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Dear Mr. Green,

Thank you for your email dated 04/02/2021 requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.  I have logged your email and will deal
with your request in order that we can respond to you within the statutory
deadline of 20 working days.

I will contact you further as soon as the relevant information is
available.

This correspondence is available in large print, Braille or Welsh. Please
contact us for further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours Sincerely,

Joel Morgan.

Joel
Joel Morgan

BUSINESS SUPPORT ASSISTANT / CYNORTHWYYDD CYMORTH BUSNES

RESOURCES DIRECTORATE / CYFARWYDDIAETH ADNODDAU

TORFAEN COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL / CYNGOR BWRDEISTREF SIROL TORFAEN

:Email / Ebost: [1][email address]
(Telephone / Ffôn: 01495 766148

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show quoted sections

YMWADIAD: Mae'r wybodaeth sy'n gynwysedig yn yr e-bost yma a) yn eiddo i
Gyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen; a b) yn gyfrinachol. Fe'i bwriedir ar
gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig. Os nad chi yw’r sawl y cyfeiriwyd hi ato, ni
ddylech ddadlennu, copïo na dosbarthu'r wybodaeth neu ei defnyddio i
weithredu. Os derbyniwch yr e-bost yma fel camgymeriad, gadewch i ni wybod
ar unwaith drwy ffonio ++44 (0) 1495 766366, a danfonwch yr e-bost yn ol
gydag unrhyw atodiadau. RHYBUDD: Gwnewch yn siwr bod gennych ddiogelwch
feirws digonol cyn agor neu ddatgysylltu unrhyw ddogfen sydd yn atodiad
i'r e-bost hwn. Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg.
Cewch ateb Cymraeg i bob gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd yn arwain i
unrhyw oedi. Mae data personol sy'n cael ei brosesu gan y cyngor yn cael
ei wneud yn unol â'r gofynion sydd arnom ni o dan y Rheoliad Diogelu Data
Cyffredinol (RhDDC) (UE) 2016/679. Am fwy o wybodaeth ar sut yr ydym yn
gwneud hyn gwelwch ein Hysbysiad Preifatrwydd

References

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3. http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/
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5. Follow Torfaen Council on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/torfaencouncil/
7. Torfaen Council Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/torfaen

Dear Mr Green

Thank you for your email dated 04.02.2021 requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act.  I am aware that the response to your request
is due today, I regret to inform you that we are not yet in a position to
reply.  I appreciate this is outside of the terms of the Act and I
apologise for the inconvenience this may cause you.  We have a lot of
information to work through and will endeavour to respond as soon as
possible within the next two weeks.

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way,
Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 0330 414 6421 or e-mail [1][email address].

Yours sincerely

Caron Davies

Complaints/FOI Manager / Rheolwr Cwynion/Rhyddid Gwybodaeth

Resources Directorate/Cyfarwyddiaeth Adnoddau

Torfaen County Borough Council / Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen

Tel / Ffôn 01495 742164

Email / Ebost  [2][email address]

[3]Description: Description: cid:image001.gif@01CB4DE0.4A1FEB50[4] Follow
us on Twitter / [5]Find us on Facebook / [6]www.torfaen.gov.uk

'

show quoted sections

YMWADIAD: Mae'r wybodaeth sy'n gynwysedig yn yr e-bost yma a) yn eiddo i
Gyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen; a b) yn gyfrinachol. Fe'i bwriedir ar
gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig. Os nad chi yw’r sawl y cyfeiriwyd hi ato, ni
ddylech ddadlennu, copïo na dosbarthu'r wybodaeth neu ei defnyddio i
weithredu. Os derbyniwch yr e-bost yma fel camgymeriad, gadewch i ni wybod
ar unwaith drwy ffonio ++44 (0) 1495 766366, a danfonwch yr e-bost yn ol
gydag unrhyw atodiadau. RHYBUDD: Gwnewch yn siwr bod gennych ddiogelwch
feirws digonol cyn agor neu ddatgysylltu unrhyw ddogfen sydd yn atodiad
i'r e-bost hwn. Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg.
Cewch ateb Cymraeg i bob gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd yn arwain i
unrhyw oedi. Mae data personol sy'n cael ei brosesu gan y cyngor yn cael
ei wneud yn unol â'r gofynion sydd arnom ni o dan y Rheoliad Diogelu Data
Cyffredinol (RhDDC) (UE) 2016/679. Am fwy o wybodaeth ar sut yr ydym yn
gwneud hyn gwelwch ein Hysbysiad Preifatrwydd

References

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1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.twitter.com/torfaencouncil/
4. Follow Torfaen Council on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/torfaencouncil/
5. http://www.facebook.com/torfaen
6. http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/

Dear Mr Green,

20/672: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your email dated 04/02/2021 requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. I apologise for the delay, I am now in a
position to respond to your questions as follows:

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.

We do not hold this information. The Stonewall Workplace Equality Index
was an on-line application.

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

I can confirm that we do hold information in relation to this question,
however we are withholding this under the exemption Section 41 -
Information provided in confidence. Section 41 states:-

(a)  Information is exempt information if it was obtained by the public
authority from any other person (including another public authority),

and

(b) The disclosure of the information to the public (otherwise than under
this Act) by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of
confidence actionable by that or any other person.

The withheld information concerns a report (“the Report”) supplied to the
Council by Stonewall in its role as “critical friend” following an
application made by the Council for the ‘Workplace Equality Index 2019’.

When considering the exemption, the Authority has considered the necessary
quality of confidence, the obligation of confidence and any specific
detriment to the party providing the information.

·         The Council accepts that information that is already in the
public domain won’t possess the necessary quality of confidence required
to engage the exemption in s41. None of the information contained in the
report is in the public domain. Neither Stonewall nor the Council have
published any of the material supplied and none of it is or was accessible
to the general public at the time of the request.

The report itself has no explicit conditions regarding subsequent use or
disclosure of information. However, the Council’s position is that the
restrictions on use are implicit from the circumstances.

·         The purpose of the report is to provide feedback on the
Council’s activities over the year and provide a framework for further
discussion on improvements that can be made. Stonewall are in that regard
acting as the Council’s ‘critical friend’. The role of critical friend is
to be both encouraging and supportive but to also provide honest and
candid feedback that may be uncomfortable or difficult to hear. Stonewall
are providing honest and constructive advice.

Stonewalls Privacy Statement relating to the Workplace Equality Index
states (in part) that the information supplied by an organisation is
confidential between Stonewall and the applicant / organisation, given
that the Report is an assessment of the information supplied it follows
that the content of the Report is confidential between the parties.

·         The Council’s position is that Stonewall may suffer a specific
detriment in the feedback being made public for the following reasons:-

o   When approached, Stonewall have specifically stated that its
commercial interests would be damaged by disclosure and other
organisations entering the Workplace Equality Index would gain an unfair
advantage;

o   Stonewall have specifically stated that disclosure would undermine
confidence in the Workplace Equality Index;

o   The Council believes that when preparing the report as a ‘critical
friend’ Stonewall may be less likely to fulfil that role with the honesty
and potentially candid or difficult feedback that is required as it will
be aware of the potential of the information being placed into the public
domain;

o   As an organisation the Council may be less likely to engage with the
application process if difficult observations are made public;

o   Overall it is difficult to have discussions around sensitive issues
which have the purpose of ‘driving forward an inclusive workplace’ if
those discussions take place in a public setting.

Section 41 is an absolute exemption and on that basis there is no public
interest test to be carried out under FOIA. However, there is a public
interest defence for breach of confidence and the Council does need to
consider whether there is a public interest in disclosure which overrides
the competing public interest in maintaining the duty of confidence.

The Council has identified that there is a public interest in releasing
the information for the following reasons:

o   It would further public understanding of and participation in the
debate of the issues around LGBT inclusion in the work place; and it would

o   Enable individuals to understand and challenge decision making on the
part of the Council.

The Council has outlined the reasons for maintaining the duty of
confidence and on balance the Council concluded that there is not
sufficient public interest to warrant overriding the duty of confidence in
this instance. Therefore the Council believes that an actionable breach of
confidence would arise should it release the withheld information into the
public domain without the consent of Stonewall on that basis section 41
(1) is engaged and accordingly the Council is not obliged to disclose the
information.

We are also withholding the information under S43(2) – prejudice to
commercial interests.

Section 43(2) is a prejudice-based exemption which states that information
is exempt if its disclosure under FOIA would, or would be likely to,
prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person (including the
public authority holding it). 

Information provided by Stonewall includes support, guidance and advice
which is fed into council practices, policies and reviews.  If the council
was to share this information it would highlight details of the level of
service that is being delivered by Stonewall.  This is likely to prejudice
the commercial interests of Stonewall if their competitors or other
organisations could use this information to provide similar services and
attempt to undercut the fees paid by the Council to Stonewall.

Section 43 is a qualified exemption. This means that if the requested
information is exempt from disclosure the authority must consider whether
the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public
interest in its disclosure.

The factors in favour of disclosure are:

·         For openness, transparency and accountability of public funds,
ensuring the Council is acting appropriately and public money is being
used effectively. For this reason the authority has released the amount of
money it has paid to Stonewall. 

The factors against disclosure are:

·         Competitors of Stonewall could use the information to better
cost and price their activities, in order to set pricing so as to win
business in place of the provider. Disclosure of this information would
therefore affect the provider’s ability to participate competitively in
commercial activity, be effective in procurement and tender exercises
/contract awards and successfully enter into transactions with other
commercial entities or local authorities.

·         The Exempt Information would also highlight what information the
Authority receives regarding the current commercial arrangements.  This
could impact on the authority receiving best value for its public funds in
future for these services. This would be likely to prejudice the
commercial interests of the Authority and its ability to make the most of
its publicly funded budget when engaging with third party suppliers in
this area and could lead to more public money having to spent on similar
arrangements in the future.

·         Disclosure could harm the Council’s relationship with the
provider and could lead to difficulties in securing such services in the
future. Due to the nature of the service provided, this could also result
in implications for staff and service users.

Having considered these factors, the Local Authority is of the view that
there is a stronger public interest in applying the exemption and that the
information should be withheld.

 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).

I can confirm that the Authority does hold information in relation to
question 3.  Due to the volume of information held, under Section 12 of
the Freedom of Information Act the Council is not obliged to comply with
your request. We estimate that the cost of complying with this question,
in addition to the time already spent on this request would exceed the
appropriate limit of £450.00.  The Council is advised to provide
reasonable advice and assistance to the requestor to refine, change or
narrow their request.  If you are able to narrow down your request, please
advise and I will look to see if we can assist.

You have asked in your question that if there is an exemption to say in
broad terms what the material is.  The correspondence held includes
training material, invites to conferences, advice regarding council
policies, newsletters, general correspondence and advice, marketing
material, invoices, payment information and feedback.

 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 any information in relation to this question.

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.

(i)            2019 = £3,000 – Membership

(ii)          2020 = £3,000 – Membership

(iii)         2020 = £2,370 -  Training and conference attendance

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

Yes, the Diversity Champions Programme

Information supplied in response to any Freedom of Information Act request
may be subject to copyright. A single copy of information supplied under
the Freedom of Information Act may only be used for personal,
non-commercial research or study, unless stated otherwise. It must not be
passed to others, copied or re-published in whole or in part without
permission from the copyright holder. Any copyright statement that forms
part of or in any way refers to the information provided must not be
altered or removed.

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing. A
request for an internal review should be made within 40 working days of
the date of the response.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2^nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way,
Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 0330 414 6421 or e-mail [1][email address].

Yours sincerely

Caron Davies

Complaints/FOI Manager Rheolwr Cwynion/Rhyddid Gwybodaeth

Resources Directorate/Cyfarwyddiaeth Adnoddau

Torfaen County Borough Council / Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen

Tel / Ffôn 01495 742164

Email / Ebost  [2][email address]

[3]Description: Description: cid:image001.gif@01CB4DE0.4A1FEB50[4] Follow
us on Twitter / [5]Find us on Facebook / [6]www.torfaen.gov.uk

'

show quoted sections

YMWADIAD: Mae'r wybodaeth sy'n gynwysedig yn yr e-bost yma a) yn eiddo i
Gyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen; a b) yn gyfrinachol. Fe'i bwriedir ar
gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig. Os nad chi yw’r sawl y cyfeiriwyd hi ato, ni
ddylech ddadlennu, copïo na dosbarthu'r wybodaeth neu ei defnyddio i
weithredu. Os derbyniwch yr e-bost yma fel camgymeriad, gadewch i ni wybod
ar unwaith drwy ffonio ++44 (0) 1495 766366, a danfonwch yr e-bost yn ol
gydag unrhyw atodiadau. RHYBUDD: Gwnewch yn siwr bod gennych ddiogelwch
feirws digonol cyn agor neu ddatgysylltu unrhyw ddogfen sydd yn atodiad
i'r e-bost hwn. Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg.
Cewch ateb Cymraeg i bob gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd yn arwain i
unrhyw oedi. Mae data personol sy'n cael ei brosesu gan y cyngor yn cael
ei wneud yn unol â'r gofynion sydd arnom ni o dan y Rheoliad Diogelu Data
Cyffredinol (RhDDC) (UE) 2016/679. Am fwy o wybodaeth ar sut yr ydym yn
gwneud hyn gwelwch ein Hysbysiad Preifatrwydd

References

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