Dear Aylesbury Prison and Young Offender Institution IMB,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following information:

1. Most Recent Report for the Prison/IRC: A copy of the most recent report concerning the prison/IRCC conducted by the Independent Monitoring Board.

2. Contact Details for Public Queries: Information regarding whom members of the public can contact within the IMB at the prison/IRC should they have concerns about the welfare of a prisoner/detainee that has not been appropriately responded to by the prison, or if they wish to seek further information about the IMB's work at this prison/IRC.

3. Meeting Minutes: Copies of the meeting minutes from regular meetings with prison and immigration detention managers over the past twelve months, excluding any sensitive security or personal data.

4. Number of Complaints: The number of complaints submitted about the IMB within the prison/IRC over the last 12 months.

Please provide this information in an electronic format.

If you require any clarification, feel free to contact me. I look forward to your response within the 20 working days, as outlined by statute.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,
Mr Ryan Jarvis

Dear Aylesbury Prison and Young Offender Institution IMB,

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

I am writing to formally request an internal review of the response I received to my Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 21 January 2024, specifically addressing the refusal based on the exemptions cited in your response received on 5 February 2024.

My original request sought information on several points related to the operations and oversight provided by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at Aylesbury Prison and Young Offender Institution, including the most recent report, contact details for public queries, meeting minutes, and the number of complaints about the IMB.

The refusal to provide certain requested information was based on the information being publicly available, the IMB's limited resources, and the claim that certain information is not held by the IMB. However, following advice received from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under Advice Case Reference: IC-288308-N7Q3, dated 15 February 2024, it is clear that individual IMBs are considered public authorities under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This advice contradicts the rationale provided for withholding information under your original response.

The ICO's clarification underlines that individual IMBs are obligated to fulfill FOI requests and hold information that should be accessible to requesters. This advice directly impacts my request, particularly regarding the availability of meeting minutes and the handling of complaints, which you initially indicated could not be provided or suggested contacting the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) directly.

Given this clarification, I believe the original decision to withhold certain information may not have fully considered the statutory responsibilities of each individual IMB as a public authority under the FOIA. Therefore, I request that you:

1. Re-evaluate the refusal to provide meeting minutes and information on complaints, considering the ICO's advice that individual IMBs are indeed public authorities and have obligations under the FOIA.

2. Review the decision to redirect inquiries about complaints to the MOJ, in light of the ICO's position on the public authority status of individual IMBs.

3. Provide further clarification or direct access to the requested information where possible, especially regarding meeting minutes and complaints, acknowledging the public interest in transparency and accountability for public authorities.

I appreciate your attention to this request for an internal review and look forward to a response that considers the ICO's guidance on the public authority status of IMBs. Please acknowledge receipt of this request and inform me of the expected timeframe for the review process.

Should this internal review not resolve my concerns, I am prepared to escalate this matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office for further investigation.

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Mr Ryan Jarvis

--

CCOPY OF ICO ADVICE TO MR JARVIS ON THE 15TH DAY OF FEB 2024

Advice Case Reference: IC-288308-N7Q3

Dear Mr Jarvis

Thank you for your email of 10 February 2024 (see below for details).

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) only covers public authorities. Schedule 1 of the FOIA contains a list of bodies that are public authorities. Some of the bodies are listed by name, such as the Health and Safety Executive. Others are listed by type, for example government departments or parish councils. The definition of a public authority also covers companies which are wholly owned by the crown, by the wider public sector or both the crown and wider public sector.

Our current view is that individual monitoring boards (IMBs) set up at prisons and immigration centres are public authorities. However, the national chair and the overall management board aren’t.

Each IMB will ‘hold’ the information from the secretariat and so it’s available to requesters via each Independent Monitoring Board. However, the secretariat information to the national chair and the IMB Management Board wouldn’t be available as they’re not a public authority.

As outlined above, Schedule 1 of the FOIA contains the information regarding public authorities. Part VI of FOIA says;

"Any Independent Monitoring Board established under section 6(2) of the Prison Act 1952."

In addition section 19 of the protocol between the MOJ and the Management Board states;

19. Freedom of Information and Data Protection

19.1 The National Chair and the IMB Management Board are not subject to the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000, however they will ensure that the Secretariat informs individual Board Chairs of their information assurance obligations under the FOIA 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018, and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

19.2 Compliance support, advice, guidance and drafting will continue to be provided to the Board chairs either from within the IMB Secretariat or through resource procured on the Board chair’s behalf.

19.3 Additionally, the Secretariat will maintain a central monitoring record of FOI and DPA requests received and dealt with. The MoJ may require this information for inclusion in Departmental statistics.

I hope this information is helpful to you. If you need advice on a new issue you can contact us via our helpline on 0303 123 1113 or through our live chat service. In addition, more information about the Information Commissioner’s Office and the legislation we oversee is available on our website ico.org.uk.

Yours sincerely

Lead Case Officer
Information Commissioner's Office

Dear Aylesbury Prison and Young Offender Institution IMB,

Thank you for your response.

I will be referring your response to the ICO to seek further guidance.

Yours faithfully,

Ryan Jarvis