Information about your dealings with Stonewall [Extraneous material removed]

The request was successful.

Dear Oxfordshire County Council,

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Please provide any information that you hold answering to any of the following descriptions:

1. Any application you made in 2019 or 2020 to be a “Stonewall Diversity Champion” or to be included on Stonewall’s “Workplace Equality Index,” including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please redact personal details if necessary.

2. Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in relation to either application or programme.

3. Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in 2019 or 2020 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if you claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say in broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be entitled to withhold it).

4. Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind, if no further assessment was done).

5. Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i) in 2019; (ii) in 2020, whether or not as payment for goods or services.

6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.

Yours faithfully,

Rebecca Wilde

CEO Contact, Oxfordshire County Council

Our reference:  17869 FOI

 

Dear Ms Wilde

 

Thank you for your correspondence received on 4 February 2021 in which you
requested the following information:

 

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Please
provide any information that you hold answering to any of the following
descriptions:

 

1. Any application you made in 2019 or 2020 to be a “Stonewall Diversity
Champion” or to be included on Stonewall’s “Workplace Equality Index,”
including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please
redact personal details if necessary.

 

2. Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in relation to
either application or programme.

 

3. Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in 2019 or
2020 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if you
claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say in
broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be
entitled to withhold it).

 

4. Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out
connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact
assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind,
if no further assessment was done).

 

5. Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i) in 2019;
(ii) in 2020, whether or not as payment for goods or services.

 

6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme
in the future, and if so which.

 

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
requested as soon as possible and in any event within the next 20 working
days in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, unless an
exception applies. This means that the council will respond to you by 4
March 2021 at the latest.

 

If appropriate, the information requested can be made available in
alternative formats, including other languages, Braille, large print, and
audiocassette. If you require any of these formats then please let me
know.

 

Please contact me if you have any have further enquiries about your
request.  I would be grateful if you could quote the reference number
given at the top of this email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

FOI/EIR Co-ordinator

FOI/EIR Co-ordinator
Democratic Support Team
Law & Governance
E-Mail: [1][email address]

Save money and paper - do you really need to print this email?

 

 

 

This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of
Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. [2]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [3]Privacy Notice.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildiscl...
3. https://www2.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/site...

CEO Contact, Oxfordshire County Council

1 Attachment

Our reference: 17869 FOI

 

Dear Ms Wilde

 

Thank you for your request of 4 February 2021 in which you asked for
information about dealings with Stonewall.

 

Please find below in blue the County Council’s response, you will see that
we are still working on some documentation which we aim to send to you
tomorrow:

 

1.         Any application you made in 2019 or 2020 to be a “Stonewall
Diversity Champion” or to be included on Stonewall’s “Workplace Equality
Index,” including any attachments or appendices to those applications.
Please redact personal details if necessary.

 

Oxfordshire County Council submitted an application to Stonewall’s
Workplace Equality Index in 2019, provided here with associated
attachments and personal data redacted.

The Council considers that this information is exempt from disclosure
under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”). 
Section 40(2) provides that information shall not be disclosed where it
constitutes the personal data of someone other than the applicant and that
disclosure would satisfy one of the following three conditions:

 

 1. That disclosure would breach any of the data protection principles or
would do so if the exemptions in section 24(1) of the Data Protection
Act 2018 (manual unstructured data held by public authorities) were
disregarded.;
 2. That the disclosure of the information to a member of the public
otherwise than under this Act would contravene Article 21 of the GDPR
(general processing: right to object to processing); or
 3. That on a request under Article 15(1) of the GDPR (general processing:
right of access by the data subject) for access to personal data, the
information would be withheld in reliance on provision made by or
under section 15, 16 or 26 of, or Schedule 2, 3 or 4 to, the Data
Protection Act 2018, or (b)on a request under section 45(1)(b) of that
Act (law enforcement processing: right of access by the data subject),
the information would be withheld in reliance on subsection (4) of
that section

 

In this case, the relevant condition is the first condition. 
Specifically, the council considers that the first data protection
principle would be breached; namely, that disclosure of the redacted
information would not be fair for the following reasons:

 

 1. The reasonable expectations of the data subject and the nature of the
information itself leads the Council to conclude that the data subject
could not reasonably expect that this information would be disclosed;
 2. Neither this, nor similar information has been released into the
public domain by the data subjects or anyone else;
 3. That the principles of transparency and accountability under the FOIA
do not override the data subject’s reasonable expectations that this
information would not be disclosed; and
 4. That the legitimate interests in the public having access to this
information do not outweigh the interests in preserving the rights and
freedoms of the data subject.

 

In reaching this decision, the Council noted that the following
consequences may occur if this information was disclosed:

 

 1. Release of this information may cause embarrassment to the data
subject;
 2. Releasing this information may cause distress to the data subjects;
and
 3. Disclosure of this information could cause the data subjects to
receive threats or to otherwise be intimidated.

 

In light of the above, the Council considers it justified to uphold this
exemption by applying redactions to the disclosure.

 

2.         Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in
relation to either application or programme.

 

To follow.  

 

3.         Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in
2019 or 2020 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if
you claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say
in broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be
entitled to withhold it).

 

To follow.

 

4.         Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out
connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact
assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind,
if no further assessment was done).

 

The council does not hold any equality impact assessment.

 

5.         Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i)
in 2019; (ii) in 2020, whether or not as payment for goods or services.

 

£2500 paid in April 2019 and April 2020 for Diversity Champion membership.

£1900 paid in March 2019 for Education Champions Programme (two-year
membership)

£210 paid in September 2019 for attendance to Stonewall Workplace
Conference in Manchester.

 

6.         Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall
scheme in the future, and if so which.

 

OCC intend to continue membership as a Stonewall Diversity Champion in
2021.

 

Internal review

If you are dissatisfied with the service or response to your request, you
can ask for an internal review as follows:

 

·                     Contact the Freedom of Information team in Law &
Governance: [1][Oxfordshire County Council request email]

 

·                     Write to the Freedom of Information team at the
FREEPOST address:

 

Freedom of Information Team

Oxfordshire County Council

FREEPOST (RTLL-ECKS-GLUA)

Oxford OX1 1YA

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

 

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House,

Water Lane,

Wilmslow,

Cheshire,

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Website: [2]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Please let me know if you have further enquiries. I would be grateful if
you could use the reference number given at the top of this email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Amy Trarieux

Senior HR Officer

 

This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of
Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. [3]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [4]Privacy Notice.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Oxfordshire County Council request email]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
3. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...

CEO Contact, Oxfordshire County Council

5 Attachments

Our reference: 17869 FOI

 

Dear Ms Wilde

 

Sorry for the delay in sending these documents to you.  As promised
attached are the documents in response to questions 2 and 3 – see attached
and below in red.

 

Thank you for your request of 4 February 2021 in which you asked for
information about dealings with Stonewall.

 

Please find below in blue the County Council’s response, you will see that
we are still working on some documentation which we aim to send to you
tomorrow:

 

1.         Any application you made in 2019 or 2020 to be a “Stonewall
Diversity Champion” or to be included on Stonewall’s “Workplace Equality
Index,” including any attachments or appendices to those applications.
Please redact personal details if necessary.

 

Oxfordshire County Council submitted an application to Stonewall’s
Workplace Equality Index in 2019, provided here with associated
attachments and personal data redacted. Document sent on 04/03/2021.

The Council considers that this information is exempt from disclosure
under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”). 
Section 40(2) provides that information shall not be disclosed where it
constitutes the personal data of someone other than the applicant and that
disclosure would satisfy one of the following three conditions:

 

 1. That disclosure would breach any of the data protection principles or
would do so if the exemptions in section 24(1) of the Data Protection
Act 2018 (manual unstructured data held by public authorities) were
disregarded.;
 2. That the disclosure of the information to a member of the public
otherwise than under this Act would contravene Article 21 of the GDPR
(general processing: right to object to processing); or
 3. That on a request under Article 15(1) of the GDPR (general processing:
right of access by the data subject) for access to personal data, the
information would be withheld in reliance on provision made by or
under section 15, 16 or 26 of, or Schedule 2, 3 or 4 to, the Data
Protection Act 2018, or (b)on a request under section 45(1)(b) of that
Act (law enforcement processing: right of access by the data subject),
the information would be withheld in reliance on subsection (4) of
that section

 

In this case, the relevant condition is the first condition. 
Specifically, the council considers that the first data protection
principle would be breached; namely, that disclosure of the redacted
information would not be fair for the following reasons:

 

 1. The reasonable expectations of the data subject and the nature of the
information itself leads the Council to conclude that the data subject
could not reasonably expect that this information would be disclosed;
 2. Neither this, nor similar information has been released into the
public domain by the data subjects or anyone else;
 3. That the principles of transparency and accountability under the FOIA
do not override the data subject’s reasonable expectations that this
information would not be disclosed; and
 4. That the legitimate interests in the public having access to this
information do not outweigh the interests in preserving the rights and
freedoms of the data subject.

 

In reaching this decision, the Council noted that the following
consequences may occur if this information was disclosed:

 

 1. Release of this information may cause embarrassment to the data
subject;
 2. Releasing this information may cause distress to the data subjects;
and
 3. Disclosure of this information could cause the data subjects to
receive threats or to otherwise be intimidated.

 

In light of the above, the Council considers it justified to uphold this
exemption by applying redactions to the disclosure.

 

2.         Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in
relation to either application or programme.

 

Feedback from Stonewall received in 2019 and 2020 is attached and personal
data redacted under Section 40 as provided for in question 1.  

 

3.         Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in
2019 or 2020 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if
you claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say
in broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be
entitled to withhold it).

 

Attached are redacted emails from Stonewall in 2019 and 2020. We also
receive Stonewall’s newsletter: these have not been included as this is
information freely available to anyone who subscribes to the newsletter
via the Stonewall website.

The redactions have been made for personal data reasons as provided for by
the exemption at Section 40, detailed in question 1.

4.         Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out
connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact
assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind,
if no further assessment was done).

 

The council does not hold any equality impact assessment.

 

5.         Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i)
in 2019; (ii) in 2020, whether or not as payment for goods or services.

 

£2500 paid in April 2019 and April 2020 for Diversity Champion membership.

£1900 paid in March 2019 for Education Champions Programme (two-year
membership)

£210 paid in September 2019 for attendance to Stonewall Workplace
Conference in Manchester.

 

6.         Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall
scheme in the future, and if so which.

 

OCC intend to continue membership as a Stonewall Diversity Champion in
2021.

 

Internal review

If you are dissatisfied with the service or response to your request, you
can ask for an internal review as follows:

 

·         Contact the Freedom of Information team in Law & Governance:
[1][Oxfordshire County Council request email]

 

·         Write to the Freedom of Information team at the FREEPOST
address:

 

Freedom of Information Team

Oxfordshire County Council

FREEPOST (RTLL-ECKS-GLUA)

Oxford OX1 1YA

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

 

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House,

Water Lane,

Wilmslow,

Cheshire,

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Website: [2]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Please let me know if you have further enquiries. I would be grateful if
you could use the reference number given at the top of this email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Amy Trarieux

Senior HR Officer

 

 

This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of
Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. [3]email disclaimer. For information about how
Oxfordshire County Council manages your personal information please see
our [4]Privacy Notice.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Oxfordshire County Council request email]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
3. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildisc...
4. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/council/a...