Thursday, January 10, 2019

Pre-Action Letter: The Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's hold communication notes against Declan in clear violation of his rights (WITH UPDATE 24/1/2019)


County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

Trial held in the Central London County Court, Royal Courts of Justice on 20 February 2017.

On 23 August 2018, Declan complained to the Information Commissioner's Office about case notes St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the Court at trial in February 2017 had been rectified by him but were in fact being held under my name. It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings so-called rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation. DJ Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim at trial. Williamson: "The court case concerned your complaint about the notes on your record. My understanding is that following the court case it became apparent that the note in contention was mirrored on your wife's record - which I don't recall being aware of at the time - and this was subsequently amended to reflect the change we had made to yours. The court was therefore not misled." We do not accept that the court was not misled.

20 February 2017: Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

Declan and I are tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by St Mungo's on behalf of the Mayor of London. Only last August, Declan came within days of filing in the Central London County Court a second claim against St Mungo's in two years; see my post of 28 August, St Mungo's: Discrimination; Declan's claim against the Mayor of London's service for the Central London County Court. Still no response from St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair to Declan's pre-action letter (WITH UPDATE 30/8/2018). Yesterday Declan discovered to his shock and horror that St Mungo's are holding outrageous communication notes against him that he never previously knew existed. He has addressed this serious misconduct with the following pre-action letter to St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair this morning:

Howard Sinclair
Chief Executive
St Mungo's
3 Thomas More Square
London
E1W 1YW

10 January 2019

Pre-Action Letter

Dear Mr Sinclair,

Re: Non-compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018

Yesterday I wrote to St Mungo's Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Manager Robert Buck requesting the immediate deletion of all communication notes on Opal under my name that were sent to me yesterday morning. I understand from speaking with Mr Buck yesterday evening that St Mungo's are not willing to comply with my written request earlier in the day and that I will be informed in due course of what (if any) communication notes will be deleted.

I requested the deletion of all communication notes (as opposed to notes from meetings) on the grounds that these notes were added to Opal without my knowledge or consent and therefore stand in breach of my Support Agreement. Consider, for example, the so-called action note of 22 August 2018. It constitutes no more than unfair, unbalanced and inaccurate bias. This note alone is in serious breach of the Data Protection Act, for which St Mungo's would be liable.

Please could you provide me with a clear written explanation of why the decision has been made not to immediately delete all communication notes that were sent to me yesterday. I find it deeply disturbing that these communication notes commenced prior to my and my wife's tenancy review on 16 May 2018.

Time is of the essence, as the non-deletion of all communication notes that I have requested could have serious consequences for me in the short term (depending on how some of the more outrageous notes are used against me). Therefore, if I do not receive a full response from you within 14 days of the date of this letter, I intend to issue court proceedings without further notice.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

Last May St Mungo's made the international press for all the wrong reasons. They are accused of helping to get rough sleepers arrested and deported. When the story came through my Russia Today (RT) news feed, it left Declan gob smacked. He subsequently spoke with Diane Taylor, the journalist who covered the story for the Guardian.


Update 24 January (10.09am): Not an iota! On 10 January Declan received a response to his pre-action letter. St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson asked to meet! There has not been the removal of any information from the record since Declan wrote back to him later that day: "You state that you are keen to resolve this matter quickly. Can you please explain, then, why communication notes (as opposed to notes from meetings) that were sent to me on 9 January have not already been deleted? It is both unfair and unreasonable for you to expect me to meet with you when you will not explain what is preventing you from deleting notes that are held in clear violation of my rights." It looks very ominous, indeed. Declan now only needs tonight to ready everything for filing in the Central London County Court.
These Brief details of claim for filing in the Central London County Court were first published in this blog on 13 January 2019.

Brief details of claim

Since 17 May 2014, the Claimant and his wife have been tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by the Defendant on behalf of the Mayor of London. The Claimant has a support agreement which requires the Defendant to ensure that any action notes are brief notes recording any actions agreed upon by both parties. The Claimant discovered on 9 January 2019 that in addition to notes from meetings, the Defendant is holding notes from communications without his prior knowledge or consent and therefore in breach of his support agreement. The Defendant has been asked to consider, for example, the communication note of 22 August 2018. It constitutes no more than unfair, unbalanced and inaccurate bias. This note alone is in serious breach of data protection law. The Claimant finds it particularly disturbing that these communication notes commenced prior to his and his wife's tenancy review on 16 May 2018. The Defendant has not complied with the Claimant’s requests that these notes be deleted. The Claimant is therefore making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unlawfully in holding or uploading information about him relating to his support, and an order pursuant to Section 47 of the Data Protection Act 2018 that the Defendant is to erase any and all communication notes sent to him on 9 January 2019. The Claimant seeks damages for distress and costs.

Value

The Claimant expects to recover not more than £1,000.

Declan taught PE in Glenstal Abbey, one of Ireland's top schools.

Declan fought for almost two months for these action notes from his meeting on 30 October 2018 with his new St Mungo's Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) caseworker.

Declan and I met for the first time at his home today at 3pm on 30th October. During our meeting we discussed the following:

- Declan has a part-time job as an employee of Network for Church Monitoring. This is his main job. He is a former PE teacher and now holds a valid UK Athletics coaching licence with associated DBS. He wants a second part-time job with children, having given up on care work.

- For over two years, Declan has been fighting without success to secure a long-term volunteer position through Newham Council's Active Newham. Declan has made several complaints of unfair treatment against the Council, culminating in his recent complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (Ombudsman's Case ID: 18011204).

- For the last two months, Declan has been doing one-off events with Active Newham with a view to securing a long-term volunteer position working with children. He is scheduled to participate in his fifth one-off event with Active Newham on Saturday, 3 November.

- Declan has requested a copy of the action notes from our meetings in the form of a download from the organisation's information system.

- Declan has requested my support to elicit concrete information from the Bromley by Bow Centre with respect to their next Para-Legacy Agents 12-15 week training course.

Actions:

By Friday, 2 November 2018 Marc (TST Caseworker) to contact Declan about emailing the Bromley by Bow Centre.

Declan to continue with his one-off events with Active Newham.

Donald A.Collins, President
International Services Assistance Fund
5620 Oregon Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20015
[information withheld]
FAX [number withheld]
eMail [address withheld]

September 8, 2018

To Whom It May Concern:

I have become aware that my colleague, Declan Heavey, a highly educated professional, has come to need a reference for Newham Council (Active Newham) to find him voluntary work within Newham with children and adults with learning disabilities in a sport setting.

Declan's credentials for this sort of voluntary work are impressive. He is an accredited UK Athletics assistant coach with a DBS certificate for such a voluntary position. He is also a former physical education teacher, who has taught in one of Ireland's top schools (Glenstal Abbey) and set up and ran an unprecedented national network of 26 summer schools called Adventure Ireland that catered for over 4,000 children aged 6-14.

I have read with interest a Republic of Ireland newspaper article about Adventure Ireland that speaks of an admirable 'reconciliation scheme' for the involvement of a large number of children from Northern Ireland. Under this scheme, southern locations catered for children from Northern Ireland accompanied by experienced youth workers known by the children themselves. I understand and have no doubt that this scheme attracted considerable local media coverage both sides of the border between the two countries.

Declan manages an extensive website to which many contribute significant articles that bear on the general welfare of people everywhere. The site gets hundreds of thousands of hits and is a favorite of mine and many Nobelists. In fact, the site has no less than 40 Nobelists on it, as well as a distinguished list of 183 Honorary Associates to date that includes 2 Nobelists and 7 academics with knighthoods under the British royal honors system.

I have met Declan and known him for more than 7 years and I can attest to his strength of character. He is an outstanding and active citizen with a great commitment to community. He is highly responsible, loyal and trustworthy, and has exceptional organisational and management skills. I am pleased to report that my association with him has convinced me that he would provide a worthy addition to serving children and adults with learning disabilities in a sport setting.

Should you wish for more information from me, kindly email me at this address.

Sincerely,　

Donald A. Collins



From My Picks:

4 January 2019: Information Commissioner: Declan battles the Commissioner's Lead Case Officer over the nature of his data complaint against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's (WITH UPDATE 24/1/2019)

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan


'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

at 10:42 am