Do you allow the public to record their calls with you ?

 

Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Acting Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
Mark Evans
Spa Road East

Llandrindod Wells

Powys LD1 5LG
  If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
 
 
 
Tel / Ffôn:  01597 82 7543        
 
Email/Llythyru electronig:
  [1][email address]

  Our ref / Ein cyf:  F2018-1119

Date / Dyddiad:   18/10/18

 

 

Request Accepted

 

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

Reference No: F2018/1119

 

Dear Mr Peacher

 

Thank you for your request for information, received at this office on
18/10/2018, in which you requested details of the following:

 

Recording Calls     

 

The above is a summary of your request. The full details of the
information sought is provided to the officer to whom the request is
tasked.

 

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances Powys County Council may be unable to achieve
this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

 

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request will
remain unanswered.

 

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

 

The due date for responding to this request for information is 15/11/2018.

 

Should you need to discuss this further please contact the Information
Compliance Team on 01597 827543.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.

 

Yours sincerely,

Carl Bryden

 

Information Compliance Officer

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Acting Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
Mark Evans
Spa Road East

Llandrindod Wells

Powys LD1 5LG
  If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
 
 
 
Tel / Ffôn:  01597 82 7543        
 
Email/Llythyru electronig:
[1][email address]

Our ref / Ein cyf:  F2018-1119

Date / Dyddiad:   13/12/2018

 

Reference No: F2018-1119

 

 

Dear Mr Preacher

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 18/10/2018 concerning
Recording Calls

 

This is to inform you that your request has been considered and I can
provide the following response:

 

The Request/The Response:

 

 

1) Are Service Users clients customers the general public allowed to
audio-visually record meeting and calls with your staff? If so, do they
require permission or are they permitted to do so covertly? For eg with
staff social workers police etc.

 

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

There is no information formally recorded regarding this, however some
service areas indicate that clients/tenants/customers can request that
recordings are taken of meetings & calls – although staff do have the
right to refuse.

 

2) Do you have any guidance or policy for the public or service users to
record calls when they speak to your staff?

 

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

No documented policy in place

 

3) What is your organisations protocol on service users recording calls
when they speak to your staff or call centres? Please provide a copy of
your policy, procedure and guideline notes on this issue.

 

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

No documented policy in place, however, if a caller states that they are
recording a staff member, that staff member would be expected to inform
their line manager of what the conversation was about.

 

4) Do you Inform Users they can record. If the answer is no what is the
reason for this, please if so do send me a copy.

 

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

No information recorded

 

5) Are service users made aware of their right to record the encounter, if
they choose to do so? Is this reflected in you policy document on the
matter?

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

No Policy or any recorded information in place.

 

6) Does your organisation have an “Unacceptable Behaviour” policy? If so,
please can you provide me with a copy? Regarding court staff the public or
the court itself.

 

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

Within the corporate suite of HR Policies there is no policy entitled
“Unacceptable Behaviour”, however within the Housing Department, there is
the attached policy specifically for that service area. Additionally there
is signage within reception areas stating Powys County Council will not
tolerate unacceptable behaviour.

 

7) If such a policy contains points of objectionable behaviour such as
telephones calls being recorded by the caller due to them being not
necessary or unwanted or needed, and furthermore the staff members may
feel threatened or apprehensive, are you aware that denying users the
right to record calls goes against the current UK laws.

Policy is attached for examination but contains no reference to the
recording of calls / meetings with staff

 

8) Are your policies and procedures compliant with the public right to
audio-visually record encounters with your staff, without their consent?
If not, will you provide appropriate training for your staff so they are
fully informed of the Public right to record? If so what law guides you a
link or copy please.

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

No relevant policies and procedures recorded

 

9) What is our organisations current charging policy for Freedom of
Information requests (FOI) or Subject Access Requests (SAR)? If charges
are applied are concessions available for those on low income or students?

 

No charging policy in place for information requests.

 

10) What is your organisations complaints policy? Please can you forward
me a copy? Does your complaints procedure permit service users evidence
such as covert call recordings to form part of the investigation?

 

Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Powys County
Council, when refusing to provide such information (because the
information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:

(a)  states that fact;

(b)  specifies the exemption in question and

(c)  states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption
applies.

In this instance the relevant exemption is Section 21 of the Freedom of
Information Act.

Section 21: Information accessible to applicant by other means -

(1) Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise
than under section 1 is exempt information.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) -

(a) Information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though
it is accessible only on payment, and,

(b) Information is to be taken to be reasonably accessible to the
applicant if it is information which the public authority or any other
person is obliged by or under any enactment to communicate (otherwise than
by making the information available for inspection) to members of the
public on request, whether free of charge or on payment.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1), information which is held by a
public authority and does not fall within subsection (2) (b) is not to be
regarded as reasonably accessible to the applicant merely because the
information is available from the public authority itself on request,
unless the information is made available in accordance with the
authority’s publication scheme and any payment required is specified in,
or determined in accordance with, the scheme.

[2]https://en.powys.gov.uk/article/5151/Com...

In accordance with Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I am
unable to provide you with the details you have requested.

 

We regret the delay you have experienced with this request. We acknowledge
that Powys County Council has failed in its obligation under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000, to provide you with a response to your request
within the statutory timescale of 20 working days. Please accept our
apologies for this and for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

 

We believe that this request is now complete and shall be closed
immediately. Should any further information be requested regarding this
topic, a separate request will need to be submitted.

 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Compliance Team

 

 

The supply of documents under Freedom of Information does not give the
person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use the
documents in a way that would infringe copyright.

 

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public
will require the permission of the copyright owner.

 

The copyright of most of the information that we provide in response to
Freedom of Information Act requests will be owned by Powys County Council.
The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated in the information itself.

 

For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the Office of
Public Sector Information(OPSI) website.

[3]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...

 

If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received in relation to
your request and wish to make a complaint, please contact Information
Compliance. We respectively remind you that complaints into the handling
and outcome of your request should be made within 40 working days to
[4][email address] in line with the Freedom of
Information Act Code of Practice.

 

If you are still not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to
the Information Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

2nd floor

Churchill House

Churchill way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Tel: 029 2067 8400

Email: [5][email address]

[6]www.ico.org.uk

 

 

 

 

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References

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2. https://en.powys.gov.uk/article/5151/Com...
3. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...
4. mailto:[email address]
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6. http://www.ico.org.uk/