Links to previous Discretionary Housing Payments posts:
- FOI Request to Wirral Council ~ Discretionary Housing Payments
- UPDATE: Leaked Wirral Council email: Discretionary Housing Payments Unlawful for 18 Months
- “Most Improved” Wirral Council. Breaking the law on Discretionary Housing Payments – and now an FOI failure – have vulnerable families been evicted?
- Wirral Council Fails to Withhold Crucial Discretionary Housing Payments Report
- Information Commissioner Publishes Discretionary Housing Payments Decision Notice
We’ve reached the next crucial stage in this long-running FOI request that was originally made in February of this year.
Tellingly, last month, the Information Commissioner disagreed with Wirral Council and forced it to reveal information which it had previously withheld under a Section 31 exemption.
We’d disagreed with the council’s position right from the outset, and had asked for an internal review. When this failed to prise them open, we appealed to the Information Commissioner. Here is a link to the ICO’s subsequent Decision Notice which painstakingly listed the reasons why Section 31 was not fundamentally relevant in this case.
https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2017/2172699/fs50684466.pdf
This starts with a determination giving the council 30 days to release the information to the public or potentially have themselves referred to the High Court.
The Council responded ‘at the last minute’ – yesterday – with three separate and fairly extensive pieces of information, although much of it has been obliterated behind large, black rectangles.
Here is a link to the council’s response on the WhatDoTheyKnow website:
Due to the amount of information contained, we will not be analysing this just yet. That will come in a future post. But we know readers will be keen to see the information for themselves, set out in a readable format.
Here are the three responses in .jpg format, with links to the .pdf documents below:
Response 1
Download here:
Response 2
Download here:
Response 3
Download here:
Next, we’ll be comparing Wirral’s responses above with the advice laid out in the ICO’s #FS50684466 decision notice in order to clarify whether the data controller had the scope to obliterate so much of the information… including what looks like the investigation reports’ cover pages, titles and original dates of issue.
Once this is done we will update readers of this blog and make a decision on whether to appeal the case to the First Tier Information Tribunal after checking the lay of the land with the Information Commissioner.
Return to Bomb Alley 1982 – The Falklands Deception, by Paul Cardin
Wirral In It Together 
Who are these people who think they are above the Law? Disgraceful! Get rid of those who had a role in this disgusting way to run a Council. Truth will out!
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Not unless you help to yell Olga …discuss your opinion with friends do they share your view if so ask them to demand answers from paid councillors representing them, why is this so unimportant not to get a mention from 1 of the 66 highly paid democratic incumbents in the historically great but now currently cringing council chamber ..good luck 😊
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I don’t believe truth will out Olga , the councillors will not want to rock the boat . The people responsible kept their jobs and in fact were supported by very senior staff . The WB (me ) was victimised , harassed and bullied out of my job of 33 years . No one cares , the councillors do not care . It will always be a mystery to me why so many people would collude against someone who was trying to highlight that WBC was breaking the law instead of dealing with the wrongdoing by following their own policies and procedures .
The union did not support me despite my 33 year membership. In fact Paddy Cleary colluded with a manager Lisa Jamieson to have me suspended . I was forced to take the issue to Tribunal myself . The Union were totally unsupportive . Paddy Cleary stopped my own union rep attending meetings with me .
Keith Bradley from Unison told me I did not realise the implications of what I was doing, I should shut up and concentrate on keeping my job. “I would be wise to drop my grievances and tribunal action , we will not support you and you will lose”
He told me the legal team said I had no case .Fortunately the Judge disagreed.
The Manager reonsible for breaking the law Trish Hughes did so knowingly and deliberately , there is evidence to support this in the audit investigation ( which is heavily redacted) . My WB was upheld but I still lost my job. No action was taken against Trish Hughes . In fact she was greeted with big hugs etc when she returned to work after being off sick ( still managed a few holidays while off sick .
Like you Olga I kept believing and hoping that someone would do the write thing ., Surley some councillor would be interested in the truth and how we were breaking the law and the impact on very vulnerable people .
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Right thing apologies for typo
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