Public Investment for Private Profit?

You can make a Freedom Of Information Request from

 http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/

The relevant Public Authority might be North West Development Agency.

In getting the Information, be clear about

1) The questions you want answering

2) The format you require the information to be in (electronic or hardcopy)

3) That you would be intending them to be part of some kind of publication

4) You have 20 days to be provided with the information. If you need to clarify your question, the clock starts again.

The Information Commissioner has information about the process:

 http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/access_to_official_information.aspx

Do not rush into the request - make your request clear in your mind first. The clearer it is to you, the easier it is to respond quickly and directly to the point when the Public Authority asks for Clarification.

As the Canal is part of a Public Private Finance Initiative, there are other possible sources of funding for Peel. So it is important not to just dive on the NWDA (North West Development Agency) and assume they know the whole paper trail. They might not. But they might know which Organisations do.

One tactic to avoid giving out the full story is always to say that the information is "in the public domain" or "published elswhere" - so it is important to hedge the question to make sure they point you to "the Where". This is part of their duty under the act but it only gets carried out if you make it clear.

Freedom of Information requests can be made by e-mail. Which is very useful should you need electronic documents. It cuts down the cost to the Public Authority (which, if you are clear that you wish to minimise costs, tends to make some Information Officers more amenable). This is of some importance if you think they are going to refuse the request on the grounds that it is some kind of "commercial secret". Make it clear that you are only interested on the Public Finance aspect of the Information.

As it is a waterway, there may be information to be had under the Environmental Information Regulations. Make the request in the same way as a Freedom of Information Request.

If you wish to retain some kind of privacy behind a pseudonym (for whatever reason) take guidance from the Information Comissioner

 http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/freedom_of_information/detailed_specialist_guides/name_of_applicant_fop083_v1.pdf

and the Department of Justice

 http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/foi-procedural-what.htm

and you need not give your full postal address - just an address for correspondence (which can just be an e-mail address).

And have a good old read of "What Do They Know" because it gives lots of hints of other people's experiences.

As For Peel Holdings and Public Private Finance Initiatives. The National Audit Office might be a source of Information - they are supposed to have records of all PFI

 http://www.nao.org.uk/system_pages/freedom_of_information.aspx

But have a browse through their website before making a request - information you want might be there already.

And be persistent. If they say you cannot have information in one way... it might be available in another.

You might also want to find out if it is a PFI or is described as soemthing else.