Qualifications of council staff

Howard Coates made this Official Information request to Wellington City Council

The request was refused by Wellington City Council.

From: Howard Coates

Dear Wellington City Council,

Can you please provide me with the qualifications by the name and job title of each staff member and all their managers for the teams that worked on the faulty street lights?

Yours faithfully,

Howard Coates

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council

Tēnā koe Howard

Thank you for your email dated 22 April 2023 requesting information.

Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision as soon as possible, but no later than 22 May 2023, being 20 working days of receipt.

The reference number for your request is IRC-4753

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

Kind regards

The Assurance Team
Email: [email address]
Wellington City Council | W Wellington.govt.nz | |

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council


Attachment IRC 4753 Howard Coates streetlight qualification.pdf
544K Download View as HTML


Hello Howard

Please see attached response to your request for information.

Kind Regards

Asha Harry
Senior Advisor  |  Official Information Team | Wellington City Council
W Wellington.govt.nz | |
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

-----Original Message-----
From: BUS: Assurance
Sent: Monday, 24 April 2023 10:12 am
To: Howard Coates <[FOI #22534 email]>
Subject: IRC-4753: Official Information request - Qualifications of council staff

Tēnā koe Howard

Thank you for your email dated 22 April 2023 requesting information.

Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision as soon as possible, but no later than 22 May 2023, being 20 working days of receipt.

The reference number for your request is IRC-4753

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

Kind regards

The Assurance Team
Email: [email address]
Wellington City Council | W Wellington.govt.nz | |

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

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From: Howard Coates

Dear BUS: Assurance,

Can you explain how you know the unnamed team leader is an engineer if there is no record of their qualification?

Yours sincerely,

Howard Coates

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From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council

Hello Howard

Thank you for your follow up question.

Staff that knew the Team Leader at the time advised that they were an engineer, however they did not know details of qualification.

Kind Regards

Asha Harry
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team | Wellington City Council
W Wellington.govt.nz | |
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

-----Original Message-----
From: Howard Coates <[FOI #22534 email]>
Sent: Monday, 22 May 2023 8:01 pm
To: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: RE: IRC-4753: Official Information request - Qualifications of council staff

Dear BUS: Assurance,

Can you explain how you know the unnamed team leader is an engineer if there is no record of their qualification?

Yours sincerely,

Howard Coates

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

Hello Howard

Please see attached response to your request for information.

Kind Regards

Asha Harry
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team | Wellington City Council W Wellington.govt.nz | | The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #22534 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

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

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From: Howard Coates

Dear BUS: Assurance,

If I understand correctly the person was:

* a manager responsiable for a project which resulted in a significant safety risk and financial cost to the rate payer; and

* the Council's only evidence they were qualified is: "Staff that knew the Team Leader at the time advised that they were an engineer, however they did not know details of qualification."

Given those facts, I think the public interest in releasing their name outweighs the grounds for withholding the information.

Can you please either release their name or provide some more evidence of their qualifications?

Yours sincerely,

Howard Coates

Link to this

From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council

Kia ora Howard

Thank you for your email.

The project at the time was managed at a team leader level.
The Council does not have any additional information in relation to their qualification, other than what has already been supplied to you on 22 May 2023.

As per the Council's previous response, the Council is taking full responsibility of the streetlight issue as our processes at the time, was not up to standards.
With respect to the information that has been withheld, we do not consider there to be any other factors, that would render it desirable, in the public interest, to make that information publicly available.

If you are not satisfied with the Council's response, you may request the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Council's decision. Further information is available on the Ombudsman website, http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/.

Thank you again for your request.

Asha Harry
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team | Wellington City Council
W Wellington.govt.nz | |
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

-----Original Message-----
From: Howard Coates <[FOI #22534 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 23 May 2023 7:41 pm
To: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: RE: IRC-4753: Official Information request - Qualifications of council staff

Dear BUS: Assurance,

If I understand correctly the person was:

* a manager responsiable for a project which resulted in a significant safety risk and financial cost to the rate payer; and

* the Council's only evidence they were qualified is: "Staff that knew the Team Leader at the time advised that they were an engineer, however they did not know details of qualification."

Given those facts, I think the public interest in releasing their name outweighs the grounds for withholding the information.

Can you please either release their name or provide some more evidence of their qualifications?

Yours sincerely,

Howard Coates

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

Hello Howard

Thank you for your follow up question.

Staff that knew the Team Leader at the time advised that they were an engineer, however they did not know details of qualification.

Kind Regards

Asha Harry
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team | Wellington City Council W Wellington.govt.nz | | The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #22534 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

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

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