Following investigations by the ICO B&NES Council claims it passed the paper copies of 13000 secure tenancy agreements to Curo Housing (formerly Somer Community Housing Trust) which Curo Housing denies ever having received.
On that basis the ICO states it cannot make a decision on which organisation is to blame for this loss as there is a lack of evidence to prove one way or the other ie: its the word of a senior B&NES Council Officer against the word of a senior Curo Housing manager !
On that basis the ICO states it cannot make a decision on which organisation is to blame for this loss as there is a lack of evidence to prove one way or the other ie: its the word of a senior B&NES Council Officer against the word of a senior Curo Housing manager !
Reference: FS50576929
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘FOIA’)
Decision notice
Date: 20 May 2015
Public Authority: Bath and North East Somerset Council
Decision: Upheld
1. The complainant has requested information relating to the transfer of secure tenancy agreement records. The Commissioner’s decision is that Bath and North East Somerset Council has breached section 10(1) of the FOIA by falling to respond to respond to the request within the statutory time limit of 20 working days.
Request and response
2. On 14 February 2015, the complainant wrote to Bath and North East Somerset Council (‘the council’) and requested information in the following terms:
“Your email of 12/02/15 confirms “All records of our tenancy that the Council would have held will have been passed to SCHT when the transfer of the housing stock took place.”
Please confirm if the Council passed to SCHT both the paper records & computer data or did it just pass to SCHT the computer data it held?
Please confirm:
1) In what year did B&NES Council’s Housing/legal Departments transfer the paper records of its 13,000 secure tenancy agreements to its computer records.
2) What B&NES Council did with the paper records of the 13,000 secure tenancy agreements after it has transferred the data into its computer records eg: did it keep them on site, deposit them in remote storage up until the transfer to SCHT in 1999 etc.,
3) The exact date these paper and/or computer records were passed to SCHT.”
Section 10 – Time for compliance
7. Section 10(1) states:
“Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a public authority must comply with section 1(1) promptly and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt.”
8. The council received the request on 14 February 2015 and responded on 30 April 2015 which is after the twentieth working day following the date of receipt. Therefore, the council did not respond to the request within the statutory time limit in breach of section 10(1)."
B&NES Council has responded by stating it does not hold the information and therefore cannot provide any answers.
An appeal against B&NES Council's pathetic response has been lodged with it and the ICO.
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘FOIA’)
Decision notice
Date: 20 May 2015
Public Authority: Bath and North East Somerset Council
Decision: Upheld
1. The complainant has requested information relating to the transfer of secure tenancy agreement records. The Commissioner’s decision is that Bath and North East Somerset Council has breached section 10(1) of the FOIA by falling to respond to respond to the request within the statutory time limit of 20 working days.
Request and response
2. On 14 February 2015, the complainant wrote to Bath and North East Somerset Council (‘the council’) and requested information in the following terms:
“Your email of 12/02/15 confirms “All records of our tenancy that the Council would have held will have been passed to SCHT when the transfer of the housing stock took place.”
Please confirm if the Council passed to SCHT both the paper records & computer data or did it just pass to SCHT the computer data it held?
Please confirm:
1) In what year did B&NES Council’s Housing/legal Departments transfer the paper records of its 13,000 secure tenancy agreements to its computer records.
2) What B&NES Council did with the paper records of the 13,000 secure tenancy agreements after it has transferred the data into its computer records eg: did it keep them on site, deposit them in remote storage up until the transfer to SCHT in 1999 etc.,
3) The exact date these paper and/or computer records were passed to SCHT.”
Section 10 – Time for compliance
7. Section 10(1) states:
“Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a public authority must comply with section 1(1) promptly and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt.”
8. The council received the request on 14 February 2015 and responded on 30 April 2015 which is after the twentieth working day following the date of receipt. Therefore, the council did not respond to the request within the statutory time limit in breach of section 10(1)."
B&NES Council has responded by stating it does not hold the information and therefore cannot provide any answers.
An appeal against B&NES Council's pathetic response has been lodged with it and the ICO.
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