Metween between Northern and Shell and Lord Agew on 12/03/2018

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Education,

Please acknowledge my request is being considered and disclose the following information regarding a meeting that took place on 12/03/2018 between Lord Agnew, in his role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department for Education, and 'Northern and Shell':
1) Which individuals were present from 'Northern and Shell' in the meeting.
2) Any minutes that were taken from this meeting and an explanation of the purpose of the meeting, which was stated as an 'Intro meeting to discuss capital work.'
Yours faithfully,

Steve Goodrich

MINISTERS, Department for Education

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ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear  Steve Goodrich 

Thank you for your recent enquiry which was received on 12 June.

A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the
departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should
be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated
reference number 2020-0030268.

Department for Education

Ministerial and Public Communications Division

Tel: 0370 000 2288

Web: [1]https://www.education.gov.uk
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ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear Mr Goodrich,

Thank you for your request for information, received on 12 June 2020.

The Department understands the importance of complying with the statutory
timeframe of responding within 20 working days. On this occasion however,
we have been unable to meet the deadline. I would like to apologise for
this delay.

We will respond to your request as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Free Schools Capital Correspondence Unit

Web: [1]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [2]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [3]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

 

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ACCOUNT, Unmonitored, Department for Education

Dear Mr Goodrich,

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 12 June
2020. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you. 

I have dealt with your request under the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 (EIR) because the information you have requested concerns
environmental data. The EIR give people an equivalent right of access to
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to information about the activities of
public authorities that specifically relate to or affect the environment.

The Department holds information in scope of your request. Some
information has been redacted under regulation 12(3) of the EIRs, which
prohibits us from disclosing the personal data of someone other than the
applicant, and regulation 13, which prohibits us from disclosing third
party personal data if this would contravene the General Data Protection
Regulations (GDPR) or the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Disclosure of
this information would contravene a number of the data protection
principles in the GDPR / DPA, and would be regarded as ‘unfair’. By that,
we mean the likely expectations of the data subject that his or her
information would not be disclosed to others and the effect which
disclosure would have on the data subject.

We are, therefore, withholding the names of those who were present from
Northern and Shell in the meeting under regulation 12(3) and regulation 13
of the EIRs.

Some information has been withheld on the basis that the request involves
the disclosure of internal communications. Regulation 12(4)(e) states a
public authority may refuse to disclose information to the extent that the
request involves the disclosure of internal communications. This
regulation requires a public interest test to be carried out to determine
whether the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the
public interest in its release.

A public authority needs a safe space to develop ideas, debate live
issues, and reach decisions away from external interference and
distraction. The subject of the meeting is still a live issue and
disclosing information at this time could negatively impact on the
outcome.

Disclosure of internal discussions could inhibit free and frank
discussions in the future, and that the loss of frankness and candour
could damage the quality of advice and lead to poorer decision making.
This is known as the chilling effect.

We are, therefore, withholding the minutes taken from the meeting under
regulation 12(4)(e) of the EIRs.

However, we are releasing an explanation of the purpose of the meeting:

As requested by Department for Education officials, the Minister (Lord
Agnew) had a phone call with officers at Northern and Shell on Wednesday
25 October 2017 to discuss the potential transfer of the Section 106
(school) site on the Westferry Printworks development as the permanent
site for a free school. The meeting on 12 March 2018 was a follow-up to
that phone call.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within 2 calendar
months of the date of this letter. Your complaint will be considered by an
independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Yours sincerely,

Free Schools Capital Correspondence Unit

 

Web: [1]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [2]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk

Facebook: [3]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

 

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