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Change to FOI Act
JFP Consultant Ltd made this Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Justice
The request was refused by Ministry of Justice.
From: JFP Consultant Ltd
17 June 2010
Dear Ministry of Justice,
In the "wash-up" of the last parliament a change was made to the
FOI Act granting an absolute ban on all communications with the
royal family and royal household. I do not recall any prior public
discussion about this change and neither do I think the change is
in the best interests of the royal family or the public. The change
also conflicts with the Coalition Government's desire for
transparency.
I request the following:
1) A copy of the revised wording of the FOI Act.
2) Any Government paper that states who proposed the change,
discusses the reason(s) for the change and/or recommended that the
change be made.
Yours faithfully,
Jim Pragnell
From: Data Access & Compliance Unit
Ministry of Justice
17 June 2010
This is an Auto Reply from the Data Access & Compliance Unit.
Thank you for your e-mail.
If your message was a request for information please be advised that your
request is being dealt with and you will receive a written acknowledgement
shortly.
Data Access & Compliance Unit
Information Directorate
Ministry of Justice
6th Floor, Zone B, Postal Point 6.23
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
Fax: 0203 334 2245
E-mail: [email address]
This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
17 July 2010
Dear Data Access & Compliance Unit,
CHANGE TO FOI ACT
In accordance with the law you should have replied to my request
for information by 16 July 2010.
Please advise when I can expect to receive a reply.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Data Access & Compliance Unit
Ministry of Justice
19 July 2010
John,
Please see the email below from Mr Pragnell
show quoted sections
From: JFP Consultant Ltd
23 July 2010
Dear Data Access & Compliance Unit,
Another week has gone by and still I have not received a reply from
you, which under the law I should have received by 16 July.
Please reply without any further delay.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Data Access & Compliance Unit
Ministry of Justice
23 July 2010
John,
Please see the email below from Mr Pragnell
show quoted sections
From: JFP Consultant Ltd
29 July 2010
Dear Data Access & Compliance Unit,
John (whoever you are),
You should have by law replied to my request for information dated
17 June by 16 July. You are now 2 weeks late in replying. I have
sent you two reminders and this is the third. So far I have not
received any communication from you at all, apart from computer
generated replies.
Please let me know by return when you expect to reply to my request
for information.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: JFP Consultant Ltd
11 August 2010
Dear Data Access & Compliance Unit,
My request for information under the heading "Change to FOI Act"
should have been responded to by 16 July 2010. Your response is now
nearly a month late despite several reminders from me. I have not
received any apology from you or an explanation for the delay.
Your dilatory and inconsiderate performance is inexcusable and I
should be pleased to receive the information requested or an
explanation for the delay by return.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: JFP Consultant Ltd
22 August 2010
Dear Ministry of Justice,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Ministry of Justice's
handling of my FOI request 'Change to FOI Act'.
On 16 June 2010 I requested information about changes to the FOI
Act made by the last government in it's wash-up legislation and
have not yet had a response, even to explain the delay or give an
apology despite almost weekly reminders.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ch...
Yours faithfully,
Jim Pragnell
From: Over, Darren (ARU)
Ministry of Justice
23 August 2010
Internal Review IR/66815/10
Data Access & Compliance Unit
Information Directorate
Zone 6 B
Post point 6.25
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
T 020 3334 5493
F 020 3334 2245
E [email address]
www.justice.gov.uk
23-AUG-10 Our Ref:IR/66815/10
Dear Jim Pragnell,
Thank you for your correspondence of August 22, 2010, in which you asked
for an Internal Review into handling of your request for information
with reference number FOI/ 66815 (Old reference).
Your request for an Internal Review is being handled in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be passed to the Unit that
will carry out this process.
You will be contacted separately by the person conducting the review but
in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any
queries. Please quote Ref: IR/66815/10 in all future correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Over
(Sent on behalf of Roger Davies)
Data Access and Compliance Unit
This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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From: Harlow, Peter
Ministry of Justice
3 September 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell
Please find the enclosed response to your Freedom of Information request
Ref: FOI/66082/10
Regards
Peter Harlow | Data Access & Compliance Unit|
Ministry of Justice | 102 Petty France | London | SW1H 9AJ
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
4 September 2010
Dear Harlow, Peter,
I submitted my request for information on 16 June and 2 months
later I still had not received a reply. I therefore requested an
internal review on 22 August and was advised by Darren Over, on
behalf of Roger Davies, that the review has been given the
reference IR/66815/10. I trust that this review is still ongoing.
When giving me the result of this review please confirm that the
information I requested is contained in a variety of sources and
not in a single source file. If, as suggested in your reply of 3
September, the information is scattered among a number of people, I
would find this to be a very inefficient way of working.
With regard to your reply and subject to the results of the
internal review, I narrow my question as suggested to the
following:
Please provide copies of the final versions of advice to Ministers
and final papers for ministerial meetings in relation to exemptions
from the FOI Act 2000 for communications with the Royal Family and
Royal Household.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Harlow, Peter
Ministry of Justice
4 September 2010
Dear Sender
I will now be out of the office. I will be returning on Tuesday 07/9/10.
If you have any urgent queries please forward them to
[MoJ request email]
Many Thanks
Peter.
This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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From: Davies, Roger
Ministry of Justice
7 September 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell,
Please find attached the response to your request for an Internal Review
into the delays that you were experiencing regarding your request for
information under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
<<Mr Pragnell IR.doc>>
Yours sincerely
R A Davies
Roger Davies | Internal Review and Appeals Officer
Data Access & Compliance Unit | Ministry of Justice 6th Floor, point 6.23
| 102 Petty France | London | SW1H 9AJ
Tel: 020 3334 5493
E-mail: [email address]
This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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is not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy
all
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From: Over, Darren (ARU)
Ministry of Justice
8 September 2010
Freedom of Information Request FOI/67055/10
Data Access & Compliance Unit
Information Directorate
Zone 6 B
Post point 6.25
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
T 020 3334 5309
F 020 3334 2245
E [email address]
www.justice.gov.uk
08-SEP-10 Our Ref:FOI/67055/10
Dear Jim Pragnell,
SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Request
Thank you for your correspondence of September 4, 2010, in which you
asked for information about exemption to the FOIA in relation to the
Royal Family under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) from the
Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
You will receive a response from us by October 1, 2010. Your request has
been passed to the appropriate business unit within the MoJ, and they
will write to you with their decision by this date.
The FOIA does provide a number of exemptions. A qualified exemption
requires that before relying on it we must consider the public interest
test. If the information you have requested is covered by a qualified
exemption(s) under FOIA, the Department is allowed to take longer than
20 working days to respond. This is because in such circumstances we are
required to consider the public interest issues when deciding whether or
not to disclose the information requested.
If more time is needed to consider the public interest issues under a
qualified exemption(s), we will write to you and inform you of the
revised date you can expect to receive a response to your request.
If you have any queries regarding this request please do not hesitate to
contact us. Please quote ref: FOI/67055/10 in all future correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Over
(Sent on behalf of Richard Szadura)
Data Access and Compliance Unit
This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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From: Chalcraft, Craig
Ministry of Justice
30 September 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell / what do they know
Please see attached letter
Kind regards
Craig
Craig Chalcraft
Policy Advisor | Information Policy Division, FOI Team
Information Directorate | Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France | London | SW1H 9AJ
[email address]
This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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all
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This e-mail (whether you are the sender or the recipient) may be
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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
5 October 2010
Dear Chalcraft, Craig,
I refer to my FOI request dated 17 June and your response dated 30
September 2010. You say that my request may be exempt from
disclosure under section 35(1) (a) and (b) of the Act and that you
require more time to consider the balance of public interest.
I would point out that I have not requested copies of ministerial
communications or details about the formulation of government
policy. I simply want to know who requested the change to the FOI
Act, for what reason and who recommended that the change be made.
The public interest in disclosing this information is compelling. I
advise that if the information I want is contained in a document
that includes information that is covered by section 35 (1) then I
would accept being told what I want without receiving a copy of the
whole document.
I have already been fobbed off twice by the MoJ. Firstly you said
that you could not provide me with the information because it would
take more than 3.5 days to locate. In my experience of working in
offices it is normal to have a main file for each topic/subject and
it should take no more than 3.5 hours to locate the info I
requested. I did not complain about this but refined my request.
Secondly I asked for an internal review about the way my request
had been handled (it took 78 days to reply) and was told on 7
September that there had been unavoidable delays in responding due
to an excessive search to ascertain if my info was available.
However, this search did not result in me getting any information.
Nevertheless, I have not complained.
If you are thinking of fobbing me off for a third time, I would
request that you please think again.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Chalcraft, Craig
Ministry of Justice
6 October 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell
Thank you for your email dated 5 October. I will take into careful
consideration the fact your are primarily interested in who requested the
change to Section 37 of the Freedom of Information Act and you would like
this should the remaining information be exempt.
Yours sincerely
Craig Chalcraft
Craig Chalcraft
Policy Advisor | Information Policy Division, FOI Team
Information Directorate | Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France | London | SW1H 9AJ
020 3334 5234
[email address]
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From: Chalcraft, Craig
Ministry of Justice
28 October 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell
In my letter dated 30 September I explained that I was engaging Section
10(3) of the Freedom of Information Act so that a public interest test
could be completed and a response would be due today, (Thursday 28
October).
Unfortunately there has been an administrative delay and I will be unable
to respond within the agreed deadline. I apologise for this delay,
however, I will respond on Friday 29 October.
Yours sincerely
Craig Chalcraft
Craig Chalcraft
Policy Advisor | Information Policy Division, FOI Team
Information Directorate | Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France | London | SW1H 9AJ
020 3334 5234
[email address]
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From: Chalcraft, Craig
Ministry of Justice
29 October 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell
Please see attached letter
Kind regards
Craig
Craig Chalcraft
Policy Advisor | Information Policy Division, FOI Team
Information Directorate | Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France | London | SW1H 9AJ
020 3334 5234
[email address]
This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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is not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy
all
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could be intercepted and read by someone else. Please bear that in
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
30 October 2010
Dear Chalcraft, Craig,
Your department really should not be so secretive and deferential.
I will seek an internal review of your decision in due course and
if that is not succesful I will refer the matter to the Information
Commissioner.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: JFP Consultant Ltd
30 October 2010
Data Access and Compliance Unit
Information Directorate
Ministry of Justice
6th Floor, Zone B
102 Petty France
London SW1H 9AJ
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to request an internal review of the Ministry of
Justice's decision in respect of my FOI request titled 'Change to
FOI Act'. The decision is set out in the Ministry’s letter dated 29
October 2010 signed by Craig Chalcroft.
On 16 June 2010 I requested information about changes to the FOIA
made by the last government in its wash-up legislation. The
information I requested was any Government paper that states who
proposed the change to the FOIA, discusses the reason(s) for the
change and/or recommended that the change be made.
In a subsequent communication dated 5 October I pointed out that I
have not requested copies of ministerial communications or details
about the formulation of government policy. I simply want to know
who requested the change to the FOIA, for what reason and who
recommended that the change be made. I advised that if the
information I want is contained in a document that includes
information that is covered by section 35 (1) of the FOIA then I
would accept being told what I want without receiving a copy of the
whole document.
No information has been released to me on the grounds that it is
exempt from disclosure under Sections 35(1)(a) & (b), 37(1)(a),
40(2), 41(1) and 42(2) of the FOIA. I comment on the
unreasonableness of these grounds as follows.
Section 35(1)(a) and (b)
The information that I want is an explanation of how the change to
the FOIA came about and for what reason. I am not after complete
copies of ministerial communications or the like. The information
can easily be extracted from such documents and released to me.
This limited information is clearly in the public interest and will
lead to a better public understanding of how such changes come
about.
I do not accept the contention that advice given openly leads to
poorer quality policy making. If anything advice given in secret
encourages Ministers to be duplicitous.
Section 37(1)(a)
The Monarch and Royal Household are public servants paid for out of
the public purse and hence proper scrutiny of their affairs is in
the public interest. MPs wanted exemptions from the FOIA but this
was refused. When the transparency was lifted we learnt about the
MPs expenses scandal, a fact that was clearly in the public
interest to know (and incidentally also in the long term interest
of MPs).
The information that I have requested can in no way be described as
“sensitive” and if released would not prejudice the Sovereign’s
political neutrality or ability to advise the Government in an
appropriate manner.
Section 40
The information that I have requested would not reveal the names of
Senior Civil Service officials.
Section 42(1)
The information that I have requested is not privileged material in
the legal sense of this term.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ch...
Yours faithfully,
Jim Pragnell
From: Over, Darren (ARU)
Ministry of Justice
1 November 2010
Internal Review IR/67766/10
Data Access & Compliance Unit
Information Directorate
Zone 6 B
Post point 6.25
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
T 020 3334 5152
F 020 3334 2245
E [email address]
www.justice.gov.uk
01-NOV-10 Our Ref:IR/67766/10
Dear Jim Pragnell,
Thank you for your correspondence of October 30, 2010, in which you
asked for an Internal Review into handling of your request for
information with reference number FOI/ 67055 (Old reference).
Your request for an Internal Review is being handled in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be passed to the Unit that
will carry out this process.
You will be contacted separately by the person conducting the review but
in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any
queries. Please quote Ref: IR/67766/10 in all future correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Over
(Sent on behalf of Katharine Banaghan)
Data Access and Compliance Unit
This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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This e-mail (whether you are the sender or the recipient) may be
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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
16 November 2010
Dear Over, Darren (ARU),
Reference your communication of 1 November, I advise that I have
not yet been contacted by the person who will conduct the internal
review that I have requested (FOI/67055 and IR/67766/10). The
review should normally be completed within 20 days and we are now
over three quarters of the way through this period.
I hope that this does not mean that once again in my case you will
miss the deadline.
Please advise if the review is currently on track.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Over, Darren (ARU)
Ministry of Justice
17 November 2010
Dear Kat,
Please see the email below from Mr Pragnell.
show quoted sections
From: Banaghan, Katharine
Ministry of Justice
17 November 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell
Thank you for your correspondence relating to your request for an
internal review to Freedom of Information Act case reference FOI/67055.
I can confirm that your request for an Internal Review (ref. IR/67766)
is being handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000
and that a response will be issued in due course.
Kind regards,
Katharine
Katharine Banaghan- Senior FOI Case Advisor
Data Access and Compliance Unit
show quoted sections
From: Banaghan, Katharine
Ministry of Justice
26 November 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell,
I am writing to you with regard to your request for an Internal Review in
relation to your previous Freedom of Information request; reference
FOI/67055/10.
I am sorry to inform you that we will not be able to respond to you within
20 working days. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) advises that
most internal reviews should be completed within 20 working days, and that
only exceptional cases should take longer than this. The ICO considers
that no case should take longer than 40 working days. More information on
this is available via the ICO website:
[1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/...
I apologise for this delay in providing you with a response and hope to be
able to provide you with a reply to your request for an Internal Review as
soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Katharine
Katharine Banaghan
Data Access and Compliance Unit- Ministry of Justice | 6.23 | 102 Petty
France | London | SW1H 9AJ
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
3 December 2010
Dear Banaghan, Katharine,
The FOI Act only allows you to exceed the 20 days response time in
exceptionally complex cases. My case is not complex which means
that you are now late. Please respond to my request without further
delay.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Banaghan, Katharine
Ministry of Justice
3 December 2010
Thank you for your email. I am currently out of the office.
If you have a general query regarding FoIA, EIR or DPA or you are emailing
in reference to a new case, please forward your email to the DACU inbox:
[email address]
If you need to speak to someone about a specific case, please call Kate
Balding on 0203 334 5341 or email [email address].
Thank you,
Katharine
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
18 December 2010
Dear Ministry of Justice,
I requested an internal review on 30 October, which should have
been responded to within 20 days that is by 20 November. You
replied by saying that in certain cases the FOI Act allows you 40
days to respond. However, my case is not complex and the 40 days is
not applicable. Even if my case was complex, you should have
responded by 10 December. You are late by 28 days in my reckoning
and by 8 days in yours.
I would appreciate receiving your response without further delay.
Yours faithfully,
Jim Pragnell
From: Banaghan, Katharine
Ministry of Justice
21 December 2010
Dear Mr Pragnell,
Thank you for your email of 18th December 2010 regarding the time taken
to respond to your request for an internal review into your previous
Freedom of Information request (reference FOI/67055/10).
I can confirm that I am currently still in the process of reviewing your
original request, both in relation to the way this case was handled and
the basis of the original decision for this request. I apologise for
the delay in providing you with a substantive reply to your internal
review and will respond as soon as possible.
I am sorry for any inconvenience this delay has caused.
Kind regards,
Katharine Banaghan
Data Access and Compliance Unit
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
23 January 2011
Dear Banaghan, Katharine,
The delay has now extended to 50 working days, which I find totally
unacceptable.
If when you do find the time to respond to my request and should it
be unreasonably in the negative, then as well as referring the
matter to the Information Commissioner I will also ask the
Commissioner to investigate why the MoJ systemically (in my case)
ignores the timescales laid down in the FOI Act.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Banaghan, Katharine
Ministry of Justice
24 January 2011
Dear Mr Pragnell
I am sorry for the continued delay in providing you a response to your
request for an internal review, our reference IR/67766.
I can confirm that the Department is still processing your request and I
hope to be able to provide a substantive reply as soon as possible. I
will write again by a fortnight today in the event we are unable to
provide you with a full response before this date.
I am very sorry again for the delay and any inconvenience caused.
Yours sincerely,
Katharine
Katharine Banaghan
Data Access and Compliance Unit
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Simon Stone left an annotation ( 8 February 2011)
I have just come across this request and it is absolutely unbelievable. Almost 8 months have passed and the Ministry of Justice have still failed to provide an answer to a straightforward question.
Well done to you Jim for persevering with this.
From: JFP Consultant Ltd
9 February 2011
Dear Banaghan, Katharine,
It is now more than a fortnight since you wrote on 24 January 2011.
I can't believe that you need more time, surely?
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: JFP Consultant Ltd
21 February 2011
Dear Banaghan, Katharine,
When am I going to get an answer to my request?
I'm getting increasingly frustrated and you must be quite
embarrased. At least I hope you are.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Banaghan, Katharine
Ministry of Justice
21 February 2011
Thank you for your email.
I am now out of office on leave until Tuesday 22nd Feb 2011.
If your query relates to a current FoIA or DPA case or requires urgent
attention please contact Kate.Holliday whilst I am away:
[email address] (tel. 0203 334 5151)
If you are emailing about a new Freedom of Information Act, Data
Protection Act or Environmental Information Regulations request, please
forward your correspondence to:
[email address].
Many thanks,
Katharine
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From: Banaghan, Katharine
Ministry of Justice
3 March 2011
Response to Internal Review 67766.doc
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IR 67766 Information.doc
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Dear Mr Pragnell,
Please find attached the response to your request for an Internal Review
of your Freedom of Information request and information for disclosure -
our reference IR/67766.
I hope you received my telephone message earlier this week; as per my
previous correspondence, I apologise for the delay in providing this
reply.
Kind regards,
Katharine
Katharine Banaghan
Data Access and Compliance Unit- Ministry of Justice | 6.23 | 102 Petty
France | London | SW1H 9AJ
<<Response to Internal Review_67766.doc>> <<IR_67766_Information.doc>>
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From: JFP Consultant Ltd
10 March 2011
Dear Katharine Banaghan,
I refer to your letter dated 3 March 2011 in response to my
communication of 30 October 2010 requesting an Internal Review.
I am not satisfied with the result of your Internal Review but
before I apply to the Information Commissioner’s Office under
Section 50 of the FOIA, I should be pleased to receive your
response to the following points.
Section 35(1)(a) and (b)
As I explained in my communication of 30 October 2010, the
information that I want is simply an explanation of how the changes
to the FOIA came about and for what reason. This information has
nothing to do with the formulation or development of Government
policy covered by the FOIA. It concerns the development of the FOIA
itself. There is a distinction between the two, which I don’t think
you have recognised.
The stakeholders that you refer to are likely to be members inside
the Royal Household and the Ministry of Justice, not outside
individuals. As the changes to the FOIA affect the Royal Household
there is a public interest in knowing why the changes were proposed
and by whom. This is far more important than speculating whether
the representations about the changes by these “insiders” would
have been expressed less candidly if made public.
When the changes to the FOIA are implemented, the exemptions from
the FOIA will be extended to more members of the Royal Household,
to the detriment in my opinion of the public and the Royal
Household. The public has the right to know how these changes came
about.
Craig Chalcroft stated in his letter to me of 29 October 2010 that
there is a public interest in the disclosure of information which
leads to a better public understanding of how Government develops
policy relating to Freedom of Information and the Royal Household.
I agree entirely with this statement, without qualification.
Section 37(1)(a)
The information that I have requested has nothing to do with the
normal communications between the Queen and Government and it would
be wrong to infer that it does.
Section 40(2)
I stated in my communication of 30 October 2010 that the
information that I have requested would not reveal the names of
Senior Civil Service officials. I do not think that you have
understood this point. What I would like to know is whether the
changes to the FOIA emanated from the Royal Household, the Ministry
of Justice or somewhere else. I don’t particularly want to know the
names of the people involved. Reference to the Data Protection Act
therefore is not relevant.
Section 42(1)
I do not want to have details of the legal advice relating to the
changes to the FOIA.
Summary
I have simply requested to know who (by which I mean what
organisation or body) requested the changes to the FOIA and for
what reason and who recommended that the changes be made. There is
an overwhelmingly public interest in the disclosure of this
information.
The information that I have requested can be given to me in papers
with the names of any individuals redacted. Alternatively, the
information can be given to me in a specifically drafted letter
that includes all the information that is considered permissible,
without any official papers having to be released.
I would find it difficult to accept that you are not able to do one
or other of these alternatives, but if I were wrong then I would
ask the Information Commissioner’s Office to give its decision on
the matter.
Please let me know if you are prepared to give me the information
that I have requested and if so when I will likely receive it.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Pragnell
From: Banaghan, Katharine
Ministry of Justice
11 March 2011
Dear Mr Pragnell
I am sorry that you are dissatisfied with the result of your Internal
Review, reference IR/67766/10. I can confirm, however, that the next
stage is for you to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office at
the following address:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
You may also find the following link useful:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/freedom...
I am sorry that I have been unable to assist you further on this
occasion.
Kind regards,
Kat
Katharine Banaghan- Disclosure Specialist
Data Access and Compliance Unit
show quoted sections
Ganesh Sittampalam left an annotation ( 3 May 2012)
This request was the subject of a decision notice by the Commissioner in November 2011: http://www.ico.gov.uk/~/media/documents/...
The Commissioner found that the timing of the request, before a decision had been taken on whether to bring the changes to s37 into force, tipped the balance of the public interest in favour of withholding the information (para 40).
Given that the policy decision is no longer live, I have submitted a fresh request for the same information: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/mi...
My request is currently being subjected to a very similar pattern of delay to that seen in this request.
JFP Consultant Ltd left an annotation ( 3 May 2012)
Ganesh Sittampalam has submitted a fresh request for information on this subject. He and others might like to know that I have appealed the ICO's decision refusing disclosure and the Tribunal hearing will be held on 11 and 12 June.
I will be representing myself at the hearing, which is open to the public.
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Alex Skene left an annotation (17 June 2010)
http://foiwiki.com/foiwiki/index.php/FOI...
It was debated (briefly!) in the Lords during the debates on the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill 2010
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=...
Link to this