Printed from https://fyi.org.nz/request/16089-fndc-policies-complaints-corruption-etc-official-information-request?unfold=1 on November 22, 2024 10:50

FNDC policies (complaints, corruption etc.) official information request

Chris Claydon made this Official Information request to Far North District Council

Response to this request is long overdue. By law Far North District Council should have responded by now (details and exceptions). The requester can complain to the Ombudsman.

From: Chris Claydon

Dear Far North District Council,

The following document lists on page 17 a number of FNDC policies:

Agenda of Assurance, Risk and Finance Committee Meeting - 17 00 2020
https://infocouncil.fndc.govt.nz/Open/20...

Under section 6:
• Dealing with Complaints Policy
• Fraud, Corruption and Whistle Blower Policy
• Email Usage Policy
• Gifts and Inducements Policy
• Workplace Harassment, Discrimination and Bullying Prevention Policy

Under section 8:
• Conflicts of Interest processes and management plans.

I cannot find these policies and plans published on the FNDC website.

Please send a copy of all of the above listed policies, processes and plans, without delay.
Please also send any other documents to which the requested documents make reference.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Claydon

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From: Ask Us Team
Far North District Council

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From: Erica Cooney
Far North District Council

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To: Chris Claydon

 

By email only to: [FOI #16089 email]

 

Tçnâ koe Mr Claydon

 

Official information request: RFS 4070073

 

Thank you for your official information request to Far North District
Council (‘Council’) received 15 July 2021. This has been referred to Legal
Services for consideration in accordance with the provisions of the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the ‘LGOIMA’). A
response will be provided to you as soon as reasonably practicable, and no
later than 20 working days (as defined in the LGOIMA) after the day on
which the request is received. If we are unable to respond to your request
by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

 

Please quote our reference RFS 4070073 for any further enquiries in
relation to this request.

 

Thank you for your enquiry,

 

Nâku noa, nâ

 

Erica Cooney

 

[1][IMG] Erica Cooney
Solicitor
Corporate Services, Far North District Council  |  24-hour
Contact Centre 0800 920 029
DDI +6494015306   |   [2][email address]

 

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Attention: The information contained in this email (including any
attachments) is intended solely for the addressee(s). It is confidential
and may be legally privileged. If you have received this email in error
you must not use, copy, disclose or distribute it or any information in
it. Please simply notify the sender and delete or destroy all copies of
the email immediately. Unless formally stated, this e-mail and any
attachments do not necessarily reflect the views of the Far North District
Council. The Far North District Council accepts no responsibility for any
interception of, or changes to, our email after it leaves us. We do not
accept responsibility for any viruses or similar carried with our email,
or any effects our email may have on the recipients computer system or
network.
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Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

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From: Erica Cooney
Far North District Council

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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon copy of page 17 Agenda of Assurance Risk and Finance Committee Meeting 17 00 2020.JPG.jpg
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Attachment RFS 4070073 HR 22a PROCESS Disciplinary and Dismissal Guidelines for Managers Feb 10.doc
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon PC 022 Disciplinary Matters Policy.docx
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon HSW 001 Health Safety Wellbeing Management Policy Signed.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 IT 01 Email Usage Policy.docx
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon Lodging a Complaint Nintex Promapp flowchart.html
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon PC 008 Equal Employment Opportunities EEO Policy PDF.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon PC 007 Performance Management Policy PDF.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon PC 006 Workplace Harrassment Discrimination and Bullying Prevention Policy PDF.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon PC 020 Dealing with Complaints Policy.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon Whistleblowing Process Nintex Promapp procedure.html
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon Whistleblowing Process Nintex Promapp process.html
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon Disclosing Serious Wrongdoing Nintex Promapp Map.html
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon Disclosing Serious Wrongdoing Nintex Promapp.html
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chrsi Claydon PC 002 Gifts and Inducements Policy PDF.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon Internal Audit Charter.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon 2017 Elected Members Code of Conduct adopted 07122017.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon PC 043 Fraud Corruption and Whistleblowing Policy.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon CE Instrument of Delegation signed by CE i.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon CE Delegations to Corporate Services.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon CE Delegations to District Services.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon CE Delegations to Strategic Leadership Team.pdf
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Attachment RFS 4070073 Chris Claydon CE Delegations to Infrastructure Asset Management.pdf
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Chris Claydon

By email only to: [1][FOI #16089 email]

 

Tçnâ koe Mr Claydon

Official information request: RFS 4070073

 

Thank you for your official information request to Far North District
Council (‘Council’) received 15 July 2021. This was referred to Legal
Services for consideration in accordance with the provisions of the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the ‘LGOIMA’).

 

Your request

You noted that at page 17 of the Agenda of the Assurance, Risk and Finance
Committee Meeting – 17 June 2020  (copy attached for your reference) there
are a number of policies and plans listed. As stated on the Agenda, these
are internal policies and so you would not be able to access these via
Council’s website.

You requested copies of the following:

“Under section 6:

• Dealing with Complaints Policy

• Fraud, Corruption and Whistle Blower Policy

• Email Usage Policy

• Gifts and Inducements Policy

• Workplace Harassment, Discrimination and Bullying Prevention Policy

 

Under section 8:

• Conflicts of Interest processes and management plans.”

 

In addition to the above, you also asked for “any other documents to which
the requested documents make reference.”

 

Council’s response

Under the LGOIMA, Council has decided to provide the information sought.
Please find it attached.

 

Thank you for your enquiry,

 

Nâku noa, nâ

Erica Cooney

 

[2][IMG] Erica Cooney
Solicitor
Corporate Services, Far North District Council  |  24-hour
Contact Centre 0800 920 029
DDI +6494015306  |  [email address]
  [3]Website  |   [4]Facebook   |  [5]LinkedIn   |  [6]Careers

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Get it done online at your convenience, visit our website -
www.fndc.govt.nz
-----------------------------------------------------------
Attention: The information contained in this email (including any
attachments) is intended solely for the addressee(s). It is confidential
and may be legally privileged. If you have received this email in error
you must not use, copy, disclose or distribute it or any information in
it. Please simply notify the sender and delete or destroy all copies of
the email immediately. Unless formally stated, this e-mail and any
attachments do not necessarily reflect the views of the Far North District
Council. The Far North District Council accepts no responsibility for any
interception of, or changes to, our email after it leaves us. We do not
accept responsibility for any viruses or similar carried with our email,
or any effects our email may have on the recipients computer system or
network.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

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From: Chris Claydon

Dear Erica Cooney,

Although your response appears to include many of the listed documents, the documents relating to procedures for investigation of complaints do not appear to be comprehensive or complete.

In particular they do not address the processes for dealing with complaints originating from outside FNDC. I would like to please receive all documents which address the topic of processing complaints from any source, or otherwise discovering misconduct or criminality amongst FNDC staff.

In particular, what complaints policy should be followed by the CEO, councillors or other staff when receiving complaints of serious criminal misconduct by senior staff members such as in-house counsel George Swanepoel (who has recently been charged with a criminal offence).

Are there any procedures or guidelines as to what should happen when FNDC is notified by a non-staff member of misconduct by a staff member?

Are there any procedures as to what should happen when a staff member is charged with a criminal dishonesty offence? Including whether, when and how that staff member should be suspended?

Please provide all related documents including internal discussions and correspondence about these issues.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Claydon

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From: Erica Cooney
Far North District Council

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Dear Mr Claydon

 

I refer to your latest official information ‘request’ dated 24 August 2021
as per your email below and to the ‘snip’ taken today of your ‘request’
which is showing publicly online on the FYI website.  

 

Please note:

1.                   You have stated in the public domain that in-house
counsel George Swanepoel “has recently been charged with a criminal
offence”.

 1. Please urgently provide a copy of the charging document on which you
rely (dated prior to or on 24 August 2021) by return email.  As you
may know for any such charge to be lawful it must contain sufficient
particulars to fully and fairly inform of the substance of the
alleged criminal offence, including a reference to the legal
provision creating the offence.)
 2. Please also urgently advise by return mail of any and all of the
information surrounding any filing or attempted filing of the charge
to which you refer laid against Mr Swanepoel. This must include any
and all information relating to:

 a. whether it was you that sought to lay a charge or charges as a private
prosecutor under the Criminal Procedure Act 2011; and
 b. whether in this case in the interests of natural justice or on any
legal basis whatsoever the Court required the provision of sufficient
evidence to justify a trial - before the charging document could be
accepted by the Court  for filing? If so, what exactly was the
information requested and was this provided to the satisfaction of the
Court - with the charging document consequently being filed? If the
Court refused to accept and file the charging document(s) please
provide in full the reasons provided by the Court for such refusal.

 

2.                   Under the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 it is a criminal
offence to include ‘in a charging document, […] any false or misleading
information that the person knows is false or misleading. The offence is
punishable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 years.’

3.                   Please provide urgently and in full all information
on whether or not you have approached the New Zealand Police in an attempt
to have them lay a criminal charge or charges against Mr Swanepoel. This
must include all and any dates of any such approaches made to the New
Zealand Police and their respective responses.

 

4.                   If Far North District Council (‘Council’)  does not
receive a copy of the charging document referred to in 1. above
(substantiating your claim that Mr Swanepoel has been charged with a
criminal offence) by COB Friday 3 September 2021 – it will decline your
official information request on the ground that it is ‘vexatious’ under
section 17(h) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings
Act 1982 (‘LGOIMA’). This provides:

‘17 Refusal of requests

A request […] may be refused only for 1 or more of the following reasons,
namely:

(h) that the request is […] vexatious […].’

 

5.                   In Council’s email response to you dated 14 May 2021,
Council acknowledged that some of the decisions it has reached are not
what you had hoped for; and accordingly it understood that you have likely
felt disappointed and frustrated. However Council made it clear to you
that personal attacks including threats against various people serve no
useful purpose whatsoever and would not be tolerated any further.  It
warned that if this offensive, abusive, and derogatory attitude continued
in any of your future communications with Council staff and elected
members  - Council would need to consider its responses accordingly –
including where appropriate - refusing information requests under section
17(h) of the LGOIMA.

 

6.                   Your claim about Mr Swanepoel appears (in the absence
of any substantive evidence) likely defamatory and you are again strongly
encouraged to seek your own independent professional legal advice.

 

I look forward to your prompt response by return email.

 

Yours sincerely

Erica Cooney  

 

 

 

 

 

Erica Cooney

Solicitor

Corporate Services, Far North District Council

+6494015306 | [1][email address]

[2]www.fndc.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Claydon <[3][FOI #16089 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 24 August 2021 2:44 PM
To: Erica Cooney <[4][email address]>
Subject: Re: Official information request - RFS 4070073 - FNDC policies

 

CAUTION:  This email originated from outside Far North District Council.

Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and
know the content is safe.

 

 

Dear Erica Cooney,

 

Although your response appears to include many of the listed documents,
the documents relating to procedures for investigation of complaints do
not appear to be comprehensive or complete.

 

In particular they do not address the processes for dealing with
complaints originating from outside FNDC. I would like to please receive
all documents which address the topic of processing complaints from any
source, or otherwise discovering misconduct or criminality amongst FNDC
staff.

 

In particular, what complaints policy should be followed by the CEO,
councillors or other staff when receiving complaints of serious criminal
misconduct by senior staff members such as in-house counsel   George
Swanepoel (who has recently been charged with a criminal offence).

 

Are there any procedures or guidelines as to what should happen when FNDC
is notified by a non-staff member of misconduct by a staff member?

 

Are there any procedures as to what should happen when a staff member is
charged with a criminal dishonesty offence? Including whether, when and
how that staff member should be suspended?

 

Please provide all related documents including internal discussions and
correspondence about these issues.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Chris Claydon

 

-----Original Message-----

 

Chris Claydon

 

By email only to: [1][FOI #16089 email]

 

 

 

Tçnâ koe Mr Claydon

 

Official information request: RFS 4070073

 

 

 

Thank you for your official information request to Far North District 
Council (‘Council’) received 15 July 2021. This was referred to Legal 
Services for consideration in accordance with the provisions of the Local 
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the ‘LGOIMA’).

 

 

 

Your request

 

You noted that at page 17 of the Agenda of the Assurance, Risk and
Finance  Committee Meeting – 17 June 2020  (copy attached for your
reference) there  are a number of policies and plans listed. As stated on
the Agenda, these  are internal policies and so you would not be able to
access these via  Council’s website.

 

You requested copies of the following:

 

“Under section 6:

 

• Dealing with Complaints Policy

 

• Fraud, Corruption and Whistle Blower Policy

 

• Email Usage Policy

 

• Gifts and Inducements Policy

 

• Workplace Harassment, Discrimination and Bullying Prevention Policy

 

 

 

Under section 8:

 

• Conflicts of Interest processes and management plans.”

 

 

 

In addition to the above, you also asked for “any other documents to
which  the requested documents make reference.”

 

 

 

Council’s response

 

Under the LGOIMA, Council has decided to provide the information sought.

Please find it attached.

 

 

 

Thank you for your enquiry,

 

 

 

Nâku noa, nâ

 

Erica Cooney

 

 

 

[2][IMG] Erica Cooney

Solicitor

Corporate Services, Far North District Council  |  24-hour  Contact Centre
0800 920 029  DDI +6494015306  |  [email address]

   [3]Website  |   [4]Facebook   |  [5]LinkedIn   |  [6]Careers

 

 

 

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Zealand

 

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Get it done online at your convenience, visit our website -
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-----------------------------------------------------------
Attention: The information contained in this email (including any
attachments) is intended solely for the addressee(s). It is confidential
and may be legally privileged. If you have received this email in error
you must not use, copy, disclose or distribute it or any information in
it. Please simply notify the sender and delete or destroy all copies of
the email immediately. Unless formally stated, this e-mail and any
attachments do not necessarily reflect the views of the Far North District
Council. The Far North District Council accepts no responsibility for any
interception of, or changes to, our email after it leaves us. We do not
accept responsibility for any viruses or similar carried with our email,
or any effects our email may have on the recipients computer system or
network.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Far North District Council | Te Kaunihera o Tai Tokerau Ki Te Raki
Ph. 09 401 5200 | Fax. 09 401 2137 | Email. [Far North District Council request email]
Address. Memorial Avenue, Private Bag 752, Kaikohe 0440, New Zealand

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From: Chris Claydon

Ms Cooney,

You appear to be very confused.

Nevertheless I will respond point by point to your message.

> 1. You have stated in the public domain that in-house
> counsel George Swanepoel “has recently been charged with a criminal offence”.

So have you.

You just posted a copy of the very same information about Mr Swanepoel on FYI. I guess we are now equal in the eyes of defamation law.

Luckily neither of us need fear being sued for defamation. Strangely, you appear to have posted this information on FYI without having any documents to prove it. Luckily for you, I do have documents to prove it.

Your numbering gets a bit confused here, I'll respond to your second paragraph "1" as follows:
> 1. Please urgently provide a copy of the charging document on which you
> rely (dated prior to or on 24 August 2021) by return email.

You have no right to make official information requests of me. I am not a government department. Please try to focus on the actual official information request I made from you.

If you would like to make an official information request for a copy of the charge sheet against Mr Swanepoel then you should make an official information request to the registrar at Kaikohe district court. Alternatively you could ask Mr Swanepoel himself. He should have received a summons to appear before the court some time ago and the summons will presumably contain the same information on the charge sheet.

Nevertheless I have offered to participate in settlement talks with John Carter and Andy Finch on a Zoom or Skype call tomorrow at 2pm and I will be happy to share such documents with them during that call, providing that FNDC participate in good faith.

> 3. Please provide urgently and in full all information
> on whether or not you have approached the New Zealand Police in an attempt
> to have them lay a criminal charge or charges against Mr Swanepoel. This
> must include all and any dates of any such approaches made to the New
> Zealand Police and their respective responses.

You have no right to make official information requests of me. I am not a government department. The official information act does not allow you to demand information from me in exchange for information from you. The ombudsman is already investigating your conduct in regards to this and my previous official information act requests and I have no doubt that they will take a very dim view of your trying to blackmail me for information I hold in exchange for you supplying documents which you are legally obliged to supply anyway.

Nevertheless, you already know that there has been an ongoing police investigation into Mr Swanepoel since September 2020 and around February 2021 the investigation was extended to include Inna Shibalova, Darren James and Nina Gobie after they launched an unprovoked attack on some innocent Chorus contractors installing fibre on Riverview Road.

After that it was escalated to a senior investigating officer and there has been a request for involvement of the Serious Fraud Office. I understand that at least one council officer has already been interviewed by police in relation to this so you should already be well aware of the police investigation.

Again, I will be happy to provide further details during the call at 2pm tomorrow if Mr Carter and Mr Finch participate in good faith and seek to find a resolution. Obviously I have very little insight into what has gone on internally with the police investigation and I suggest that you would be better served by making an official information request to the police for documents relating to that.

>4. . If Far North District Council (‘Council’) does not
> receive a copy of the charging document referred to in 1. above
> (substantiating your claim that Mr Swanepoel has been charged with a
> criminal offence) by COB Friday 3 September 2021 – it will decline your
> official information request on the ground that it is ‘vexatious’

My information request was for policies and documents relating to how FNDC should process complaints and reports of misconduct against FNDC staff. You already accepted that my request was a valid request and responded with some of the documents but you only provided the policies for internal complaints.

I cannot see how it could possibly be "vexatious" simply to clarify that I intended my request to include ALL types of complaint and not just complaints originating from FNDC staff. I gave Mr Swanepoel's case simply as an example of the type of case which was not covered by the documents you supplied and I would like to receive the documents relevant to that type of complaints and all other types.

FNDC has been well aware for many months that Mr Swanepoel was facing criminal charges as we have corresponded about this several times before, including with the Mayor and the CEO. It's not my problem if he has concealed the nature of the charges from management, I would say it's Mr Swanepoel's responsibility to disclose the charges against him to his employer.

Your paragraph 5. refers to private correspondence between myself and FNDC. It also makes a number of false and defamatory allegations about myself, which I will not repeat. You must immediately act to fully retract and take down the contents of your paragraph 5, otherwise I will not hesitate sue you for defamation (Both you personally Erica Cooney and FNDC).

Your "response" has been copied down as evidence and will be passed to the Ombudsman who will no doubt be very interested in the manner in which you attempted to barter information from me in exchange for responding to an official information request, to which you have a legal duty to respond anyway.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Claydon

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Chris Claydon left an annotation ()

This response was received by email from FNDC, in which they fail to provide any answers to the request above:

Dear Mr Claydon

I refer to your official information request made on 24 August 2021, Council’s preliminary response for further information dated 24 February 2021, together with your email of 26 August 2021 (as per the email trail below). This request has been referred to Legal Services for consideration in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the ‘LGOIMA’).

The request of 24 August 2021 related to an earlier request made by you on 15 July 2021 (RFS 4070073) to which Council had replied on 9 August 2021. To refresh your memory of what was requested and what was provided, please find attached a copy of this earlier request and of Council’s response. You specifically asked for a copy of the following Council’s policies (Dealing with Complaints Policy; Fraud, Corruption and Whistle Blower Policy; Email Usage Policy; Gifts and Inducements Policy; Workplace Harassment, Discrimination and Bullying Prevention Policy). You also asked for a copy of Council’s Conflicts of Interest processes and management plans. Pursuant to your request these were all provided to you.

In relation to Council’s response however you stated on 24 August 2021 “Although your response appears to include many of the listed documents, the documents relating to procedures for investigation of complaints do not appear to be comprehensive or complete.

In particular they do not address the processes for dealing with complaints originating from outside FNDC. I would like to please receive all documents which address the topic of processing complaints from any source, or otherwise discovering misconduct or criminality amongst FNDC staff.

In particular, what complaints policy should be followed by the CEO, councillors or other staff when receiving complaints of serious criminal misconduct by senior staff members such as in-house counsel George Swanepoel (who has recently been charged with a criminal offence).

Are there any procedures or guidelines as to what should happen when FNDC is notified by a non-staff member of misconduct by a staff member?

Are there any procedures as to what should happen when a staff member is charged with a criminal dishonesty offence? Including whether, when and how that staff member should be suspended?

Please provide all related documents including internal discussions and correspondence about these issues.” (my emphasis added).

The documents provided in answer to the request of 15 July 2021 were all those sought that Council held.

LGOIMA request - 24 August 2021 (as copied above)

Council notes that you will have read in the Disciplinary Matters Policy previously provided to you “This policy aims to ensure that all disciplinary action is justified and carried out in a procedurally fair manner, in accordance with good faith obligations and the requirements of the Employment Relations Act 2000.” “Any information about employment matters will be kept confidential. Personal information about any individual in relation to […], involvement in an investigation or disciplinary action will be treated in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020. For privacy reasons, it is important to keep any information confidential to those directly involved in the incident. The policy goes on to outline the “disciplinary procedure to be used as a basis for action where an incident/event deems it necessary after relevant investigation by management in liaison with People & Capability.[…] (my emphasis added).

You will also have read “It may be deemed ‘necessary’ for a formal investigation to take place to establish the facts of an allegation before it can be determined if disciplinary action is required. Investigations must be done in good faith and use natural justice principles. This includes not jumping to conclusions before going through the process. A test for this is ‘what a fair and reasonable employer could have done’.”

Council is bound to manage and comply with any alleged disciplinary issues and investigations in the manner set out in Employment Law. (You were informed that relevant legislation on due process includes the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Privacy Act 2020.) There is a veritable wealth of information online that is already fully and publicly available to you about employment complaints and investigations. Council considers that basic research on your part would locate the information you are seeking.

Therefore in relation to your request of 24 August 2021, Council relies upon section 17(d) of the LGOIMA as follows:

17 Refusal of requests
A request […] may be refused only for 1 or more of the following reasons, namely: […]

(d) that the information requested is […] publicly available.

Council wishes to make it clear that it does not accept a complaint simply on face value. That is just because it is said that Mr Swanepoel is being investigated for misconduct and that the New Zealand Police are investigating charging Mr Swanepoel with a criminal dishonesty offence etc. - that that is necessarily true. Further, your assertions that misconduct or criminality has been discovered etc. arguably imply this as fact – whereas under Employment Law these are merely allegations that have not been proven to date with any reliable substantiating evidence. It is noted that your complaints are simply your word and personal interpretation of events. Council considers that the comments made about Mr Swanepoel appear immoderate and lack impartiality.

As you would reasonably expect - how an investigation is conducted depends upon the type of complaint – for example, is it about employee conduct or a criminal matter? If the complaint related to criminal charges etc. then it may well be put on hold and Council Management would wait until an outcome was reached by the New Zealand Police, before looking at it with an employment lens. Generally however on the receipt of a complaint, the alleged conduct would be looked into and a fair and balanced assessment made as to whether any further investigation is required. A full investigation would not be undertaken and an employee suspended or fired without just cause. Sometimes insufficient evidence is provided to enable Council to make a decision - and it may be that the subject of the complaint is not even informed where there is little reliable and compelling information of anything untoward. In relation to this point Council notes that you did not particularise the nature of the complaints alleged against Mr Swanepoel nor did you supply Council with any informative independent material to substantiate your claims.

Your email of 26 August 2021

I am aware that you are not subject to the LGOIMA. As you have already been advised, the LGOIMA points out that it is the requester’s responsibility to be as specific and clear as they can be in identifying what information they are asking for. Given the significant lack of detail in your request of 24 August 2021 and that Council did not have information about matters raised - Council could not be certain your request was properly being managed. In both the request and your response of 26 August 2021 – there are serious incorrect assumptions. Council asked questions of you to try to fill in the gaps and clarify what exactly you were referring to so that it could appropriately respond.

Council did not have material information to hand regarding your claims of Police investigations and criminal charges etc and you did not make this available. Council therefore sought a copy of the charging order from you so as to gain details of the alleged criminal offending that supposedly constituted the ‘serious misconduct’ which appeared to form the basis of your information request. You said the NZ Police were undertaking investigations and were going to lay charges - therefore we asked for particulars of that - or whether the charge to which you referred was laid by you as a private prosecutor - and the nature of it. As noted above, understanding the type and veracity of the complaint is critical to Council forming a response.

False assumptions

While you state “Luckily for you, I do have documents to prove it” (that Mr Swanepoel was facing a criminal charge) at the time of your request Council had no knowledge of the charge you had laid given that Mr Swanepoel had not been served.
The Police were reportedly making independent criminal inquiries at your instigation and there is no reason to expect that Council would be privy to that.
You contended that I “already know that there has been an ongoing police investigation into Mr Swanepoel since September 2020 and around February 2021 the investigation was extended to include Inna Shibalova, Darren James and Nina Gobie after they launched an unprovoked attack on some innocent Chorus contractors installing fibre on Riverview Road. After that it was escalated to a senior investigating officer and there has been a request for involvement of the Serious Fraud Office. I understand that at least one council officer has already been interviewed by police in relation to this so you should already be well aware of the police investigation.” At the time you lodged your LGOIMA request I was not aware of an ‘ongoing police investigation, [… that] the investigation was extended […], [that] After that it was escalated to a senior investigating officer and there has been a request for involvement of the Serious Fraud Office, [or that] at least one council officer has already been interviewed by police in relation to this so you should already be well aware of the police investigation. There is no reason why I should be “well aware of the police investigation" or of any involvement of the SFO etc. If any such inquiries were made they would presumably be conducted in confidentiality.
Your accusation that I was “trying to blackmail [you] for information [you] hold in exchange for [me] supplying documents which [I am] legally obliged to supply anyway is also misguided and unfounded. So is the allegation that I am trying to ‘barter’ for information. Aside from endeavouring to assist you with your information request and figuring out what you are talking about in this respect – I have no interest in the matter. The crux of the matter is that in Council’s view you failed to provide it with insufficient particulars in support of your request and wrongly assumed that Council was in a position to respond properly and fully.
It is plainly not part of my role in responding to your LGOIMA request – to make an official information request to the Kaikohe District Court or the Police as you have suggested.
Neither is it part of my role, nor would it be appropriate to ask Mr Swanepoel to substantiate your claims and provide me with information regarding what is ‘your request’ and which should have been specified with ‘due particularity’ when you submitted it.
Your statement that Mr Swanepoel “should have received a summons to appear before the court some time ago and the summons will presumably contain the same information on the charge sheet” is another false premise. Please refer above - at the time of your request Mr Swanepoel had received no information from the Court concerning any charge sheet or summons.
You have noted that Mr Swanepoel is being prosecuted as an individual – that is not as a Council employee in relation to the performing of his employment duties in his role as Council’s In-House Counsel. You state “Council is not a party to the proceedings” so in addition, I do not know why you believe Council should be aware of who you have been approaching, and the stage of the respective enquiries you are making with various agencies.

In conclusion, in making your request for information the responsibility was yours to ensure that Council was reasonably able to identify what you were seeking and in this instance in Council’s opinion this fell well short. You stated that you have documents yet you failed to supply any substantiating information on which Council could conduct a reasonable enquiry into your request.

Yours sincerely

Erica Cooney

Erica Cooney

Solicitor

Corporate Services, Far North District Council | 24-hour Contact Centre 0800 920 029

DDI +6494015306 | Erica.Cooney@fndc.govt.nz

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From: Chris Claydon

Dear Erica Cooney,
Your reply does not address the information I requested:

1. I wrote: "all documents which address the topic of processing complaints from any source, or otherwise discovering misconduct or criminality amongst FNDC staff."

I do not believe that all these documents are available publicly. This would include your internal policies for processing complaints. It would also include a copy of every formal complaint FNDC have received about serious staff misconduct and documents relating to how that complaint was processed. (employee names can be redacted so there are no grounds to withhold this)

2. I wrote: "In particular, what complaints policy should be followed by the CEO, councillors or other staff when receiving complaints of serious criminal misconduct by senior staff members such as in-house counsel George Swanepoel (who has recently been charged with a criminal offence)."

3. I wrote: "Are there any procedures or guidelines as to what should happen when FNDC is notified by a non-staff member of misconduct by a staff member?"

The policies you have disclosed relate only to procedures for processing internal complaints from your own staff. There must be written internal policies for how to process complaints received from outside FNDC, or at least internal correspondence discussing how such complaints should be handled. The summary in your email is not adequate, I want to see the policies and internal correspondence which were in place at the time I made my complaints to the CEO and all subsequent such policies and correspondence.

4. I wrote: "Are there any procedures as to what should happen when a staff member is charged with a criminal dishonesty offence? Including whether, when and how that staff member should be suspended?"

Again, your email provides a woolly description of how FNDC avoid taking action until it is too late. I want to see the original documents and policies on which your woolly description is based.

I believe that complaints of serious misconduct are received frequently by FNDC so this must be an issue you've had internal discussions or documents about.

You have failed to provide any of the documents I requested. Please provide all related documents including internal discussions and correspondence about these issues, including all complaints of misconduct you've received, how those complaints were processed and the outcome.

I remind you that by obstructing these requests you are in breach of your professional obligations under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act. You must treat this as a subpoena.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Claydon

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Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Far North District Council only: