Dear Tom Graham

Freedom of Information / Environmental Information Regulations Request:
LBH/14906524

I acknowledge your request for information received on 09 January 2024.

This information request will be dealt with in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations and we
will send the response by 06 February 2024

Should our response to your request breach the statutory time-frame and
you remain unhappy with our response you have the right to complain to the
Information Commissioners Office.  You can contact them at
[email address]. Information about their services is on their website:
www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Zainab Esposito

Senior Feedback & Resolutions Officer

Feedback & Resolutions Team

From: Tom Graham
Sent: Tuesday, January 9, 2024 7:43 PM
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Library Closures

Dear Haringey Borough Council,

This FOI pertains to announcements the Council has made on library hours.
To quote:
"Variation of library opening hours - The number of visitors to libraries
in the borough varies from one branch to another at different times of the
day. Based on footfall analysis we know that library use is typically
lowest in mornings. Young people have a need for somewhere to study in the
evenings and libraries are ideal as a free and safe community space to
work in. We want to look at varying the opening hours of our libraries to
times when they are most heavily used, which could include later in the
evenings, allowing us to allocate resources in a more targeted way.
Library buildings and facilities could be made available to other
services, even when the library service itself is not operating e.g.,
Community Hub teams and Voluntary Community Sector organisations. The
proposed saving is based on reviewing hours at the six branch libraries
(Alexandra Park, Coombes Croft, Highgate, Muswell Hill, St Ann’s, Stroud
Green
& Harringay) with a mixture of mornings and afternoons, as well as
reducing opening times at the three main libraries Hornsey, Marcus Garvey,
and Wood Green. This will be based on demand and demographics, to ensure
libraries remain accessible to all. The service is currently carrying
vacancies and agency cover which will reduce the need for any proposed
redundancies. No library building would be closed. "

The associated financial detail suggests a one off 'saving' of £675,000.

Please provide:
1. Any footfall analysis held for the six libraries in scope, and any
associated analysis documentation (e.g. management updates, summaries,
etc)
2. Any documentation that outlines in detail the specifics of how you
intend to 'allocate resources in a more targetted way'
3. Documentation / analysis that explains the break down - or component
parts of the £675,000 that the council believes will be saved. For
example, documentation that shows a reduction in head count, service
provision, or additional rental income.
4. Any financial assumptions and consequences that pertain to this saving
- e.g. does the council assume additional income from 'community hub
teams' and 'voluntary community sector' - please provide any modelling
done to infrom
5. Any documentation that sets out the new proposed hours by site
6. Any impact assessment on the community -e.g. an EQIA, or similar.
7. Any updates provided to local councillors on the proposals.
8. Any correspondence between council officials, or council officers,
discussing the proposals - e.g. emails.
9. If not covered in points 7, and 8,  any documentation that considered
alternative options to such a proposal.
10. Specific analysis on i) the number of redundancies foreseen and
associated severance cost; and ii) the number of 'vacancies and agency
cover', and the associated assumed cost for not filling said roles.
11. Confirm the delivery plan for any such actions in 24/25, and that no
steps have already been taken.

Thank you

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show quoted sections

Dear Mr Tom Graham

Your Freedom of Information request, our reference LBH/14906524

Thank you for your request for information dated in which you asked for
the following:

 1. Any footfall analysis held for the six libraries in scope, and any
associated analysis documentation (e.g. management updates, summaries,
etc)
 2. Any documentation that outlines in detail the specifics of how you
intend to 'allocate resources in a more targeted way'
 3. Documentation / analysis that explains the break down - or component
parts of the £675,000 that the council believes will be saved. For
example, documentation that shows a reduction in head count, service
provision, or additional rental income.
 4. Any financial assumptions and consequences that pertain to this saving
- e.g. does the council assume additional income from 'community hub
teams' and 'voluntary community sector' - please provide any modelling
done to inform
 5. Any documentation that sets out the new proposed hours by site
 6. Any impact assessment on the community -e.g. an EQIA, or similar.
 7. Any updates provided to local councillors on the proposals.
 8. Any correspondence between council officials, or council officers,
discussing the proposals - e.g. emails.
 9. If not covered in points 7, and 8,  any documentation that considered
alternative options to such a proposal.
10. Specific analysis on i) the number of redundancies foreseen and
associated severance cost; and ii) the number of 'vacancies and agency
cover', and the associated assumed cost for not filling said roles.
11. Confirm the delivery plan for any such actions in 24/25, and that no
steps have already been taken.

Our response is as follows:

 1. Please find attached 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 footfall analysis for all
library branches in Haringey.
 2. No documents held as no decisions have been made on the specifics of
how the library service will intend to allocate resources in a more
targeted way.
 3. We consider this information exempt. Section 22 of the FOIA says that
information is exempt if, at the time a public authority receives a
request for it, the public authority or another person intends to
publish the information at some future date, whether determined or
not.

Section 22 provides a qualified exemption, so public authorities must
consider whether the public interest in applying the exemption is greater
than the public interest in providing the information. We are not aware of
any public interest arguments in favour of releasing the information
earlier than the council had planned. In the absence of any such arguments
and given that releasing this theoretical number now is likely to cause
worry amongst staff, our view is that the public interest in applying the
exemption is greater than the public interest in disclosure in this case.

 4. Please see the section below, marked with an *
 5. No documentation held that sets out the new proposed hours by site.
 6. Please find attached library user demographics files.
 7. Please see the section below, marked with an *
 8. Please see the section below, marked with an *
 9. Please see the section below, marked with an *
10. A decisions have not yet been made there are no specific analysis on
i) the number of redundancies foreseen and associated severance cost;
and ii) the number of 'vacancies and agency cover', and the associated
assumed cost for not filling said roles.
11. We can confirm that no steps have been already taken on the delivery
plan for any such actions in 24/25.

*We have considered your request, and our view is that the information you
requested in points 4,7,8, and 9 would be information which is exempt from
disclosure under section 36 of the FOI Act, which states as follows: 

36. Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs.

(2)Information to which this section applies is exempt information if, in
the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, disclosure of the
information under this Act—

(b) would, or would be likely to, inhibit—

(i)the free and frank provision of advice, or

(ii)the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation,
or

(c)would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice,
the effective conduct of public affairs.

The exemption allows that information may be exempt under section
36(2)(b)(i) or (ii) if its disclosure would, or would be likely to,
inhibit the ability of public authority staff and others to express
themselves openly, honestly and completely, or to explore extreme options,
when providing advice or giving their views as part of the process of
deliberation. The rationale for this is that inhibiting the provision of
advice or the exchange of views may impair the quality of decision making
by the public authority.

Correspondence has been withheld because, in the reasonable opinion of the
Council’s Qualified Person, disclosure of the information contained
therein would or would be likely to inhibit the free and frank provision
of advice or the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of
deliberation and/or would otherwise prejudice or would be likely to
prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.

Where a qualified exemption is engaged, the information must still be
disclosed unless the public interest in maintaining the exemptions
outweighs the public interest in disclosing it. Therefore, following the
Qualified Person’s Opinion, we have applied the public interest test.

• The public interest arguments for releasing this information are that
it would be in accordance with the general principles of the FOIA and
to encourage transparency in the Council’s decision making processes.
• The public interest arguments for withholding the information are that
officers and elected members need a ‘safe space’ to develop ideas,
debate live issues, and reach decisions away from external
interference and distraction, and to be able to engage in a free and
frank exchange of views.

Our view is that the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

As such, we believe that this information is exempt from the Freedom of
Information Act, and this letter is therefore a partial refusal notice as
required by the Freedom of Information Act.

If you are unhappy with how we have responded to your request you can ask
us to conduct an Internal Review or complaint about how your request was
handled. If so, please contact the Feedback & Resolutions Team as
follows (Please note you should do this within two months of receiving
this response):   

E [1][email address]

You may also complain to the Information Commissioner’s office, who may be
able to help you. However they would normally expect the local authority
to have undertaken a complaint investigation or Internal Review of the
request before they will accept the referral. You can contact the
Commissioner at:

E [2][email address]

W [3]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely

Haringey Libraries

Haringey Council

[4]www.haringey.gov.uk

[5]twitter@haringeycouncil

[6]facebook.com/haringeycouncil

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References

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Dear Mr Tom Graham,

The Libraries service have confirmed that you were sent their final
response and your email has been forwarded to us to treat as an internal
review. Please confirm that you are happy for this to be escalated and if
there is anything further you would like for us to review.

Regards,

Krystal Senyah

Senior Feedback and Resolutions Officer

Strategy, Communications and Collaboration | Feedback and Resolutions Team

show quoted sections

Dear Tom Graham,

Internal Review regarding Freedom of Information request
reference LBH/14906524 

Thank you for your email received on 22 February 2024.

Your request for an Internal Review has been logged with the reference
LBH/15083524. Please quote this reference number on any further
correspondence.

We will now review the response you have been sent to the above request
and I aim to let you know the outcome of our investigation by 21 March
2024. If I need longer, I will write to let you know the reason and when
you can expect a full reply.

Should our response to your request breach the statutory time-frame and
you remain unhappy with our response you have the right to complain to the
Information Commissioners Office.  You can contact them at
[email address]. Information about their services is on their website:
www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Krystal Senyah

Senior Feedback & Resolutions Officer

Feedback & Resolutions Team

From: Tom Graham
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2024 8:24 PM
To: FOI
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Library
Closures

Dear Haringey Borough Council,

Please then conduct an internal review in respect to these supplemental
questions.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo...

Yours faithfully,

Tom

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #1068428 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo...
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlo...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

Dear Tom Graham,

Internal Review of the Freedom of Information Act request
reference LBH/14906524

Thank you for giving us an opportunity to review the response we have sent
to your Freedom of Information request.

You complained as you did not believe the service had released all the
information it holds. With regards to the answer to question 1, you stated
that the time of day footfall analysis was not included, but is referenced
on page 78 of the Council's proposed budget papers.

The service also did not provide any information regarding ii) a review of
new library hours but you felt this was referenced at the following link:
https://twitter.com/MartinBallN17/status... and the
cabinet meeting papers on the Council website
https://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/docu...

You concluded that as this has been published, a decision has been made on
i) hours, ii) resource required to staff, and iii) locations and this
should have been provided within the scope of your initial request under
question 2.  

You did not agree with the s22 exemption used in question 3 and
additionally, you did not agree with the exemption s36 used in regards to
questions 4, 7-9:

‘The published council budget papers happily report that there is no need
for redundancy as they have been carrying 'vacancies' / making use of
agency staff - so an argument that it would worry permanent staff appears
contradictory.’ 

My response is as follows:

Question 1 – The service only maintains footfall analysis on a monthly
basis which I find that they have provided. Due to recent refurbishments
and closures, whilst reports have been run when considering the changes to
hours, these have not been saved and the service do not hold comprehensive
data for all libraries over time of day. Please find attached the data
held which was generated as part of the budget preparations. I do not find
that your initial request specified what detail you required and as a
result the service provided you with the information they held in full. I
am sorry you were not provided with the attached.

Question 2 and 5 – A decision has yet to be made in respect of the
proposed opening hours for individual libraries. The service plan to
engage with local residents. library users, non-library users and staff to
help review the library opening times. At present this information is not
held.

Question 3 – I find that the s22 exemption was used appropriately here,
the details regarding the documentation analysis will be published as part
of the public consultation. At present the timeline for this has yet to be
defined. However, as stated in Section 22 of the FOIA, information is
exempt if at the time a public authority receives a request for it, the
public authority or another person intends to publish the information at
some future date, whether determined or not.

Question 4, 7-9 – Both documentations “2024-25 BUDGET AND 2024-2029 MEDIUM
TERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY REPORT (PAGES 1 - 170)” and “Budget Consultation
2024/25” state the following: “The service is currently carrying some
vacancies and agency cover which will reduce the need for any proposed
redundancies”. I do not find that the budget papers ‘report that there is
no need for redundancy’, as you have stated. 

The public interest arguments for releasing the information to these
questions are that it would be in accordance with the general principles
of the FOIA and would encourage transparency in the Council’s decision
making processes. 

The public interest arguments for withholding the information are that
officers and elected members need a ‘safe space’ to develop ideas, debate
live issues, and reach decisions away from external interference and
distraction, and to be able to engage in a free and frank exchange of
views or provision of advice. I find that the use of s36 was appropriate
here, disclosure of this information would have a chilling effect on the
Council’s ability to have frank discussions about Council affairs.

I hope that you are satisfied with my response to your complaint. If you
are dissatisfied, you may complain to the Information Commissioner, who
may be able to help you.  Please note that if you wish to refer this case
to the Information Commissioner, they normally ask that you do so within
two months of our response to you.

You can contact the Commissioner by email: [email address]

Information about their services is on their website: www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely,

Krystal Senyah

Senior Feedback & Resolutions Officer

Feedback & Resolutions Team

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, may be
subject to legal privilege and are intended only for the person(s) or
organisation(s) to whom this email is addressed. Any unauthorised use,
retention, distribution, copying or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If
you have received this email in error, please notify the system
administrator at Haringey Council immediately and delete this e-mail from
your system. Although this e-mail and any attachments are believed to be
free of any virus or other defect which might affect any computer or
system into which they are received and opened, it is the responsibility
of the recipient to ensure they are virus free and no responsibility is
accepted for any loss or damage from receipt or use thereof. All
communications sent to or from external third party organisations may be
subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.