Honours - Ms Paula Vennells
Dear Post Office Limited,
I request information as follows.
All correspondence from and within the Post Office from 2017 concerning the subject matter of honours and potential honours for Paula Vennells. This includes any third party endorsements or soliciting of any honour.
Yours faithfully,
Tim Bush
Our ref: FOI2024/00046
Dear Tim Bush,
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 9th
January. Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
The Act requires that a response must be given promptly, and in any event
within 20 working days. We will therefore reply at the latest by 6th
February.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
Dear Tim Bush,
I am writing with regards to your request for information, which was
received on 9 January.
We have started to consider your request, however we require further
information before we are able to proceed.
Please can you let us know the date range for us to carry out searches for
correspondence. For instance, would you like the date range to be:
• Only in 2017? OR
• From 2017 until the awarding of Paula Vennells' CBE in December 2018?
OR
• From 2017 until the date of your FOI request (9 January 2024)? OR
• Something else?
We would also be grateful for clarity about the type of correspondence you
are seeking. For example, are you:
• Looking for any mention whatsoever in regards to honours and Paula
Vennells? OR
• Focused on the awarding of Paula Vennells' CBE? OR
• Something else?
Please note, Paula Vennells left her role as Post Office Chief Executive
Officer in 2019.
As you will appreciate the statutory timescale for our response to your
request will not commence until we are supplied with the further
information which we require. In the event that we do not hear from you we
will assume that you do not wish to proceed with your request.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Yours sincerely,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
Dear [email address],
Thank you for your reply. To clarify the points.
> From 2017 until the awarding of Paula Vennells' CBE in December 2018.
> Any mention whatsoever in regards to honours and Paula Vennells in the foregoing date range.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Bush
Dear Tim Bush,
Thank you for your clarification. We will proceed as you outline below and come back to you in due course.
Kind regards
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street
London
EC2V 7ER
postoffice.co.uk
Dear Tim Bush,
Please find the response attached relating to your Freedom of Information
request.
Kind regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
Dear [email address],
To clarify my request. Add the search term “CBE”, and limit the search from 1 January 2018.
Please note. This amended request should not take a month to process.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Bush
Our ref: FOI2024/00256
Dear Tim Bush,
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 2nd
February. Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
The Act requires that a response must be given promptly, and in any event
within 20 working days. We will therefore reply at the latest by 1st
March.
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
Regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
Dear Tim Bush,
Once again, we apologise for the lateness in our response. We are currently working on your response, including manually reviewing the search we have carried out. We hope to be able to respond within the next 2 weeks.
Thank you for your patience.
Kind regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street
London
EC2V 7ER
postoffice.co.uk
Dear information.rights,
That reply is unacceptable. The deadline was 2nd March.
I request that POL refers itself to the Information Commissioner for breach of the Freedom of Information Act. Please confirm by return that the Commissioner has been informed.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Bush
Dear Tim Bush,
Please find the response attached relating to your Freedom of Information
request. We sincerely apologise for the delay in our response.
With kind regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street,
London,
EC2V 7ER
Dear [email address],
Thank you.
You say the exemptions used relate to the personal data of persons.
However. There is an email on PDF page 38 of Saturday 29 2018 where something other than personal data has been redacted. “….selfless work in support of xxxxxx”.
Also the Information Commissioner is very clear that email suffices of an organisation are not personal data. Nor is the address. If I as I surmise thise email is from a senior cleric then that is disclosable.
Please note it will not take 30 days to unredact something already supplied. In addition to which the reply was very late.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Bush
Dear Tim Bush,
Thank you for your email.
Regarding the disclosable bundle provided to you under FOI2024/00256, we have determined that the redactions made - including the one you refer to on page 38 - all meet the definition of 'personal data', which according to the ICO website is:
"'personal data' means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ('data subject'); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person".
This definition and other information relating to personal data can be found at the following webpage:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-...
With kind regards,
Data Protection and Information Rights Team
100 Wood Street
London
EC2V 7ER
postoffice.co.uk
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