Council employee fined £400 for illegally deleted audio file |
Council employee fined £400 for illegally deleted audio file |
Fri, 27 Mar 2020 - 21:43
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 38,006 Joined: 3 Dec 2010 Member No.: 42,618 |
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. -------------------- If you would like assistance with a penalty charge notice, please post a thread on https://www.ftla.uk/index.php
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Fri, 27 Mar 2020 - 21:43
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Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 15:09
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 56,198 Joined: 9 Sep 2003 From: Warwickshire Member No.: 317 |
Good.... dishonesty like that in public servants is simply not acceptable.
Shame we can’t do the same for dishonest politicians really. -------------------- There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!
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Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 15:41
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 25,726 Joined: 28 Jun 2010 From: Area 51 Member No.: 38,559 |
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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Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 17:05
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 38,006 Joined: 3 Dec 2010 Member No.: 42,618 |
One trusts that she is no longer Proper Officer. She is according to https://whitchurchcouncil.uk/contact-us/ -------------------- If you would like assistance with a penalty charge notice, please post a thread on https://www.ftla.uk/index.php
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Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 19:23
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 56,198 Joined: 9 Sep 2003 From: Warwickshire Member No.: 317 |
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! -------------------- There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!
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Sat, 28 Mar 2020 - 20:43
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#6
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Member Group: Members Posts: 38,006 Joined: 3 Dec 2010 Member No.: 42,618 |
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. -------------------- If you would like assistance with a penalty charge notice, please post a thread on https://www.ftla.uk/index.php
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Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 06:42
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#7
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Member Group: Members Posts: 56,198 Joined: 9 Sep 2003 From: Warwickshire Member No.: 317 |
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 -------------------- There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!
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Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 08:13
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Webmaster Group: Root Admin Posts: 8,205 Joined: 30 Mar 2003 From: Wokingham, UK Member No.: 2 |
In common with the person who made the FOI request you linked to, you're confusing Whitchurch, Hampshire with Whitchurch, Shropshire.
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 -------------------- Regards,
Fredd __________________________________________________________________________
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Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 11:57
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#9
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Member Group: Members Posts: 7,235 Joined: 5 Jan 2007 From: England Member No.: 9,919 |
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Mon, 30 Mar 2020 - 15:25
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Member Group: Members Posts: 56,198 Joined: 9 Sep 2003 From: Warwickshire Member No.: 317 |
Oops.......
-------------------- There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!
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