foi-348: INFORMATION RELATING TO THE NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE REPORT MANAGEMENT OF ASYLUM APPLICATIONS BY THE UK BORDER AGENCY

Thank you for your letter dated 22 February in which you asked for electronic copy, in the original formats (such as plain-text, MS word etc), of any information, file notes and background research material we hold, that formed the basis/evidence of the comments and findings made in the NAO report Management of Asylum Applications by the UK Border Agency, concerning unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, including anything obtained in the associated fieldwork. This has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I apologise for the delay in responding.

We have completed our search for information and I can confirm we do hold information relevant to your request. I am able to provide you with some of the information we hold and this is enclosed.

Personal data relating to relatively junior public officials have been redacted as they are exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) (personal information) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of this exemption and its application can be found at Annex A. This exemption is absolute and, therefore, the public interest test does not apply.

We are still considering where the public interest lies under Section 33 (audit functions) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to one further piece of information we hold. As part of this, we are consulting with third parties under point 27 of the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs' Code of Practice on the discharge of public authorities' functions under Part I of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as issued under Section 45 of the Act. I hope to respond concerning this information as soon as possible but I did not want this to hold up our response with regard to the other information we hold.

A list of what information we hold, from whom and when it was obtained and whether it has been released is attached at Annex B.

I note that you have asked for an internal review of how we have handled your request. I recognise that we have not been able to respond to your request within the 20 working day period, for the reasons set out in my letter of 19 March. It would be premature, however, to carry out such a review before we have given full consideration to the information we hold and the public interest issues surrounding it. If, once I have written to you regarding our consideration of whether to release the information we are still consulting third parties about you remain unsatisfied with how we have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Annex C sets out the steps you should take.

I hope you find this response helpful.

Yours sincerely,

PP Julian Wood

Director, Corporate Affairs

Annex A

Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides that:

(1) Any information to which a request for information relates is exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject.

(2) Any information to which a request for information relates is also exempt information if-

(a) it constitutes personal data which do not fall within subsection (1), and

(b) either the first or the second condition below is satisfied.

(3) The first condition is-

(a) in a case where the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of "data" in section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene-

(i) any of the data protection principles, or

(ii) section 10 of that Act (right to prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress), and

(b) in any other case, that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene any of the data protection principles if the exemptions in section 33A(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 (which relate to manual data held by public authorities) were disregarded.

(4) The second condition is that by virtue of any provision of Part IV of the Data Protection Act 1998 the information is exempt from section 7(1)(c) of that Act (data subject's right of access to personal data).

The exemption applies because:

The information consists of the names and contact details of relatively junior public officials. The release of this information would breach the Data Protection Principles.

This exemption is absolute and the public interest test does not apply.

Annex C

Statement of Policy

Our policy is to respond to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act as helpfully and promptly as possible, having regard to the principles set out in the Act. I therefore hope you are happy with the way we have handled your request of information under the Freedom of Information Act. If you are not then you should take the following steps.

In the first instance, write to the Director, Corporate Affairs asking for an internal review of the way we handled your request. He will arrange such a review, which will be conducted by a senior member of staff who was not involved in decisions relating to your original request. Once the review has been completed we will write to you with the outcome.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF.

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