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Exempt Information under the Local Government Act 1972

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Dear Newcastle upon Tyne City Council,

Question 1
Does your Council have a document (formal/informal guidance or policy) on when information deemed exempt under the local government act 1972 will no longer be exempt?

Question 2
I assume that when you bring items to Committee or full Council which are exempt from disclosure under the local government act 1972 you state this on the report. Do you provide guidance anywhere in the report or in a separate unrelated document as to when the information will (if at all) no longer be exempt from disclosure and be able to be accessed by members of the public?

Question 3
Do you have any similar guidance documents on when Members of the Council may be able to view documents which a Senior Officer in the Council has deemed they should not have access to?

Question 4
Has your Council received queries or formal requests for information from either members of the public or Members of the Council about access to information which has been deemed to be exempt from disclosure please? If so, what was the query and what was the Council's advice?

Yours faithfully,

Ellis Evans

Freedom Of Information Requests Mailbox, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council

Acknowledgement: FOI 15631

Thank you for your request for information. We are dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We have passed your request to relevant colleagues who will respond within 20 working days starting the working day after receipt of your request.

Regards
Freedom of Information Team

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Scott, Linda, Newcastle upon Tyne City Council

By email to: [FOI #608800 email]
Reference: FOI 15631

Dear Mr Evans

I refer to your recent FOIA request which is set out below:

Question 1 - Does your Council have a document (formal/informal guidance or policy) on when information deemed exempt under the local government act 1972 will no longer be exempt?

Question 2 - I assume that when you bring items to Committee or full Council which are exempt from disclosure under the local government act 1972 you state this on the report. Do you provide guidance anywhere in the report or in a separate unrelated document as to when the information will (if at all) no longer be exempt from disclosure and be able to be accessed by members of the public?

Question 3 - Do you have any similar guidance documents on when Members of the Council may be able to view documents which a Senior Officer in the Council has deemed they should not have access to?

Question 4 - Has your Council received queries or formal requests for information from either members of the public or Members of the Council about access to information which has been deemed to be exempt from disclosure please? If so, what was the query and what was the Council's advice?

Our reply is as follows:

Question 1 - The Council has no such document. However, paragraph 10.4(iii) of the Council’s Access to Information Procedure Rules in Part 4B of the Newcastle Charter makes it clear that “Information falling under any of the categories is otherwise only exempt if and so long, as in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information”.
Part 4B of the Newcastle Charter can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/sites/defau...

Question 2 - The report template makes provision for this. The report will be marked “Not for Publication”, together with the category of information likely to be disclosed. There is no such guidance in the report and the Council does not have “a separate unrelated document” containing such guidance.

Question 3 - The Council has no such guidance documents.

Question 4 - We anticipate that the Council will have received such queries. However, we do not hold a central record. If a member of the public or a Member of the Council raised such a query or a formal request, that would be the opportunity to reconsider the exemption.

If you are unhappy with our response to your request, you can ask for an internal review of our decision. Please send details of your request for review to the following address:

Corporate Information Governance Officer
Resources Directorate
Civic Centre
Barras Bridge
Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 2BN
Telephone: 0191 211 6644 E-mail: [Newcastle City Council request email]

If you are still unhappy with how we have handled your request following our internal review you can complain to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are as follows:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545745 E-mail: [email address]

Yours sincerely

Linda Scott
Service Manager
Democratic Services
Tel: 0191 211 5159

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We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Ellis Evans please sign in and let everyone know.