OSR - emails received

The request was partially successful.

Dear UK Statistics Authority,

Please can you publish (presumably anonymised) all emails (other than those from government departments) sent to the main "regulation" email address of OSR: [email address]

Please cover the period of the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2020.

Yours faithfully,

Simon Briscoe

system@share.ons.gov.uk,

Workflow Notification

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For the latest data on the economy and society, consult our
website at [3]http://www.ons.gov.uk

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Legal Disclaimer:  Any views expressed by the sender of this message are
not necessarily those of the Office for National Statistics
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References

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1. mailto:[UK Statistics Authority request email]
2. http://ons.gov.uk/coronavirus
3. http://www.ons.gov.uk/

FOI Team, UK Statistics Authority

Dear Simon,

 

Thank you for your request for emails sent to the regulation email address
from October to December 2020.

 

We would like to inform you that we require further time on this request
to consider the public interest in the release of the information we have
found in scope. We aim to have a response with you as soon as we are able
and, in any event, within another 20 working days.

 

Should we experience any issues with getting our response to you in this
extended time period, we will keep you informed.

 

Kind regards,

 

The Freedom of Information Team | UK Statistics Authority | Awdurdod
Ystadegau’r Deyrnas Unedig

@UKStatsAuth | [1][email address] |
[2]http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk

References

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1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/

FOI Team, UK Statistics Authority

Our Reference: FOI/2021/1932

 

Dear Simon,

 

Thank you for your email requesting data pertaining to OSR correspondence.
We apologies for the delay in sending our response to you.

 

I am writing to confirm that the Office for National Statistics has now
completed its search for the information which you requested and the
response can be found here:

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpare...

 

You have the right to have this response to your Freedom of Information
request reviewed internally by an internal review process and, if you
remain unhappy with the decision, by the Information Commissioner. If you
would like to have the decision reviewed please email the Freedom of
Information Team at ‘[UK Statistics Authority request email]’ or write to The FoI Team, Room
1100, Office for National Statistics, Segensworth Road, Titchfield PO15
5RR, and mark your correspondence "Internal Review".

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Freedom of
Information Team ('[UK Statistics Authority request email]').

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

The Freedom of Information Team

Office for National Statistics

 

For information on Coronavirus, please visit [2]ONS.gov.uk/coronavirus

 

References

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1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpare...
2. http://ons.gov.uk/coronavirus

Dear FOI Team,

Thank you for the email.

I note you have used two exemptions to not release some correspondence requested.

Can you please tell me how many items under each category were withheld.

Can you also explain why they have been withheld - ie what sort of information is not worthy of being in the public domain? Why could they not have been published following expurgating or redacting?

Yours sincerely,

Simon Briscoe

FOI Team, UK Statistics Authority

Dear Simon

Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in our response to you.

In our response, we withheld six emails altogether, all of which had both the exemptions found under s.40(2) and s.41(1) applied. We have also redacted some personal data from emails under s.40(2).

We found that even with direct identifiers removed, the authors of two of the emails could be identified when combined with other information in the public domain and the emails contained new information about their views. OSR policy states that correspondence from members of the public will not be published without the consent of the individuals. We do not have the data subjects consent, and on balance, we believe it would be unfair to disclose views of the public. This is due to there being a reasonable expectation of confidence and the risk of identification. Furthermore, we have withheld the remaining four emails because of the private nature of the content provided. Due to OSR policy, as stated above, these people would have a reasonable expectation that their correspondence will be kept private, and to release these emails would be an actionable breach of confidence.

In all six emails, there is a reasonable expectation of confidence that this information will be kept confidential, and all emails contain personal data in the form of views and opinions, so we found that both exemptions were engaged.

You have also asked 'what sort of information is not worthy of being in the public domain'. It is important to note that the exemption found under s.41 is an absolute exemption and so we do not need to consider the public interest in releasing the information. Additionally, we have stated that we will not release correspondence without consent, and so to do so would also be a breach of GDPR where people could be identified.

Hopefully this makes sense, please accept my apologies again for the delay.

Kind regards,
 
The Freedom of Information Team | UK Statistics Authority | Awdurdod Ystadegau'r Deyrnas Unedig
@UKStatsAuth | [email address] | http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk

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