Email
FOI.Officer@greatermanchester
-ca.gov.uk
Stuart Ashworth
Greater Manchester Combined
(by email only)
Authority
Churchgate House
56 Oxford St,
Manchester
M1 6EU
Our Ref
857460
17 August 2020
Dear Stuart Ashworth,
I am writing in relation to your request for an internal review of your Freedom of Information
request (FOI 857460).
As a member of staff who was not involved in your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, I have
undertaken an internal review of the GMCA’s response to your request of the 28 July 2020. In
conducting my investigation, I have considered your original request and have discussed your
request with staff in Information Governance and GMFRS who were involved in this matter.
Your request for an Internal Review
Your internal review request outlined the following:
‘Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service's
handling of my FOI request 'Uptodate Fleet List for 2020.'.
The allocation details are redacted but on this request:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/fleet_list_2089#incoming-1594053
they are not. please could this be reviewed. Thanks’
Our response
I have now had the opportunity to review the original handling of your request and the associated
correspondence.
GMCA, Churchgate House, 56 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 6EU
I have liaised with staff within Information Governance and GMFRS to determine why all location
data was redacted. Unfortunately, on this occasion it appears due to a misunderstanding between
the two service areas, the incorrect application of Section 38 Health and Safety exemption was
used.
Upon receipt of the data harvesting information from GMFRS, the Information Governance team
were advised that detailed location data was exempt under Section 38. It was unclear to the
Information Governance team at this stage that this information had been already been removed,
and therefore no further redaction would be required.
The Information Governance team subsequently applied additional redaction to the high level
location data which was permissible to disclose. Upon investigation, the information shared with
the Information Governance team in fact contained all the information available for disclosure.
I therefore uphold your complaint in this regard and confirm the incorrect application of Section 38
exemption in this instance. Colleagues in both service areas have been made aware and
processes have been reviewed and amended to ensure similar instances do not reoccur.
I extend my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Please find full response attached.
I hope that this internal review addresses your concerns. However if you are unhappy with the
outcome of this internal review, you are entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner. To
do so, contact:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
www.ico.gov.uk
Tel: 01625 545 745
Yours sincerely
Phillipa Nazari
Assistant Director Information Governance and Data Protection Officer
Greater Manchester Combined Authority