David McWilliams, Assistant Director: Early Help & Family Engagement, at RMBC (Rotherham Council) says he is unable to be clear about how he received the information he sent in the dishonest and highly reckless email on 15.9.15. See: http://real2.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Rotherham-Truth-Campaign-Petition-Update-26.6.17..pdf The Information Commissioner’s Office has been looking at RMBC’s responses to a Freedom Of Information (FOI) Request submitted on 30.9.16 that amongst other matters asked: “please can an explanation be provided as to how David McWilliams received the so-called independent expert guidance.” On 6.9.17 Marie Buxton, Head of Information Management, sent me a response from RMBC to the ICO that stated: “The expert appraisal is currently stored securely on the Council network.” I immediately requested an exact copy of what was stored as I should have been provided with this in response to my FOI on 16.9.15. I also asked when was it first stored on the Council network and who stored it there. Marie Buxton has confirmed today (10.10.17) that RMBC will not provide me with this information. Interestingly after being pressed by the ICO, the ICO wrote to me on 13.9.17 stating: “I have contacted the council further about regarding its response to me and it has explained that it has interviewed David McWilliams about this matter on a number of occasions, including last week, to try to establish how information from the appraisal came to be included in the email. The council explained that David McWilliams can recall meeting with the Interim Deputy Director regarding the matter, and that he was directed to respond to you. He also remembers that he had to prepare the email quickly, but cannot recall whether the content was dictated to him, or whether he copied it from hard copy of the document in the possession of the Interim Deputy Director (which has not been retained). The council has confirmed that the Interim Deputy Director no longer works for the council and therefore it has been unable to interview her regarding the matter.” ………………………………………………………………………………… Note that the Interim Deputy Director was Jean Imray. See: https://www.change.org/p/sharon-kemp-chief-executive-ask-david-mcwilliams-and-ian-thomas-rmbc-officers-to-tell-the-truth/u/21282634 …………………………………………………………………………………… BACKGROUND NOTES 21 February 2016 - From email to David McWilliams: I wonder if it is worth trying for what is likely to be a final opportunity to get back to the period of collaborative working? I am prepared to try. Do let me know if you are prepared to have a face to face meeting in the very near future. Reply: Thank you for your email. … You are probably aware that my role has changed and therefore my portfolio of responsibilities has also shifted. I really appreciate your offer to meet, but I will need to decline given my current workload and commitments. David McWilliams Assistant Director: Early Help & Family Engagement 10 September 2016 - From email to David McWilliams: In your email on 15.9.15 informing me of the decision to not distribute Voices of Despair Voices of Hope you included extracts from what you referred to as “independent, expert guidance”. Please can you let me know how you received these extracts. If it was by email, please can I have a copy of the email? NO REPLY So I wrote a formal letter on 19.9.16: See: http://real2.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/David-McWilliams-Assistant-Director-Early-Help-Family-Engagement-letter-19.9.16-without-contact-details.pdf NO REPLY So I submitted the Freedom Of Information (FOI) Request on 30.9.16.