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Portsmouth City Council - FOI request
cp8759
post Mon, 4 Nov 2019 - 12:51
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Member No.: 42,618



Portsmouth City Council refused to disclose its templated rejections under the Freedom of Information Act, using the somewhat fanciful proposition that the templates could be used for fraudulent purposes. The full decision notice is here https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/.../fs50833871.pdf but the salient points are:

46. The required contents of a penalty charge notice is set out in The Civil
Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) General Regulations
2007.5 The Council has informed the Commissioner that it is satisfied
that the contents of its letters are lawful and compliant with these
Regulations and that this has been routinely and recently confirmed by
the Independent Adjudication Service in respect of individual appeals
against a charge.

47. The Council says that it strongly disagrees with the complainant’s
assertion that providing only the wording of the letters, rather than a
copy of the entire template, would be of no use to a fraudster. The
Council advised the Commissioner that it is possible to obtain the
Council's crest and the name of relevant council officers - which are in
the public domain, to create a realistic scam letter.

48. The Council acknowledges the complainant’s assertion that it already
publishes information on its website about the Penalty Charge Notice
Procedure and that there is some potential for this to be used by
fraudsters. However, access to the specific wording of the template
letters would enable the fraudster to create a more plausible replica.
49. The Commissioner has examined the Council’s template wording used
on its letters which describes how to pay a fine, the consequences of not
paying a fine and how to make an appeal to the relevant tribunal. She
has compared that wording to the wording which the Council provides to
the public on its website.

50. The Commissioner has found that the two sets of wording are
substantially the same but are not identical.

51. The Commissioner has considered the arguments advanced by the
complainant and the Council in support of their respective positions. The
Commissioner is not persuaded that disclosure of the template wording
would increase the likelihood of a motivated fraudster creating plausible
PCNs and sending them to members of the public.

52. The Commissioner accepts the Council’s evidence that similar frauds
have been noted elsewhere. However she does not consider that the risk
of fraud would be particularly enhanced by the disclosure of the
requested information.

53. The Commissioner is mindful that placing hereto unavailable information
into the public domain could assist wrongdoers in committing a crime.
Here however the requested template wording is substantially already in
the public domain by virtue of the Council’s own website. It is also
available to the public via on-line forums where members post facsimiles
of the PCNs they have received.

54. The Commissioner has weighed the public interest considerations which
concern the disclosure of the requested PCN text. The Commissioner
finds that those considerations are finely balanced. However, given the
current availability of the requested text, its anodyne nature and the
need for PCNs to be properly worded, the Commissioner has decided
that the greater weight should be given to disclosure.

55. The Commissioner’s decision is that the exemption to disclosure
provided by section 31(1)(a) of the FOIA is engaged but the public
interest favours the disclosure of the requested template text.


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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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The Rookie
post Thu, 14 Nov 2019 - 06:49
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Indeed, but that's not what they have been required to disclose according to what you posted and I quoted, whether it applies to the reasons for rejection (or whether the council supply them anyway) isn't clear.


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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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cp8759
post Thu, 14 Nov 2019 - 13:35
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QUOTE (The Rookie @ Thu, 14 Nov 2019 - 06:49) *
Indeed, but that's not what they have been required to disclose according to what you posted and I quoted, whether it applies to the reasons for rejection (or whether the council supply them anyway) isn't clear.

The council was so required under the original request wording and has stated no such templates exist. If in a FOI response a public authority states the information sought does not exist, there isn't much you can do unless you have evidence that its assertion is mistaken or worse.

This post has been edited by cp8759: Thu, 14 Nov 2019 - 13:36


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