Is there no depth to which these people will not sink?
Daily Archives: 28 Oct 2016
Swire … working for … well, you decide
Written questions in Parliament- 25-26 October 2016
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Hansard
Written Answers’ speaker:Hugo Swire
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Written Answers — Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Staff (27 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to increase the number of officials of his Department who work on issues related to the Commonwealth.
Written Answers — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Agriculture: Subsidies (27 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress she has made on resolving Basic Payment Scheme claims which include common land.
Written Answers — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Agriculture: Subsidies (27 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to improve the level of information provided to farmers on how claim payments under the Basic Payment Scheme are broken down.
Written Answers — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Agriculture: Subsidies (27 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will consider providing bridging payments to Rural Payment Agency claimants awaiting payment after 31 March 2017.
Written Answers — Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Maldives: Commonwealth (25 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will have discussions with the Commonwealth Secretary-General on the Maldives leaving the Commonwealth.
Written Answers — Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Commonwealth: Overseas Trade (25 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support officials of his Department are providing for the Commonwealth Trade Ministers’ meeting in London in 2017.
Written Answers — Home Office: Refugees: Calais (25 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she is adopting to select refugees from the camp in Calais for resettlement.
Written Answers — Home Office: Refugees: Calais (25 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities have agreed to relocate refugees from the camp in Calais.
Written Answers — Home Office: Refugees: Calais (25 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the age of young refugees from the camp in Calais received into the UK.
Written Answers — Home Office: Refugees: Calais (25 Oct 2016)
Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to pre-screen young refugees from the camp in Calais before they enter the UK.”
EDDC: Can’t tell us what they did – because someone else did it for them and they have no paperwork!
THIS IS HOW EDDC DEALS WITH MANY OF OUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUESTS – A MASTERPIECE OF LAME EXCUSES, AVOIDANCE AND POSSIBLY WORSE.
The implication in the correspondence below raises serious questions.
1. EDDC does not appear to check what a third-party has done on its behalf.
2. It does not seem to ask for proof that the third party has done the work.
3. It seems to allow work that needs legal clearance to go ahead on the basis of 1 and 2 above with seemingly no proof that it IS legal.
FIRST YOU MAKE A CLEAR REQUEST:
Dear East Devon District Council,
“Following Cllr Moulding’s statement of today’s date (28.09.16) on BBC Radio Devon, that EDDC had ‘used a badger expert, and applied for the relevant license from Natural England’, in respect of the badgers identified as living on the site of the Jungle Fun and Crazy Golf, on The Queen’s Drive, Exmouth, I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004, the following additional information:
1. When were badgers first identified as living on the Jungle Fun and crazy golf site?
2. On what date was the ‘badger expert’, Dr. Brown, enlisted by EDDC in respect of the badgers on the Jungle fun and crazy golf site, and what was his brief?
3 – Please provide Dr. Brown’s report pertaining to the badgers on the Jungle Fun and crazy golf site in full.
4. On what date was a license to interfere with a sett applied for with Natural England?
5. Please provide full details of the application made (the original application form and all attached material, and any relevant communications).
6. On what date, if at all, was this license granted?
7. Following the Radio Devon report in which it was stated permission had been given to move the badgers to a new site, please confirm that date on which that has, or will, happen, and any related documentation.
Yours faithfully,”
THEN EDDC GIVES YOU A REPLY ON SOME POINTS – WITH CRUCIAL INFORMATION MISSING ON THE REST – THIS TIME SAYING IT IS BECAUSE ANOTHER ORGANISATION MADE THE APPLICATION ON THEIR BEHALF AND THEY HAVEN’T SEEN WHAT THAT ORGANISATION ASKED FOR OR THE LICENCE THAT ORGANISATION SAYS IT GOT FOR THEM:
[Points 1-3 are answered]
“… In respect of parts (4-7) of your request, the application was made on behalf of the council and we do not hold a copy of the application or
licence itself.”
SO YOU ASK AGAIN – ANOTHER DELAY FOR UP TO 20 DAYS TILL THEY REPLY
“I would like to further request under the FOI act 200 and Environmental Regulations Act 2004:
1 – Who made the application of behalf of the Council.
2 – On what date did they make this application.
3 – As the requested application was made on behalf of the Council I would like to re-request a copy of the original application, as I believe this is ‘information held by another person on behalf of the authority’, which as stated in the ICO report (https://ico.org.uk/media/1148/informatio… ) , is held for the purposes of the FOI act.”
A smell of badger poo somewhere?
Public toilets next for the chop in East Devon asks EDA councillor?
“Fears have been voiced for Sidmouth’s free public toilets as district bosses review their £800,000 cost in a bid to balance the books.
East Devon District Council (EDDC) is taking stock of its conveniences and is looking into paid access at some ‘key’ sites, leasing some to businesses and ‘innovative’ ways of reducing the cost of providing its StreetScene service.
Also on the cards is ‘rationalising’ its provision, but the authority insists that no decision has yet been made and residents will be consulted. Any changes are at least two years away, says the council.
Councillor Cathy Gardner, ward member for Sidmouth Town, said the result will be taxpayers paying more for less – and warned the authority will soon run out of ways to cut costs.
“A town like Sidmouth needs free public toilets,” she said. “An elderly population and lots of visitors with children need them, otherwise we have an increase in urination in public places.
“As well as cutting services that we’ve had as a mark of civilisation since the Victorian era, we will be paying more in council tax and getting less.
“This is what austerity means at a local level. It really does affect everyone and I doubt whether things will ever be put back.
“Once an asset is sold, it’s gone – never to be returned – and how do you balance the books next time?”
An EDDC spokeswoman said: “The council recognises that public toilet provision is a very important service for our residents and visitors – however, it is not a statutory service and we provide it because we know how much it is valued.
“As part of the council plan, we need to look at ways of operating services differently in order to help meet our budget deficit of £2.6million.
“We spend around £800,000 per annum on our toilets, so we need to assess them responsibly for quality, level of provision in any given area and possible options for different ways of operating.
“However, we would like to stress that no decisions have yet been made – it is far too early and is still a work in progress.”
The spokeswoman said the provision is being reviewed and the options will be discussed by EDDC’s asset management forum and cabinet. She added: “As and when proposals come forward, there will be full engagement, including consultation, with all interested parties.
“We anticipate that any changes would not come into place for at least two years.”
East Devon Watch 