ESA Mandatory Reconsideration - Operational Data

The request was refused by Department for Work and Pensions.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Since October 2013 ESA Reconsiderations have been mandatory before a claimant can lodge an appeal with the Tribunal.

In its response FOI IR387 of 14 August 2014 the DWP stated that it was “gathering the list of information published on 29th May 2013 as part of the operational delivery of Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR) for all benefits. This will include ESA.”

The “list of information” referred to is data related to the operation of Mandatory Reconsideration (“MR”).

The DWP has received a number of requests to publish the data it holds about the operation of MR and it has consistently claimed the S.22 exemption “Information intended for future publication”.

Given that the DWP started collecting MR data in 2013 it means that it has been intending to publish said data for nearly 2 years. A reasonable person might suspect that the DWP is using S.22 as an excuse to avoid disclosing the MR data and that would be an abuse of the exemption.

RFI1: Please disclose the data that the DWP has been collection for ESA mandatory reconsiderations since October 2013.

If the DWP still intends to engage S.22 please:

RFI2.1: provide an approximate date when it intends to publish the data (e.g. 4th quarter 2015).

RFI2.2: confirm that it has settled on the data it intends to publish (i.e. decided which data will be disclosed, redacted or withheld).

RFI2.3: as S.22 is a qualified exemption, please provide the public interest that it carried out when considering the engagement of S.22 to show that it is reasonable, in all the circumstances, to withhold the information prior to publication. This should include the fact that the DWP has been collecting said data since 2013.

Yours faithfully,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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DWP Strategy Freedom of Information, Department for Work and Pensions

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Please see the attached reply to your Freedom of Information request

Yours sincerely

DWP Strategy FoI team

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'ESA Mandatory Reconsideration - Operational Data'.

Thank you for the response and the links to the statistics published by the DWP.

Sadly the data related to the links is not the information I requested. Therefore, as the DWP hasn’t cited one of the statutory exemptions its response is not compliant with the FOIA.

The DWP will be aware that the Commissioner requires public authorities to provide a substantive response within 40 working days from receipt of the request for information (i.e. supply the information of issue a compliant refusal). This time period includes dealing with Internal Review Requests. Therefore, unless the DWP issues a compliant response within the 40 working day deadline I will complain to the Commissioner.

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,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
 

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DWP Strategy Freedom of Information, Department for Work and Pensions

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Please see the attached reply to your Freedom of Information request
 
Yours sincerely
 
DWP Strategy FoI team

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John Slater left an annotation ()

I have sent a complaint to the ICO in respect of this request for information.

DWP IGS FOI, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear John Slater,
 
Please see the attached letter regarding your Freedom of Information
request.
 
Thank you.
 
 
Statistical Services Freedom of Information Team
 
 
 

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'ESA Mandatory Reconsideration - Operational Data'.

If I have understood the Department’s response correctly:

DWP Statement 1: Mandatory Reconsideration (“MR”) is held on the Decision Making and Appeals Recording System (“DMARC”) for 14 months following the date of the decision.

Slater Response 1: This means that for the purposes of the FOIA the Department holds the information I requested.

DWP Statement 2: The extraction of the data I requested requires the creation and use of a new bespoke extract from the DMARC system.

Slater Response 2: According to the Department’s own figures in its Annex A this would take 0.5 days. Given that the Department has previously confirmed to me which operational data it is collecting in respect of ESA MRs this should not be an arduous task (see DWP response at link below).
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2...

DWP Statement 3: The Department claims that it has experienced difficulties using data taken from the DMACR due to it containing more information than just MRs.

Slater Response 3: Given that my request requires the production of a “new bespoke extract from the DMARC system” I suggest that the inclusion of problems related to previous extracts would, on the face of it, be irrelevant. However, if this is not the case and as it helps the Department I am happy to expand my request for information to include the additional information that the Department referred to as “more information than just MRs”. It would then be a matter for me to sort through and make sense of the data.

DWP Statement 4: The Department discuses the need to make sure that the data provided would be correct:
“To ensure the correct information is provided this has meant extensive investigations and further validation has been required.”
“However, due to the considerable additional work needed to ensure that the collected data is correct and giving only the information for MRs and also to provide data for the time period in your request …”

Slater Response 4: The Department’s concerns are irrelevant to the FOIA and are not recognised as one of the statutory exemptions. To cite the Information Commissioner directly:

“You cannot refuse a request for information simply because you know the information is out of date, incomplete or inaccurate. To avoid misleading the requester, you should normally be able to explain to them the nature of the information, or provide extra information to help put the information into context.

When considering complaints against a public authority, the ICO will normally reject arguments that inaccurate information should not be disclosed.”

As such the inclusion of any time to check the accuracy of the data in the Department’s cost estimate is incorrect. Therefore the cost estimate included as Annex A is incompatible with the FOIA.

I will now address each line of the table provided in Annex A in turn:

Line 1
Given that the DWP has previously published the operational data that it is collecting in respect of ESA MRs this seems to be excess and possibly irrelevant. However, I will concede that some work might be required in this area and included it in the cost calculation below.

Line 2
Accepted and included in the cost calculation below.

Line 3
This is irrelevant as the FOIA entitles me to the data that is held. The matters described by the Department are incompatible with the FOIA and therefore cannot be included in the cost estimate.

Line 4
I accept that the data needs to be extracted but allowing a full day to do this is excessive. However, I have included in the cost calculation below.

Line 5
This is irrelevant to my request for information. I am entitled to the information held by the department regardless of it being out of date, incomplete or inaccurate. In fact the Commissioner frowns on data being ‘amended’ prior to disclosure as that means the public authority hasn’t actually provided the data it holds. The costs for this cannot be included in the Department’s cost estimate.

Line 6
This appears to be a duplicate of line 2 and therefore its inclusion appears to be dubious. However, I have included in the cost calculation below.

Line 7
This is clearly post processing of held data prior to disclosure and is not allowed under the FOIA. Therefore costs for it cannot be included.

Cost Summary
Line 1 1.0
Line 2 0.5
Line 4 1.0
Line 6 1.0
Total 3.5 days

Even allowing for costs that appear to be inflated it is clear that the Department, based on its own estimates, can provide the requested data within S12 limits.

Given that I have shown the Department’s response is incompatible with the FOIA I look forward to receiving the requested information without further delay.

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,

John Slater

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
 

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DWP Strategy Freedom of Information, Department for Work and Pensions

Thank you for your Freedom of Information review request.

Please note that it is our internal target to answer reviews within 20 working days unless I need to come back to you to clarify your request, or the balance of the public interest test needs to be considered which we will keep you informed about.

If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

DWP Strategy FoI Team

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Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act

If you are not happy with this response you may request an internal review by e-mailing [DWP request email] or by writing to DWP, Central FoI Team,
Caxton House, Tothill Street, SW1H 9NA. Any review request should be submitted within two months of the date of this letter. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF
www.ico.org.uk/Global/contact_us or telephone 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745

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DWP IGS FOI, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear John Slater,
 
Please see the attached letter regarding your Freedom of Information
request.
 
Thank you.
 
Statistical Services Freedom of Information Team
 
 

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John Slater left an annotation ()

This RFI is now with the Information Commissioner as I do not believe that the DWP cost estimate is sensible, reasonable and supported by cogent evidence (the test it needs to pass).

Given the lengths that the DWP is going to in order to avoid disclosure of MR information one wonders what it has to hide.

DWP IGS FOI, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear John Slater,
 
Please see the attached file regarding your Freedom of Information
request.
 
Thank you
 
Statistical Services Freedom on Information Team
 
 
 
 

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Dear DWP IGS FOI,

Thank you for your message providing the link to the published ESA Mandatory Reconsideration Data.

As the department is no doubt aware the published information does not satisfy my RFI. However, I suggest that it does serve to show the invalidity of the arguments put forward by the Department to refuse my request. I'm sure the Commissioner will consider this when reaching his decision on my complaint.

Yours sincerely,

John Slater

John Slater left an annotation ()

I complained to the Commissioner about this RFI. Unfortunately she agreed with the DWP in this instance. I don't have to time to appeal this decision so reluctantly have to accept it.