Date: 20 April 2010
Ref: RFI 5626015
Enquiries: Peter Swingler
E-Mail: [email address]
Catherine MacArthur
By Email: [FOI #21916 email]
Dear Ms Catherine MacArthur
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - Request for Information on number of compromise agreements - Application for Internal Review
I refer to our acknowledgement email dated 1 April 2010.
The Panel has today considered your appeal against the decision in relation to your request for access to information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We have also considered information from the Children Schools and Families directorate regarding the Council's response to your request.
Your original request was for information on how many compromise agreements have been signed by teachers and head teachers with a result of these members of staff losing or leaving their jobs since September 2004.
You are aware that the Panel initially considered the lateness of the response to your request for information. A reply was thereafter sent to you and you now dispute the reply you have been given by Tom Devenish, who advised you that the Council does not hold the information you request. Your appeal to the Panel expresses the opinion that, if the information is not held, then it is the Council's duty to find this information for public scrutiny.
Our decision is that your appeal is unsuccessful.
The reasons for our decision are:
You made a request for information not held by the Local Authority. The information was held by individual schools.
The Panel is aware that the Council's Access to Information Team have referred to the Part III of the Code of Practice issued in accordance with section 45 of the Act, which reads:
If the authority has reason to believe that some or all of the information requested, but which it does not hold, is held by another public authority, the authority should consider what would be the most helpful way of assisting the applicant with his or her request.
In most cases this is likely to involve:
contacting the applicant and informing him or her that the information requested may be held by another public authority;
suggesting that the applicant re-applies to the authority which the original authority believes may hold the information; and
Providing him or her with contact details for that authority.
However, in some cases the authority to which the original request is made may consider it to be more appropriate to transfer the request to another authority in respect of the information which it does not hold. In such cases, the authority should consult the other authority with a view to ascertaining whether it does in fact hold the information and, if so, whether it is obliged to confirm this under section 1(1) of the Act. If that is the case, the first authority should proceed to consider transferring the request. A request (or part of a request) should not be transferred without confirmation by the second authority that it holds the information, and will confirm as much to the applicant on receipt of a request.
The Panel takes note that, in accordance with paragraph 16 - 17 of the code, the Children, Schools and Families department of Camden confirmed to you that the information was not held, and identified the School(s) as the relevant Public Authority that holds this information.
The Panel is aware that the Children, Schools and Families department only considers using its paragraph 19 discretion to transfer requests to other public authorities if that other authority is singular and would not significantly impact on the Council's resource. In this instance they decided that your request for information did not fall within that criteria.
The Panel, having considered the matter, agrees that the information you seek is not information held by the Council. The information is information held by the School (s).
The Panel further agrees with the Children, School and Families department interpretation of the guidance issued by the Department of Constitutional Affairs (2004) Code of Practice (avaialble at http://www.foi.gov.uk/reference/imprep/codepafunc.htm#part111 that it should not transfer your request to other public authorities, for the reason given above.
If you are not satisfied with the manner in which your appeal was handled you should contact the Information Commissioner within two months of receiving this letter. The Information Commissioner will not consider complaints outside of this timeframe, except under exceptional circumstances. He can be contacted at the Information Commissioner's Office Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Peter Swingler
On behalf of the Internal Review Panel
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