Policy Concerning Minute Taking

P. John made this Freedom of Information request to Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Waiting for an internal review by Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of their handling of this request.

From: P. John

15 April 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

please could you provide me with a copy of the policy
/guidance/procedure/code of conduct followed by Civil Servants in
BERR, when recording/minuting meetings with commercial enterprises
and/or lobbying firms?

Please indicate what minimum record of meetings must be kept in
such circumstances, and how long that data is retained?

Do any disciplinary measures apply to Civil Servants who
consistently fail to record meetings with commercial enterprises
and/or lobbying firms?

Yours faithfully,

P. John

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P. John left an annotation (15 April 2009)

See also this article on NoDPI.org for context;

https://nodpi.org/2009/04/15/kip-meek-in...

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From: Crehan Desmond (IWS)

14 May 2009

Dear Mr John,

Thank you for your request for information regarding minutes of meetings.
I have addressed each point in turn:

A copy of the policy/guidance/procedure/code of conduct followed by Civil
Servants in BERR, when recording/minuting meetings with commercial
enterprises and/or lobbying firms and indicate what minimum record of
meetings must be kept in such circumstances.

BERR does not have a specific policy, procedure or code of conduct for
minute taking.

How long that data is retained?

Information relating to record retention can be found at:

[1]http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file49819.pdf

[2]http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/recor...

Do any disciplinary measures apply to Civil Servants who consistently fail
to record meetings with commercial enterprises and/or lobbying firms?

Failure to record meetings is not a disciplinary issue.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me quoting the
reference number above.
 
 

Yours

Des Crehan

FOI Advisor

 
Appeals procedure
If you are unhappy with the result of your request for information, you
may request an internal review within two calendar months of the date of
this letter. If you wish to request an internal review please contact me.

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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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file49819.pdf
2. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/recor...

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From: Crehan Desmond (IWS)

14 May 2009

Apologies, incorrect reference applied. This response refers to FOI
09/0534

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From: P. John

16 May 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's handling of my FOI
request 'Policy Concerning Minute Taking'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/po...

The response received suggests that Civil Servants in BERR are not
required to record meetings.

The Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice for Record Keeping requires
that;

"8.2 Records of a business activity should be complete and accurate
enough to allow employees and their successors to undertake
appropriate actions in the context of their responsibilities, to

• facilitate an audit or examination of the business by anyone so
authorised,

• protect the legal and other rights of the authority, its clients
and any other person affected by its actions, and

• provide authenticity of the records so that the evidence derived
from them is shown to be credible and authoritative."

So, at a minimum I would expect Civil Servants to comply with the
Lord Chancellors code (yet the answer received makes no mention).

Given the role of BERR, recording and publishing the minutes of
meetings with commercial interests is an essential measure to
guarantee fair and democratic government.

Consequently I am surprised to find that BERR has no policy/
guidance /procedure /code of conduct for recording meetings, or
disciplinary measures for Civil Servants who consistently fail to
record meetings.

Please could I ask you to review the answers given to me?

Yours sincerely,

P. John

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From: P. John

30 September 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

please can I chase progress on this internal review?

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/po...

Yours faithfully,

P. John

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From: P. John

10 November 2009

Dear Mr. Crehan (IWS),

please can I chase progress on this FoI internal review?

It has been outstanding since May this year.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/po...

Yours sincerely,

P. John

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From: Crehan Desmond (IWS)
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

10 November 2009

I have now left the Department. Apologies is I have not had the time to
get back to you. Any outstanding cases are now being dealt with
colleagues within the fOI team. Please send any emails to the FOI request
box and someone will come back to you.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

Link to this

From: P. John

15 November 2009

Dear Sir/Madam,

please can I chase progress on this FoI internal review?

It has been outstanding since May this year.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/po...

Yours sincerely,

P. John

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Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform only: