NDAs

The request was successful.

Dear House of Commons,

I would like to know how many non-disclosure agreements have been concluded by the House of Commons with former members of the House of Commons service and the Speaker's Office since 2009.

For clarity, I am using "non-disclosure agreement" in the sense that it is used by, for example, the House of Commons equalities committee. That is to say, an agreement that contains a confidentiality clause - for example, as in the case of Angus Sinclair. I am not using the slightly peculiar definition published last week by the Commission.

Furthermore, I would like to know what gross sum was paid to the employee upon departure: I would include pay in lieu of notice, payments to reflect lost earnings or pensionable pay.

Ideally, this information would presented as totals per year. So, an example answer could be:
"2005 - 3 people were paid a total of £250,000"
"2006 - 2 people were paid a total of £158,000"
"2007 - 6 people were paid a total of £828,000"
etc etc etc

I appreciate, however, that this might be disclosive. So please bound the information together so that it meets your minimum disclosable cell size. I am indifferent as to whether the cells are unevenly sized.

For example, in our case above, you could bound it as:

"2005-6 - 5 people were paid a total of £408,000"
"2007 - 6 people were paid a total of £828,000"

In addition, and in any case, I would like the grand totals since June 2009 for both the number of such agreements and the total sums paid out.

Yours faithfully,

Chris

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Chris Cook,

 

Freedom of Information request F18-188

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 8 May 2018, received by
us on the same date, which is copied below.

 

We will endeavour to respond to your request promptly but in any case
within 20 working days i.e. on or before 6 June 2018.

 

If you have any queries about your request, please use the request number
quoted above and  in the subject line of this email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sarah Price

IRIS Support Officer
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

[1]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

Click [2]here for details about Freedom of Information

in the House of Commons and to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

 

From: Chris Cook [mailto:[FOI #483148 email]]
Sent: 08 May 2018 12:34
To: FOI Commons <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - NDAs

 

Dear House of Commons,

I would like to know how many non-disclosure agreements have been
concluded by the House of Commons with former members of the House of
Commons service and the Speaker's Office since 2009.

For clarity, I am using "non-disclosure agreement" in the sense that it is
used by, for example, the House of Commons equalities committee. That is
to say, an agreement that contains a confidentiality clause - for example,
as in the case of Angus Sinclair. I am not using the slightly peculiar
definition published last week by the Commission.

Furthermore, I would like to know what gross sum was paid to the employee
upon departure: I would include pay in lieu of notice, payments to reflect
lost earnings or pensionable pay.

Ideally, this information would presented as totals per year. So, an
example answer could be:
"2005 - 3 people were paid a total of £250,000"
"2006 - 2 people were paid a total of £158,000"
"2007 - 6 people were paid a total of £828,000"
etc etc etc

I appreciate, however, that this might be disclosive. So please bound the
information together so that it meets your minimum disclosable cell size.
I am indifferent as to whether the cells are unevenly sized.

For example, in our case above, you could bound it as:

"2005-6 - 5 people were paid a total of £408,000"
"2007 - 6 people were paid a total of £828,000"

In addition, and in any case, I would like the grand totals since June
2009 for both the number of such agreements and the total sums paid out.

Yours faithfully,

Chris

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show quoted sections

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cook

 

Freedom of Information Request F18-188

 

Thank you for your request for information, copied below. You asked how
many non-disclosure agreements have been concluded with former members of
House of Commons staff, and the Speaker’s Office specifically, since 2009.
You also asked to know the gross sums paid - to include pay in lieu of
notice, payments to reflect lost earnings or pensionable pay – and for the
information to be broken down by year or the nearest disclosable cell
size.

 

We have interpreted your question to refer to settlement agreements
(formerly known as compromise agreements) which include a confidentiality
clause. 

 

This information is held by the House of Commons for all settlement
agreements since 1 April 2012 when our current HR database went live.  To
identify compromise agreements including confidentiality clauses reached
before this date we would need to review the files of all leavers between
1 January 2009 and 31 March 2012.  We estimate that the cost of complying
with your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £600. The
appropriate limit has been specified in regulations and for the House of
Commons is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person
spending 3½ working days in determining whether the House holds the
information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act the House is not
obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing your
request further.  If you wish to narrow your request – for example, by
requesting a significantly shorter time period – we may be able to provide
some information, but we cannot guarantee this.

 

In addition to this, information about settlement agreements including
confidentiality clauses reached with House of Commons staff from 1 April
to 31 December 2012 and from 1 January to 1 May 2018 is being withheld
owing to the low numbers of staff involved (fewer than 5). This
information is therefore exempt by virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), as disclosure of this information to the
public generally, in the House’s view, would not be consistent with data
protection principles in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an
absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.

 

The following table shows the total number of settlement agreements with
confidentiality clauses with House of Commons staff and total sums paid in
each year since April 2012. 

 

Year Total NDAs Total Payments
2009 - -
2010 - -
2011 - -
2012**
2013 11 £916,082.43
2014 14 £405,682.08
2015 5 £182,706.21
2016 15 £584,893.00
2017 8 £317,813.06
2018*

*year to 1 May 2018

                ** Information held from 1 April – 31 December 2012

 

 

Information about non-disclosure agreements with staff of the Speaker’s
Office is also being withheld owing to the low numbers of staff involved
(fewer than 5) which means that disclosing this data may make it possible
for individuals to be identified. This information is therefore exempt by
virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), as
disclosure of this information to the public generally, in the House’s
view, would not be consistent with data protection principles in the Data
Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an absolute exemption and the public
interest test does not apply.

 

 

You may, if dissatisfied with the handling of your request, complain to
the House of Commons. Alternatively, if you are dissatisfied with the
outcome of your request you may ask the House of Commons to conduct an
internal review of any decision regarding your request.  Complaints or
requests for internal review should be addressed to: Information Rights
and Information Security Service, Research & Information Team, House of
Commons, London SW1A 0AA or [1][House of Commons request email].  Please ensure
that you specify the full reasons for your complaint or internal review
along with any arguments or points that you wish to make.

 

If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner
at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF,[2]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Jean Fessey | Information Rights Officer
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

[3]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640Click [4]here for details about
Freedom of Information

in the House of Commons and to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

 

From: Chris Cook [mailto:[FOI #483148 email]]
Sent: 08 May 2018 12:34
To: FOI Commons <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - NDAs

 

Dear House of Commons,

I would like to know how many non-disclosure agreements have been
concluded by the House of Commons with former members of the House of
Commons service and the Speaker's Office since 2009.

For clarity, I am using "non-disclosure agreement" in the sense that it is
used by, for example, the House of Commons equalities committee. That is
to say, an agreement that contains a confidentiality clause - for example,
as in the case of Angus Sinclair. I am not using the slightly peculiar
definition published last week by the Commission.

Furthermore, I would like to know what gross sum was paid to the employee
upon departure: I would include pay in lieu of notice, payments to reflect
lost earnings or pensionable pay.

Ideally, this information would presented as totals per year. So, an
example answer could be:
"2005 - 3 people were paid a total of £250,000"
"2006 - 2 people were paid a total of £158,000"
"2007 - 6 people were paid a total of £828,000"
etc etc etc

I appreciate, however, that this might be disclosive. So please bound the
information together so that it meets your minimum disclosable cell size.
I am indifferent as to whether the cells are unevenly sized.

For example, in our case above, you could bound it as:

"2005-6 - 5 people were paid a total of £408,000"
"2007 - 6 people were paid a total of £828,000"

In addition, and in any case, I would like the grand totals since June
2009 for both the number of such agreements and the total sums paid out.

Yours faithfully,

Chris

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[5][FOI #483148 email]

Is [6][House of Commons request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to House of Commons? If so, please contact us using
this form:
[7]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[8]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[9]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

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 FOI Commons,

Many thanks for your reply; could I ask you to review your answer relating to the Speaker's Office.

Could you give totals for the whole period since 2012?

I am sure we can find a way to publish this important data.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Cook

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cook,

 

 

Freedom of Information Request

 

Thank you for your further email relating to your request for information
about non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), copied below.  

 

This has been marked as a request for an Internal Review by the automated
WhatDoTheyKnow system but we have concluded that, at this stage, you are
actually now requesting the total number of NDAs concluded with staff of
the Speaker’s Office since 2012, as a single figure.

 

We will endeavour to respond to this request promptly but in any case
within 20 working days i.e. on or before 4 July 2018.  If you have any
queries, please use the new request number F18-240.

 

Please note that this does not affect your right to complain about our
response to your request ref. F18-188, as detailed in our original
response.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

         
Abigail Richmond | Information Rights Manager
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

Tel: 0207 219 2559 | Text Relay: 18001 219 2559 | Sixth Floor, 14 Tothill
St, London SW1H 9NB

 

[1]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

Click [2]here for information about FOI in the House of Commons,

or to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

From: FOI Commons
Sent: 06 June 2018 12:50
To: Chris Cook <[FOI #483148 email]>
Cc: FOI Commons <[email address]>
Subject: F18-188 Response

 

Dear Mr Cook

 

Freedom of Information Request F18-188

 

Thank you for your request for information, copied below. You asked how
many non-disclosure agreements have been concluded with former members of
House of Commons staff, and the Speaker’s Office specifically, since 2009.
You also asked to know the gross sums paid - to include pay in lieu of
notice, payments to reflect lost earnings or pensionable pay – and for the
information to be broken down by year or the nearest disclosable cell
size.

 

We have interpreted your question to refer to settlement agreements
(formerly known as compromise agreements) which include a confidentiality
clause. 

 

This information is held by the House of Commons for all settlement
agreements since 1 April 2012 when our current HR database went live.  To
identify compromise agreements including confidentiality clauses reached
before this date we would need to review the files of all leavers between
1 January 2009 and 31 March 2012.  We estimate that the cost of complying
with your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £600. The
appropriate limit has been specified in regulations and for the House of
Commons is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person
spending 3½ working days in determining whether the House holds the
information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act the House is not
obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing your
request further.  If you wish to narrow your request – for example, by
requesting a significantly shorter time period – we may be able to provide
some information, but we cannot guarantee this.

 

In addition to this, information about settlement agreements including
confidentiality clauses reached with House of Commons staff from 1 April
to 31 December 2012 and from 1 January to 1 May 2018 is being withheld
owing to the low numbers of staff involved (fewer than 5). This
information is therefore exempt by virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), as disclosure of this information to the
public generally, in the House’s view, would not be consistent with data
protection principles in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an
absolute exemption and the public interest test does not apply.

 

The following table shows the total number of settlement agreements with
confidentiality clauses with House of Commons staff and total sums paid in
each year since April 2012. 

 

Year Total NDAs Total Payments
2009 - -
2010 - -
2011 - -
2012**
2013 11 £916,082.43
2014 14 £405,682.08
2015 5 £182,706.21
2016 15 £584,893.00
2017 8 £317,813.06
2018*

*year to 1 May 2018

                ** Information held from 1 April – 31 December 2012

 

 

Information about non-disclosure agreements with staff of the Speaker’s
Office is also being withheld owing to the low numbers of staff involved
(fewer than 5) which means that disclosing this data may make it possible
for individuals to be identified. This information is therefore exempt by
virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), as
disclosure of this information to the public generally, in the House’s
view, would not be consistent with data protection principles in the Data
Protection Act 1998 (DPA). This is an absolute exemption and the public
interest test does not apply.

 

 

You may, if dissatisfied with the handling of your request, complain to
the House of Commons. Alternatively, if you are dissatisfied with the
outcome of your request you may ask the House of Commons to conduct an
internal review of any decision regarding your request.  Complaints or
requests for internal review should be addressed to: Information Rights
and Information Security Service, Research & Information Team, House of
Commons, London SW1A 0AA or [3][House of Commons request email].  Please ensure
that you specify the full reasons for your complaint or internal review
along with any arguments or points that you wish to make.

 

If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner
at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF,[4]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Jean Fessey | Information Rights Officer
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

[5]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640Click [6]here for details about
Freedom of Information

in the House of Commons and to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

 

From: Chris Cook [[7]mailto:[FOI #483148 email]]
Sent: 08 May 2018 12:34
To: FOI Commons <[8][email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - NDAs

 

Dear House of Commons,

I would like to know how many non-disclosure agreements have been
concluded by the House of Commons with former members of the House of
Commons service and the Speaker's Office since 2009.

For clarity, I am using "non-disclosure agreement" in the sense that it is
used by, for example, the House of Commons equalities committee. That is
to say, an agreement that contains a confidentiality clause - for example,
as in the case of Angus Sinclair. I am not using the slightly peculiar
definition published last week by the Commission.

Furthermore, I would like to know what gross sum was paid to the employee
upon departure: I would include pay in lieu of notice, payments to reflect
lost earnings or pensionable pay.

Ideally, this information would presented as totals per year. So, an
example answer could be:
"2005 - 3 people were paid a total of £250,000"
"2006 - 2 people were paid a total of £158,000"
"2007 - 6 people were paid a total of £828,000"
etc etc etc

I appreciate, however, that this might be disclosive. So please bound the
information together so that it meets your minimum disclosable cell size.
I am indifferent as to whether the cells are unevenly sized.

For example, in our case above, you could bound it as:

"2005-6 - 5 people were paid a total of £408,000"
"2007 - 6 people were paid a total of £828,000"

In addition, and in any case, I would like the grand totals since June
2009 for both the number of such agreements and the total sums paid out.

Yours faithfully,

Chris

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[9][FOI #483148 email]

Is [10][House of Commons request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to House of Commons? If so, please contact us using
this form:
[11]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[12]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[13]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

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

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cook,

 

 

Freedom of Information Request F18-240

 

Further to your request for information asking for details of
non-disclosure agreements, I am writing to let you know that we have not
been able to provide a response to you within our deadline and to
apologise to you for this fact.

 

Please be assured that your request is being treated as a priority and we
will reply to you as soon as possible, and hopefully by Friday 13 July
2018 at the latest.

 

Please accept my sincerest apologies for the delay and my assurances that
we are working to provide an urgent response.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

         
Abigail Richmond | Information Rights Manager
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

Tel: 0207 219 2559 | Text Relay: 18001 219 2559 | Sixth Floor, 14 Tothill
St, London SW1H 9NB

 

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Click [2]here for information about FOI in the House of Commons,

or to see what we publish.

 

 

 

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is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no
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this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and
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FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Cook,

 

 

Freedom of Information Request F18-240

 

Thank you for your request for information, copied below. Further to our
response to your previous request (our ref F18-188), you have asked for
the total number of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with staff of the
Speaker’s Office since 2012, as a single figure.

 

Information related to settlement agreements (formerly known as compromise
agreements) with confidentiality clauses is held by the House of Commons.
As previously stated, where a total number is less than 5 it is our usual
practice not to provide a precise figure, as disclosure of the data may
make it possible for individuals to be identified. That would make the
information exempt by virtue of section 40 (2) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA), as disclosure would not be consistent with
the data protection principles.

 

Having reviewed this particular request, and without prejudice to the
general future practice of the House in responding to requests where
disclosure of such data might lead to a breach of the principles in the
data protection legislation, we have decided that it is in the public
interest to provide the relevant figure. The figure is nil.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in this response, due to our
consideration of the issues involved.  You may, if dissatisfied with the
handling of your request, complain to the House of Commons. Alternatively,
if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your request you may ask the
House of Commons to conduct an internal review of any decision regarding
your request.  Complaints or requests for internal review should be
addressed to: Information Rights and Information Security Service,
Research & Information Team, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA or
[1][House of Commons request email].  Please ensure that you specify the full
reasons for your complaint or internal review along with any arguments or
points that you wish to make.

 

If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner
at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF,[2]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

         
Information Rights Manager
Information Rights and Information Security (IRIS) Service | House of
Commons

 

[3]cid:image002.jpg@01D02B64.34D76640

Click [4]here for information about FOI in the House of Commons,

or to see what we publish.

 

 

 

 

From: Chris Cook [mailto:[FOI #483148 email]]
Sent: 08 June 2018 15:49
To: FOI Commons <[email address]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - NDAs

 

Dear FOI Commons,

Many thanks for your reply; could I ask you to review your answer relating
to the Speaker's Office.

Could you give totals for the whole period since 2012?

I am sure we can find a way to publish this important data.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Cook

UK Parliament Disclaimer: This e-mail is confidential to the intended
recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and
delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying
is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no
liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by
this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and
should not be used for sensitive data.

References

Visible links
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2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
4. http://www.parliament.uk/site-informatio...

Dear FOI Commons,

Many thanks for your help.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Cook