Asking an organisation to show that they are not breaking the law seems 100% reasonable to me.
The fact they don't have a register of licences is the most surprising thing. How do they ensure that they are renewed? Who is responsible for ensuring that they are renewed? How can anyone be responsible for it if they don't have a register? Where are the physical licences (or receipts for payment?) kept? What is the process for renewing? What budget does it come out of? Who is authorised to sign it off? Are the TVs visible to the public? Are performing right licences required? when was the TV electronically tested? etc... It may seem like stupid nonsense (and in itself it is) - but it is what is required to stay legal. Its the red-tape that needs to be cut through to get on with running a company legally. With all these things for an organisation to consider - simply asking if they have licences for all their buildings should be trivial - if it is not, then it is they who are at fault for not having adequate procedures in place - not the requesters for asking. At the very least, it shows that they hadn't learned their lesson from the previous occasion. An FoI asking if they have put proper procedures in place would seem to be a reasonable request too. On the other hand, if they considered it vexatious, they could have bounced it on the spot - all under the current legislation... Paul /)/+) On 21 March 2012 17:00, Nick Barnes <[email protected]> wrote: > At 2012-03-21 16:33:22+0000, Stephen Booth writes: > > > Flagging up the potential hypocrisy of demanding we all have a TV > > licence but not being properly licensed themselves was another. > > It is the UK Goverment, specifically the Communications Act 2003, that > demands we all have a TV licence. If you have an issue with the TV > licensing laws, maybe you should take it up with them? If you suspect > hypocrisy, look for TV licensing in government offices? > > > As I recall the standard fine for a residential property not being > > correctly licensed is £10,000. > > No. Level 3 on the standard scale, i.e. currently £1000. > > > Presumably the fine for a large corporation would be significantly > > higher > > No. > > > There is an effective cap on the cost of FoI requests of, IIRC, £400 > > £450. > > > so regardless of the seniority or not of the person who collected > > the data and prepared the response it would have been less than > > that. > > No. The authority has to assess staff time at £25 per hour. > > I have little love for the TV licensing system, but this looks more > and more like a vexatious request: the kind of thing that gives > ammunition to the enemies of FoI. > > Nick B > > _______________________________________________ > developers-public mailing list > [email protected] > https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public > > Unsubscribe: > https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/options/developers-public/paul%40idltd.com >
_______________________________________________ developers-public mailing list [email protected] https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public Unsubscribe: https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/options/developers-public/archive%40mail-archive.com
