FOI003714 FOI Outdoor Facilities

Follow up of FOI003572
I refer to your response dated 8 October 2026 to my Freedom of Information request, reference FOI003572, concerning the numbers of reports received through the Council's eight online reporting services during 2025.
Thank you for providing the figures for each category.
Having received those figures, I would now like to seek advice and assistance under section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 so that I can make a series of manageable requests for the complete administrative records associated with individual reports.
1. Request for Section 16 Advice and Assistance
Your response confirms that during 2025 the Council received reports across the following eight categories:
1. Report an overflowing litter bin – 487 reports.
2. Report a problem with noise – 1,005 reports.
3. Report an abandoned vehicle – 1,258 reports.
4. Report a problem with street and sign lighting – 1,151 reports.
5. Report a flooding or drainage problem – 529 reports.
6. Report a pothole – 1,366 reports.
7. Report a problem with street furniture – 452 reports.
8. Report an issue in a park – 456 reports.
I would like to obtain the complete administrative record held by the Council for each report within these categories, covering reports received between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.
I recognise that requesting the complete records for all 6,704 reports in a single request may exceed the appropriate cost limit under section 12 of the Act. I therefore wish to work with the Council to identify a practical and proportionate approach to obtaining these records in batches.
In particular, I would be grateful if the Council could advise:
a. How many individual reports it considers could reasonably be included in a request for complete administrative records without exceeding the applicable cost limit.
b. Whether the recommended number of reports per request would differ between the eight reporting categories, depending on the nature of the records held and the systems used to retrieve them.
c. Whether the Council would recommend different batch sizes for categories in which reports are likely to have more extensive supporting documentation, correspondence, photographs or other attachments.
d. Whether the Council can recommend a practical sequence in which I should submit these requests, taking account of the volume of reports and the likely work involved in retrieving the associated records.
e. Whether there is any existing index, register, case listing or other recorded information that could assist in identifying the individual reports and their dates, without requiring the Council to create new information.
I am specifically asking for the Council's practical advice based on its knowledge of the records and the work required to retrieve them. Rather than submitting requests with arbitrary numbers of reports and risking repeated refusals under section 12, I would prefer to follow a batch size and approach that the Council considers workable.
If the Council cannot recommend a single batch size for all categories, please provide its recommendation separately for each category, or otherwise explain what approach it considers most appropriate.
2. Initial Request – First 15 Reports in the Park Category
While seeking the above advice, I would like the Council to proceed with an initial request for the complete administrative records associated with the first 15 reports in the category:
Report an issue in a park – 2025 reporting period.
Your response confirms that 456 reports were received in this category during 2025.
For this initial batch, please identify the 15 reports received earliest in the period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 and provide the complete administrative records held for each, proceeding chronologically from the oldest report to the newest.
For clarity, I am not requesting only the original complaint or submission. I am seeking all recorded information held by the Council that forms part of, or is associated with, the administrative record for each selected report.
Depending on what is held, this may include:
• The original report or submission, including the information submitted through the online reporting service.
• Any photographs, images, videos or other attachments submitted with the report.
• Acknowledgements, automated notifications and other communications associated with the report.
• Internal emails, correspondence, case notes, comments and other records concerning the report.
• Records of inspections, investigations, referrals, decisions, actions taken and follow-up work.
• Records of the report's status, handling, resolution, rejection or closure.
• Any other associated administrative records, supporting documents or attachments held by the Council.
This list is illustrative rather than exhaustive. I seek the complete record held for each selected report, including records not specifically listed above, subject to any applicable exemptions or other lawful restrictions on disclosure.
I appreciate that not every report will necessarily have all these types of records. I am requesting whatever relevant records actually exist and are held by the Council, rather than asking the Council to create new records or produce information that it does not hold.
3. Flexibility Regarding the Number of Records Processed
I have proposed an initial batch of 15 reports as a starting point, but I do not wish the number 15 to prevent the Council from providing more information if it can do so within the applicable cost limit.
Accordingly, if the Council can retrieve and disclose the complete administrative records for more than 15 reports without exceeding the appropriate cost limit, please proceed with as many additional reports as reasonably possible.
Conversely, if the Council considers that processing all 15 complete administrative records would exceed the cost limit, I ask that it still proceed with as many complete records as can reasonably be processed within the limit, rather than refusing the request in its entirety.
If fewer than 15 reports can be processed, please:
a. Provide the complete administrative records for as many reports as can reasonably be processed within the applicable limit.
b. Proceed in chronological order, starting with the oldest report and continuing towards the newest.
c. Confirm how many reports were processed and disclosed.
d. Confirm the date range covered by the records supplied, so that any subsequent request can continue from the point at which the previous batch ended.
e. Advise how many additional reports the Council considers could reasonably be included in the next request, taking account of the actual work involved in processing this batch.
If the Council anticipates that even a smaller initial batch would exceed the cost limit, please provide the advice and assistance required under section 16, including a recommended smaller scope that would enable at least some of the requested information to be disclosed.
4. Original Electronic Files and Preservation of Records
I would also ask that the records be provided in a way that preserves, as far as reasonably practicable, their original electronic form and the distinction between individual reports and their associated documents.
In particular:
a. Please provide electronic records in their existing native or original file formats where reasonably practicable, rather than converting all material into PDF format.
b. Please preserve photographs, images, videos and other attachments in their existing file formats, where held and disclosable.
c. Please do not merge separate documents, emails, images, videos or other items into a single composite PDF merely for convenience of disclosure.
d. Please keep the records associated with each individual report separate from those associated with other reports. Where practicable, please place the files for each report in a separate folder, using an existing report reference, case number or other identifier as the folder name where available.
e. Where an email has attachments, please preserve the relationship between the email and its attachments as far as reasonably practicable, rather than providing a combined document that obscures the separate files.
f. Where the Council already holds records in separate folders or through an electronic case management system, please preserve the existing organisation and identifiers to the extent reasonably practicable.
g. If any item is held only in PDF or another non-native format, please provide the format in which it is held rather than creating a replacement or reconstructing the original.
I recognise that the Council may need to redact exempt or otherwise protected information and that some records may be held in systems that do not permit direct export in their original format. If any of these requests cannot reasonably be accommodated, please explain the limitation and provide the closest practicable alternative.
The purpose of these arrangements is to retain the integrity and traceability of the records, allowing each report and its supporting material to be examined as a distinct administrative record.
5. Handling of Subsequent Batches
Once the initial batch has been processed, I intend to submit further requests for the remaining reports, following the Council's advice on appropriate batch sizes.
I would therefore appreciate confirmation of the identifiers or date range of the reports included in the initial disclosure, together with advice on the most appropriate way to continue without duplicating previously disclosed records or leaving gaps in the sequence.
For the avoidance of doubt, I am not asking the Council to process all 6,704 reports under this initial request. I am seeking practical assistance in establishing a workable series of requests, beginning with the first batch of park reports.