Ian Jackson

WDTK

Dear Mr Jackson

Thank you for your request for a review of your Freedom of Information Request 1052 (2009) which was received on 27 July 2009. You stated:-

A question I asked was tampered with to avoid it being answered. Please answer question 1 again telling me the number of dismissals every year (don't worry about the other specifics I said they were only optional) - I know you hold this information.

I confirm that I have considered your request afresh. In conducting my review I have discussed the original reply with the staff contributing to drafting it, and with the Department's central Freedom of Information Team.

As a result of these investigations I can confirm that the officer who replied to your original request in his letter to you of 20 July checked the published benefit statistics on the DWP website, paper and electronic records of responses to Parliamentary Questions and other data requests in his work area, and checked previous DWP Freedom of Information responses. I am satisfied that he also appropriately consulted analysts in relevant policy areas, but did not check sufficiently thoroughly with colleagues in Jobcentre Plus as to whether any management information reports on the numbers of dismissals were available.

I have now spoken with colleagues in Jobcentre Plus and have established that no such management information reports are routinely produced.

I can therefore confirm that although the officer replying to your request should have checked more widely than he in fact did, his conclusion that the information is not available is correct. The reason for leaving New Deal is recorded on the Labour Market System, but it has not been collated to provide the statistics you requested. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not require a public authority to create information to respond to a request. The Act bites solely on recorded information held at the time a request is received.

I have considered your allegation that the question was “tampered with” in order to avoid it being answered, and am satisfied that this is unfounded.

It is standard practice to include the text of a request verbatim in the reply, and I apologise that in this case this was not done. I am satisfied that the officer drafting the final reply merely reflected back to you in their response a slightly shortened version of your request without changing the sense or scope of it. However, this approach should in no way be interpreted as an attempt to avoid answering the request as drafted by you. In any event the information requested has been correctly identified as not held by the Department.

If you have any queries about this review please contact me quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team

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Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF www.ico.gov.uk

DWP Central Freedom of Information Team

e-mail: [DWP request email]

FOI ref no 1488 (2009)

3 September 2009