ICO request Merseytravel complete internal review in 20-40 working days on information request made in July 2018 for copies of invoices!
Updated 31.1.19 Merseytravel state to ICO that they won’t do an internal review, ICO now don’t class it as a FOI request.
This is an update to a blog post from August 2018 headlined What was the answer to my question to Cllr Steve Foulkes about openness at Merseytravel and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority?
I made an appeal to the regulator for information requests (ICO) on the 12th August 2018. Merseytravel have now been requested to treat my correspondence of 10th August 2018 as a request for an internal review of my earlier information request in July 2018 and have been requested by ICO after that internal review is complete to provide a fresh response within 20-40 working days (from the 25th January 2019).
A quote from recent correspondence sent by ICO to myself on the 25th January 2019 is below:
Dear Mr Brace
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)
Your request to Merseytravel dated 12 July 2018 about invoices
I have considered your case and discussed it with senior colleagues.
….
On 10 August 2018, Merseytravel advised you to submit an FOIA request and on the same day, you expressed dissatisfaction with this response.
Section 16 of the FOIA obliges an authority to offer advice and assistance to applicants and Merseytravel could have gone on to handle your request under the FOIA without asking that you submit a fresh request for it.
However, in order to progress things, I have written to Merseytravel today and asked it to treat your correspondence of 10 August as a request for an internal review and to suggest it now considers your request of 12 July 2018 under the FOIA.
Following its review, Merseytravel should provide you with a fresh response within 20 working days and no longer than 40 working days.
If you don’t receive a review from Merseytravel or if you receive a review response that you’re not satisfied with, please write to me again and send us a copy of Merseytravel’s review response. I will then be able to progress your complaint.
Yours sincerely
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I wonder if hard right Labour Steve Foulkes and hard right Labour Ron Abbey have to wait six months for their Merseytravel Board ££allowances and ££expenses?
Since May 2017, such amounts are paid directly to the councillors by Wirral Council rather than by Merseytravel or the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
For example on this document you can see that Cllrs Abbey and Foulkes are paid £10,108.08 extra (on top of their £8,712.48 basic allowance as a councillor) for their responsibilities on the Transport Committee (LCRCA) as Cllr Ron Abbey is Lead Member for Bus and Cllr Steve Foulkes is Lead Member for Finance and Organisational Development).