LAMBETH COUNCIL’S UTTERLY BONKERS REASON FOR NOT ANSWERING A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST……
Just when you thought matters involving Lambeth council could not get any more insane…they have.
Here’s the latest reason being given by Lambeth council for not answering a Freedom of Information request:
“Lambeth council maintains its position that it would be clearly manifestly unreasonable for us to respond to this request as the individual responsible for this information has left the council and we cannot access email accounts where this information would be held.”
And again refusing another FOI request which also relates to the Carnegie library in Herne Hill, Lambeth council state:
“We do not have access to this information. “Unfortunately the officer who had initial contact with Greenwich Leisure in relation to Carnegie has left the council.”
This nonsense means that, using the same ‘logic’, ALL emails written by ALL council officers / employees in EVERY SINGLE Lambeth council department – housing, rates, etc etc etc while they were employed by the council and who have since left Lambeth are inaccessible.
Do they really expect anyone to believe such unmitigated tosh?
Are we really being expected to believe that if a Lambeth councillor was to ask for the same information they would receive the same answer?
Here’s another thought: How do they know the name of the anonymous council officer (or officers) and how do they know they have left Lambeth’s employ? Who told them?
Somewhere in Lambeth council has someone composed a guide for employees called “Fantastic excuses and when to use them”?
The original Freedom of Information Act requests were as follows:
Firstly: Please supply the dates of the first correspondence (letter/fax/email etc) between Greenwich Leisure and Lambeth council in relation to the Carnegie Library, Herne Hill. (Specifically: Date of the first correspondence from Greenwich Leisure, Date of the first correspondence from Lambeth council). Given that Lambeth council have publicly stated that this coincided with the publication of Culture 2020, the first correspondence can only have been written circa October 2015. This will obviously not involve more than 40 hours of officer time.
(Response: I am advised by my colleagues that Lambeth council does not hold any such information. Consequently the answer to Section 1(1)(a) is NO and thus our further duty under 1(1)(b) does not arise on this occasion.
We do not have access to this information. Unfortunately the officer who had initial contact with Greenwich Leisure in relation to Carnegie has left the Council.)
Initial contact? Interesting……
Secondly: Please supply the dates of the first correspondence between the organisation now known as the Carnegie Community Trust and Lambeth council in relation to Carnegie library, Herne Hill (specifically date of first letter and first reply) This organisation was formed in 2012 as publicly stated by Carnegie Community Trust. This will obviously not involve more than 40 hours of office times.
(Response: Overall, Lambeth council maintains its position that it would be clearly manifestly unreasonable for us to respond to this request as the individual responsible for this information has left the council and we cannot access email accounts where this information would be held…..
“We consider any attempt to comply with this request would easily exceed 18 hours due to the amount of email accounts which would need to be checked; first to ascertain whether information was held and secondly to decide if any of the information would need to be redacted.)
This is where it gets interesting. It means that, by Lambeth’s own admission, there WAS council officer involvement with the secretive Carnegie Community Trust and its forerunners if not at the very beginning, then very early on.
But there has NEVER been any report of these meetings to any council committee despite an officer apparently attending them.
So how did council officers get involved? News From Crystal Palace thinks you should be told. (But Lambeth, quite obviously, don’t.)
As to accessing emails, all that is needed is to look at the officer or officers emails, search ‘Carnegie’ and look for when the earliest email was sent or received. Simples! (And it would take nowhere near 18 hours.)
This isn’t going to go away……..