Amey's communications with South Yorkshire Police regarding tree felling operations in Sheffield

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Sheffield City Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Sheffield City Council,

In accordance with Clause 90.2.1 of the Streetsahead Highway Maintenance contract, please can you provide all data held by and related to any legal entity containing the word Amey and their communications with South Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner.

I am specifically seeking data associated with the tree felling programme in Sheffield.

Please contact me if this is likely to take longer than the relevant allowance in order that I can refine my request accordingly.

Yours faithfully,

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr. Buxton,

 

Thank you for your recent request for information relating to
communications with South Yorkshire Police relating to tree felling which
we received on 10/12/2019.

 

This has been logged as a Freedom of Information Request, and will be
dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act.  The reference number for
your request can be found above.

 

The Freedom of Information Act states that we must respond to you within
20 working days, therefore, you should expect to hear a response from us
by 10/01/2020.

 

In the meantime, if you have any queries please, contact us at the email
address below.

 

Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283

Sheffield, S1 1UJ

Email: [1][Sheffield City Council request email]

P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI,

I note that this Information Request (Ref #62662) is outstanding and is now in contravention of the applicable legislation.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton

 

Thanks for your email 10 January 2020.

We apologise for not responding by the deadline for this request. Our
efforts to search by wholly automated means our corporate email archive
have been unsatisfactory and so we are resorting to a semi-manual search.
We are currently assessing what we have and what is involved in extracting
the information for you.

We’ll get back to you by 16 January with the result.

 

Kind regards

 

Leon Kaplan

Information Management Officer

Business Change and Information Solutions (BCIS)

Resources Portfolio

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283, Sheffield, S1 1UJ

0114 2039378

[1]www.sheffield.gov.uk

 

This Email, and any attachments, may contain non-public information and is
intended solely for the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material and should be handled
accordingly. If this Email has been misdirected, please notify the author
immediately. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose,
distribute, copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in it
or attached, and all copies must be deleted immediately. Whilst we take
reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses, any attachments
to this Email may nevertheless contain viruses which our anti-virus
software has failed to identify. You should therefore carry out your own
anti-virus checks before opening any documents. Sheffield City Council
will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer viruses
emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this e-mail

References

Visible links
1. http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/

Dear Leon Kaplan,

Thank you for your email dated 14th January 2020, in which you indicated that I should expect to hear from you with the result of your search for data relating to my FOI request titled, ' Amey's communications with South Yorkshire Police regarding tree felling operations in Sheffield' (Reference – FOI / 1369) by 16th January.

The information was due on the 13th January 2020 and is now significantly overdue.

Please could you update me on the status of this request.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton
Thanks for your email of 23 January 2020 enquiring after your response.

We have located, identified and extracted the information relating to this request, which has been complex and could have justifiably merited a 40 day deadline (under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004). This would have made the response due on 7 February 2020. However, we have to ask for your patience a little longer, whilst we finalise the response. I think that might take up to another week.

Yours sincerely

Leon Kaplan
Information Management Officer
Business Change and Information Solutions (BCIS)
Sheffield City Council
PO Box 1283, Sheffield, S1 1UJ
0114 2039378
www.sheffield.gov.uk

This Email, and any attachments, may contain non-public information and is intended solely for the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain sensitive or protectively marked material and should be handled accordingly. If this Email has been misdirected, please notify the author immediately. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in it or attached, and all copies must be deleted immediately. Whilst we take reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses, any attachments to this Email may nevertheless contain viruses which our anti-virus software has failed to identify. You should therefore carry out your own anti-virus checks before opening any documents. Sheffield City Council will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer viruses emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this e-mail

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr. Buxton,

 

We told you on 11th February that our response would likely take until
18th February, however our final checks are taking longer than anticipated
and currently we expect to be able to respond to you by 28th February.

 

We apologise for this further delay.

 

Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283

Sheffield, S1 1UJ

Email: [1][Sheffield City Council request email]

P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI, Sheffield City Council

 

Dear Mr. Buxton

 

We told you on 21 February that our response would likely take until 28
February. We apologise for a further delay whilst we complete our
response.

 

Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283

Sheffield, S1 1UJ

Email: [1][Sheffield City Council request email]

P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

 

This Email, and any attachments, may contain non-public information and is
intended solely for the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material and should be handled
accordingly. If this Email has been misdirected, please notify the author
immediately. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose,
distribute, copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in it
or attached, and all copies must be deleted immediately. Whilst we take
reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses, any attachments
to this Email may nevertheless contain viruses which our anti-virus
software has failed to identify. You should therefore carry out your own
anti-virus checks before opening any documents. Sheffield City Council
will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer viruses
emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this e-mail

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Sheffield City Council request email]

Dear FOI,

This Freedom of Information request which you decided to process as an EIR request ( Reference – EIR / 1369) is extremely overdue. Please supply the requested information by return.

I would also be grateful if you could detail your justification for processing this request under EIR rather than FOI legislation.

Many thanks and kind regards.

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear requester,

 

We are currently dealing with an unprecedented reduction in resources
across Sheffield City Council due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. While
we will endeavour to fulfil Freedom of Information requests where
possible, unfortunately there may be a delay as a consequence of these
circumstances.

For further information, we recommend the Information Commissioner’s
Office:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an....

 

Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioners Office. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF, telephone 0303 123 1113, or for further details see their website
[2]www.ico.org.uk.

 

We appreciate your patience in this challenging time and hope to provide a
response to you as soon as we can.

 

Yours sincerely,

Information Management Team

[3][email address]

 

 

From: Kaplan Leon (CEX) On Behalf Of FOI
Sent: 28 February 2020 16:22
To: '[FOI #626662 email]'
Subject: Environmental Information Regulations Request – Reference – EIR /
1369

 

 

Dear Mr. Buxton

 

We told you on 21 February that our response would likely take until 28
February. We apologise for a further delay whilst we complete our
response.

 

Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283

Sheffield, S1 1UJ

Email: [4][Sheffield City Council request email]

P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

 

This Email, and any attachments, may contain non-public information and is
intended solely for the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material and should be handled
accordingly. If this Email has been misdirected, please notify the author
immediately. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose,
distribute, copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in it
or attached, and all copies must be deleted immediately. Whilst we take
reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses, any attachments
to this Email may nevertheless contain viruses which our anti-virus
software has failed to identify. You should therefore carry out your own
anti-virus checks before opening any documents. Sheffield City Council
will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer viruses
emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this e-mail

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an...
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[Sheffield City Council request email]

Dear Mr. Kaplan,

On the 11th February you stated "We have located, identified and extracted the information relating to this request".
On 21 February you stated "that our response would likely take until 28
February."

Please could you explain why I have not yet received the information you have already "located, identified and extracted".

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Thank you for your email.

 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the handling of information rights
requests including; data protection, freedom of information and
environmental information regulations, is temporarily suspended.

 

Requests will continue to be logged, but they will not be progressed
whilst Local Authority resources focus on the delivery of key services in
the city.

You will receive an acknowledgement email in the next few days which will
include the reference number for your request.

 

Existing requests will be answered where possible. However, it may not be
possible to complete all requests at this time.

 

For further information about compliance in handling Information Requests
during the COVID-19 pandemic, you can visit the Information Commissioner’s
Office website: [1]http://www.ico.org.uk/

 

Kind regards

 

Information Management Team

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283,

Sheffield

S1 1UJ

 

This Email, and any attachments, may contain non-public information and is
intended solely for the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material and should be handled
accordingly. If this Email has been misdirected, please notify the author
immediately. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose,
distribute, copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in it
or attached, and all copies must be deleted immediately. Whilst we take
reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses, any attachments
to this Email may nevertheless contain viruses which our anti-virus
software has failed to identify. You should therefore carry out your own
anti-virus checks before opening any documents. Sheffield City Council
will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer viruses
emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this e-mail

References

Visible links
1. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Dear Sheffield City Council,

The information request above was submitted on the 1st December 2019 and was due on the 1st January 2020.

On the 11th of February you confirmed that you had “located, identified and extracted the information relating to this request”.

Subsequently, on the 21st February you emailed stating “We told you on 11th February that our response would likely take until 18th February, however our final checks are taking longer than anticipated and currently we expect to be able to respond to you by 28th February.”

You will appreciate this contravenes the law and predates any suspension precipitated by the ‘COVID-19 pandemic’. I am still awaiting the requested information.

Please can you clarify and explain why this information that has been extracted and identified is being withheld in contravention of legislation.

Please copy this email to James Henderson and Charlie Adan.

Many thanks,
Justin Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton,

Thank you for you enquiry. We are in the process of responding to your request. We were due to meet with Amey to clarify some aspects relating to this request. These meetings were delayed due to Covid-19 but we are now re-arranging the meetings and expect these to take place in the next two weeks. We will respond to you after these have taken place.

Kind regards

Robert Jackson
Access to Information Officer
Information Management Team
Business Change and Information Solutions (BCIS)
Resources Portfolio
Sheffield City Council
PO Box 1283, Sheffield S1 1UJ
0114 273 4906
[email address]
www.sheffield.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Robert Jackson,

On the 11th February SCC stated "We have located, identified and extracted the information relating to this request".

Please clarify why a meeting with Amey would be necessary prior to providing the overdue information already ‘identified and extracted’.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Buxton

Mr Long left an annotation ()

SCC MISUSE & ABUSE OF THE FOI ACT

DON’T BE FOBBED OFF BY AN INCOMPETENT SCC INFORMATION OFFICER

Sheffield City Council (SCC) often dismiss requests for information about aspects of the £2.2bn highway maintenance contract for the 25yr ‘Streets Ahead’ project, by asserting that SCC does not hold any relevant information, as Amey has it and it is therefore ‘commercially sensitive’.

The Information Commissioner has ruled that it is WRONG for SCC to misuse and abuse the Freedom Of Information Act to withhold access to information that is held on its behalf by the service provider (contractor) for the Streets Ahead project.

Following investigation, on 4th October 2017 the Information Commissioner’s Office issued a Decision Notice (Reference: FS50637180). The Decision Notice can be accessed via this link:

http://stocksbridgecommunity.org.archive...

THE ICO DECISION NOTICE STATES:

“13.
During the course of this investigation, IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT THE COUNCIL DID HOLD INFORMATION, BY VIRTUE OF IT BEING HELD ON ITS BEHALF BY ITS CONTRACTOR AMEY as per regulation (2)(b) of the EIR. Amey has a contract with the Council to carry out maintenance work for roads, street lights, and roadside trees. WHILST THIS MAINTENANCE WORK HAS BEEN OUTSOURCED TO AMEY IT REMAINS THE COUNCIL’S RESPONSIBILITY, AND THEREFORE FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE EIR INFORMATION about the location of the 143 trees IS HELD BY THE COUNCIL.
[…]

40.
The SECTION 46 CODE OF PRACTICE* provides guidance on effective record management policies and why this is of benefit for both public authorities and requesters alike. The following extract comes from PARAGRAPH 9.3 and deals with what record systems should be held:

‘9.3
RECORDS SYSTEMS should be designed to meet the authority’s operational needs and using them SHOULD BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES. RECORDS SYSTEMS SHOULD HAVE THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS:

a)
THEY SHOULD BE EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND USE so as to reduce the effort required of those who create and use the records within them. Ease of use is an important consideration when developing or selecting a system;

b)
THEY SHOULD ENABLE QUICK AND EASY RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION. With digital systems this should include the capacity to search for information requested under the Act;

h)
THEY SHOULD ENABLE AN AUDIT TRAIL to be produced of occasions on which selected records have been seen, used, amended and deleted.’

41.
The Commissioner considers that this guidance would be appropriate in this instance. THE COUNCIL (VIA AMEY) HOLDS INFORMATION ABOUT ITS MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME IN A WEATHER-STAINED MANUAL FORM with little recognisable capability for extracting details.

THIS SHOWS THE RECORDS ARE NOT EASY TO USE, DO NOT ALLOW FOR QUICK RETRIEVAL, and – from what the Council said about ongoing changes to the records – do not allow for it go back and determine what information would have been held.”

* Selected extracts from page 14 of ‘LORD CHANCELLOR’S CODE OF PRACTICE ON THE MANAGEMENT OF RECORD S issued under section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000’ (published by the MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, on 16th July 2009):
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

ALSO SEE:

‘Transparency In Outsourcing: A Roadmap’
(published by the Information Commissioner’s Office, on 20th March 2015):
https://ico.org.uk/media/1043531/transpa...

‘Section 46 Code of Practice – records management’
(published by the Information Commissioner’s Office, on 7th June 2016):
https://ico.org.uk/media/1624142/section...

‘Outsourcing and freedom of Information - guidance document’
(published by the Information Commissioner’s Office, on 18th August 2017):
https://ico.org.uk/media/1043530/outsour...

A letter to The Star (from SORT), dated Tuesday 3rd May, 2016 (‘If Trees Could Vote!’):
http://stocksbridgecommunity.org.archive...

A letter to The Star and Sheffield Telegraph (from SORT), dated 8th October 2015 (‘Trees? Get Lost!’):
http://stocksbridgecommunity.org.archive...

SCC Misuse & Abuse of the Freedom of Information Act:
http://stocksbridgecommunity.org.archive...

http://stocksbridgecommunity.org.archive...

http://stocksbridgecommunity.org.archive...

*****
The above has been copied and pasted from:
https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress....

When using one of the link to Professor Ian Rotherham’s blog, the webpage tends to open on the item above the one linked to, so you need to scroll down to the next contribution (which will be the one linked to) if that happens.

Mr Long left an annotation ()

SCC MALADMINISTRATION, INCOMPETENCE & MISCONDUCT
[...]
On 4th October 2017 the Information Commissioner’s Office issued a Decision Notice (Reference: FS50637180):

http://stocksbridgecommunity.org.archive...

An extract can be viewed using one of the following links:

https://twitter.com/alisonclareteal/stat...

https://web.archive.org/save/https://twi...

Quote:

"41.
The Commissioner considers that this guidance would be appropriate in this instance. THE COUNCIL (VIA AMEY) HOLDS INFORMATION ABOUT ITS MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME IN A WEATHER-STAINED MANUAL FORM WITH LITTLE RECOGNISABLE CAPABILITY FOR EXTRACTING DETAILS.

This shows THE RECORDS are not easy to use, do not allow for quick retrieval, and – from what the Council said about ongoing changes to the records – DO NOT ALLOW FOR IT GO BACK AND DETERMINE WHAT INFORMATION WOULD HAVE BEEN HELD.

42.
THE COMMISSIONER RECOMMENDS THAT THE COUNCIL LOOKS AT CREATING A CENTRAL RECORD FOR THE WORK THAT IS DUE TO BE CARRIED OUT FOR ITS MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME.

IT IS REMARKABLE THAT THE COUNCIL WOULD NEED 2,404 HOURS IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUEST AND VERIFY THE LOCATION OF THE 143 TREES, all of which TO CONFIRM THE ACCURACY OF A STATEMENT MADE BY A LOCAL COUNCILLOR.

From the Council’s submissions IT IS CLEAR THAT ITS RECORDS DO NOT AFFORD MUCH TRANSPARENCY FOR THE WORK THAT IS BEING CARRIED OUT, and this does not serve the campaign groups in their attempts to gain information about the work of the maintenance programme.

43.
Lastly, IN THE COUNCIL’S LAST SUBMISSIONS IT STATED that it had a concern that the 143 trees were still a focus to the request, and THAT THE PASSAGE OF TIME FROM WHEN THE REQUEST WAS MADE DIMINISHED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INFORMATION.

The Commissioner certainly understands the point that events are moving onwards, and that her investigation has taken some time to reach a final decision. However, she would also note THAT THE DELAY COULD HAVE BEEN GREATLY REDUCED HAD THE COUNCIL NOT FAILED TO CONFIRM THAT THE INFORMATION WAS HELD ON ITS BEHALF.

Added to this is the fact that the Commissioner needed to interrogate the idea that Amey had complied with A REQUEST WHICH TOOK 2,404 HOURS OF ITS STAFF’S TIME AT COUNCILLOR FOX’S BEHEST.

It should be obvious why such a statement raises questions and why the Commissioner had to investigate this further; the delay that resulted from this is undesirable but necessary."

*****
NOTE
The above contribution has been copied and pasted from the online SORT petition comments area:
https://www.change.org/p/sheffield-city-...

For more on this, see:
'DECEITFUL SCC CABINET MEMBERS & OFFICERS - PEOPLE THAT HAD / HAVE THE FINAL SAY'
https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress....

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton

Thank you for your email. The Code of Practice issued by the Information Commissioner under Regulation 16 of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 provides guidance as to when consultation with a third party, in this case our contractor Amey, should take place. The Code of Practice states that whilst consultation with the third party is not an explicit duty when a request is received about environmental information wholly or jointly owned by third parties, "the Commissioner does recommend that as a matter of good practice, public authorities do consult the third party that provided the information before responding to the request." As such, we have arranged to meet with Amey to clarify some aspects relating to this request. The meeting is due to take place later this week.

Kind regards

Robert Jackson
Access to Information Officer
Information Management Team
Business Change and Information Solutions (BCIS) Resources Portfolio Sheffield City Council PO Box 1283, Sheffield S1 1UJ
0114 273 4906
[email address]
www.sheffield.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Robert Jackson,

Please could you update me on the status of my long overdue FOI request, further to your response of 28th July 2020, stating:
"Thank you for your email. The Code of Practice issued by the Information Commissioner under Regulation 16 of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 provides guidance as to when consultation with a third party, in this case our contractor Amey, should take place. The Code of Practice states that whilst consultation with the third party is not an explicit duty when a request is received about environmental information wholly or jointly owned by third parties, "the Commissioner does recommend that as a matter of good practice, public authorities do consult the third party that provided the information before responding to the request." As such, we have arranged to meet with Amey to clarify some aspects relating to this request. The meeting is due to take place later this week."

The email trail can be accessed here -https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Has a meeting convened with Amey regarding this issue yet?

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton

Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in our response. I can confirm that a meeting with Amey did take place on 29 July. We have some further work to do as a result of that meeting but we are aiming to provide a response soon.

Kind regards

Robert Jackson
Access to Information Officer
Information Management Team
Business Change and Information Solutions
Resources Portfolio
Sheffield City Council

Email: [email address]; [Sheffield City Council request email];
[email address]; [email address]

Postal Address: Sheffield City Council, PO Box 1283 Sheffield S1 1UJ

show quoted sections

Dear Sheffield City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Sheffield City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Amey's communications with South Yorkshire Police regarding tree felling operations in Sheffield'.

This Freedom of Information request was made on 10th December 2019, as such it is now (21st August 2020) extremely overdue and contravenes applicable legislation.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Yours faithfully,

Mr. Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

Dear Mr Buxton

Thank you for your email requesting an internal review of FOI 1369 about communications with South Yorkshire Police relating to tree felling. Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing a response to your request.

I can confirm that our response to your request is nearly complete and we will provide you with the response next week, the week commencing 31 August 2020. We acknowledge that you have requested an internal review, but unfortunately we cannot carry out a review of the response until the initial response has been issued.

We kindly ask for your continued patience while we work on finishing the response. Once we have issued this, you will still have the right to request an internal review if you remain dissatisfied.

Kind regards

Robert Jackson
Access to Information Officer
Information Management Team
Business Change and Information Solutions
Resources Portfolio
Sheffield City Council

Email: [email address]; [Sheffield City Council request email];
[email address]; [email address]

Postal Address: Sheffield City Council, PO Box 1283 Sheffield S1 1UJ

show quoted sections

Dear Robert Jackson,

Thank you for your email dated 24th August 2020.

On 23 January 2020 your department stated:
“We have located, identified and extracted the information relating to this request, which has been complex and could have justifiably merited a 40 day deadline (under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004). This would have made the response due on 7 February."

I now regret to say I will be compelled to escalate this matter to the Commissioner if I don’t receive a satisfactory response by 4th September as I feel my patience to date has been abused.

A full history of my FOI request can be accessed here - https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Kind Regards
Justin Buxton

FOI, Sheffield City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Buxton

 

Thank you for your request for information relating to communications with
South Yorkshire Police relating to tree felling which we received on
10/12/2019. Please accept our apologies for the delay in our reply.

 

Please find attached our response to your request. Please note that we
have dealt with your request under the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 (EIR). We have applied some exceptions to the
information.

 

The names of third parties and the names of some staff members have been
redacted under Regulation 12(3) EIR and Regulation 13 EIR as amended by
Sch. 19, para 307 of the Data Protection Act 2018, which provide an
exception for where the information requested includes personal data of
which the applicant is not the data subject where disclosure would
contravene the data protection principles of the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR). Disclosure of the information would contravene the
data protection principle under Article 5(1)(a) of the General Data
Protection Regulation that processing of personal data must be fair,
lawful and transparent.

 

Some information has been redacted under Regulation 12(4)(e) EIR on the
grounds that that the information consists of internal communications.
This exception is subject to a public interest test. Factors in favour of
disclosure are that disclosure promotes openness and transparency. Factors
in favour of maintaining the exception are that the Council needs a safe
space in which it can develop ideas, debate live issues, and reach
decisions away from public scrutiny. On balance, the Council believes that
the public interest lies in maintaining the exception.

 

Some information has been redacted under Regulation 12(5)(b)EIR,  which
provides an exception from the disclosure of environmental information
which would adversely affect the course of justice. The course of justice
covers material covered by legal professional privilege (LPP). LPP
protects advice given by a lawyer to a client and confidential
communications between them about that advice. This exception is subject
to a public interest test. Factors in favour of disclosing the information
are that disclosure promotes openness and transparency. Factors in favour
of maintaining the exception are that it is important to protect the
concept of legal professional privilege and the rationale behind the
concept, which is to safeguard frankness between lawyer and client, and
this serves the wider administration of justice. On balance, the Council
believes that the public interest lies in maintaining the exception.

 

Please note that our response does not include documents that have
previously been made available in our response to FOI 2019-20-0116, which
can be accessed via the following link to the WhatDoTheyKnow website:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...

 

If you have any queries about this response, please do not hesitate to
contact us.

 

The information provided in this response is available for re-use under
the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. The terms of the OGL can be
found [2]here. When re-using the information, Sheffield City Council
requires you to include the following attribution statement: “Contains
public sector information obtained from Sheffield City Council and
licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

 

If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your
request, you are entitled to have this reviewed. You can ask for an
internal review by either writing to the above address or by emailing
[3][Sheffield City Council request email]. Internal review requests should be submitted
within 40 working days from the date of this response.

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your internal review, you
can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please see
[4]www.ico.org.uk for further details.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Sheffield City Council

PO Box 1283

Sheffield, S1 1UJ

Email: [5][Sheffield City Council request email]

P Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to

 

This Email, and any attachments, may contain non-public information and is
intended solely for the individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material and should be handled
accordingly. If this Email has been misdirected, please notify the author
immediately. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose,
distribute, copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in it
or attached, and all copies must be deleted immediately. Whilst we take
reasonable steps to try to identify any software viruses, any attachments
to this Email may nevertheless contain viruses which our anti-virus
software has failed to identify. You should therefore carry out your own
anti-virus checks before opening any documents. Sheffield City Council
will not accept any liability for damage caused by computer viruses
emanating from any attachment or other document supplied with this e-mail

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...
2. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o...
3. mailto:[Sheffield City Council request email]
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
5. mailto:[Sheffield City Council request email]