Emails to First Minister - 6

Welsh Government did not have the information requested.

Dear Welsh Government,

Emails sent to correspondence.fm@gov.wales continue to intrigue me as to who reads them and where they end up. Our previous correspondence has already told me that emails sent to this address can end up in one or more separate and unspecified mail boxes, from which they are selected for further unspecified processing.

I happened to see the First Minister speaking on television this morning. As a result I sent an email to correspondence.fm@gov.wales telling him what I thought of what he said. It was sent at 11:47 on Sunday 9th January under my name, so should be easily identified. I feel 100% sure that the FM will not get to read it and it will be filed under "Deleted emails" by somebody, somewhere.

I would be grateful if you would detail the exact course my email takes, who reads it, and what they decide to do with it.

At present, I am struggling to work out why the correspondence.fm@gov.wales even exists and any information you supply will go to easing my curiosity.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

Welsh Government

Dear Mr A Willmore

 

Thank you for your e-mail. The Freedom of Information Act only provides a
right of access to information held at the time a request is made.

 

I can confirm that no information is held.

 

Please note that while we do not hold any of this information, some of the
requested information would be covered by an exemption under section 40 of
the FOI act “Personal information.”

 

You have previously received a number of replies regarding e-mails to the
First Minister – our references ATISN 13527, 13592, 14632, 14778 and 14967
refer, and details of how the Welsh Government handles ministerial
correspondence is available here [1]Contacting Welsh Government ministers
| GOV.WALES

 

As you indicate, your e-mail of 09/01/2022 does not require a response as
it does not ask any questions.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Jamie

Jamie Jenkins

Rheolwr Gwybodaeth/Information Manager

Gwasanaethau Corfforaethol/Corporate Services

 

Grŵp yr Ysgrifennydd Parhaol/Permanent Secretary’s Group

Swyddfa’r Prif Weinidog/Office of the First Minister

 

Llywodraeth Cymru/Welsh Government

 

show quoted sections

Dear Welsh Government,

Thank you for your response. This was my sixth request to you on the subject of emails to the First Minister and still, despite my best efforts, I am still at a loss to understand how they are processed. I consider all of your responses to have been vague and unhelpful, with the over-complication of what should be a very simple email system working in your favour to avoid answering my questions.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

Dear Welsh Government,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Welsh Government's handling of my FOI request 'Emails to First Minister - 6'.

You have not answered my question but I find it hard to believe that nobody knows or no record exists of where my email went.

I note too that you have not provided me with any assistance under Section 16.

In my (apparently unnumbered) information request I asked: "I would be grateful if you would detail the exact course my email takes, who reads it, and what they decide to do with it.", Your response was: "I can confirm that no information is held.". in your response to ATISN 14967 you told me that the distribution and deletion process is performed manually, so somebody, somewhere will have seen it and acted as they saw fit.

I specifically asked for details for the email I sent at 11:47 on Sunday 9th January under my name. You are correct in stating that no question was asked in that email, so no response was needed. This was entirely deliberate on my part to keep the email's routing as simple as possible.

In our previous correspondence (ATISN 14778) you have told me: "emails could have been forwarded to a significant number of different accounts or mailboxes for a reply to be prepared and issued.". I take this to mean that there are a significant number of different accounts or mailboxes IN USE, and not that my specific email ended up in a significant number of different accounts or mailboxes. On that basis, I would still like to know which accounts/mailboxes (by name) my email was sent to, who sent it to those accounts/mailboxes, who read it (in both cases their position/title, I am not looking for an individual's name), and their following course of action.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

Welsh Government

1 Attachment

Dear A Willmore

 

Further to your recent request for an internal review, please find
attached a final response.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Jamie

Jamie Jenkins

Rheolwr Gwybodaeth/Information Manager

Gwasanaethau Corfforaethol/Corporate Services

 

Grŵp yr Ysgrifennydd Parhaol/Permanent Secretary’s Group

Swyddfa’r Prif Weinidog/Office of the First Minister

 

Llywodraeth Cymru/Welsh Government

 

Sganiwyd y neges hon am bob feirws hysbys wrth iddi adael Llywodraeth
Cymru. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cymryd o ddifrif yr angen i ddiogelu eich
data. Os cysylltwch â Llywodraeth Cymru, mae ein [1]hysbysiad preifatrwydd
yn esbonio sut rydym yn defnyddio eich gwybodaeth a sut rydym yn diogelu
eich preifatrwydd. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn
anfon ateb yn Gymraeg i ohebiaeth a dderbynnir yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd
gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this
email was scanned for all known viruses. The Welsh Government takes the
protection of your data seriously. If you contact the Welsh Government
then our [2]Privacy Notice explains how we use your information and the
ways in which we protect your privacy. We welcome receiving correspondence
in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be answered in Welsh
and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in responding.

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/”https:/gov.wales/about/welsh-government-privacy-notice/?lang=cy”
2. https://gov.wales/about/welsh-government...

Dear Welsh Government,

Before I send the details of this failed request to the ICO, would you please have another attempt at answering those three questions which again you have chosen not to answer, viz:
1) Which accounts/mailboxes (by name) your email was sent to;
2) Who sent it to those accounts/mailboxes;
3) Who read it (in both cases their position/title), and their following course of action.

Please allow me to give you some examples of the answers I am looking for:
For question 1: My email will have arrived automatically in its first mailbox without needing any further attention. In my own personal Gmail email system this is called "Inbox". I feel sure that you will have a similarly named mailbox. Somebody (the answer to Question 2) will have read my email, digested its contents and decided that no response was needed. I find it hard to believe that my email would just be left sitting in your equivalent of Inbox and would suggest that something then happened to it. Either it was deleted immediately (fair enough) or it was sent on to a "This bloke's a nutter" or equivalent mailbox for subsequent filing or deletion. Please confirm the course of action that was taken.
For question 2: On my email's arrival in "Inbox", who (position/title, not name) was the person who dealt with my email initially and then either deleted it immediately or sent it on to another mailbox?
For question 3: Who (position/title, not name) was the person who dealt with my email and acted appropriately on it?

Typical answers may be then:
1) Inbox, then deleted immediately.
2) Chief First Minister email operative
3) Chief First Minister email operative

Again, I have to say that it is your goodselves who seem to be making this whole matter extremely complicated, and that complexity is working in your favour as it creates obsfucation of what would normally be a simple process.

Please let me know if you have nothing further to add.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A Willmore

Welsh Government

1 Attachment

Dear Mr A Willmore

Further to your recent request for information, please find disclosure
attached, sent on behalf of Huw Llewellyn Davies.

Kind regards

Natalie

 

Natalie Chant

Gwasanaethau Corfforaethol/Corporate Services

 

Grŵp yr Ysgrifennydd Parhaol/Permanent Secretary’s Group

Swyddfa’r Prif Weinidog/Office of the First Minister

 

Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government
Ffôn / Tel: 03000 625022
E-bost: [1]Natalie.Chant@gov.cymru / E-mail: [2]Natalie.Chant@gov.wales

 

 

 

 

 

Sganiwyd y neges hon am bob feirws hysbys wrth iddi adael Llywodraeth
Cymru. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cymryd o ddifrif yr angen i ddiogelu eich
data. Os cysylltwch â Llywodraeth Cymru, mae ein [3]hysbysiad preifatrwydd
yn esbonio sut rydym yn defnyddio eich gwybodaeth a sut rydym yn diogelu
eich preifatrwydd. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn
anfon ateb yn Gymraeg i ohebiaeth a dderbynnir yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd
gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this
email was scanned for all known viruses. The Welsh Government takes the
protection of your data seriously. If you contact the Welsh Government
then our [4]Privacy Notice explains how we use your information and the
ways in which we protect your privacy. We welcome receiving correspondence
in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be answered in Welsh
and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in responding.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:Natalie.Chant@gov.cymru
2. mailto:Natalie.Chant@gov.wales
3. file:///tmp/”https:/gov.wales/about/welsh-government-privacy-notice/?lang=cy”
4. https://gov.wales/about/welsh-government...