 

I am  in dialogue with the ICO asking them to reprimand the Council for initially falsely claiming that the cost of making the contracts available  exceeded the statutory limit and for failing to give me advice and assistance prior to my original request.  

Text of complaint to Information Commissioner
Letter from Information Commissioner to LBH