Record

Page ID: 1543 · Title: FOI & Records Requests — Backstory, Status and Forward Plan · Evidence status: Not yet labelled — see the Editing Protocol · Version: 0.1.1 · Editing Protocol

Private solicitors’ files — preservation and voluntary disclosure track (16 October 2026)

Do not file these as statutory FOI requests. The ICO explains that FOIA gives access to recorded information held by public authorities; a private law firm is not ordinarily covered merely because it acted as a solicitor. The appropriate first step is a written preservation notice plus a voluntary client-file/records enquiry. A subject-access request is relevant only to the requester’s own personal data, not as a general route to Mary’s deceased-estate or another client’s privileged file.

Loosemores / appellant side. The judgment says counsel for Mr Buckler were instructed by Robbins Olivey & Blake Lapthorn, agents for Loosemores of Cardiff. Loosemores later joined with Hugh James on 3 July 2023. Ask Hugh James / the current Loosemores contact channel to route the request to the historic-file custodian. Do not assume the historic file transferred or survives; require confirmation.

BP respondent / appeal side. The judgment names Linklaters & Paines as BP Properties Ltd’s solicitors for the appeal. Ask Linklaters LLP to preserve and search the 1986–87 litigation file and identify any separate title, conveyancing or first-registration files held for BP.

Masons / Pinsent Masons. Keep this as an unconfirmed, separate line. The appeal report does not name Masons as BP’s appeal solicitors. Ask whether Masons or a predecessor acted for BP in another Great House Farm transaction or title matter and request preservation only if such a file exists.

Preservation scope. Ask each firm to suspend routine destruction of responsive paper and electronic records while the matter is investigated, including off-site storage, archive indexes, closed-file registers, transfer notes, emails, counsel briefs, pleadings, hearing bundles, deeds, plans, requisitions, advice, instructions, billing narratives and retention/destruction logs. Ask for written confirmation of receipt and the steps taken. A request is not proof that a file exists or creates, by itself, a legal determination about any preservation duty.

Authority and confidentiality. Dillon LJ recorded that no grant of representation to Mary’s estate had been obtained by the July 1987 appeal. That does not establish whether a grant was issued later. Check the probate record and ask each firm what evidence of identity, estate authority, consent or court authority it requires. A preservation request can be made now while disclosure authority is clarified; do not assert a right to privileged or confidential records that has not been established.

Indemnity limitation correction. The Land Registration Act 1997, section 2, removed the 1925 Act’s special six-year-from-registration proviso and adopted a knowledge-based accrual rule; the current Land Registration Act 2002, Schedule 8 paragraph 8, uses a similar knowledge rule. This is not a conclusion that an indemnity claim is viable or in time. See GHF-E141, the registration analysis, and ICO: what FOIA covers.

Status on 16 October 2026: request drafts prepared in this workstream; do not mark as sent until a copy and send/receipt evidence are filed. Prospective search items: M-055 to M-057 in the Missing Records Register.

Status at 8 October 2026. This page is the top-level control view of the records-access campaign: what has been asked of public bodies, what has come back, where every live request stands, and what happens next, with dates. Every statement is a documented fact from the family’s correspondence unless it is labelled as a plan. Officials are identified by role, not by name. Subject-access content is private; only status is shown.

Detail lives elsewhere: the Records Access Chronology (the story, body by body), the FOI & Public-Authority Reply Register (every reply and attachment), the Programme Dashboard and the October 2026 S0 Control Register (the PRINCE2 controls).

1. The position in five lines

• Scale. Since November 2025 the family has made FOI, EIR, subject-access and complaint requests to more than twenty public bodies and archives.

• What has come back. Two Cadw survey photographs of 29 July 1988; HM Land Registry’s schedule of 43 first-registration documents (the 1969 root deed is not on it); three Royal Commission archive records on the 1988 demolition (NMR 6048941, 6048943, 6048945); Museum Wales’s Church Farm accession 63.24; and The National Archives’ identification of the House of Lords judicial papers, YHL/PO/JO/10/11/2536, item 19, BP Properties Ltd v Buckler.

• The recurring answer. “Not held”, “most likely destroyed” with no destruction record, “already answered”, or a redirect to another body. A missing record is treated as a recovery task, not as proof of what it contained. ^{🕒10-10-2026}

• Clocks. Four statutory or review deadlines fall between 26 and 28 October 2026 (Wales Office review, Cadw ATISN 27589, Vale 00211557, Land Registry subject access), with a Ministry of Defence escalation control on 28 October. One review (Vale of Glamorgan 00210772) has been outstanding since 7 July.

• Pace. Several follow-ups are drafted and waiting to go. Section 4 sets a dated outbound schedule so that nothing sits unsent.

2. Latest status by body

Status key: OVERDUE = past its date with no outcome; ACTION = the next move is ours; WAITING = with the other body; ANSWERED = a substantive reply has been received and logged.

Body	Matter / reference	Latest event	Status	Next step and date
Vale of Glamorgan Council	Internal review of 00210772 (planning and demolition file)	Review requested 7 Jul; apology 11 Sep; formal chase 7 Oct, copied to the Monitoring Officer and Data Protection Officer	OVERDUE	ICO complaint decision on 16 Oct if there is still no outcome
Vale of Glamorgan Council	00211557 (s.52, planning register, screening, 92/00671/RES)	Acknowledged 30 Sep	WAITING	Response due about 26 Oct
Vale of Glamorgan Council	2020/01590/HYB (public WhatDoTheyKnow thread)	Request of 21 Aug never logged; family deadline of 6 Oct for a logged review has passed; no reply recorded	OVERDUE	Check the thread; ICO referral if still not logged
Vale of Glamorgan Council	Scrutiny Topic Suggestion / Task and Finish request	Drafted; not yet sent	ACTION	Send 14 Oct
Welsh Government (Cadw)	ATISN 27589 (1988 listing papers, Jul–Dec 1988)	Acknowledged 1 Oct	WAITING	Response due 26 Oct
Welsh Government (Cadw)	Stage-one complaint on the 1988 listing decision (ATISN 27021)	Re-served 20 Sep, supplement 22 Sep; investigation commenced 29 Sep	WAITING	Chase only if no stage-one outcome by 20 Oct
Wales Office	26FOI 103; internal review IR/26/16	Answered 22 Sep: not held, digital search only; review acknowledged 29 Sep 🕒10-10-2026	WAITING	Review outcome due 26 Oct
HM Land Registry	N610CGV; Independent Complaints Reviewer ICR/090/26	Stage 1 and 2 not upheld; referred to the ICR 27 Sep. A 7 Oct email to the Wales Office address was returned “not supported”; the customer-support copy is logged as 261007-6799563	WAITING	Use the Land Registry contact form for future correspondence; ICR window control 18 Nov
HM Land Registry	Subject access request (WA231076 / WA240304)	Acknowledged 1 Oct	WAITING	Statutory deadline 28 Oct
HM Courts & Tribunals Service / MoJ	FOI internal review 260813002; SAR internal review 260904007	FOI review extended to 9 Oct; SAR review extension letter received 2 Oct	WAITING	Chase 9 Oct if silent
Ministry of Justice (Disclosure Team)	Probate records FOI of 7 Jun	Replied 30 Sep pointing to the public probate search; the request still depends on a death record that the Vale registrar could not find	WAITING	Cardiff Register Office follow-up (below)
Cardiff Register Office	Death registration, Mary Doreen (Nancy) Williams, formerly Buckler	Vale Registration Service passed the request to Cardiff on 30 Sep; no Cardiff reply	ACTION	Chase 9 Oct
Royal Commission (RCAHMW)	RC26-0375	6 Oct: all four September requests treated as fully answered; nothing withheld; section 21 applied	ACTION	Order free scans of NMR 6048945, 6048943, 6048941 on 9 Oct
Heneb / GGAT	EIR request of 8 Sep (HER GGAT02038s)	6 Oct reply pointed to Archwilio record 02038s; four source-file items not supplied; 19 Sep items deferred 🕒10-10-2026	ACTION	Follow-up 12 Oct; deferred reply expected about 3 Nov
Heneb / GGAT	Formal complaint on HER identifiers and the 1978–1995 record	Investigating officer appointed 29 Sep; five-week aim	WAITING	Outcome about 3 Nov
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales	FOI 2026-036; open point 7 on 2026-032	Answered 5 Oct (Church Farm accession 63.24); clarification received 7 Oct and answered by the family	ANSWERED	Internal review window runs 40 working days from 5 Oct
The National Archives	CAS-347296-M0V4Y1; handling review CAS-356384-B2F5L9	Disclosure 23 Sep; internal review sent 7 Oct; handling review acknowledged 28 Sep	WAITING	Obtain the House of Lords bundle YHL/PO/JO/10/11/2536 at Kew
The National Archives	Valuation Office 1910 map, Glamorgan XLVII.6 (location request)	Drafted 4 Oct; not yet sent	ACTION	Send 13 Oct
Glamorgan Archives	2026/4274; 2026/4097b	6 Oct: D153/1–8 is held by the National Library of Wales; asks where the reference D/DRa 11/120 came from	ACTION	Answer the D/DRa 11/120 question; send the parish, vestry and tithe location request 13 Oct
National Library of Wales	Research enquiry of 27 Sep on Bute records D153 / D219	No substantive reply yet; follow-up drafted	ACTION	Send 12 Oct
Companies House	Dissolved-company records: Western Ground Rents, BP Properties, Ideal Homes Wales	Drafted; not yet sent	ACTION	Send 14 Oct (destruction pause is in force)
South Wales Police	FOI 719/26 (nil) with review 1188/26; subject access request	30 Sep: identification accepted; clarification requested on the subject access request (content private)	ACTION	Send the clarification; a new one-month clock then starts
Ministry of Defence	FOI2026/09019 internal review; related subject access request	Review open since 20 Jun; subject access reply overdue since 5 Sep; complaint sent 28 Sep	OVERDUE	Escalation control 28 Oct
Crown Prosecution Service (Victim Liaison, Cymru-Wales)	Submission of 3 Sep	29 Sep: no case file located on the details given; further material sent 30 Sep	WAITING	Chase 23 Oct if silent
National Counter Terrorism Security Office	WhatDoTheyKnow request “BP vs Buckler 1987”	Two responses posted 1 Oct; not yet read	ACTION	Read and log both responses
Stephen Doughty MP’s office	Casework on N610CGV	18 Sep: forwarded the Land Registry Chief Executive’s letter; the office is awaiting the Ministry of Justice	ACTION	Follow-up drafted; send 16 Oct

3. How we got here: the backstory in four phases

Phase 1 — first enquiries (November 2025 to May 2026). Early approaches to the Royal Commission, The National Archives, Glamorgan Archives, Cadw and Heneb established that archive material exists but that nobody held a complete file. The National Archives found the Manorial Documents Register return for the Manor of Llandough; the Royal Commission confirmed it holds archive items on the site. Several emails to Cadw and Land Registry addresses bounced.

Phase 2 — formal requests and first refusals (June to August 2026). Cadw released two 1988 survey photographs and said the rest of its file was “most likely destroyed”, with no destruction record. HM Land Registry did not uphold the family’s complaint at either stage and, on 30 July, released a schedule of 43 first-registration documents that does not include the 1969 root deed. Museum Wales answered “not held” twice, and released records it had already found only after a new request number. The Ministry of Justice treated a court-records request as a subject access request. ^{🕒10-10-2026}

Phase 3 — escalation and consolidation (September 2026). The family referred the Land Registry matter to the Independent Complaints Reviewer, opened a Cadw stage-one complaint and a Heneb complaint, and chased the Vale internal review. The National Archives identified the House of Lords judicial papers for BP Properties Ltd v Buckler. On 28 September the family served preservation notices on every holder of likely records, and the Wales Office, Royal Commission and National Library of Wales acknowledged them.

Phase 4 — control and pace (October 2026). Replies have arrived from Museum Wales (5 October), the Royal Commission, Heneb and Glamorgan Archives (6 October). The programme moved to PRINCE2 7 controls, with HubSpot as the private execution ledger and this wiki as the public record. The task now is to turn each drafted follow-up into a sent request on a fixed schedule, and to end every avenue in one of four states: recovered and verified; not found after a defined search; externally blocked; or closed with a recorded reason. ^{🕒10-10-2026}

4. Forward plan: the next 30 days

Plan, not fact. Outbound items go to one body per message and never to several bodies at once. At most three requests go out on any working day, each to a different body. Dates move only by recorded decision; statutory dates never move.

Date	Action	Body	Type
Fri 9 Oct	Chase if no review received (extension expires today)	HMCTS / MoJ (260813002)	Chase
Fri 9 Oct	Order free scans: NMR 6048945, 6048943, 6048941	Royal Commission (RC26-0375)	Order
Fri 9 Oct	Chase the transferred death-registration request	Cardiff Register Office	Chase
Fri 9 Oct	Reply with a short description of the matter (two firms have asked what the enquiry concerns)	Two firms of solicitors	Reply
Mon 12 Oct	Follow-up on the four missing source-file items for GGAT02038s 🕒10-10-2026	Heneb (HER)	Follow-up
Mon 12 Oct	Ask for the D153/1–8 check (Glamorgan Archives has redirected this to the Library)	National Library of Wales	Follow-up
Tue 13 Oct	Location request: parish, vestry, tithe and enclosure records	Glamorgan Archives	FOI
Tue 13 Oct	Location request: Valuation Office 1910 map, Glamorgan XLVII.6	The National Archives	FOI
Wed 14 Oct	Request for dissolved-company records	Companies House	Request
Wed 14 Oct	Scrutiny Topic Suggestion / Task and Finish request	Vale of Glamorgan Council	Scrutiny route
Fri 16 Oct	Decide on ICO complaint over the overdue review 00210772	Information Commissioner	Decision
Fri 16 Oct	Woodland decision record (the private-sale offer)	Forest of Cardiff	Decision
Fri 16 Oct	Follow-up on the Ministry of Justice reply	Stephen Doughty MP’s office	Follow-up
Tue 20 Oct	Chase only if there is no stage-one outcome 🕒10-10-2026	Welsh Government (Cadw complaint)	Chase
Fri 23 Oct	Chase if silent: FOI of 24 September on the March 1983 warehouse fire	Heneb	Chase
Mon 26 Oct	Due: internal review IR/26/16; ATISN 27589; Vale 00211557	Wales Office; Welsh Government; Vale	Statutory
Wed 28 Oct	Due: subject access request. Escalation control for the Ministry of Defence	HM Land Registry; MoD	Statutory
Tue 3 Nov	Heneb complaint outcome (five-week aim) and deferred reply on the 19 Sep email	Heneb	Due
Wed 18 Nov	Independent Complaints Reviewer window control; the latest outer date is about 25 Nov	HM Land Registry / ICR	Control
Fri 18 Dec	Gate G0: approve, revise or stop the next stage	Programme	Gate

Reporting rhythm

• Every Friday: this page is updated with the week’s replies, sends and changed dates (a checkpoint report in PRINCE2 terms).

• First Monday of the month: the monthly Highlight Report.

• Rule: an acknowledgement is not a result. A request counts as complete only when its acceptance test is met (see the October S0 Control Register).

5. Reading queue (received, not yet read or logged)

• Two National Counter Terrorism Security Office responses on WhatDoTheyKnow, posted 1 October.

• The Landmark Chambers reply to the 28 September preservation notice.

• The HMCTS extension letters of 9 September and 2 October (PDF attachments).

• The Land Registry Chief Executive’s letter to the MP (260900), which should be added to the Evidence Library.

See also: Missing Records Register · Where Things Stand · Project Plan · Evidence Library ^{🕒10-10-2026}

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