Contemplating a Public Authority Designed for Information – Don\’t Get Your Request Sound Vexatious
We have been visiting a UK general population Freedom of Information (FOI) blog and noted that, when using increasing number of functions, Westminster City Council (London) have advised that some data requests, or the correspondence associated to your potential customers, are vexatious. Is this the latest tactic of the Council in order to avoid replying to Freedom of Information requests, especially when the requestor digs in to find out the truth which, any time revealed, could turn out that they are quite embarrassing for this Council?
As we mentioned before, by looking at as well as the FOI requests made on the site, it appears that a lot of them are parking related, and more precisely, street motorcycle parking related. Should Conservative Councillor Danny Chalkley (in charge of parking) hadn’t introduced a stealth duty on motorcycle parking and really should he had been resolving the emails and emails he received from his own residents who he’s already been elected to serve, the hundreds of FOI requests we’ve got come across would most likely not have been submitted. The best way annoying, and indeed vexatious, it must be for those Westminster Knowledge and Knowledge department to have to deal with such a high volume of FOI requests, because of merely one Councillor who made the actual mistake to introduce a very unpopular and illegal stealth place a burden on on motorcycle parking. Along with how annoying, and really vexatious, it must be to observe the same Councillor refusing to admit his or her own mistake, when thousands of bikers and their supporters have been demonstrating their opposition that will his stealth tax, that may end up illegal under European legal requirements.
We have come through an annotation to mostly of the FOI requests regarded by Westminster City Council seeing that vexatious. This annotation has in actual fact drawn our attention given it summarises very well precisely how vexatious the Council’s latest attitude has long been to motorcyclists. Perhaps, if ever the Council came across as less vexatious with the motorcyclist community, some FOI requests would successively be less vaxatious to Council. Below is the annotation attention: -
“I see now the FOI team are using the word vexatious in a few of their replies.
May I remind the Council that it can be quite vexatious to propose an illegal tax relating to PTW [Powered Two Wheeler] parking to start with.
It is quite vexatious to sit and learn how much the tendering and even award of contracts have already been covered up and are usually not open to public analysis.
It is quite vexatious to understand that your ward councillors usually do not hold surgeries to speak to residents or even desire to reply to them (Cllr Chalkley).
It truly is quite vexatious to subject PCN’s [Penalty Charge Notices] to PTW’s [Powered Two Wheelers] the moment no reminders to renew a permit were sent.
It is quite vexatious to view a Council officer (Mr Fitsall) actively encourage opposition to your legal protest and purposely giving misleading statements into the BBC, and using our money to take action.
It is quite vexatious for councillors for being rude, sexist and ignorant on the public (Cllr Burbridge).
It can be quite vexatious to manufacturer a legal campaign group opposing for a policy as rogues and also bully boys.
So if you find yourself asked for the amount of letters which approve your current illegal parking tax, you may have the bare faced cheek to imply you may consider the vexatious. Kevin Goad appeared to know the answer to the present question on 31st Drive 2009, could it be you never want to admit that you choose to cannot produce not one single letter of support for this illegal tax, yes that’s it you’ve gotten not one letter regarding support?
Just remember exactly who pays your wages, people do, and your threats certainly put you while in the frame as a co-conspirator in this particular whole dirty cover-up”.