Direct Communications Unit

2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF

Switchboard 020 7035 4848 Fax: 020 7035 4745 Textphone: 020 7035 4742

E-mail: [Home Office request email] Website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk

[FOI #543 email]

Mr John Walker

Our reference: 9521

Dear Mr Walker

Thank you for your e-mail dated 18^th May 2008 in which you ask for the names of those Home Office staff who are “Common Purpose” graduates, and the total expenditure by the Home Office on Common Purpose courses for each of the following years: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 to date. We are now in a position to provide you with a full reply to your request.

I am pleased to be able to disclose some of the information that you requested, although there are some restrictions on what I am able to disclose. We pay for development training for all Home Office participants on the Fast Stream programme (the Civil Service's graduate entry scheme). Four Fast Streamers (at Higher Executive Officer (Development), HEO (D)) grade have attended the Common Purpose Navigator training programme since 2004, at a cost of £3525.00 per course. They have all been promoted since, but they were Fast Streamers at the time they attended the training.

The Home Office's expenditure on Common Purpose courses was £7479 in 2004, £11891.25 in 2005, and £9911.14 in 2006. From the information we have to hand, the Home Office has not made any payments to this supplier since 2006.

However, we do not maintain a central register of those staff who have attended Common Purpose courses. The training budget is devolved to individual units and therefore, we could not obtain this information without incurring a disproportionate cost, as to do so would require us to contact every unit across the office.

Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, the Home Office is not obliged to comply with any information request where the prescribed costs of supplying you with the information exceed £600. The £600 limit applies to all central government departments and is based on work being carried out at a rate of £25 per hour, which equates to 3½ days work per request. Prescribed costs include those which cover the cost of locating and retrieving information, and preparing our response to you. They do not include considering whether any information is exempt from disclosure, overheads such as heating or lighting, or disbursements such as photocopying or postage.

In addition, it is the general policy of the Home Office not to disclose personal information about another person to a third party. This is because the Home Office has obligations under the Data Protection Act and in law generally to protect this information. Your request for the names of staff who have attended Common Purpose courses has been considered in line with the Home Office's obligations under the Freedom of Information Act. However, it has been concluded that the information you have requested is exempt under Section 40(3) of that Act. Section 40(3) of the Freedom of Information Act states that to disclose this information would breach Data Protection principles.

If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of our handling of your request by submitting your complaint within two months to the below address quoting reference 9521:

Information Rights Team
Information and Record Management Service
Home Office
4th Floor, Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Email: [email address]

During the independent review the department's handling of your information request will be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. Should you remain dissatisfied after this internal review, you will have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act.

I hope that you find this information of interest, and would like to assure you that you have been supplied with all disclosable information that the Home Office holds. Where information has been withheld, I would like to assure you that we have considered the application of exemptions with great care in this case. 

Yours sincerely

Duncan Dunsmore-Rouse

Human Resources