Data to be collected & held on new proposed 'Lifestyle Database' TED 281970-2009

The request was successful.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am making an initial request under the Freedom of Information Act after reading TED (Daily Electronic Tender) 281970-2009 re the new planned 'Lifestyle Database' that you are proposing to set up.

1) What data exactly will be held on this database?
2} Where will the data be sourced from?
3) Has the data held, method of collection, maintenance & retention already been reviewed and agreed by the UK Data Commissioner?

Depending on the answers you provide to questions 1 - 3, I may need to make further FOI requests.

I understand that under the Regulations, I should be entitled to a response within two months. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future. In the event that I have sent this letter to the wrong person/department I would
appreciate you passing it to the correct one and advising me of this. Many thanks for your help.

Yours faithfully,

Ruth McCullough

englandhelpline, Equality and Human Rights Commission

Thank you for contacting the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Your enquiry has been received by our Helpline Team and we will respond to
your e-mail within 3 working days.

Yours sincerely

The England Helpline Team

This is an automated email. Please do not reply.

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Freedom of Information, Equality and Human Rights Commission

2 Attachments

[1]EHRC_Uk_url_CMYK

Ruth McCullough

Email: [FOI #20536 email]

Reference: FOI197

20th October 2009

Subject: Freedom of Information Request

Dear Ms McCullough,

Thank you for your recent email dated and received on 12th October 2009 in
which you make a Freedom of Information request regarding a new 'Lifestyle
Database'.

Your request has been passed to the relevant business unit within the
Commission for their response. In accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 we will respond to you as soon as possible and no
later than 20 working days following the date of receipt of the request.
In this instance a response will be with you by 9th November 2009.

If for any reason we are not able to meet this deadline, we will notify
you as soon as possible and give you an indication of when we will send
you a full response.

If you have any queries please contact us using the details below.

Yours sincerely,

Philippa Bullen

Corporate Communications Officer

Equality and Human Rights Commission

3rd Floor

Lancaster House

67 Newhall Street

Birmingham

B3 1NA

Email: [2][Equality and Human Rights Commission request email]

Tel: 0121 234 7381

Fax: 0845 604 6630

Text Phone: 0845 604 6620

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Freedom of Information, Equality and Human Rights Commission

2 Attachments

[1]EHRC_Uk_url_CMYK

Ruth McCullough

Email: [2][FOI #20536 email]

Reference: FOI197

9^th November 2009

Subject: Freedom of Information Request

Dear Ms McCullough,

Request

In your email you requested three pieces of information. Please find a
copy of your questions and our responses below:

"I am making an initial request under the Freedom of Information Act after
reading TED (Daily Electronic Tender) 281970-2009 re the new planned
'Lifestyle Database' that you are proposing to set up.

1) What data exactly will be held on this database?"

The Equality Measurement Framework (EMF) is an equality concept that
focuses directly on the central and valuable things in life that people
can actually do and be. It measures, across ten areas of life, the
resources that people have identified as necessary for them to flourish -
such as enjoying an adequate standard of living, being healthy, having
good opportunities for education and learning, enjoying legal security,
and being free from crime and the fear of crime. The proposed database is
the means by which the relevant statistical indicators relating to these
various equality measures will be stored and made publicly available to
interested groups via a web tool incorporated into the Commission's
website.

Broadly speaking the database will contain 48 indicators, measuring
equality amongst the following equality strands covered within the
Commission's mandate. These equality strands include age, gender,
disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief, transgender status,
ethnicity plus social class. The Commission has matched these indicators
to currently available data sources and published a report outlining the
results of that project in June 2009. [3]The report can be found on the
EHRC website and is referenced in the tender documentation:

The [4]Executive Summary to the report provides further information on the
data to be held on the database.

"2) Where will the data be sourced from?"

The project identified a range of data sources, which could populate the
indicators that have been chosen. These data sources can be found on the
EHRC website in Appendix 2 of the report which lists the potential data
sources. Appendix 2 can be located on page 14 of the [5]Appendices
document (page 517of the main report).

It is anticipated that the successful contractor will consider additions
or deletions from this list of data sources.

"3) Has the data held, method of collection, maintenance & retention

already been reviewed and agreed by the UK Data Commissioner?"

The data used for the database is being sourced from secondary sources,
predominantly administrative data and surveys. No data classified by the
Data Protection Act as `personal data' will be held on this database and
therefore the aforementioned considerations do not apply. The database
will instead collect third party data and create a web-based tool which
allows researchers and stakeholders to monitor the state of equality in
Great Britain.

We hope that this has fully answered your request.

If you are unhappy with our response and wish to request an internal
review please write to the Corporate Communications Team at the address
below.

During the internal review the handling of your information request will
be reassessed afresh.

If following the review you are still not content with our response you
may apply directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at:

The Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF.

Generally the ICO cannot provide a decision until you have exhausted the
internal review process within the Equality and Human Rights Commission

If the Commission can be of any further assistance please contact us on
the details below.

Yours sincerely,

Philippa Bullen

Corporate Communications Officer

Equality and Human Rights Commission

3rd Floor

Lancaster House

67 Newhall Street

Birmingham

B3 1NA

Email: [6][Equality and Human Rights Commission request email]

Tel: 0121 234 7381

Fax: 0845 604 6630

Text Phone: 0845 604 6620

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