Parkers Pen - Herald Express - September 17th 2007
This may just to put to bed the clash between Adrian Sanders. pictured left, and his arch Tory rival Marcus Wood, pictured right, over the Torbay MP's support for the Kingskerswell bypass.
Last week I revealed how the Tory's prospective parliamentary candidate had used the Freedom of Information Act find out how many times since 2001 Mr Sanders had met transport Ministers over the link road plansThe answer has finally come from the Department of Transport.
It reveals that Mr Sanders has had three official meetings with Ministers to discuss the bypass in the past six years.
Mr Sanders was asked by the department if he was satisfied the information could be released because it was not 'exempt' under FOI laws.
He has told the Ministry he has no problem with the information, adding: " I am happy for this to be sent to Mr Wood. I do not wish any more of your, or any other tax payer funded department's valuable time to be distracted from completing the vital Kingskerswell by-pass."
He has since added: "Do not overlook the fact that formally arranged meetings through Government departments and quasi government bodies are but a fraction of the communications that can pass between MPs and decision-makers and that the vast majority of these fall outside FOI rules, while those that do can, as in this case, tie down resources that could help speed up the outcome."
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