Thank you for your request dated 20 April 2023, we have treated this as a Freedom of Information request. You have asked for the following information:

 

“…it is my understanding that a gentleman, Stephen Howard, who lives Woodfield Lodge, Flat Two, Woodfield Avenue, London NW9 6PS in the Barnet Council jurisdiction, may have engaged in antisocial and/or criminal behavior toward at least one person in his neighborhood and that nothing has been done to hold him accountable for said behavior or to protect his neighbors from his questionable actions and that his behavior continues to endanger his neighborhood to date.

 

Please provide me, as an international expert and author on abuse of persons, with any and all reports or information in the Barnet Council records made by victims of crime, police, or other authorities regarding the actions or behavior of said Stephen Howard. This request is made under the Freedom of Information and Crime Victims Protection policies of the United Kingdom and under international human rights law…”

 

Barnet Homes’ response:

 

Refusal Notice – S40 (5B) (a) – Neither Confirm Nor Deny

Other than as recorded, we are neither confirming nor denying whether any information is held, by virtue of section 40 (5B) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). We have concluded that confirmation or denial that this information exists would not be consistent with data protection principles in the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). 

 

This is not an absolute exemption and requires a public test to be performed. We have considered our obligation to keep the public aware of such activities; however, this legitimate interest is outweighed by the risk of the prejudice that might arise in relation to the legitimate privacy interests of individuals whose personal data might be identified. Therefore, we have concluded that the exemption should be maintained in order to protect privacy of data subjects. 

 

Your rights

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled, you can request a review by emailing Talk2Us@barnethomes.org and marking it as an appeal for the attention of the Data Controller.

There is no charge for making an appeal.

After this, if you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner: telephone: 0303 123 1113 or website: www.ico.org.uk.

Kind regards