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Scientology: CCHR: FTP complaints

William Thackeray made this Freedom of Information request to General Medical Council

The request was refused by General Medical Council.

From: William Thackeray

27 August 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please provide details of complaints made to the GMC's Fitness to
Practise Panel (and its predecessor bodies) by the UK limited
company 'Citizens Commission on Human Rights (UK) Ltd' (company
number 04085083), in the past 10 years.

You have already supplied details of the 2 complaints made by CCHR
(UK) Ltd which proceeded to a hearing before the Panel, so I wish
to exclude those cases from the scope of this request.

However, I wish to include in the scope of this request complaints
which did not proceed to a hearing before the Panel.

I note that as CCHR (UK) Ltd is a corporate body, and not a living
individual, it cannot be said to have 'personal data' in respect of
the DPA.

I accept that the personal details of individuals such as doctors
and patients concerned in the complaints (if any such complaints
exist) may need to be redacted.

Yours faithfully,

William Thackeray

Link to this

From: Jennifer Caunce
General Medical Council

28 August 2009

28 August 2009

F09/2472/ME

Dear Mr Thackeray

Information Request

Thank you for your e-mail of 27 August in which you request information in
accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA).

We will consider your request and you will normally receive the
information you seek within the 20 working day limit set by the FOIA.

The FOIA lists a number of exemptions that may prevent the release of
part, or all, of the information that you have requested. We will make an
assessment of the requested information and if it is subject to an
exemption you will be informed of this, together with details of your
right of appeal.

Your request has been allocated to Mr Mark Ellen. If you have any queries
concerning your request you can contact Mr Ellen on 0161 923 6347 or
e-mail: [1][email address]

Yours sincerely

Miss Jenny Caunce

Temporary Information Access Team Administrator

0161 923 6305

[email address]

General Medical Council

5th Floor

St. James' Buildings

79 Oxford Street

Manchester

M1 6FQ

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Link to this

From: Mark Ellen (0161 923 6347)
General Medical Council

17 September 2009

Dear Mr Thackeray

Thank you for your e-mail of 27 August 2009.

I note that you have previously requested this information (your e-mail
of 29 June 2009 refers). In her e-mail (ref. F09/2365/LG) of 31 July
2009 my colleague, Louise Gormley, responded to that request.

In her e-mail, Ms Gormley, confirms that there are two complaints made
by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) which have led, at
least in part, to Fitness to Practise Panel hearings. Ms Gormley then
goes on to explain why we consider that any further information held
about complaints made by the CCHR is subject to exemptions listed in the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

You have appealed against the decision set out in Ms Gormley's e-mail
and, as you are aware, Julian Graves, Information Access Manager, is
currently considering that appeal. Mr Graves will be in touch with you
in due course regarding this.

Yours sincerely

Mark Ellen
Information Access Team
Direct Line:0161 923 6347

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Link to this

From: William Thackeray

17 September 2009

Dear Mark,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of General Medical
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Scientology: CCHR: FTP
complaints'.

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

My reason for requesting an internal review is:

As you may know, the previous request for similar information
progressed to the Information Commissioner's Office. The ICO
determined that the previous request did not cover the precise
information to which I refer above. They suggested that I send you
another request asking specifically for details of complaints made
by CCHR which did not progress to the FTP panel - so that's what
I'm doing.

If you want to decline this request then that's up to you, of
course, but if so then I'll be appealing to the ICO on the grounds
set out in the previous request, primarily that the Data Protection
Act exemption to FOI does not apply here, because CCHR (UK) Ltd is
a corporate body, not a natural person, and therefore does not have
'personal data'.

Yours faithfully,

William Thackeray

Link to this

From: Julian Graves (0161 923 6351)
General Medical Council

18 September 2009

Dear Mr Thackeray

Thank you for your email below.

This matter will receive my attention in line with the GMC Comments and
Complaints Procedure for Subject Access and Information Requests. This
sets a target response time of 20 working days. As you are aware I am
currently experiencing a heavy workload however I will endeavour to
respond to you within this timeframe.

Yours sincerely

Julian Graves
Information Access Manager
General Medical Council

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Link to this

From: William Thackeray

18 September 2009

Many thanks, Julian.

Yours sincerely,

William

Link to this

From: Julian Graves (0161 923 6351)
General Medical Council

9 October 2009

Our ref: F09/2472/ME

Dear Mr Thackeray

On reviewing this particular request I note that it is extremely similar
to a request that you sent to us on 29 June 2009 (given our reference
F09/2365/LG) You will be aware that I responded on 8 October 2009 to
your appeal in respect of that particular request and given that the
same principles apply, I rely on the same exemptions and explanation
provided in that response.

As you know you have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner
should you remain dissatisfied.

Yours sincerely

Julian Graves
Information Access Manager
General Medical Council

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