Plans for zombie invasion enrage council leader as authority reveals cost of FOI requests
Derby City Council dealt with 939 Freedom of Information requests last year - costing £31,500.
The authority is now urging people to think carefully before submitting unusual FOI requests for information unrelated to council business.
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Paul Bayliss
Many of the requests submitted between October 2011 and October 2012 were for information on council policy issues or the way funding is allocated.
The Local Government Association has previously released details of the most unusual FOI requests local authorities receive nationally and this included a request for preparations for an alien invasion and the cost of paying exorcists.
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The national figure for FOI requests to councils last year was around 197,000 in England and Wales.
Councillor Paul Bayliss said: “We are more than happy to be open and transparent about the way in which Derby City Council is run and the work that we do and FOIs can be a great way for people to ask questions about their council but we are experiencing extremely challenging financial times.
"I was enraged by a frankly stupid question when we were asked for information on plans for a ‘zombie’ invasion. The cost of which was around £50 for dealing with the request and I feel this is not a good use of public money in the city when we are experiencing further government cuts.”
Comments
by richinderby
Friday, November 30 2012, 1:43AM
“I submitted one Freedom of information request last year. Yes it seems according to Paul Bayliss what I may have cost the taxpayer £50.
I submitted a request to see all councillors expenses going back a few years. Once I received the breakdown I worked out on average how much each councillor was claiming per year, per party. I added all expenses up each year for each party, and then divided it by how many councillors each party had in that year.
The figures showed that an average Labour Councillor was claiming more than either the average Liberal Democrat or Councillor put together. Bare in mind this was a period when they were out of office, so they didn't have extra expenses in their duty.”
by superacetrace
Thursday, November 29 2012, 5:31PM
“Obviously people have not heard about a certain chemical/drug/bath salts that some people have been using that causes this (see link).
http://tinyurl.com/88x2d7o
Not zombies but cannibalism,as well as other weird effects that the substance causes.
I suppose if the city was invaded with a specific substance,users would probably be called zombies if they acted in this manner.
Youtube vid.DEA warns of zombie drug.
http://tinyurl.com/c8t9lqk”
by SubzeroV
Thursday, November 29 2012, 4:35PM
“Such a stupid question warranted a £50 response? How bizarre by Bayliss. I'm with the others. Someone should make an FOI request to ask why it costs £50 to respond to a question on zombies!”
by DCFCOAP
Thursday, November 29 2012, 4:05PM
“Couldn't this have been dealt with under "Contagious Diseases"?
For which I suppose they have a pre-written leaflet?
I mean £50, come off it.”
by Gargloit
Thursday, November 29 2012, 3:56PM
“Lest I be accused of being over critical, I will assist Mr Bayliss in understanding the matter. To quote from the council's own Freedom Of Information Policy (My emphasis on the relevant word)...
"We have no obligation to comply with vexatious requests. Vexatious means repeated, **unreasonable** and nuisance requests."
So, that was £50 down the drain then, wasn't it.”
by kessie2012
Thursday, November 29 2012, 3:51PM
“if they did the job proper and did not fidle things like expenses and give work to contractors from other area s and publish each contract awarded and why sp the public could see for thierselves where ratepayers money is going .i mean bayliss one lok makes you wonder what job he did before , his face is so misrable .i9d not want him in my ofice it would be a long day . he s just got nothing about him i wont bother with a foi on him id fall to sleep reading it . lets have a leader with character brown bin him while we can before he TRIES to make us pay to empty them .which will be ilegal acording to the eec”
by Gargloit
Thursday, November 29 2012, 3:48PM
“Derby City Council dealt with 939 Freedom of Information requests last year - costing £31,500
******************************************************************************************************************
That's an average of £33.54632587859425. So, how comes a request about zombie invasion plans costs more than the average? Let's face it, it was a stupid question. Even Paul Bayliss, an apparent expert in stupidity, could work that out, and give an answer for much less than the average cost of a request (unless he personally answered the request at his usual hourly rate). Or are the figures given as much of a fantasy as zombies? Is someone being less than honest here? Surely not. That just leaves stupidity. How unusual.”
by ianshelton
Thursday, November 29 2012, 3:18PM
“Wait until 2013, you'll be dealing with more, some from me !!
Sadly people have to ask for FOIs to get an 'official' response to a number of things. In the old days it would have been write a letter, get a reply, but in 2012 its fill in a FOI request. Don't be fooled into thinking this is caused by people picking fault with the council or being vexaxious. It's mostly just people trying to get a straight answer, fact & figures from a council which likes to cover its tracks very effectively.
Given the state of the people running this city I cannot pick fault with any enquiries about zombie invasions.”
by _Arawn_
Thursday, November 29 2012, 3:16PM
“Politicians dont like FOI requests, they are afraid we might find out just how incompetent and useless they are.”
by Tamas
Thursday, November 29 2012, 2:53PM
“I'd like to see a break down of how it costs £50. Might request an FOI on the matter.”