Author and Steering Committee for Research Report 122 - Review of the Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Offence

The request was refused by Home Office.

Dear Home Office,

Please provide the names of the author of Research Report 122 (Review of the Controlling or
Coercive Behaviour Offence) and the names of each member of the steering committee and their respective roles on the steering committee.

Yours faithfully,

Brian Hudson

FOI Requests, Home Office

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FOI Requests, Home Office

Dear Brian Hudson,

Thank you for contacting the Home Office with your request.

This has been assigned to a caseworker (case ref 63534). We will aim to send you a full response by 30/04/2021 which is twenty working days from the date we received your request.

Regards

N McKenzie
Home Office

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Thomas Trower, Home Office

2 Attachments

Dear Brian Hudson,

 

Please see attached the response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Kind regards,

Tom

 

[1]http://appointments.thesundaytimes.co.uk... Tom Trower | Economic Adviser

Domestic Abuse and Violence
Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
Research

Crime and Policing Analysis | Home
Office Analysis and Insight

3rd Floor Peel Building | 2
Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

( 07774 773562 *
[2][email address]

 

 

 

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Dear Home Office,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Home Office's handling of my FOI request 'Author and Steering Committee for Research Report 122 - Review of the Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Offence'.

Thank you for your recent response in the above FOIA request. I request an internal review into the outcome of the FOI which I believe is deficient in law.

Firstly I would like to point out that the relevant law you refer to has been superceded by the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

I attach a link to the Information Commissioners Office advice in relation to Personal information in regards to section 40 of the FOIA. https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

You correctly identify that my request relates to the personal information of others, their personal names, covered by Section 40 (2) of the regulations.

I refer you to page 13 of the advice. You are obliged to consider if there is an article 6 lawful basis for processing the personal data. Article 6 (f) allows for the lawful processing of personal data where there is a legitimate interest.

Article 6 (1) (f) states it is lawful where... "processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child."

In this instance there is a legitimate interest in terms of a general requirement for transparency in public life. This particularly applies in this case as the disclosure of the personal data would demonstrate accountability.

Other than the names of the individuals, the comments and opinions of the individuals have been published in their official and professional capacity entirely for the purposes of public disclosure, in a topic of significant public interest. The comments and opinions are widely disseminated to influence public policy.

Consideration should be taken to any specific request you have received from the authors of the report, or the members of the steering committee, objecting to the publication of their names in relation to their personal data. However it is unlikely that any such objection would be put forward, as the publication of the opinions and comments was clearly intended for the public from the outset. Even in the event of such an objection being received, it is unlikely that such an objection could overcome the legitimate interest of transparency and accountability to the public in this instance.

To further assist you, I refer you to separate ICO guidance on the disclosure of the personal information of others in relation to the DPA. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...

I refer you to the specific example provided:
"Example: An individual makes a subject access request to their local council for a copy of all the information it holds on them. The information held includes several social services reports. The reports contain the personal data of the individual, a family member and a social worker. The council employs the social worker in connection with its statutory social work service, and they wrote the reports in their official capacity as a social worker. As such, it is reasonable for the council to provide the social worker’s personal data to the requester in response to the subject access request. However, the council must either have the consent of the family member, or consider whether it is reasonable to disclose their personal data without consent. If the council does not have consent, it is likely that it needs to reconcile the individual’s right of access in respect of any duty of confidence owed to the family member."

I intend to refer this complaint to the information commissioners office, for their consideration, should the disclosure of the requested information continue to be refused.

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,

Brian Hudson

FOI Requests, Home Office

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FOI Requests, Home Office

Mr Hudson,

Thank you for contacting the Home Office with your request for an Internal Review of FoI case ref 63534.

This has been assigned to a caseworker who will aim to send you a full response by 28/05/2021 which is twenty working days from the date we received your request.

If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,

P. Zebedee
FOI Requests
Home Office

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Dear FOI Requests,

You committed to providing a response by 28th May, it is now 1st June and there is no response to a very simple request for information, it is now more than 2 months since the request was submitted, please provide your response without further delay or clarify the justifications for the extended delay.

Yours sincerely,

Brian Hudson

FOI Requests, Home Office

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FOI Responses, Home Office

Dear Mr Hudson

Thank you for your email. At the review stage we are investigating the original handling and response to identify if the original response was correct. Unfortunately we have not completed this work within 20 working days but I can assure you we are working on the case and hope to reply by 28 June.

We apologise for the delay in this case.

Kind regards
Information Rights Team
Knowledge and Information Management Unit Home Office Lower Ground Floor | Seacole | 2 Marsham Street | London SW1P 4DF

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Dear Home Office,

I'm sorry but that is completely unacceptable. I will raise the issue with the ICO as it is clear you have an obligation to disclose this information and that there is no legitimate reason for not doing so.

Yours faithfully,

Brian Hudson

FOI Requests, Home Office

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Dear Home Office,

I refer to your latest response to my request for information under the freedom of information act 2000 (the act), for FOIA reference "FOI 63534 Brian Hudson".

Under Section 10(1) of the act, it states that an authority must comply with section 1(1) of the Act ‘…promptly and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt".

You have previously acknowledged that a response to this FOIA (the request for internal review) is due by 28. May 2021.

Whilst 20 working days is the normal timescale for compliance, there is provision within section 10 of the act, for an authority to extend or vary this time limit under certain (exceptional) circumstances.

Section 10(3) of the act enables an authority to extend the 20 working day limit up to a ‘reasonable’ time in any case where;
- it requires more time to determine whether or not the balance of the public interest lies in maintaining an exemption; or
- it needs further time to consider whether it would be in the public interest to confirm or deny whether the information is held.

This extension will therefore only apply to requests where the authority considers a ‘qualified exemption’ (an exemption that is subject to a public interest test) needs to be engaged.

As section 10(3) of the act only permits extensions for further consideration of the public interest, the additional time cannot be used to determine whether the exemptions themselves are
engaged. This means that the authority should have identified the relevant exemptions, and satisfied itself that they are applicable, within the initial 20 working day time limit.

You do not however make any mention that you have considered that your response to the FOIA falls under a 'qualified exemption'. You simply state "Unfortunately we have not completed this work within 20 working days". You are therefore obliged to provide a response to my FOIA or are in breach of your responsibilities under section 1(1) of the act.

Please confirm if you are in breach of section 1(1) of the act in requesting a further delay to your response to the 28. June. If however you are seeking a delay to your obligations under this section due to a 'qualified exemption' under the act then you must now state this. Equally you must state if you are delaying your response for any other reason permitted under the act.

On the basis of your current response, I can only consider that you are in breach of section 1 (1) of the act and I will raise a formal complaint to the information commissioners office accordingly. I will share with you their case reference when it is generated.

Yours faithfully,

Brian Hudson

FOI Requests, Home Office

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FOI Responses, Home Office

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hudson

 

Please find attached the response to your request for an internal review
ref: 63534

 

Kind regards

Information Rights Team

Home Office

2 Marsham Street

London SW1P 4DF

 

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