Car Parking charges and false information from Ipserv Ltd

Fruitcake

You could ask them to redact the commercially sensitive parts. This might be how much Ipserv pays the Uni or how much the Uni pays Ipserv to operate, or how much of a back hander the Uni gets per PCN.
If the Uni receives any sort of public funding, then I think the public has a right to see how money is made or spent.

You want to see the parts of the contract that directly relate to you/all motorists using the car park.

This would be things like the requirement to display a permit, how to obtain a permit, grace periods, loading/unloading, the ability to issue charges, the ability to commence court claims, and that the contract complies with Sections 43 and/or Sections 44 of the Companies Act 2006.

The latter deals with authorised signatories. 

Also spend some time looking for info about a public body not being permitted to hide information from the public.

This may be of some help.

When can we refuse a request for information? | ICO

It effectively says the body holding the data has to apply a "public interest test".
This is to see if it would be in the public's interest to release the data.

You should ask the Uni what the result of this test was (not if they have done one) for both questions.

The Uni must explain why they believe an exemption applies to the release of data.

If you are relying on an exemption, you must issue a written refusal notice within the standard time for compliance, specifying which exemptions you are relying on and why.

In the refusal notice you should:

• explain what provision of the Act you are relying on to refuse the request and why;
• give details of any internal review (complaints) procedure you offer or state that you do not have one; and
• explain the requester’s right to complain to the ICO, including contact details for this.

Point out where they have failed to comply with the FOI guidelines.

Cardriver45

Thanks @Fruitcake

Here's the reply I've drafted. I think I've included everything I could find but if I've missed anything out would someone let me know, please?

You can redact the commercially sensitive parts including how much Ipserv pays yourselves or how much you pay Ipserv to operate, or how much you receive per PCN issued.

 

As a public-funded body, I believe that the public has the right to see how much money is earned or spent.

 

I request to see the parts of the contract that details that directly relate to motorists using your car park including the requirement to display a permit, how to obtain a permit, grace periods, loading/unloading, the ability to issue charges, the ability to commence court claims, and that the contract complies with Sections 43 and/or Sections 44 of the Companies Act 2006.

 

I also request proof that the contract was put out to tender before being offered to Ipserv Limited.

 

I request you to provide information on the result of the prejudice test that you are required to perform on both of my FOI requests before your refusal of my request.

 

You are required to show why my request was refused, how and why its disclosure has the potential to prejudice someone’s commercial interests. You must also show how you identified what the harm is and why it may occur as a result of disclosure.

 

If you are relying on an exemption, you must issue a written refusal notice within the standard time for compliance, specifying which exemptions you are relying on and why.

 

In the refusal notice you should:

 

Explain what provision of the Act you are relying on to refuse the request and why;

 

Give details of any internal review (complaints) procedure you offer or state that you do not have one; and

I request a demonstration of how and that you met these FOI guidelines and your conclusions that state that 

you must be able to identify a negative consequence of the disclosure (or confirmation/denial), and this negative consequence must be significant (more than trivial);

you must be able to show a link between the disclosure (or confirmation/denial) and the negative consequences, showing how one would cause the other; and

there must be at least a real possibility of the negative consequences happening, even if you can’t say it is more likely than not.

 

I also request information on the result of your public interest test including as stipulated by the FOI guidelines

How you decided in the balance of public interest when refusing my request and your reasons for deciding against this.

How you considered any public interests that would be served by the releasing of the requested information and your reasons for deciding against this.

How you considered the relative weight of the arguments for and against disclosure and what conclusions you came to

How you decided the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information and your reasons for deciding this.
This should include the arguments for and against releasing the information in the public interest. The public interest arguments in favour of maintaining an exemption must relate specifically to that exemption.

The FOI guidelines state that

There is a general public interest in promoting transparency, accountability, public understanding and involvement in the democratic process.

So I request that you demonstrate how you reasons for refusal outweigh this guideline

 

How you assessed the relative weight of these arguments for refusal of my request

I request information on the balancing exercise to decide whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure as stipulated by paragraph 67 of the FOI guidelines.

I await your reply to my questions.

Le_Kirk

The FOI guidelines state that: -

There is a general public interest in promoting transparency, accountability, public understanding and involvement in the democratic process, so I request that you demonstrate how your reasons for refusal outweigh this guideline

Suggested changes above and below.  You missed the "r" off "your" plus, you cannot start a sentence with a conjunction.

I request that you to provide information on the result of the prejudice test that you are required to perform on both of my FOI requests before your refusal of my request.

You are required to show why my request was refused, and how and why its disclosure has the potential to prejudice someone’s commercial interests.

Explain what which provision of the Act you are relying on to refuse the request and why;

Fruitcake

Yes, check spelling and grammar.

I suggest you amend this part.

"As a public-funded body, I believe that the public has the right to see how much public money is earned or spent."


Other than that it looks okay to me, and hopefully it will get them thinking.

Coupon-mad

I love this poster’s tenacity and if I were IPSERV I’d have dropped both PCNs by now!

Cardriver45

Coupon-mad said:

I love this poster’s tenacity and if I were IPSERV I’d have dropped both PCNs by now!

Thanks, though it kinda feels it's no longer about the PCNs. Seeing all these PPCs and their cronies at the BPA and the way they run roughshod over people and frighten them. I never realised how bad it was until I joined this site.

The council should be working for the taxpayers who pay their wages and their best interests, but instead, they saw a nice little cash cow for themselves and decided to jump on the bandwagon and get into bed with all the other low lives who just see people as being a way to milk money for themselves.

Cardriver45

This is the reply I received from Ipserv about the missing PCN information in my SAR request.

I noticed they emphasised that it was a mistake and not intentional. Though they do seem to be making a lot of mistakes.


"Thank you for your email of 7th September. You are correct that some information was missed from our response to you, this was not intentional and we apologise for this error. A further response is being prepared and this will be sent to you as soon as possible."

Cardriver45

I've received the rest of the SAR request info now. What is the advice now about making the GDPR claim against Ipserv as suggested by @BarkingDog for the admin issues? Should I just submit the claim through MCOL now or should I write to Ipserv first to see if they will mediate or settle?

Cardriver45

When I make the GDPR claim against Ipserv is it worth me including the "administrive error" about the initial missing SAR info or is that not really relevent?

They seem to be making a lot of admin errors

KeithP

Cardriver45 said:

When I make the GDPR claim against Ipserv is it worth me including the "administrive error" about the initial missing SAR info or is that not really relevent?

They seem to be making a lot of admin errors

I would list all those discrepancies.

We must assume that the Information Commissioners Office are experts on the Data Protection Act and it is perfectly reasonable to expect them to be able to pick out the relevant stuff from your list.