Information about your dealings with Stonewall [Extraneous material removed]

The request was partially successful.

Dear Northumberland County Council,

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Please provide any information that you hold answering to any of the following descriptions:

1. Any application you made in 2019 or 2020 to be a “Stonewall Diversity Champion” or to be included on Stonewall’s “Workplace Equality Index,” including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please redact personal details if necessary.

2. Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in relation to either application or programme.

3. Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in 2019 or 2020 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if you claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say in broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be entitled to withhold it).

4. Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind, if no further assessment was done).

5. Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i) in 2019; (ii) in 2020, whether or not as payment for goods or services.

6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Cook

Northumberland County Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref: 8845  

Dear Enquirer,

INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information which will be dealt with under
the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this matter please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Please note, that due to the recent outbreak of Covid-19, there may be a
delay in responding to your request. We appreciate your patience at this
busy period.

Kind regards

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk

Northumberland County Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref: 8845   

Dear Enquirer,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST

I refer to your Freedom of Information request in relation to
Northumberland County Council's Stonewall Membership. 

Right of Access

Section 1(1) of the Act provides any person making a request for
information to a public authority is entitled.

(a) to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds
information of the description specified in the request (which Section
1(6) of the Act designates as the "duty to confirm or deny"), and

(b) if that is the case, to have that information communicated to him.

The right is to obtain access to the information itself and not to the
document or record which contains it.

The Act creates a general right of access to information held by public
authorities subject to various exemptions.

Northumberland County Council confirms that it holds the information you
have requested, please see the following information in response.

1. Any application you made in 2019 or 2020 to be a “Stonewall Diversity
Champion” or to be included on Stonewall’s “Workplace Equality Index,”
including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please
redact personal details if necessary.  

 

The Stonewall Diversity Champion programme is
a membership-based subscription which allows members to benefit from a
range of resources and support. No application or submission is made to
join this programme. Organisations can complete a general online enquiry
form on the Stonewall site. Applications for the Stonewall Workplace
Equality Index (WEI) are open to all organisations free of
charge. Organisations are not required to be a Stonewall Diversity
Champion to apply. Our 2019 application was completed directly
on Stonewall’s online portal, and we therefore no longer hold a copy of
our submission. We did not make an application in 2020. 

 

2. Any feedback you received in 2019 or 2020 from Stonewall in relation to
either application or programme.  

 

This information is refused under FOIA sections 41 and 43(2).  We have
considered the Public Interest Test in respect to the section 43(2) and
are satisfied that this exemption may be maintained. 

 

3. Any other communication you have received from Stonewall in 2019 or
2020 unless privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure (but if you
claim privilege or exemption in relation to any material, please say in
broad terms what the material is and the basis on which you claim to be
entitled to withhold it)  

 

We receive regular newsletters, updates on developments in the WEI,
information for Stonewall diversity champions and information on how to
access resources on the Stonewall site.   Correspondence of this nature is
widely distributed to programme members and is not necessarily specific to
the Council.  Council specific feedback is confidential in nature, and
such information is refused under FOIA section 41. 

 

4. Full details of any equality impact assessment you carried out
connected with any of these applications (including any equality impact
assessment carried out prior to an earlier application of the same kind,
if no further assessment was done). 

 

We do not hold an Equality Impact Assessment of our application for
inclusion on Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index; this was not a policy
or service development. The WEI application provided an opportunity to
benchmark against peers.   

 

The Council considers that its inclusion on the Workplace Equality Index
is a strong endorsement of its commitment to promoting equality
and diversity not only within the organisation itself, but also across the
communities we serve, and as such our application is consistent with the
powers conveyed upon the Authority by the Localism Act, 2011.

 

 5. Details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall (i) in
2019; (ii) in 2020, whether or not as payment for goods or services. 

2019 - £4,560 

2020 - £4,380 

 

 6. Whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme
in the future, and if so which. 

 

This will be subject to a review involving relevant staff, our staff
network groups and senior personnel within the organisation.  A decision
on continued membership will be made at the appropriate time. 

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request an internal review by writing within 2 months
from the date of this response to the Information Governance Office:

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
NE61 2EF

Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]

Information Commissioner

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right by Section 50 of the Act to apply to the Information Commissioner
for a decision as to whether your request has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113
Email: [email address]

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours faithfully

FOI Coordinator - Human Resources
Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk