Why are the Council making it so hard to exercise our democratic rights over the voters list?
4/3/21. Letter to Eifion Evans - Chief Executive, Ceredigion County Council from Against BID.
Ceredigion CC's Non Compliance with BID Regulations
Dear Mr Evans,
I am writing to you today as a representative of Against BID, we are a campaign group against the undemocratic and inappropriate practices of Business Improvement District (BID) companies and their Councils.
We don’t normally feel the need to engage directly with Councils, as most problems tend to be with the BID companies themselves and Councils generally have strong governance and accountability. However, we are appalled by the conduct of your Council Officers leading to your Councils’ failure to comply with Government BID legislation, consequently not allowing for a fair and democratic BID ballot process for Aberystwyth.
Schedule 11 of The Business Improvement District (Wales) Regulations makes it clear that for the purposes of canvassing, any person can view the voting hereditaments list (as will have been provided to CIVICA), see for yourself here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/.../1312/regulation/11/made
Repeated requests to see the list have been made by Mr G Pemberthy, and despite him making your Council aware of these regulations and his democratic right to inspect, he has so far been refused the ability to inspect the voting list. The excuse used by your Council Officers so far is GDPR, but as you and me know, GDPR only covers personal data, which means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This is a list of business company names and hereditament addresses, so why your Council choses to use GDPR as an excuse to refuse inspection of the list is beyond me. Does your Council not understand GDPR legislation? Why refuse Mr Pemberthy's legal right to inspect the list?
This behaviour by your Council ignoring Government legislation and refusing the democratic rights of individuals opposed to a BID in Aberystwyth is totally unacceptable. Let’s also remember that you as the Returning Officer are performing this role not as a Local Government Officer, but in a personal capacity, meaning you are also personally liable for the conduct of this ballot.
I look forward to hearing soon that your Council will do the right thing and release the list without delay, rather than side only with the BID proposers (vote yes campaigners), whilst deliberately disadvantaging and denying the legal and democratic rights of those opposed to a BID in Aberystwyth.
Against BID
4/3/21. Another letter to the Council after hearing from the Council Officer.
Thanks for your acknowledgement of my email, and yes I've seen that reply. Good that you've dropped your GDPR argument, but you are still wrong (in part) denying his legal rights to inspect the list.
Under the BID regulations Mr Pemberthy has 2 options to exercise his voter list inspection rights, and you have totally ignored one of them! It's like you don't want him to see the list, wonder why eh? One option is the 5% voter list request you quote at 11 (2) (b), agreed.
BUT you have totally ignored the other one at 11 (1) (c) "make available for inspection by any person a copy of the information in that document at its principal office during normal working hours."
Now if your offices are closed, given the exceptional circumstances of the current covid environment it would be fair and in the spirit of democracy for you to make alternative arrangements, such as either sending him a copy, or publish publicly on the internet for him to view instead of at your offices. He is willing to view the list at your offices and it is the councils prerogative to refuse him entry, so it is the duty of the Council to make suitable alternative arrangements to inspect the list.
In accordance with BID regulations this list should have been made available for inspection by you weeks ago, BID regs clearly state this is your duty as the billing authority, see first line of section 11 (1). No need to go into detail now but interestingly I've also read a couple comments from you that demonstrate you are not very familiar with the intricacies of Business Improvement Districts and the role the a billing authority (Council) plays. You now have a link to the BID legislation and you might find the following publication helpful "Technical Guide for Local Authorities". As the Introduction says: "It is the responsibility of both the local authority and the BID proposer to thoroughly read and understand the BID legislation to ensure the processes are executed appropriately".
BID Company and Council ignorance of regulations and their improper actions is endemic through the UK, we clearly demonstrate this with case studies on our website https://www.againstbid.org. No voters don't have many rights under BID legislation, which itself only last year was reported as being inadequate by the Chairman of the Association of Electoral Administrators. As a campaign group we just want to see fair and equitable treatment of both yes and no voters, and the rule of law correctly followed.
I trust you will still not continue to deny Mr Pemberthy his legal rights to inspect the list under 11 (1) (c).
Against BID