Your Ref:
Our Ref: FOI/168488 APPEAL /
Ms Jenny Griffin
Email: / Date:8 December 2011
Dear Ms Griffin
Freedom of Information request 168488APPEAL
I am writing to you about your request for a review of a Freedom of Information 2000 (FOIA) response dated 16 November 2011 and your original information request made on 10 October 2011.
Your request has been assigned to me to investigate and review and the result of my review is contained in this letter.
I have investigated the Council’s response made to you on 16 November 2011.
The information you requestedwas as follows:
- How much revenue was collected from authorities other than LCC during 2010/11?
- What costs were incurred by BT in relation to this contract?
- LDL is listed by Companies House as a 'non trading company'. This is clearly an error. Has the Council informed Companies House of this error? If so, on which date? If not, why not - as a shareholder in the company, the Council has a legal obligation to ensure that public accounts are accurate in all particulars.
Your appeal was made via the following email to the City Council on the 16 November 2011
- Your assertion that LCC does not hold the information required to answer Q1 can not be correct. The Joint Venture Agreement with BT (clause 7.3) clearly states that unaudited accounts will be made available to all shareholders. LCC is a shareholder. Clauses 16.1 and 16.2 state that ALL third party business must be approved by LCC, and that the 'economic benefit' must be known to LCC.
With regard to Q3, I can accept that you are not obliged to respond to any opinions I might express. However, you are obliged to let me know if you hold a piece of information, and to provide that information unless excused by a specific exemption. There were 3 pieces of information which this question requested:
- Has the Council informed Companies House of this error?
- If so, on which date?
- If not, why not?
I believe that the first 2 questions are valid under the terms of the FOIA, i.e. they relate to specific information which LCC holds. You must be able to determine whether the Council has informed Companies House of this error (even if you prefer not to categorise it as an error) - the Council must surely maintain a record of its communications with Companies House.
I would accept that the third question - why not - whilst a reasonable-enough question, might be one which you would feel entitled to sidestep.
I can confirm that after examining our responseI am unable to conduct an internal review for the following reasons.
In response to questions 1 and 2, the City Council confirmed that it did not hold the information you requested. In response to question 3 the Council confirmed that it is not obliged to respond to comments or opinions presented by a requestor, and that under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 we are only required to provide information that is held in an electronic, digital or hard copy format.
However, the Council went on to confirm that it had passed your comments on to Liverpool Direct Limited as it was their responsibility to inform Companies House of any discrepancies regarding their public record.
The City Council will carry out internal reviews of decisions made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 where a decision or exemption has been applied to the release of information which it holds.
In this instance the City Council confirmed that it held none of the information you requested and as a result is unable to carry out a review of its response.
However, the Council can confirm that it has re-contacted Liverpool Direct Limited regarding their records displayed by Companies House, however as identified in our response dated 16 November it is the responsibility of Liverpool Direct Limited to make any amendments to the records held at companies House.
As the Council has now re-confirmed and clarified its involvement in relation to revenue collected by Liverpool Direct Limited from other Local Authorities in 2011/11, and costs incurred by British Telecom in relation to this, we may consider any further requests from you relating to this matter as vexatious as outlined in Section 14 of Freedom of Information Act 2000
As I have now reviewed your original response, you have exhausted the Council’s appeals process for the purposes of this request. Accordingly, should you remain dissatisfied, please contact The Information Commissioner’s Office, via the following:
Website is and the postal address and telephone numbers are:-
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Fax number 01625 524 510
Telephone 01625 545745
Email – (they advise that their email is not secure).
Yours sincerely
Mr Kevin Symm
Senior Information Officer
Information Team, Legal Services Municipal Buildings Dale Street
Liverpool L2 2DH
Telephone 0151 225 3132 Fax 0151 225 2392