Women's Place UK - Booking

Marcus Combie made this Rhyddid Gwybodaeth request to Leeds City Council This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

Roedd y cais yn llwyddiannus.

Dear Leeds City Council,

Leeds City Council received a request for a meeting to be held at Leeds Civic Hall by Women's Place UK.

Leeds City Council accepted the booking, but then subsequently 'have been made aware of further details regarding some of the views" been raised by the group previous.

Please provide the following recorded information.

1. The date and any and all chronological information relating to when officers were made aware of further details regarding some of the views held by Women's Place UK.

2. Please provide any and all recorded information held by Leeds City Council regarding communications amongst Council Officers and/Or Councilors in relation to the cancellation of the booking by Women's Place UK.

To aid you in your search for recorded information Councillor Judith Blake notified Women's Place UK. Searches for response records should include but not be limited to Judith Blake office, however they should be able to assist in collating responsive records.

For purposes of these requests, the term “record” and "records" shall mean: 



(1) any written,
printed, or typed material of any kind, including without limitation all correspondence, memoranda, notes, messages, letters, cards, facsimiles, papers, forms, messages, diaries, schedules, calendars, chronological data, minutes, books, reports, charts, lists, ledgers, printed
matter, prospectuses, statements, statistics, surveys, agreements, transcripts, magazine or newspaper articles, or press releases; 



(2) any electronically, magnetically, or mechanically stored material of any kind, including without limitation all electronic mail or e-mail;



(3) any graphic materials and data
compilations from which information can be obtained; and



(4) any materials using other
means of preserving thought or expression.

For any personal identifiable information for individuals who do not hold public office, a public figure or are not part of the Chief Executive please redact accordingly. Please do not disclose or include in this FOI any communication between Leeds City Council it's elected officials and constituents.

In anticipation of Leeds City Council citing exemptions including but not limited to: section 36(2)(b) (inhibition to provision of advice and exchange of views), 36(2)(c) (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs), 41(1) (information provided in confidence).

Section 36(2)(b) of the FOIA says that information is exempt information if, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, disclosure would, or would be likely to inhibit (i) the free and frank provision of advice or (ii) the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. If there was any inhibition this chilling effect is highly likely to be very limited and without any significant consequence on candid exchanges with respect to policy deliberations.

Put simply, disclosure is highly unlikely to affect the meticulousness with which officials conduct policy deliberations and provide advice.

Section 36(2)(c) says that information is exempt information if, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, disclosure would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.

Section 36 differs from all other prejudice exemptions in that the judgement about prejudice must be made by the legally authorised, qualified person for that public authority.

I do not accept that a reasonable opinion would find the release of this information would prejudice public affairs.

Regarding any use of exemptions providing safe space provisions. The issue is not live any longer underscored by Councillor Judith Blake email notification the cancellation of booking.

Yours faithfully,

Marcus Combie

DPFOI, Leeds City Council

Dear Mr. Combie

Freedom of information request Ref 22150 : Women's Place UK meeting booking

Thank you for your request for the above information which we received 28, September 2018. We will respond to your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

We have passed your request onto Saleem Aziz, Information Governance Officer, Resources & Housing, [email address] who will arrange a response within the appropriate statutory time limit.

Please remember to quote reference number FOI 22150 in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Malika Doust
Information Governance Support Officer
Information Governance and Managements Team (City and Communities)
Digital Information Service

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dobson, Mandy, Leeds City Council

Dear Mr Combie,

 

Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your
Freedom of Information request ref 22150.

 

I would like to reassure you the council are actively working on
responding and will be aiming to respond  by the end of  next week.

 

Kind Regards

 

Mandy Dobson

Senior Information Governance Officer

Information Management and Governance Team (City and Communities)

Digital Information Service

0113 3786617

 

Note I work Mondays 9.15-1.45, Tues, Wed & Thurs 9-4.30 and Fri 9-2

 

 

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

 

Dear Mrs Dobson

For clarity would it be possible to identify the cause of the delay and the need for the exceptional circumstance for the delay over 20 working days as outlined In section 10 of the FOI act.

Did Leeds City Council need extra time to consider the public interest? Or is there another reason for the delay.

Kind Regards

Marcus Combie

Yours sincerely,

Marcus Combie

IMG.CC.requests, Leeds City Council

1 Atodiad

Dear Marcus Combie,

 

FOI request: 22150

 

1. The date and any and all chronological information relating to when
officers were  made aware of further details regarding some of the views
held by Women's Place UK.

2. Please provide any and all recorded information held by Leeds City
Council regarding communications amongst Council Officers and/Or
Councilors in relation to the cancellation of the booking by Women's Place
UK.

To aid you in your search for recorded information Councillor Judith Blake
notified Women's Place UK. Searches for response records should include
but not be limited to Judith Blake office, however they should be able to
assist in collating responsive records.

 

I am responding to your FOI request in relation to the cancellation of the
Woman’s Place event on 28 September.  There has been an investigation
carried out and I outline the main details of this below.

 

The Government is currently seeking views through a formal consultation
process opened in July this year on how to reform the legal recognition
process of the acquired gender for trans people. The purpose of the
cancelled Woman’s Place UK event at the Civic was to discuss the proposed
reforms.

 

The booking enquiry was made in April and provisionally entered into the
diary subject to completion of the booking form. While this is the usual
procedure and allows time for confirmation of elected member sponsorship,
the booking was not completed and returned as expected. The individual who
had made the booking was contacted and asked to complete the booking form
which she did on 21 September, a week before the event was scheduled to
take place.

 

When handing in the booking form at the Civic Hall, the individual asked
the booking assistant for extra security explaining that the meeting was
about women’s rights and peace and that some women can feel nervous and
intimidated as a result of violence and showed her pictures which were
described as portraying female immigrants. As a result of this it was
agreed that some additional security would be in place to help manage
access as it was ticket only - which is not an unusual course of action.

 

The booking details the title of the event as Women’s Peace is Speaking
the Truth. On the 28 September, it transpired that the event was for
Woman’s Place UK, a campaign group formed to contribute to the debate
around proposals to change the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

On the 28 September, it also became evident that Woman’s Place UK had
promoted the ticketed event through the Eventbrite booking website. This
indicated that the event was to be held on Friday 28 September 2018 from
7.00- 9.00pm in Leeds with the venue to be confirmed. The venue was
confirmed to attendees on the morning of the 28 September and news of the
event quickly spread and calls to cancel the event were made to the
Council on social media and by e-mails to elected members and officers.

 

From midday onwards, a number of communications were received alleging
that Woman’s Place UK had held similar events elsewhere in the country
which gave a platform to speakers that used potentially discriminatory
language particularly in regard to the transgender community. It also
became apparent that a number of these events had attracted controversy,
demonstrations and/or the cancellation of meetings and a Police
investigation into a bomb threat made in advance of an event in Hastings.

 

In total 32 emails were received from concerned parties about the event
being held in the Civic Hall.  To note, these emails are not included in
the attached pack, however, as the Council is of the view that they
constitute the personal information of the individuals who wrote them, and
that they were sent in confidence. I believe it stands to reason that
these individuals would not reasonably expect their complaints to become
public knowledge (particularly given the contentious nature of the
meeting, as demonstrated by our security concerns about the holding of the
meeting in the Civic Hall) and, as such, they are considered to be exempt
from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act
(Personal Information), as their release would breach the first data
protection principle of the GDPR (fair and lawful processing).

 

In light of this new information, officers had to quickly consider whether
allowing the group to hold its meeting at the Civic Hall would represent a
significant security risk and also impact the work to tackle prejudice and
promote understanding in the city.

 

In considering these issues a decision to cancel the event was made
primarily as the Council was concerned about the potential safety and
security risks to the building, its staff and users.  At that late stage
it would not have been possible to determine and mobilize sufficient
resources to afford the correct level of protection to mitigate such risks
and therefore there was no option but to cancel the booking.

 

The Civic Hall is the key public building in the city and a symbol of
democracy and Leeds City Council is a large local authority with a high
profile and as such could potentially be a target for acts of terrorism.
The Council’s Building Security Policy identifies the actions to be taken
in line with the threat levels set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre
and the Security Service (MI5). The threat level informs decisions on
protective security measures taken by public bodies, the police and the
transport sector. The United Kingdom’s current threat level is severe,
meaning that an attack is highly likely. This requires a heightened
response level for high risk events which includes issuing visitor ID
badges, accompanying visitors to the event area and risk based bag
searches.

 

The investigation revealed that there were a number of factors that
contributed to safety and security concerns that led to the cancellation
of the booking on the afternoon of 28 September when the meeting was
scheduled to be held:

•             It was clear that information to support confirmation of the
booking was withheld until a week before the event, when provided this was
incomplete in that it failed to identify the organisation and nor was any
information provided about the potential for threats of harm or
demonstrations as experienced at previous events held by Womans Place UK.

•             The withholding of information by Womans Place UK resulted
in insufficient time to undertake a risk assessment to arrive at a
considered view of the risks and whether any actions that could be taken
to mitigate these and identify and mobile resources to achieve this if
appropriate to do so.

•             The Council had a duty to ensure the safety and security of
the building, its staff and visitors. At the present time this duty
requires a heightened response level and must take seriously the threat of
harm including the potential for bomb threats.

 

For clarity, the official council statement released to the press on the
day of cancellation was as follows:

 

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said:

 

“We recently received a request for a meeting to be held at Leeds Civic
Hall by Women’s Place UK.  Since accepting the booking, we have been made
aware of further details regarding some of the views which have been
raised by this group previously that are not in line with Leeds City
Council’s values and policies on equality and inclusion.

 

“We understand these views have attracted controversy and led to safety
concerns at other venues hosting similar events.  We have therefore
decided that Leeds Civic Hall is not an appropriate venue for this event
and have informed the organisers that their booking has been cancelled.”

On issuing this statement we received further questions which again we
responded to publicly through the press office.  A further statement was
issued providing more detailed information as follows:

 

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said:

 

“Leeds City Council received a booking for an event to be held at Leeds
Civic Hall on 28th September 2018 several weeks ago which was booked in
the name of ‘Woman’s Peace is Speaking the Truth’. Details about the venue
were not released to the attendees by the organisers until the day the
event was due to be held (last Friday).   “Once those details were
published, it became clear the event was to be hosted by Woman’s Place UK
and that the organisers had not been open to the council about the nature
of the booking, including the fact that previous events had been the
subject of bomb threats and serious protests.

 

“The council also received a number of complaints from people concerned
about the alleged use of controversial and potentially discriminatory
language at similar events that had been organised by the group in other
parts of the country.  “The council is committed to public sector
guidelines on equality and does extensive work towards eliminating
harassment and discrimination in Leeds.

 

“At that late stage, and in light of this new information, the council had
to quickly consider whether holding this meeting at the Civic Hall would
represent a significant security risk and if it would have a detrimental
impact on our work to tackle prejudice and promote understanding in our
city.

“With this in mind, and in the absence of relevant security, risk and
equality assessments being carried out due to misinformation by the event
organiser, on the advice of officers and in consultation with elected
members, the council’s chief executive took the decision to cancel the
meeting.

“We would emphasise that had the group making the booking being more open
and transparent with us, it would have given us more opportunity to work
with them to fully consider all security, safety, risk and equality
concerns.”

 

Having set the context, you have asked for all documents related to this
booking and cancellation and these are included in the appendices below:

 

Appendix 1 Emails – all emails.

Appendix 2 Booking form.

Appendix 3 Room booking sponsorship

Appendix 4 Hire conditions

 

Please note, there is a small amount of information (e.g. names of private
individuals, mobile phone numbers etc.) that has been redacted from within
these Appendixes as it is considered to be personal information and,
therefore, exempt from release under S40(2) of the FOI Act. 

 

In addition, where present, emails constituting legal advice have also
been exempted from release under S42 of the Act (Legal Professional
Privilege).  There are two types of privilege, legal advice privilege and
litigation privilege. In this instance, it is clear that legal advice
privilege applies, as the communications in question are confidential, and
were made between a client and a professional legal adviser acting in
their professional capacity for the sole or dominant purpose of obtaining
legal advice relating to the processing of complaints after the decision
to cancel the booking.

 

When considering the application of S42, the Council must, of course,
consider the public interest test and may only exempt this information if,
the public interest in maintaining it outweighs the public interest in
disclosing the information. The Council must also apply a presumption in
favour of disclosure. In responding to this, however, whilst the Council
appreciates that the event in question has been a matter of public
interest, it is not considered that this interest would extend to legal
advice and as such I am of the view that the overwhelming public interest,
in this specific case, must lie in legal services being able to advise in
confidence when acting in their professional capacity.

 

I trust that this response is satisfactory. If however you are
dissatisfied with this response you have a right to appeal to an
independent officer within Communities & Environment. They will re-examine
your request and assess whether we have adhered to the requirements of the
act. Should you wish to follow this course of action please address your
concerns in writing to Mandy Dobson, Communities & Environment,
Information Management and Governance by emailing
[1][email address].

 

You also have a right under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act
to ask the Information Commissioner to decide whether we have met with our
obligations under the act.  The Commissioner has however made it clear
that he expects all applicants to exhaust internal appeals procedures
prior to making such an application. Should you wish to contact the
Commissioner’s office then you can write to the following address:

 

            Office of the Information Commissioner,

            Wycliffe House,

            Water Lane,

            Wilmslow,

            Cheshire,

            SK9 5AF.

 

You may also contact the Commissioner via his website at [2]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Saleem Aziz

Information Governance Officer

Digital and Information Service

 

t: 0113 37 87891

e: [3][email address]

e: [4][email address]

w: [5]www.leeds.gov.uk 

 

 

 

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear IMG.CC.requests,

Appendix 2 Booking form.
Appendix 3 Room booking sponsorship
Appendix 4 Hire conditions

Have not been successfully uploaded, the only available appendix is Appendix 1a.

Can you please update the remaining appendices.

Yours sincerely,

Marcus Combie

IMG.CC.requests, Leeds City Council

This message has been hidden. Accidental release of personal information If you are the requester, then you may mewngofnodi to view the message. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Dear IMG.CC.requests,

In appendix 3 you appear to have published the room bookers personal information this includes phone number and full name.

Yours sincerely,

Marcus Combie

IMG.CC.requests, Leeds City Council

Dear Marcus,

Thank you for making me aware.

The attachment was sent in error and I have subsequently emailed the administrators at whatdothey.com for the attachment to be deleted.

Kind regards

Saleem Aziz
Information Governance Officer
Digital and Information Service

t: 0113 37 87891
e: [email address]
e: [email address]
w: www.leeds.gov.uk

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

IMG.CC.requests, Leeds City Council

This message has been hidden. The council have repeated the accidental release of personal information. If you are the requester, then you may mewngofnodi to view the message. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Dear IMG.CC.requests,

Thanks for your updated response. However there still appears to be the bookers personal information (phone number and name) available and not redacted within the screenshot of the outlook Calendar Appointment window toolbar in Appendix 2 and 3 Womens Place R.pdf

When uploading the documents again with personal information removed can you please perform the following and clarify a few issues.

1. Within Appendix 2 and 3 Womens Place R.pdf can you also please include a better quality scan of the booking form / save the PDF with quality to max. Trying to identify the pen marks for the name is confusing especially in the wording of the name.

2. Can you please identify the total number of emails / responsive records constituting legal advice have also
been exempted from release under S42 of the Act (Legal Professional Privilege). NB I also see no request from council officers or councillors to legal services seeking advice. While advice given by legal services may be covered under legal privilege. The email from council officials detailing the scope of the legal advice sought would not be.

3.In the calendar entry I note the booking was sponsored by Cllr Al Garthwaite however upon inspection of the emails there appears to be no notification sent to Cllr Al Garthwaite informing them of cancellation nor discussion with Cllr Al Garthwaite about the cancellation. Is this correct, or have these communications been omitted from the email log?

Kind Regards

Marcus Combie

IMG.CC.requests, Leeds City Council

2 Atodiad

Good afternoon Marcus,

 

Please see our response to your questions below.

 

1.     Within Appendix 2 and 3 Womens Place R.pdf can you also please
include a better quality scan of the booking form / save the PDF with
quality to max. Trying to identify the pen marks for the name is confusing
especially in the wording of the name.

Please see attached.

 

2.     Can you please identify the total number of emails / responsive
records constituting legal advice have also been exempted from release
under S42 of the Act (Legal Professional Privilege).  NB I also see no
request from council officers or councillors to legal services seeking
advice. While advice given by legal services may be covered under legal
privilege. The email from council officials detailing the scope of the
legal advice sought would not be.

There were 4 email responses from Legal services which were redacted from
the emails released. Please note all 4 emails were in response to council
staff asking Legal services for their professional view and advice.

 

In brief they were regarding what the council’s proposed response to the
request was, the cancellation of the event and our justification for
cancelling and the implications of any individuals personal information
contained within the emails.

 

Please see attached.

 

3.     In the calendar entry I note the booking was sponsored by Cllr Al
Garthwaite however upon inspection of the emails there appears to be no
notification sent to Cllr Al Garthwaite informing them of cancellation nor
discussion with Cllr Al Garthwaite about the cancellation. Is this
correct, or have these communications been omitted from the email log?

It has been confirmed that nothing has been omitted, hence why there were
no additional logs to provide.

 

I trust that this response is satisfactory.

 

If however you are dissatisfied with this response you have a right to
appeal to an independent officer within the directorate. They will
re-examine your request and assess whether we have adhered to the
requirements of the act. Should you wish to follow this course of action
please address your concerns in writing by emailing
[1][email address].

 

You also have a right under Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act
to ask the Information Commissioner to decide whether we have met with our
obligations under the act.  The Commissioner has however made it clear
that she expects all applicants to exhaust internal appeals procedures
prior to making such an application. Should you wish to contact the
Commissioner’s office then you can write to the following address:

 

Office of the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

 

You may also contact the Commissioner via her website at [2]www.ico.org.uk

 

I trust that this is self-explanatory.  If you have any queries please
contact me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Saleem Aziz

Information Governance Officer

Digital and Information Service

 

t: 0113 37 87891

e: [3][email address]

e: [4][email address]

w: [5]www.leeds.gov.uk 

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

 

References

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