25th June 2010
Mr D Gill
Freedom of Information Unit
2nd Floor
By Email: [FOI #26802 email]
Royal Mail Sheffield
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
[Royal Mail Group request email]
www.royalmail.com
Dear Mr Gill
Re: Freedom of Information Act Request - Internal Review
I am writing in response to your email dated 26th May 2010 which was received by us on
27th May 2010. In your email you requested an internal review of Royal Mail’s response to
your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Royal Mail Group
has reviewed this request in line with its obligations under the Act, and I am writing to
advise you of the outcome. You did not specify which of your different requests you were
seeking a review of therefore, in the interests of trying to clarify matters; we have reviewed
each of your emails.
First Email 12 January 2010
In your first email you submitted the following four requests or questions:
1)
Provide a list of the Royal mail offices/ mail centre locations that paid an extra
hourly night allowance to its Christmas temps for the whole Christmas Temp
contract period 2009.
2)
If some locations were paid an extra hourly rate for al or part of the period in
question, please could you advise me the process and deciding factors for which
locations would be paid / not paid the extra.
3)
If any locations were not given this extra allowance, the reasons why it was not paid.
If the allowance was paid for part, but not all of the period, the reasons why it was
changed.
4)
Should it be the case that some centres were paid this al owance and others were
not, please could you tell me whether you think this would be classed as an equal
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 1 of 7
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pay / discrimination in the workplace issue or not, and your reasons why/why not
this may / may not be the case.
In our response dated 9th February we provided a list of the offices where Christmas
Casual employees were paid a night allowance in response to point 1 of your request.
In answer to point 2, we informed you that the payment of allowances to casual employees
during the Christmas period was determined locally, with staffing levels managed according
to area budgets.
In answer to point 3 we informed you that the reasons for payment, or not, of additional
allowances at local level are not recorded centrally by Royal Mail. After reviewing this
request, Royal Mail is satisfied that this information is not available – the reason that
allowances were not paid would not be recorded – rather records would show when
allowances were paid.
Further in order to confirm categorically whether any records of decisions within the scope
of your request are held, it would be necessary to contact all Royal Mail offices across the
UK to search for any relevant information. This would take in excess of 18 hours and
therefore exceed the cost-limit for requests set under section 12(1) of the FOI Act. The
appropriate limit for Royal Mail Group is set at £450. This represents the estimated cost
of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether we hold the information, and in
locating, retrieving and extracting the information. To search for any records potentially
within the scope of this request across 11 operational regions and over 60 mail centres
would clearly take in excess of 18 hours and Royal Mail is not therefore obliged to proceed
with such a search.
In response to point 4, we explained the Freedom of Information Act applies to recorded
information held by Royal Mail. It does It does not oblige Royal Mail to create new
information or to answer questions where these cannot be answered by releasing existing
information. Royal Mail does not hold any recorded information that would answer your
question. We are not obliged by the FOI Act to create new information in order to answer
your query. After reviewing your request, Royal Mail is satisfied that this response was,
and is, correct.
Second Email 10 February 2010
In your second request you submitted three questions or points:
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 2 of 7
Cont…
1)
I asked you to explain whether the fact that some mail centres received an extra
night allowance and others did not would be classed as discrimination under the
Royal Mail's own company equality policy.
2)
Also, in the list of locations that you say were paid the extra allowance, Manchester
mail centre is included. As a casual employee at Manchester mail centre during
Christmas 2009, I can tell you that an extra payment was NOT given. Please could
you investigate this?
3)
You say that decisions regarding payments were made at a local level. Would this
be per centre, or per area, for example North West. If the latter is the case then I
see that Bolton and Preston supposedly received this extra payment and surely
Manchester would have come under this area.
In response to point 1 we explained in our reply dated 10th March that, as with point 4 of
your first email, no relevant recorded information is held by Royal Mail. The Freedom of
Information Act does not require Royal Mail to provide comment or opinion which is not
already recorded.
We explained that the right of access under the Freedom of Information Act only applies to
recorded information; meaning specific information recorded electronical y or in paper
documents. However, in order to try and assist you we advised that, if you required further
assistance in relation to your personal employment and pay, you could write to Royal Mail
HR Services at the following address:
Sheffield Service Centre
HR Services
Royal Mail
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
In response to point 2 we explained that night allowances were paid in error to those
Christmas Casuals who started work at Manchester Mail Centre in Mid-November.
However, as soon as this mistake came to light, Mail Centre Management informed the
casual workforce and subsequently payment of the allowance was discontinued.
In response to point 3 we advised you that the decision not to offer the night allowance at
Manchester Mail Centre was made by the Mail Centre Manager and supported by the
Regional Director Processing.
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 3 of 7
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Third Email 10 March 2010
In your third email you submitted the following two requests/questions:
1)
If you are unable to answer whether the equal workplace rights issue is valid, please
could you provide the Royal Mail statement of discrimination in the workplace
document that you use?
2)
Also, you have not clarified what you mean about "decisions being made local y" Is
this by the area, eg. Northwest, Southwest, etc, or are you saying that it is each
individual mail centre that decides.
In response to point 1, in our letter dated 12 April 2010 we confirmed that Royal Mail
Group does not have a ‘statement of discrimination in the workplace’. However, we
advised that Royal Mail Group has a Code of Business Standards which sets out the
standards of behaviour which all of its employees should show in dealings with our
customers, clients, suppliers, agents, competitors and colleagues. The code covers equal
opportunities and we provided you with both a copy of the code and a copy of Royal Mail
Group’s equal opportunities policy.
In response to point 2, we explained that by ‘local y’; we mean that decisions were made at
a regional or location level. In the case of Manchester Mail Centre the decision was made
by the Individual Mail Centre not to pay an additional allowance.
Again, we suggested that if you require any further assistance in relation to your personal
employment with Royal Mail and the pay that you received, you should write to Royal Mail
HR Services.
Email dated 12 April 2010
In your email dated 12 April you made a series of comments on the information provided
by Royal Mail in response to your previous email:
1)
"We need to ensure that ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES and customers are treated with
dignity and respect, and FEEL VALUED"
How can this be the case if there is inequality with the payment structure?
2)
"At Royal Mail Group we are working towards ensuring that equality of opportunity
is embedded in our understanding and reflected in our people"
Equality of opportunity??
3)
"ensuring that appointments, promotions, BONUSES or DISCRETIONARY
PAYMENTS are governed by our published policies, WITHOUT FAVOURITISM OR
PREJUDICE "
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 4 of 7
Cont…
* Prejudice, Favouritism. Again, if one group is given different payment/ working
conditions for doing the same job/ shift, it is hardly equality.
You did not request any further recorded information but asked for Royal Mail’s comments.
Our response dated 13 April 2010 explained again that, as with your first and second
emails, the Freedom of Information Act provides individuals or organisations with the right
to request recorded information held by Royal Mail Group. The Act does not require Royal
Mail to provide any opinion or judgement that is not already recorded. We again advised
you that any complaints or issues concerning your personal employment with Royal Mail
can be directed to Royal Mail HR Services and again provided you with the relevant phone
number and address:
HR Advice Centre - 0845 6060603
Sheffield Service Centre
HR Services
Royal Mail
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
Despite the subject heading of your email referring to an ‘internal review’, you did not
express any dissatisfaction with the handling of your earlier requests for information under
the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. Therefore, in our response dated 13 April
2010 we explained that the internal review procedure provides a review of Royal Mail
Group’s handling of requests for information and decisions taken pursuant to the Freedom
of Information Act – such as whether information is exempt from disclosure and
consideration of where the public interest lies in respect of exempt information. We
therefore, asked whether you did wish to request an internal review and, if so, asked you to
which part of your information request, or its handling, your complaint concerned.
Request for Internal Review dated 27 May 2010
In your email of 27 May you stated that you would like an internal review:
1) Please note that the points I raised for clarification in email of 12 April inst., still
remain unanswered.
2) Secondly, you asked me to confirm I had asked for an internal review. Of course I
would like an internal review. That is why I asked in the first place.
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 5 of 7
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3) You say you are unable to assist me further. This is incorrect. By not answering the
questions properly (or ambiguously) you are in breach of the Freedom of
Information Act which allows me the right to be given proper honest and concise
answers to the questions I raised. Therefore, I am sure that you are legally bound to
assist me further, if only to clarify your answers.
In response to point 1, we explained in our responses dated 13th April and 26th May 2010
that Royal Mail Group is not obliged by the Freedom of Information Act to respond to these
comments. I would again refer you to our previous replies in which we have advised you to
contact Royal Mail HR Services with any issues or concerns over your employment with
Royal Mail.
In response to points 2 and 3, we have now completed a review of your requests for
information. We believe that on all occasions where you have requested recorded
information which fal s within the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, Royal Mail has
either provided the relevant information or confirmed that it is not held. We therefore
believe that we have dealt with your requests correctly in line with our obligations under
the FOI Act.
I hope that this response suitably explains our position. In the event that you are not
satisfied with our reply to and handling of your Freedom of Information request, you also
have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at the
fol owing address:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 6 of 7
Cont…
Yours sincerely
Colin Young
Freedom of Information Manager
Company Secretary's Office
Royal Mail Group Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Registered number 4138203. Registered office: 100 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0HQ.
© Royal Mail Group Ltd 2010– Page 7 of 7
