Are Service Users or the general public allowed to audio-visually record meeting and calls with your staff? If so, do they require permission or are they permitted to do so covertly? FOI Request.

Children's Commissioner for England did not have the information requested.

Dear Children’s Commissioner for England,

Are Service Users or the general public allowed to audio-visually record meeting and calls with your staff? If so, do they require permission or are they permitted to do so covertly?
FOI Request.

http://www.freedomtalkradio.co.uk/uk-sur...

1 Do you have any guidance or policy for the public or service users to record calls when they speak to your staff
What is your organisations protocol on service users recording calls when they speak to your staff? Please provide a copy of your policy, procedure and guideline notes on this issue.
or call centres Do you Inform Users they can record. If the answer is no what is the reason for this please if so do send me a copy.
Are service users made aware of their right to record the encounter, if they choose to do so? Is this reflected in you policy document on the matter?

2. Does your organisation have an “Unacceptable Behaviour” policy? If so, please can you provide me with a copy?
If such a policy contains points of objectionable behaviour such as telephones calls being recorded by the caller due to them being not necessary or unwanted or needed, and furthermore the staff members may feel threatened or apprehensive, are you aware that denying users the right to record calls goes against the current UK laws.

3. Are your policies and procedures compliant with the public right to audio-visually record encounters with your staff, without their consent? If not, will you provide appropriate training for your staff so they are fully informed of the Public right to record?

4. What is our organisations current charging policy for Freedom of Information requests (FOI) or Subject Access Requests (SAR)? If charges are applied are concessions available for those on low income or students?

5. What is your organisations complaints policy? Please can you forward me a copy. Does your complaints procedure permit service users evidence such as covert call recordings to form part of the investigation.
The Public need to record all calls too many lies now its time for honesty.

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Peacher

FOSTER, Lyn - Children's Commissioner, Children's Commissioner for England

7 Attachments

Dear Andrew, 

I refer to your Freedom of Information request which we received on
Tuesday 9 October 2018.  

Please be advised that the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC), is
a Non Departmental Public Body, sponsored by the Department for Education,
employing less than 30 members of staff.

We are not a service provider and we do not have a call centre. We do have
a Help at Hand advice team of circa 4 members of staff that seek to
provide advice and information to children and young people who are in
care, leaving care, living away from home or working with children’s
services.

 With regard to the information you have requested please note the
following :

 Q1: We do not have a policy of advising these young people whether they
can or cannot record their calls with a member of the advice team.

 Q2: We do not have a Unacceptable Behaviour Policy and Procedure.

 Q3: We are not a service provider and the majority of our staff do not
answer calls from the general public.  The young people who contact our
office can speak to our advice team confidentially and if they ask if they
can record their conversation with us, we would not refuse their request.

 Q5: We have never imposed a charge on any FOI or SAR requester.

 Q6: Please find attached a copy of our complaints policy.

Yours sincerely,

 

Lyn

 

Lyn Foster
Business Support Adviser
Children's Commissioner's Office
[1]Childrens Commissioner
Advice Line: 0800 528 0731
Direct line: 0207 783 8203

Telephone: 0207 783 8330

Email: [2][email address]
Post: Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT
Online: [3]www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk
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[7]Promoting & protecting
[8]http://www.design-m.co.uk/lsdesign/child...

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