FoI:Funding of plainpacksprotect.co.uk
Background
plainpacksprotect.co.uk is a website that encourages the UK public to lobby the government for plain packaging while a public consultation is ongoing.
As the initial email demonstrates, plainpacksprotect.co.uk is the brainchild of Smokefree South West (SFSW), an organisation funded by 14 PCTs in the south west of England.
This is a clear example of government lobbying itself. Tax is used to pay for the PCTs, who then give money to SFSW who then spend it via numerous sources
Initial email to SFSW querying who fields FoI requests since, at the time, they weren't listed at WhatDoTheyKnow:
From: PJH <xxx@xxx> To: info@smokefreesouthwest.org.uk Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:03:12 +0000 Subject: Freedom of information. Sir, Could you tell me the email address of the person responsible for Freedom of Information requests (FoI) for Smokefree South West please? Thankyou in advance Paul Herring.
Initial reply:
From: "Reynolds Toby" <xxx@smokefreesouthwest.org.uk> To: "PJH" <xxx@xxx> Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:23:35 -0000 Subject: RE: Freedom of information. Dear Mr Herring Thank you for your enquiry. I've been told that you will be able to lodge a Freedom of Information request using the info@smokefreesouthwest.org.uk email address. This will then get sent on to the person responsible for dealing with the request who will respond in due course. If you have any other queries, please get in touch. Kind regards Toby Reynolds Admin Officer Smokefree South West 2nd Floor Grosvenor House 149 Whiteladies Road Bristol BS8 2RA 0117 970 7022
My initial FoI request:
From: PJH <xxx@xxx> To: Reynolds Toby <xxx@smokefreesouthwest.org.uk> Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:07:22 +0000 Subject: FoI request: plainpacksprotect.co.uk Mr Reynolds, Thank you for your reply. According to your website[1], you appear to be funded solely by 14 PCT's in the south west of England, hence my FoI request, since they themselves are public bodies. According to a whois of plainpacksprotect.co.uk[2] (and as a result [3],) you also appear to own the aforementioned site. Could you tell me how much it has/is/will cost to maintain the plainpacksprotect.co.uk website and supporting materials, and where possible, the names of the companies being paid. Please include (this list is not intended to be exhaustive): 1) The cost of designing the website to start with 2) Any ongoing costs to maintain the website, e.g. hosting fees, updating the site, dealing with queries from the site 3) Any and all supporting advertising promoting the website, for example roadside hoardings[4], newspaper advertisements, leaflets etc. 4) Past, current and expected future/planned costs. If you feel you are not the authority who should be answering these questions, I'd appreciate it if you could both point me to who I should be asking, and forward this request onto them. Yours faithfully, Paul Herring. [1] http://www.smokefreesouthwest.org.uk/what-we-do/about-us.html [2] http://who.is/whois/plainpacksprotect.co.uk/ [3] http://www.linkedin.com/pub/steve-fairman/43/abb/168 [4] http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pkL-DF-rF7Q/T00f_RS_yfI/AAAAAAAABtY/W7nUd0BMQ-M/s400/PPhoarding.jpg
Reply from Bristol NHS acknowledging the request
From: "Tucker Kathryn" <xxx@bristol.nhs.uk> To: <xxx@xxx> Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:30:53 -0000 Subject: FOI 1112 400 FoI request: plainpacksprotect.co.uk Dear Mr Herring Smoke Free South West is hosted by NHS Bristol, we therefore manage their Freedom of Information process. Please accept this as acknowledgment of your Freedom of Information request. This has been given reference number FOI 1112 400 please use this in all future correspondence. We will respond to your request by 27th March 2012 If following review of your request we require any further clarification we will contact you as soon as possible. Yours sincerely Kat Tucker Complaints & FOI Manager NHS Bristol 0117 900 2494 From 1 June 2011, NHS Bristol, NHS North Somerset and NHS South Gloucestershire have formed a primary care trust cluster. Each organisation continues to be a legal body. If you are providing any personal and/or confidential information to NHS Bristol via email, please note that we are only responsible for the information held within our network and cannot guarantee its security until it reaches us. If you wish to provide this information in another form please contact me to arrange. Recipients should be aware that all e-mails received and sent by this organisation are subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and therefore may be disclosed to a third party. You should also be aware that the information contained in this message, or any of its attachments, may be privileged and confidential and intended for the exclusive use of the addressee. The views expressed in this e-mail may not be the official policy of this organisation but the personal view of the originator. If you are not the addressee, you must not read, copy, disclose, forward or otherwise use the information contained within this e-mail. If you receive this e-mail in error, please notify the sender (whose contact details are above) immediately by reply e-mail and delete the message and any attachments without retaining any copies. All messages sent by this organisation are checked for viruses but this does not, and cannot, guarantee that a virus has not been transmitted. Please ensure that you take your own precautions for the detection and eradication of viruses.
Received 28th March
One day late, along with an attached pdf: Media:FOI_1112_400_response_28.03.12.pdf
Dear Mr Herring Please find our response to your freedom of information request attached to this email. I trust this is satisfactory, but if you feel that it is not then please do not hesitate to contact us again and we will endeavour to assist you further. Please note that if you are unhappy with the way in which your request has been administered, you have the right to request a review. You also have the right to appeal any response with the Information Commissioner for Freedom of Information, as stated under the Freedom of Information Act. Information regarding this is available on their website www.ico.gov.uk . ‘If you wish to re-use the information you have requested, in whole or in part, please write to me stating the purpose(s) you wish to re-use the information for. We will respond within 20 working days of receiving your request with any conditions or charges that relate to the re-use of the information. These will be determined in line with the ‘Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 (SI 2005 No. 1515).’ Yours sincerely Kat Tucker Complaints & FOI Manager NHS Bristol 0117 900 2494
This also makes reference to another FoI request made by someone else: Media:FOI_1112_394_response_13.03.12.pdf
Summary of costs
FOI 1112 394 [1]
| Description | Cost |
|---|---|
| Allocated to plain packaging for 2011/12 | £468,462.06 |
| Billboards | £100,398 |
| Digital advertising (including website design) | £127,685.77 |
| Community events (including staff payments) | £99,146.00 |
| Other social marketing avenues not thus-far mentioned | £141,232.29 |
FOI 1112 400
| Description | Cost |
|---|---|
| Website design | £10,100 |
| Ongoing website costs | £250 per month for 6 months |