Islington Tribune - by TOM FOOT Published: 30 January 2009
Freedom act answers hard to come by
THE Town Hall has refused to answer four Freedom of Information requests, including one about Freemasons working for the council, in the past three months, it was reported this week. Papers disclosed at Tuesday’s standards committee meeting give details of the questions the Town Hall will not answer.
One, from a member of the public, asked if Homes for Islington chief executive Eamon McGoldrick, HfI’s directors and Islington Council’s chief executive John Foster were Freemasons.
The query was refused on the grounds that this would be disclosing personal information.
A second request, for an official copy of the rules for each individual section of every Islington street plus any material given to traffic wardens, was refused on the grounds that it would cost too much money to compile the response.
The Town Hall was also asked for details on payments made to staff who haven’t transferred to city academies, information on how much it pays recycling companies and details of all pupils excluded from school for using knives or blades in the past five years. The latter two queries were only partly answered.