Mark Hynes

LBWF’s glaring failure to obey official – and mandatory – transparency rules: a new twist, as evidence emerges of a major data breach

September 18, 2024 LBWF spin, Local Government Transparency Code, Mark Hynes 0

Two previous posts on this blog (see links) have explored LBWF’s compliance with the mandatory Local Government Transparency Code, the document which specifies the 14 categories of information that all councils must publish, and at what intervals. The major finding that emerges is that in many cases, and for some years, LBWF has failed to act as it should. But it’s recently become e... »

LBWF in Private Eye, once again about asbestos

August 15, 2024 Mark Hynes, Town Hall asbestos 0

From Private Eye No. 1630, 16 to 29 August 2024 PS Its good to see Mr. Hynes fingered by PE, as, by his absurd antics (see links below), he wasted a good deal of public money, which costs us all.  Readers may be interested to know that when I recently asked LBWF CEO Linzi Roberts-Egan what she intended to do about the ICO’s demolition of Mr. Hynes, the fact that, though a solicitor, Mr. Hynes... »

LBWF’s glaring failure to obey official – and mandatory – transparency rules: an update

August 12, 2024 LBWF spin, Local Government Transparency Code, Mark Hynes 0

Slowly, and through persistent questioning, the full truth about LBWF’s disgraceful disregard for the mandatory Local Government Transparency Code (LGTC) is beginning to be revealed. My initial focus was on LBWF’s failure to publish, as the LGTC demands, information about tendering and contracting. But LBWF’s Monitoring Officer, Mark Hynes, was having none of it, telling me: ‘The London Borough of... »

LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes gets knocked back by the Information Commissioner, and is caught out muddling evidence, while council resources drain away

August 6, 2024 Freedom of Information Act, Mark Hynes 0

This blog has periodically highlighted the slipshod way that LBWF administers its information services, and the waste of time and public money which often ensues. In the last couple of years, LBWF Director of Governance and Law, Mark Hynes, who is also Data Protection Officer, together with LBWF CEO, Linzi Roberts-Egan, have each promised reviews and improvements, but as a new case again shows, in... »

LBWF’s top law officer Mark Hynes blocks a question about asbestos in the Town Hall for six months, and then gets an almighty rocket from the Information Commissioner

June 26, 2024 Freedom of Information Act, Mark Hynes, Town Hall asbestos 0

During the early 2020s, I spent a good deal of time researching LBWF health and safety matters, especially those which followed on from its 2015 court conviction for exposing staff and contractors to deadly asbestos dust in the Town Hall basement. Amongst other things, I discovered a worrying incident that had occurred in 2020. In early January of that year, contractors were drilling in the Town H... »

LBWF Monitoring Officer Mark Hynes rules that Cllr. Akram’s register of interests form is up-to-date and correct, and issues in the past were the fault of council staff

June 5, 2024 Mark Hynes, register of interests

After investigating, LBWF Monitoring Officer Mark Hynes has ruled that Cllr. Akram’s register of interest form is up-to-date and correct, and issues in the past were caused because despite Cllr. Akram submitting an e-mail requesting that his form be updated, ‘due to a fault on the part of the democratic services team the Register was not properly updated’. A fuller examination of... »

Walthamstow community activist Charlie Edwards’ court case shows that, though LBWF has a legal duty to release to each resident the personal information it holds about them, it is still obstructive

February 9, 2024 Freedom of Information Act, LBWF spin, Mark Hynes

Some months ago, Walthamstow community activist Charlie Edwards lodged a claim for damages against LBWF because of the way it had handled a request for the personal information which it held about him, what’s known as a Subject Access Request (SAR), and earlier this week his case was heard at the Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court. The hearing started on a comical note.  LBWF was represe... »

LBWF Chief Executive Linzi Roberts-Egan orders a review of how the council handles residents’ requests for information, but the omens are not encouraging

January 24, 2024 Freedom of Information Act, LBWF spin, Mark Hynes

In a recent e-mail, LBWF Chief Executive Linzi Roberts-Egan tells me: ‘We are currently reviewing our FOI [Freedom of Information Act] and SAR [Subject Access Request] processes to ensure they are as effective and efficient as possible and that the errors identified in dealing with your FOI and SAR will be avoided in the future’. If this review is meaningful, then it will be welcomed. But as is al... »

LBWF, the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act: the obstruction and harassment of residents asking lawful questions continues

November 23, 2023 Freedom of Information Act, LBWF spin, Mark Hynes

In the past few years, this blog has repeatedly revealed that LBWF obstructs local residents using the Freedom of Information Act (FIA) and the Data Protection Act when they are judged to be broaching issues that the Labour leadership considers controversial or likely to damage its reputation. A new case confirms that this disreputable trend continues, and is suggestive, too, about whether LBWF’s ... »

Complaint upheld: Cllrs Eglin, Ihenachor, Imre, and Malik found not to have declared their interests, and LBWF drops links to councillors’ party political websites

September 5, 2022 Mark Hynes, register of interests

A recent post (see link, below) recorded that (a) Cllrs Rhiannon Eglin, Chrystal Ihenachor, Sazimet-Palta Imre, and Zafran Malik had not declared their interests, and (b) several other councillors, including Clyde Loakes, were using their profile pages on the LBWF website to link to Twitter feeds that were blatantly partisan, in contravention of the 1986 Local Government Act’s clear instruction th... »

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