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Council employee fined £400 for illegally deleted audio file
cp8759
post Fri, 27 Mar 2020 - 21:43
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Link: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-e...ted-audio-file/

A council employee has been fined £400 for an offence under the Freedom of Information (FOI) regulations.

Nicola Young, town clerk of Whitchurch Town Council, was convicted under Section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of deliberately obstructing records with the intent to prevent disclosure.

As part of her responsibilities as town clerk, Young was entrusted with the role of ‘proper officer’ whose responsibility it is to handle FOI requests to the council.

One such request was submitted by an individual who asked for a copy of the audio recording of a council meeting.

The requester believed that elements of the written minutes of this meeting had been fabricated, and requested the audio file to see if this was the case. They were informed that the file had already been deleted according to council policy.

A complaint was then sent by the requester to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and, following an investigation, the ICO discovered that Young was, after initially denying it, aware of the FOI request and had deleted the audio file some days later.

On Wednesday 11 March, Young, of Shrewsbury Street, Whitchurch, Shropshire, was convicted at Crewe Magistrates after pleading guilty to blocking records with the intention of preventing disclosure and was fined £400, ordered to pay costs of £1,493 and a victim surcharge £40.


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post Fri, 27 Mar 2020 - 21:43
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The Rookie
post Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 15:09
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Good.... dishonesty like that in public servants is simply not acceptable.

Shame we can’t do the same for dishonest politicians really.


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DancingDad
post Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 15:41
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One trusts that she is no longer Proper Officer.
And that the council is deciding whether it wants her still working in a position of trust.
But I suspect that she was the scapegoat and not the organ grinder in this.
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cp8759
post Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 17:05
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QUOTE (DancingDad @ Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 15:41) *
One trusts that she is no longer Proper Officer.

She is according to https://whitchurchcouncil.uk/contact-us/


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The Rookie
post Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 19:23
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Begs the question as to who wrote the minutes that are claimed not to be true and accurate, her or someone else, and if the someone else what was she part of the cover up?

One wonders if it’s a group of seniors in the council with their own agenda..... for some reason Hot Fuzz springs to mind, they’re only doing it for the greater good!


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cp8759
post Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 20:43
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QUOTE (The Rookie @ Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 19:23) *
Begs the question as to who wrote the minutes that are claimed not to be true and accurate, her or someone else, and if the someone else what was she part of the cover up?

I suspect she wrote them herself and knew there was a discrepancy, which is probably why she deleted the file.


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The Rookie
post Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 06:42
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Which begs 2 questions
1/ Why does she still have her job
2/ Are they going to/did they rewrite the minutes as a true and accurate account, hopefully they were rejected at the next meeting.

If either/both don't happen it suggests a greater conspiracy than one person, although I don't know the details of the bits in dispute at all.

Interesting back story
https://www.whitchurchherald.co.uk/news/176...ter-complaints/

Someone went after more information as well, noting that Sarah Weir has responded and called herself the clerk, so maybe Nicola is now out on her ear?
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/nico...ting_files_befo

Noting that the official website makes her clerk, I can only assume the .uk you linked to above is a unofficial page of some sort, though neither seems well maintained.
https://whitchurch-hampshire-tc.gov.uk/your-council/staff/

This post has been edited by The Rookie: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 07:16


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Fredd
post Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 08:13
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In common with the person who made the FOI request you linked to, you're confusing Whitchurch, Hampshire with Whitchurch, Shropshire. smile.gif
QUOTE
Please be advised that Nicola Young did not work for Whitchurch Town Council in Hampshire, so I am unable to answer any of your questions.

Kind Regards

Sarah

Mrs Sarah Weir
Town Clerk
Whitchurch Town Council


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mickR
post Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 11:57
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The Rookie
post Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 15:25
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Oops.......


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