Information about your dealings with Stonewall [Extraneous material removed]

The request was partially successful.

Dear Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust,

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,

Ermine Amies

LCH, Ig (LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST), Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

Good morning,

Re- Your Request for Information (Ref. 456 FOI LCH)

Thank you for your e-mail. We acknowledge receipt of your request for information which has been allocated the above reference number.

Your request will be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and procedures to ascertain whether or not Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust holds the information have now commenced. A response will be sent to you within 20 working days.

Please be assured Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will do everything it can to help you obtain the information you require within the stated timescale, however, there may be circumstances where we are unable to meet some, or all, of the requirements of your request, details of which are given in the below advice sheet.

If you require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours faithfully

Hannah Rogac
Information Governance Assistant

Freedom of Information
Department of Data Protection and Information Governance
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Stockdale House
Victoria Road
LS6 1PF
Email: [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
www.leedscommunityhealthcare.nhs.uk

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – GRA1 ADVICE NOTE

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s Response

LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST’s response to your FOI request will normally:
· State whether the LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST holds the information requested, and
· if it does, provide that information.
However, the Act recognises that there may be circumstances where Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will be unable to meet some, or all, of the requirements of your request, details of which are listed below.

Format of Response
If you express a preference for the information to be provided in one of the three formats specified in the Act (see below) Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will comply with that request, if it is reasonable to do so.
The three formats specified in the Act are:
· a copy of the information;
· a reasonable opportunity to inspect a record containing the information, or
· a digest or summary of the information.
If you request a different format, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will make every effort to meet your requirements.
Costs may be taken into account in considering whether it will be reasonable to comply with your requirements. If it is not considered reasonable, you will be contacted to discuss alternatives.

Requirement for Further Information
The 20 day time limit is not activated until sufficient information has been provided to enable Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to identify and locate the information requested.
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will contact you on receipt of your request to ascertain your exact requirements. If this information does not adequately describe the information requested, you will be contacted again.
If it has not proved possible to fully describe the information requested, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will endeavour to provide the information it has identified. Details of Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s complaints procedure will also be provided.

Transfer of Request
If your request relates to information which is not held by Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, but may be held by another public authority, you will be advised of this together with contact details where possible.
You may request Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust oversee the transfer of your request. If Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust holds only part of the information requested, it will process that part of the request and provide you with the contact details of the
organisation that may be able to assist you further, where possible.

Restrictions
The Freedom of Information Act lists 23 ‘exemptions’ (i.e. circumstances in which Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust does not have to provide the information requested), details of which are attached at Appendix 1.
The ‘Qualified Exemptions’ require a ‘public interest test’ to be carried out, which balances the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in making it available. With the exception of section 21 (Information available by other means), the exemptions apply not only to the communication of information but also the duty to confirm or deny whether Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust holds the information – if that in itself would disclose information that it is reasonable to withhold.
If Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust considers that some of the information you require is ‘exempt’, you will be provided with the information which can be made available and an explanation as to why some of the information was withheld.
If Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust cannot provide any information we will explain why your request cannot be dealt with.

Public Interest Test

If it proves likely that consideration of the Public Interest Test will take longer than the 20 days allowed for responding to requests, you will, within that 20 day period, be given an estimate of when you are likely to receive a response.

If that estimate proves to be unrealistic, you will be kept informed.

Fees
The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 (Fees Regulations) dictate what charges can be made for providing information.
The Fees Regulations allow Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to charge £25 per hour for the following activities:
· determining whether the information is held;
· locating the information;
· retrieving the information, and
· extracting the information (including editing and/or redacting ).
Costs of up to £450
If the above activities are estimated to cost up to £450, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust can charge only for Disbursements (see below).
Costs over £450
If the above activities are estimated to cost more than £450, the request can be refused. However, in such circumstances, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will contact you to discuss possible ways of reducing the cost to £450 or below.
If it is not possible to reduce costs we will let you know as soon as possible.

Please note: Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust has decided to not provide information costing more than £450, even if the applicant is willing to pay the full costs.
Disbursements
The Fees Regulations allow Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to make a charge for the following Disbursements:
· Complying with a request for the information to be provided in a particular format;
· Reproducing any document, and/or
· Postage and other forms of transmission (e.g. fax).
Unfortunately, it will not be possible to calculate these costs at an early stage.
If the actual cost of answering the request turns out to be more than the fee charged, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will bear the costs. If the cost is less than the fee charged, the excess money will be refunded.
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust currently do not charge wherever possible for reasonable, i.e. not excessive, requests for information.

VAT

VAT will be charged only where the information requested is also available from another source that is not a public authority. If applicable, details will be provided in the Fees Notice.

Fees Notice
If a charge is payable, you will be issued with a Fees Notice (sent via Recorded Signed for Delivery) and have 3 months to pay. The 20 days for responding to the request will be put ‘on hold’ until the fee is paid. If the fee is not paid within that period, it will be assumed that you no longer require the information and the request will be cancelled.
If you are unwilling, or unable, to pay the fee notified, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust should be informed at the earliest opportunity. You will then be contacted to explore alternative ways forward.

Please note: If payment is received by cheque, the clearance date will be counted as the date on which payment is received.

Consultative or Campaign Requests

The Fees Regulations allow Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to apply the total cost of complying with requests where:

· One person makes two or more requests that relate to the same or similar information within any 60 consecutive working day period, and
· Different persons appear to be acting in concert or in a pursuance of a campaign by submitting requests for the same or similar information within any 60 consecutive working day period.

Vexatious or repeated requests

If Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust has reason to believe that a request is vexatious or repeated, as defined by section 14 of the Act, it will serve a Refusal Notice to that effect.

Where a Refusal Notice has already been sent to an applicant regarding the same subject, a further notice will not be issued.

Complaints Procedure

If you have any concerns about the way your request has been handled; the operation of the Trust’s Publication Scheme; the response received, or an ‘exemption’ decision, you should, in the first instance
contact the Information Governance Department to try to resolve them.

If you are not happy with the outcome, you can then complain to Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s Complaints Department.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you can then appeal to the Information Commissioner.
Full details will be provided in Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s final response to your information request, unless specifically requested beforehand.

APPENDIX 1
EXEMPT INFORMATION UNDER PART II
OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

There are two types of class exemption:

(a) absolute, which do not require a test of prejudice or the balance of public interest to be in favour of non-disclosure.

(b) qualified by the public interest test, which require the public body to decide whether it is in the balance of public interest to not disclose information.

With the exception of s21 (information available by other means) exemptions apply not only to the communication of information but also to the duty to confirm or deny, if that itself would disclose information that it is reasonable to withhold.

Absolute Exemptions – The absolute exemptions under the Act are:

· section 21 - Information accessible to applicant by other means
· section 23 - Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters.
· section 32 - Court Records
· section 34 - Parliamentary Privilege
· section 36 - Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs (so far as relating to information held by
the House of Commons or the House of Lords)
· section 40 - Personal Information (where disclosure may contravene the Data Protection Act 1998)
· section 41 - Information provided in confidence
· section 44 - Prohibitions on disclosure

Qualified Exemptions – The exemptions that are qualified by the public interest test are:

· section 22 - Information intended for future publication
· section 24 - National Security
· section 26 - Defence
· section 27 - International Relations
· section 28 - Relations within the United Kingdom
· section 29 - The Economy
· section 30 - Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities
· section 31 - Law Enforcement
· section 33 - Audit Functions
· section 35 - Formulation of Government Policy
· section 36 - Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs (for all public authorities except the
House of Commons and the House of Lords)
· section 37 - Communications with Her Majesty, etc. and honours
· section 38 - Health and Safety
· section 39 - Environmental Information
· section 42 - Legal Professional Privilege
· section 43 - Commercial Interests.

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LCH, Ig (LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST), Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Ermine

Please find attached the response to your Freedom of Information request.

Kind regards

Hannah Rogac
Information Governance Assistant

Leeds Community Healthcare Trust I Stockdale House I Headingley Office Park I Victoria Road I LS6 1PF

IG Team Email : [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
IG Team Tel : 0113 220 8572

Data Protection Officer Email : [email address]

Email: [email address]

As of the 25th January 2021, The Information Governance Team has changed their name to ‘The Department of Data Protection and Information Governance’, a new email address [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email] has been created to align with the name change.

From the 28th February 2021 the email address [email address] will no longer be monitored and will not be responded to, please redirect your email to [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email].

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Dear Hannah - Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust's handling of my FOI request 'Information about your dealings with Stonewall #DontSubmitToStonewall'.

Ref 456 FOI LCH

Your response omits information requested so this is to request an internal review.

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.

You say: The Workplace Equality Index application made in 2019 was uploaded to Stonewall and saved in the Stonewall Diversity Champions area, currently Leeds Community Healthcare is not a Stonewall Diversity Champion and so cannot access.

Please review.

As the Workplace Equality Index is a benchmark tool and a "developmental framework" which you use to measure your achievements and progress on LGBT equality, you will have assessed and reported on 10 areas of employment policy and practice, drafting answers and updating file information.

So I do not accept that you do not hold or have access to this information electronically and/or in final drafts prepared for submission, assessing and reporting on those 10 areas of employment policy and practice, and current year evidence submitted and/or have shared the finished submission with management and/or have links to the staff survey, references, attachments or appendices or other additional information & research for the submission.

2. Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in relation to either application or programme.
You say: No feedback was received for the 2019 Workplace Equality Index submission due to the lapse in the Trust’s Stonewall Diversity Champions submission. Due to Covid19, the Workplace Equality Index was cancelled by Stonewall in 2020.

Please review.

Please clarify - what does “the lapse in the Trust’s .... submission” mean?

Did the Trust receive no score for your Workplace Equality Index submission, no feedback in the course of preparation, no staff survey results?

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).

This is a clear description of what I am seeking.

You say: All communication between LCH and Stonewall held on our system refers to the payment of Stonewall Diversity Champions invoice(s) and access/entitlement of support offered as a Stonewall Diversity Champion.

This answer is not credible. Please review.

I wish to see every written communication that you have received from Stonewall in the two years specified. If you have been deluged with communications from Stonewall in that period, it is possible that that is a large class of information, but the fact that it is large does not affect its clarity.

I direct your attention to your section 16 duty to provide me with advice and assistance. The specific assistance I would like you to provide me with to help me to refine my request and make it possible for you to comply without incurring excessive costs is a list of the custodians (by job title; I do not need to know names) you believe to have been the recipients of such communications.

That, of course, does not exhaust your duty to provide me with advice and assistance: you should also turn your minds to any other ways in which you can help me to refine my request so that it captures a representative picture of your dealings with Stonewall without exceeding the appropriate limit.

6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.
You say: Stonewall Diversity Champions membership and Workforce Equality Index submission in September 2021.

Please clarify. What date did your membership lapse? What date will membership recommence?

Finally, Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations is intended to encourage re-use of public sector information. You state “Please note the provision of this information does not entitle you to re-use it. If you wish to do so, you should submit a request to the above address under the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations.“ What is your justification for this restraint?

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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

Yours faithfully,

Ermine Amies

Note: For completeness, I am noting the two questions where no review is necessary here:

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).

An equality impact assessment has not been conducted.

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.
(i) £2500 +VAT for one year’s Stonewall Diversity Champions membership 2018/19, paid in January 2019 in arrears.

(ii) N/A

LCH, IG (LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST), Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Ermine

Please find attached a letter responding to your request for a review.

Kind regards

Hannah Rogac
Information Governance Assistant

Leeds Community Healthcare Trust I Stockdale House I Headingley Office Park I Victoria Road I LS6 1PF

IG Team Email : [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
IG Team Tel : 0113 220 8572

Data Protection Officer Email : [email address]

Email: [email address]

As of the 25th January 2021, The Information Governance Team has changed their name to ‘The Department of Data Protection and Information Governance’, a new email address [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email] has been created to align with the name change.

From the 28th February 2021 the email address [email address] will no longer be monitored and will not be responded to, please redirect your email to [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email].

Using Zoom, Accurx or MS Teams, see the Communication Application Guidance for assistance.

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Dear Hannah,

Thank you. For ease of reference here is your PDF response Ref 456 FOI LCH:

"We confirm that the responses to questions 1, 2 and 3 will be reviewed and a response will be released to you within 20 working days.

If the review has not yet concluded within this timescale, we will contact you.

For question 6, adequate responses have been provided, however you have asked new clarifying questions “What date did your membership lapse? What date will membership recommence?”. These will therefore be classed as a new request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. You have also asked about the re-use of public information regulations, which will also be responded to in the new request. I have allocated reference 485 FOI LCH to this question and a response will be sent to you within 20 working days. "

Your response to part 6 was inadequate. My question was: 6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.

Your answer: “Stonewall Diversity Champions membership and Workforce Equality Index submission in September 2021.”

I remind you of your section 16 responsibility to provide help and advice. I clarified because that answer suggests rejoining as a member in September, not a renewal of continuing membership.

Therefore this is my formal request to include part 6 in the internal review.

I am surprised you have made the question on the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations a separate FOI. It should be included in your internal review, as it formed part of 456 FOI LCH which is under review. Please include this in the review.

I look forward to the result of the review in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Ermine Amies

LCH, IG (LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST), Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Ermine

 

Please find attached the FOI Act 2000 - Section 45 code of practice which
describes the section 16 compliance to provide assistance. Leeds Community
Healthcare has

o provided relevant access to make a request
o clarification of a request prior to issuing a response

 

Question 6 ‘Whether you intend to continue your membership of any
Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which?’, responded with
identifying Stonewall Diversity Champions membership and Workforce
Equality Index submissions in a future date. This question has been
responded to, which prompted new further questioning from you.

 

The response to the new questions and the re-use of public sector
information, which again is a new question, will be dealt with under the
request number 485 FOI LCH.

 

Kind regards

 

Narissa

 

Narissa Leyland

Head of IG & Data Protection Officer

 

Department of Data Protection & Information Governance I Leeds Community
Healthcare Trust I Stockdale House I Headingly Office Park I Victoria Road
I LS6 1PF

 

DP&IG Email : [email address]

DP&IG Tel : 0113 220 8572

 

Data Protection Officer Email : [email address]

 

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Dear Narissa,
Noted.

Yours sincerely,

Ermine Amies

LCH, Ig (LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST), Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

34 Attachments

Dear Ermine

 

Please find attached the response to your internal review request under
the FOI Act 2000.

 

Thank you

 

Narissa Leyland

 

Department of Data Protection and Information Governance

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

Stockdale House

Victoria Road

LS6 1PF

Telephone: 0113 220 8572

Email: [1][Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email]

[2]www.leedscommunityhealthcare.nhs.uk

 

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LCH, Ig (LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST), Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Ermine

Please find attached the response to your Freedom of Information request.

Kind regards

Hannah Rogac
Information Governance Assistant

Leeds Community Healthcare Trust I Stockdale House I Headingley Office Park I Victoria Road I LS6 1PF

IG Team Email : [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
IG Team Tel : 0113 220 8572

Data Protection Officer Email : [email address]

Email: [email address]

As of the 25th January 2021, The Information Governance Team has changed their name to ‘The Department of Data Protection and Information Governance’, a new email address [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email] has been created to align with the name change.

From the 28th February 2021 the email address [email address] will no longer be monitored and will not be responded to, please redirect your email to [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email].

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Dear LCH,

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Ermine Amies