Council's Response to Covid Pandemic and Furlough
Dear Oxford City Council,
I would be grateful if you would provide copies of all documentation (emails, minutes from meetings, copies of presentations to employees etc) concerning both Oxford City Council and Oxford Direct Services response to the covid-19 pandemic and the furloughing of employees.
Please provide documentation starting from 01 March 2020 until no employees were furloughed.
Yours faithfully,
James Telford
Dear James Telford,
Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council – Reference: 11635
Further to the email below, I am writing to let you know that the Authority requires further information. Section 1. (3) (a) of the FOIA provides that:
“Where a public authority -
(a) Reasonably requires further information in order to identify and locate the information requested, and
(b) Has informed the applicant of that requirement,
the authority is not obliged to comply with subsection (1) unless it is supplied with that further information.”
You have requested information, which covers such a broad range of Service Areas within Oxford City Council and Oxford Direct Services, that providing all relevant meeting minutes and documentation (which may be produced at any level, from departmental to organisational) would be exempt under Section 12 of the Act (excessive time/cost). This exemption imposes a limit of 18.5 working hours for retrieval of data to comply with the Act, which applies here since Oxford City Council and Oxford Direct Services (ODS) combined employ around 1300 staff in total, covering a large range of departments, teams, and Service Areas, each of which would need to conduct a thorough search for all communications from March 2020 onwards relating to their response to the Covid pandemic and furloughing of employees. Section 16. (1) of the FOIA (Duty to provide advice and assistance) states that:
"It shall be the duty of a public authority to provide advice and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to expect the authority to do so, to persons who propose to make, or have made, requests for information to it."
Are you able to further clarify what information it is that you wish to receive please? It would be helpful if you could be more specific in describing the information you require, such as whether there are any specific Service Areas you are interested in receiving detailed information about, and/or statistics relating to all furloughing of staff at an organisational/departmental level. Furthermore, higher level communications (such as staff and Councillor newsletters, and minutes published at an organisational level) will present an accurate picture of the rules adhered to across all departments of Oxford City Council and ODS. Furthermore, we can confirm that all staff were furloughed were done so in accordance with government guidelines.
Additionally, it would be helpful to know whether you are interested in administrative and financial decisions made as a result of the pandemic, including amendments to contracts and cancellations of events, meetings, and travel.
The 20 working days timeframe for responding to your request will be paused from 4th January 2023 until the Authority has been supplied with further information. Should the Council not receive a response to this email by Friday 13th January 2023, your request will be closed accordingly.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | St Aldates Chambers | St Aldates | Oxford | OX1 1DS |
For any Data Protection queries please send the email directly to the [email address] mailbox
Dear Freedom Of Information,
Please provide copies of all emails you hold by the HR Departments of both Oxford City Council and Oxford Direct Services concerning decisions taken to furlough staff including, but not exclusively, operational and financial decisions.
Yours sincerely,
James Telford
Dear James Telford,
Re: Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council – Reference: 11635
Further to your clarification below, please see attached response to your Freedom of Information Act 2000 request, which we received on 11th December 2022.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | St Aldates Chambers | St Aldates | Oxford | OX1 1DS |
Dear Oxford City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Oxford City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Council's Response to Covid Pandemic and Furlough'.
Thank you for your response of 16 January 2023.
You have not provided any of the information I have requested.
I specifically asked for copies of emails held by the HR Departments of both Oxford City Council and Oxford Direct Services concerning the furlough of staff.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
James Telford
Dear James Telford,
Re: Freedom of Information Request, Oxford City Council – Reference: 11635 - Addendum
Further to the reply below, please see attached addendum from ODS in respect to their response to your Freedom of Information Act 2000 request, which we received on 12th December 2022.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | St Aldates Chambers | St Aldates | Oxford | OX1 1DS |
Dear Oxford City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Oxford City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Council's Response to Covid Pandemic and Furlough'.
I do not believe you have provided all the information you hold concerning the FOI request.
Are you suggesting that there was never any email communications between the HR Manager, Managing Director and the various departmental managers concerning the furloughing of employees? If you hold such information then please provide copies of the communications.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
James Telford
Dear Oxford City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Oxford City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Council's Response to Covid Pandemic and Furlough'.
It has now been 60 working days and you have not yet provided a response to this request for an internal review.
I would appreciate if you would provide a response immediately.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
James Telford
Dear James Telford
Oxford City Council Freedom of Information – Reference: 11635
Information Commissioner's Office Reference - IC-226240-L2S7
Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying to your requests for an internal review, received on 23 January and 1 February 2023. Our response is attached.
Yours sincerely
Information Governance Officer
Freedom of Information Team | Law and Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX
Website: www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
Dear Oxford City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Oxford City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Council's Response to Covid Pandemic and Furlough'.
In your response you claim that the cost of retrieving data from the closed email account of the former HR Manager of Oxford City Council would be prohibitive. As an IT Manager myself, I find this statement very difficult to comprehend.
Please provide full details of the archiving process along with any backup software used and archiving medium and a detailed explanation of what would be required to retrieve the data along with time and cost estimates.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
James Telford
Dear James Telford
Oxford City Council Freedom of Information – Reference: 19667
Thank you for your email below which we are registering as a new Freedom of Information request as it is asking for information on a different subject to your original request. Your request was received on 26 May 2023 and you will be sent a response within 20 working days (of receipt) in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000/ Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), subject to the information not being exempt or containing reference to a third party.
Due to an unprecedented volume of Freedom of Information Requests currently, it is likely that some requests may go beyond the 20 working days. We are working as hard as possible to respond in a timely manner, but we feel it is better to keep requestors informed in advance.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team | Law and Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX
Website: www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
Dear Oxford City Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Oxford City Council's handling of my FOI request 'Council's Response to Covid Pandemic and Furlough'.
Oxford City Council – Reference: 11635
I disagree with your decision to withhold correspondence on staff furloughed during the furlough period. I understand the need to redact names and personal information, but applying the S40 exemption is not justified for not providing operational reasons as to why staff were furloughed.
I would like you to provide correspondence regarding operational issues and decisions taken to furlough individuals and departments.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
James Telford
Dear James Telford
Oxford City Council Freedom of Information – Reference: 19667
Further to the acknowledgement below, please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information Act 2000 request received on 26 May 2023.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team | Law and Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX
Website: www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
Dear James Telford
Oxford City Council Freedom of Information – Reference: 11635
Please find attached a response to your internal review request received on 19 June 2023.
Yours sincerely
Information Governance Officer
Freedom of Information Team | Law and Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX
Website: www.oxford.gov.uk | Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OxfordCity | Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OxfordCityCouncil
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now