Correspondence with the Times - February 2023
Ganesh Sittampalam made this Rhyddid Gwybodaeth request to Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
Dear Office of Gas and Electricity Markets,
Please can I have a copy of all correspondence you have exchanged with the Times newspaper in February 2023? This should include any notes you have made of verbal conversations.
Yours faithfully,
Ganesh Sittampalam
Dear Ganesh,
Thank you for your email on 24 June in which you requested the following
information:
" Please can I have a copy of all correspondence you have exchanged with
the Times newspaper in February 2023? This should include any notes you
have made of verbal conversations."
We are considering your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
("FOIA").
I have forwarded your correspondence to the relevant team and will respond
within 20 working days, or sooner if possible.
Kind regards,
Shannon Convery
Dear Ganesh,
We are writing to advise you that we need to extend the time limit for
responding to your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 ("FOIA"), which we received on 24 June.
We do hold information falling within the terms of your request, however
we need more time to consider it fully.
Public interest test
By virtue of section 10(3) of FOIA, where public authorities have to
consider the balance of the public interest in relation to a request, they
do not have to comply with the request until such time as is reasonable in
the circumstances.
We have not yet reached a decision on the balance of the public interest.
Due to the need to consider, in all the circumstances of the case, where
the balance of the public interest lies in relation to the information
that you have requested, we will not be able to respond to your request in
full within 20 working days.
We will therefore send you a response by 22 August 2023. If there is any
further delay we will keep you informed.
Exemption
The following exemption applies to the information that you have
requested:
Section 31 - Law enforcement
The public interest test will consider on balance whether this exemption
should be applied to the information requested.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Kind regards,
Anna Parrott
Dear Office of Gas and Electricity Markets,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Office of Gas and Electricity Markets's handling of my FOI request 'Correspondence with the Times - February 2023'.
You have stated that s31 applies to the request, however I do not believe it is likely that it applies to all of the information, regardless of the application of the public interest test and you should therefore have already communicated any information that it does not apply to.
In particular the Times has already publicised the key points of your interaction with them and it is therefore very unlikely that any correspondence that simply confirms their account of events could prejudice any aspect of law enforcement.
I believe you have also breached s17(1)(c) by not explaining why s31 might apply to the information I have requested.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
Ganesh Sittampalam
Dear Ganesh,
Thank you for your email.
We will respond to your request for information under FOI2023/01528 on or before 22 August 2023. If you are dissatisfied with our response once you have received it, you can request an internal review at that stage.
Kind regards,
Anna Parrott
Information Rights and Correspondence Manager
Communications
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU
Tel:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Twitter
Dear Information Rights,
I believe the terms of the act and the s45 code of practice are clear - and I'd add that you have also breached s17(7) by not providing details of your internal review procedure and my right to complain to the Commissioner.
As it appears you don't offer an internal review process that's is compliant with the s45 code of practice, I'll be exercising my right to complain directly to the ICO.
Yours sincerely,
Ganesh Sittampalam
Gadawodd Zak anodiad ()
Again, They have not refused your request. They have extended your request beyond the 20 working day deadline to CONSIDER an exemption. It has not yet been applied nor has your equest been refused yet. They have told you they will reply with their decision in due course.
Gadawodd Ganesh Sittampalam anodiad ()
If you don't want to read the text of the act, look at the ICO's guidance:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi...
"You are still obliged to issue an initial refusal notice, within those first 20 working days, explaining why the exemption applies and giving the date you expect to complete your consideration of the public interest test."
[...]
"In effect, therefore, you may need to issue two refusal notices; the first to explain that an exemption is engaged and to advise that the public interest test is still being considered, and the second to communicate your final decision. Both notices should provide details of the appeals procedure."
Dear Ganesh,
Please find our response to your request for information attached.
Kind regards,
Shannon Convery
Dear Office of Gas and Electricity Markets,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Office of Gas and Electricity Markets's handling of my FOI request 'Correspondence with the Times - February 2023'.
Firstly, you have breached the timeliness requirements of the FOI Act in the following ways:
- Not providing a refusal notice within 20 working days in relation to your reliance on s40(2), s21 and s44. Such a refusal notice is required by s17(1).
- Not providing the information that you did release within 20 working days. Your previous (defective) refusal notice that cited s31 clearly could not have applied to it.
- As previously highlighted, your previous refusal notice breached s17(1)(c) by not explaining why s31 applied. Your more recent refusal notice, providing a much longer explanation, clearly shows why it was not obvious why it applied.
- As previously highlighted, your previous refusal notice breached s17(7) by not providing details of your internal review procedure and my right to complain to the Commissioner.
The requirement to provide two complete refusal notices when extending time for the public interest test is also clearly explained in the ICO's guidance at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi...
Secondly, I do not accept that s31 applies at all. Your justifications for it applying the exemption are very vague and do not explain any actual mechanism by which your investigation could be prejudiced.
Thirdly, I disagree with the result of the public interest test. There is no evidence of what public interest factors you have considered. Given the subject matter of the Times investigations around that time, and the allegations they have made about the inappropriate use of OfGem's powers, there is clearly a very strong public interest in understanding how OfGem was corresponding with the Times during that period.
Finally, you have withheld entire items of correspondence rather than redacting the relevant parts. It is not clear what exemption could apply to the dates and other basic metadata of the correspondence, for example.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
Ganesh Sittampalam
Dear Ganesh,
Thank you for your email of 22 August in which you requested an internal
review of our response to FOI2023/01528.
Your request has been logged under case reference IR2023/01925.
We will conduct an internal review and inform you of the outcome as soon
as we possibly can, and in no more than 20 working days.
If you are unhappy with the outcome, you have the right to apply directly
to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
Kind regards,
Bryan Thomas
Dear THIRD PARTY NAME,
Please see the attached letter regarding the outcome of our
reconsideration of FOI2023/01528.
Kind regards,
Sabira Bukhari
Dear Ganesh,
Please see the attached letter regarding the outcome of our
reconsideration of FOI2023/01528.
Kind regards,
Sabira Bukhari
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now
Gadawodd Zak anodiad ()
Please read the reply they sent carefully. They havn't, at this stage, refused the request. Rather, they have applied an extention to consider a public interest test for the exeption being considered. Appealing to the ICO and asking for an IR at this stage is not necessary as no refusal has been made and as such they don't need to include details about your right to appeal nor the full explanation of the exemption.