Managed migration guidance - February 2024
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
Please provide internal DWP guidance for use by teams working on managed migration.
The response should include, alongside any new guidance, the updated versions of annexes A-J here : https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/g...
I am aware of another similar request for updated guidance, there is no need to provide guidance already provided in response to that request: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/u...
Yours faithfully,
Owen Stevens
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Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FoI) request received on 7th
February You asked for:
Please provide internal DWP guidance for use by teams working on managed
migration.
The response should include, alongside any new guidance, the updated
versions of annexes A-J here :
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/g...
I am aware of another similar request for updated guidance, there is no
need to provide guidance already provided in response to that request:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/u...
We do hold information falling within the terms of your request; however,
we need more time to consider your request.
I wish to advise you that the following exemption applies to the
information that you have requested:
Section 35(1)(a) Formulation of government policy.
By virtue of section 10(3), where public authorities have to consider the
balance of the public interest in relation to a request, they do not have
to comply with the request until such a time as is reasonable in the
circumstances.
The Department has not yet reached a decision on the balance of the public
interest. Due to the need to consider, in all the circumstances of the
case, where the balance of the public interest lies in relation to the
information that you have requested, the Department will not be able to
respond to your request in full within 20 working days.
Accordingly, I hope to let you have a response as soon as possible but no
later than 08/04/2024.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me quoting the
reference number above.
Yours sincerely,
Central FOI Team,
Department for Work and Pensions
Dear Owen Stevens,
I am writing in response to your request for information, received 7th
February.
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central FoI Team
Dear Department for Work and Pensions,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'Managed migration guidance - February 2024'.
(1) I do not accept that the correct information has been provided. It appears that some out of date guidance may have been included in the response. The 'exclusions and deferrals' guidance appears not to be the most recent version of the guidance. A more recent version (which does not include 'claimants who require a home visit' in the list of deferrals) was provided in response to another request here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/u...
While I had asked that the response to the request not duplicate the provision of information which had already been provided in response to that other recent request, the provision of the same information in an out of date version makes me doubt whether the other information provided in response to this request may also be out of date. Please check that the information provided is the most up to date version of the guidance.
(2) I do not accept that s.35 applies and even if it did I not accept that the public interest is in favour of witholding the information. Many ICO decisions have applied the public interest test in relation to information regarding managed migration and to which s.35 applies and found that the public interest favours disclosure. A recent tribunal decision (DWP v IC & Anor [2023] UKFTT 822 (GRC)) held that:
"75. Ultimately, as the move to UC (and the benefit payments involved) is about such a large amount of public money, and of importance to 6.5 million households (and many vulnerable people), the Tribunal agrees with the Commissioner that for the public interest in withholding the information to prevail the strongest justification is necessary. As Mr Couling says in his witness statement ‘20% of working-age individuals will receive Universal Credit by the time the Move to UC process has concluded’. We note all the points raised by the DWP and we are sure that it has a strong preference, for good reasons, for the material not to be disclosed. But we agree with the Commissioner that the public ‘is entitled to be well informed as to the reasoning behind policy decisions which are likely to shape British society. Disclosure of this information would allow the public insight into the decision-making process and an understanding of the decisions made and challenges overcome’."
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/m...
Yours faithfully,
Owen Stevens
Thank you for contacting the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been received by the DWP Freedom of Information mailbox and will be
processed accordingly.
Please note that this mailbox is for Freedom of Information (FOI) or
Internal Review (IR) requests only – If you have submitted a non FOI or IR
related email then we may not be able to action it.
Timescales for responding
Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests
If your email is a valid FOI request, as per Section 8 of the FOI Act
2000, you can normally expect a response within 20 working days.
Internal Review (IR) Requests
You can normally expect a response within 20 working days.
We will respond to all valid FOI and IR requests within our statutory
timescales, if we are unable to do so then we will contact you to explain
why. Please note that we are not able to process your FOI or IR request in
any shorter timescales that you may indicate.
Receiving a response from us
Please note that email FOI and IR responses will be issued from [email
address]
We recommend that you add this address to your email contacts otherwise
the response may be treated as Spam or Junk by your email account
provider.
Further Information
Should you have any further queries in connection with your FOI or IR
request please contact us.
More information on the DWP can be accessed on gov.uk here –
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
References
Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
Dear Owen Stevens,
I am writing in response to your request for information, received 8th
March.
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central FoI Team
Dear Owen Stevens,
Please see the attached response and documents following the ICO's Decision Notice (IC-299312-B6K6) dated 2 October 2024.
Regards
DWP Central FoI Team.
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Owen Stevens left an annotation ()
ICO complaint