Information about your dealings with Stonewall [Extraneous material removed]

The request was partially successful.

Dear NHS Business Services Authority,
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,

U. Winfield

FOIREQUESTS, Nhsbsa (NHS BUSINESS SERVICES AUTHORITY),

2 Attachments

Dear U Winfield,

 

Thank you for your request for information as outlined below:

 

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 was received on 7 February 2021  and I am dealing with it
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

I will process your request as soon as possible, and certainly within 20
working days of the day I received the request. You will hear back from me
by 5 March 2021at the latest.

 

Please note that we may need to write to you should any aspect of your
request need clarification. In such cases, the 20 working day period will
start when we receive your clarification.

 

Details of how we will process your request are available on our website
at:

 

[1]https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/...

 

Details of how we use your information are available at the following
link:

[2]https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/our-policies/p...

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of my decision,
please write within 40 working days of the date of this e-mail to:

Chris Gooday

Information Governance Manager

NHS Business Services Authority

Stella House

Goldcrest Way

Newburn Riverside Business Park

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE15 8NY

 

Details of how we will handle your review request are available on our
website at:

[3]https://bit.ly/2Sjdk2H

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision.  Please note that
generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
NHS Business Services Authority’s complaints procedure.

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:-

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Tel:  01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [4][email address]

 

 

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me via email.

 

Please quote the reference number above in any future communications to
make it easier for me to deal with your correspondence.

 

Regards

 

Adam

 

 

 

Adam Sharp

Information Governance Assistant

Security & Information Governance

Email: [5][email address]

[6]www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk

We are constantly looking at ways to
improve our services. You can give us
[7]Description: Description: feedback using the link below:
cid:image004.png@01D4178F.C585F600
[8]Information Governance

 

 

[9]Description: Description: cid:image007.png@01D4178F.C585F600
Stella House, Goldcrest Way, Newburn Riverside Business Park, Newcastle
upon Tyne NE15 8NY

H  Home Working until further notice.

Advance notice of Leave: 

 

   

 

 

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FOIREQUESTS, Nhsbsa (NHS BUSINESS SERVICES AUTHORITY),

2 Attachments

Dear U Winfield

                  

I am writing regarding your request for information, which I received on
07 February 2021.  In that request, you asked us for the following:

 

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.

 

Clarification

 

I am writing to ask you to clarify your request.  This is because we need
further details from you to identify and locate the information.
Therefore, I would be grateful if you would clarify the following:

 

o What communication information do you require?
o Please can you expand on question 6, in particular ‘if so which’.

 

 

Please note that if I do not receive appropriate clarification of your
information requirements within two months from the date of this e-mail,
then I will consider your request closed.

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of my decision,
please write within 40 working days of the date of this response to:

 

Chris Gooday

Information Governance Manager

NHS Business Services Authority

1^st Floor

Stella House

Goldcrest Way

Newburn Riverside Business Park

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE15 8NY

 

Details of how we will handle your review request are available on our
website at:

 

[1]https://bit.ly/2Sjdk2H

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. 
Please note that generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have
exhausted the NHS Business Services Authority’s complaints procedure.

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:-

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Tel:  01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [2][email address]

 

If you have any queries about this e-mail, please contact me.  Please
quote the reference number in the subject line in any future
communications.

 

Kind Regards

Chloe

 

Chloe Thompson

Information Governance Officer

Security & Information Governance

[3]www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk
We are constantly looking at ways to
improve our services. You can give us
[4]Description: Description: feedback using the link below:
cid:image004.png@01D4178F.C585F600
[5]Information Governance

 

 

[6]Description: Description: cid:image007.png@01D4178F.C585F600
Stella House, Goldcrest Way, Newburn Riverside Business Park, Newcastle
upon Tyne NE15 8NY

H  Home Working until further notice.

Advance notice of Leave: 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOIREQUESTS, Nhsbsa (NHS BUSINESS SERVICES AUTHORITY),

Thank you for your reply.

Re Communications:
You are hinting that there has been a lot of communication with Stonewall.

Q1: Can you please send me the original application form(s) for 2019 and/or 2020 for the Stonewall Diversity Champion or the Workplace Equality Index? These may be long document(s)! If you cannot, then can you please just tell me whether you made an application for one or either or both scheme(s) and what year(s), please?

Q2 and Q3: Again, the feedback may be extensive. Can you please say in broad terms what the feedback is about?
You seem to have "condensed" Q2, Q3 and Q4 in my original FoI request. You have not copied Q2, Q3 and Q4 correctly from my request. Q3 is missing in your copy.

Q4: Did you carry out an Equality Impact Assessment for the application(s)?

Q6: I am interested in the two Stonewall schemes mentioned in Q1, please.

Thank you in advance.

Yours sincerely,

U. Winfield

FOIREQUESTS, Nhsbsa (NHS BUSINESS SERVICES AUTHORITY),

3 Attachments

Dear U Winfield

 

Please find attached a final letter regarding your recent Freedom of
Information request.

 

We would also value your feedback regarding the way in which your request
was handled. You can provide us with direct feedback on our website at the
following web link:

 

[1]Information Governance Survey

 

Any feedback you provide will be strictly anonymous and much appreciated.

 

Summary of Response

 

The information you requested is being withheld as it falls under the
exemption in section 14(1) the Freedom of Information Act.

 

Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request
for information if the request is Vexatious.

 

The reasons we are refusing to comply with your request are several, and
are listed below;

 

 1. During the course of handling of this request it has come to light
that responses to FOI requests made by the campaign are being posted
on social media with the sole intention of criticising any
organisation which submits applications to Stonewall.
 2. The request has been made as part of a wider campaign against
Stonewall with the intention of discrediting and undermining them as a
charitable organisation, whose role is to support people in the LGBT
community and to help organisations promote and encourage diversity in
the workplace.
 3. The request could be characterised as a “fishing trip” as for the most
part, the request doesn’t describe the information it seeks to obtain.
Rather it is formed in the broadest terms to determine what
information may have been shared between the NHSBSA and Stonewall.
 4. The request is not made in the spirit of FOI, which is enacted to
promote and require transparency in relation to spending of public
funds and in effective conduct of public services. The spirit of this
request is to further a campaign against Stonewall and its
partners/clients.
 5. The value/purpose of the information is of little to no interest to
the wider public, and the focus of the request is not on the
information itself, given that the broad nature of the request
demonstrates that you do not know what information you expect or,
indeed, wish to receive.

 

For the reasons set out above, we consider this request to be unjustified
and an improper use of formal procedure[2][1] namely using FOIA as a means
to damage Stonewall, rather than its intended purpose as an information
access regime which promotes transparency in the public sector in the
public interest.

 

Regards

Chris

 

Chris Dunn

Information Governance Specialist

Security and Information Governance

[3]www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk

We are constantly looking at ways to improve our services. You can give
us feedback using the link below:

[4]Information Governance

 

[5]Description: Description: Description: NHSBSA (NHS@70) Header 2
Stella House, Goldcrest Way, Newburn Riverside Business Park, Newcastle
upon Tyne NE15 8NY

 

 

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Naomi Cunningham left an annotation ()

Hi Una - would you be able to request an internal review of this one? The answer is spectacularly silly, and really ought to be challenged. See https://twitter.com/legalfeminist/status...

best wishes

Naomi

Dear FOIREQUESTS, Nhsbsa (NHS BUSINESS SERVICES AUTHORITY),

I am sorry, but I would like an internal review of this decision. I want the head of FoI requests to look carefully at my request and the reasons given for refusing it.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

U. Winfield

GOODAY, Chris (NHS BUSINESS SERVICES AUTHORITY),

3 Attachments

 Dear U Winfield,

 

Please find attached the result of my internal review

 

Regards

 

Chris Gooday

Information Governance Manager

Security and Information Governance

[1]www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk

            

We are constantly looking at ways to improve our services. You can give
us feedback using the link below:

[2]Information Governance

 

[3]Description: Description: Description: NHSBSA (NHS@70) Header 2
Stella House, Goldcrest Way, Newburn Riverside Business Park, Newcastle
upon Tyne NE15 8NY

 

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