25 May 2010
Mr Houston
Freedom of Information Unit
2nd Floor
Email: [FOI #30287 email]
Royal Mail Sheffield
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR
[email address]
www.royalmail.com
Dear Mr Houston
Re: Freedom of Information Act - Internal Review
I am writing in response to your email dated 26th April 2010 in which you requested a
review of Royal Mail Group’s response to your request for information dated 7th March
2010. Royal Mail Group has reviewed this request in line with its obligations under the
Freedom of Information Act and I am writing to inform you of the outcome of this review.
In your request you asked for the fol owing information:
“I wish to be supplied, under the freedom of information act, details of all bonus payments
made to al managers, acting managers & directors within the RG postal area on the
payroll, from 1 Jan 2006 to Dec 2009.”
In our reply dated 7th April 2010, Kate Fearn confirmed that this information was held by
Royal Mail but was considered to be exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) of the
Freedom of Information Act.
In your request for an internal review of this decision you indicated that you could see no
valid reason why Royal Mail Group had not disclosed this information. Royal Mail Group’s
internal review panel has reviewed this request and agreed that the information requested
in your email of the 7th March 2010 is covered by section 40(2) of the FOIA. Section 40
protects personal data, linked with the Data Protection Act 1998; information must not be
released where to do so would breach any of the data protection principles. Information is
exempt from disclosure if it is personal data and to release it would contravene any of the
data protection principles set out in the Data Protection Act 1998.
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 3
Cont…
We believe that the details of bonus payments that you have requested are the personal
data of identifiable individuals. We believe that the release of this information into the
public domain would breach the principle of fair and lawful processing. It is only in cases
where the public interest considerations outweigh the interests of the data subject that
personal data can processed with a view to disclosure. The review panel felt that disclosure
of this information would cause unwarranted prejudice to the individuals concerned. The
employees covered by this request do not occupy senior positions within Royal Mail’s
management structure or make policy decisions within Royal Mail. These members of staff
would have a reasonable expectation that this information would not be released into the
public domain.
The review panel agreed that Section 40 (2) FOIA applies on the basis that
the first condition in Section 40 (3) (a) (i) of the FOIA applies. Section 40 is an absolute
exemption in this regard and the public interest test under the FOI Act does not apply. The
review panel was satisfied therefore, that the information which you requested should
continue to be withheld.
In your request for an internal review, you wrote that you would be happy to accept
information without job titles included. The review panel considered your original request in
which job titles were requested. If you wish to submit a new request for information, we
wil of course consider that request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. It
may be possible to provide anonymous data, for example by providing the number of
payments within broad bands, without details of specific payments to individuals. However,
any new request would need full and careful consideration to ensure that no personal data
was wrongly disclosed. If you wish to submit a new request for information, please contact
me directly or write to us using the contact details shown above.
I apologise that the information you requested cannot be provided but hope that this
response suitably explains our reasons for withholding this data. In the event that you are
not satisfied with this reply, you also have a right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner who can be contacted at the following 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 2 of 3
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 3 of 3
