Parliamentary (PHSO) Ombudsman - appointment hearings

[Name Removed] made this Freedom of Information request to House of Commons This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear House of Commons,

Since both the Ombudsman and her deputy have resigned, and the reputation of the office of the PHSO has been devalued during the control of Dame Julie Mellor ( and her deputy Mick Martin), the public will be justifiably interested that the appointment of her replacement is open and transparent.

Therefore:

Pre appointment hearings
Pre-appointment hearings enable select committees to take evidence from candidates for certain, key public appointments before they are appointed.
Hearings are in public and involve the select committee taking evidence from the candidate and publishing a report setting out the committee’s views on the candidate’s suitability for the post.
Hearings are non-binding - but Ministers will consider any relevant considerations made by the committee before deciding whether to proceed with the appointment. 
Hearings have been introduced on a pilot basis. The purpose of the pilot is to monitor and assess the impact of pre-appointment hearings on the number, balance and quality of applicants.

http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/commi...

::

1. Can the public attend pre-appointment meetings of the potential new ombudsman (PHSO).

If not, what is the reason for barring the public from these hearings?

2. Please provide date/s time, location for this/ these meeting/s.

3. How would a member of the public gain admittance to these hearings?

Request Title/summary within scope.

I am writing to make an open government request for all the
information to which I am entitled under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.

Please send me recorded information, which includes information
held on computers, in emails and in printed or handwritten
documents as well as images, video and audio recordings.

If this request is too wide or unclear, and you require a
clarification, I would be grateful if you could contact me as I
understand that under the Act, you are required to advise and
assist requesters.(Section 16 / Regulation 9).

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify
all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I
will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve
the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to
charge excessive fees.

If any of this information is already in the public domain, please
can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs if
necessary.

Please confirm or deny whether the requested information is held ( section (Section 1(1)(a) and consider whether information should be provided under section 1(1)(b), or whether it is subject to an exemption in Part II of the Act.

If the release of any of this information is prohibited on the
grounds of breach of confidence, I ask that you supply me with
copies of the confidentiality agreement and remind you that
information should not be treated as confidential if such an
agreement has not been signed.

I would like the above information to be provided to me as
electronic copies, via WDTK. The information should be immediately
readable - and, as a freedom of Information request, not put in a PDF or any closed form, which some readers may not be able to access.

I understand that you are required to respond to my request within
the 20 working days after you receive this letter. I would be
grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received
this request.

::::::::

Please consider the ICO's Decision on the provision original documents on file, rather than newly written letters of response.

https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...

This request does not require a letter, drafted by the External Affairs department, or any other written input by reputational defence employees, and purporting to be the response to a FOIA request.

Yours faithfully,

[Name Removed]

[Name Removed] (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

How Dame Julie Mellor was appointed:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/w...

[Name Removed] (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Previous pre-appointment hearings request:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/n...

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear [Name Removed],

 

Freedom of Information request F16-448

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 8 October 2016, received
by us on the 10 October 2016, 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 7 November 2016.

 

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

 

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FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear [Name Removed],

 

 

Freedom of Information request F16-448

 

Thank you for your request for information as copied below. You asked for
information regarding pre-appointment hearings for Ombudsman to the PHSO.

 

 1. Can the public attend pre-appointment meetings of the potential new
ombudsman (PHSO). If not, what is the reason for barring the public
from these hearings?

 

This information is held by the House of Commons.  In the past,
pre-appointment meetings have been open to the public and, barring any
decision to the contrary by the committee, the pre-appointment hearing for
the new Ombudsman will be similarly open to members of the public.

 

 2. Please provide date/s time, location for this/ these meeting/s.

 

This information is not held by the House of Commons because these details
are still to be confirmed.

 

It may help you to know that, once these details are known, they will be
posted on PACAC’s website here:
[1]http://www.parliament.uk/business/commit...
and registered in the parliamentary calendar, which is available here:
[2]http://calendar.parliament.uk/.

 

 3. How would a member of the public gain admittance to these hearings?

 

This information is held by the House of Commons and already publicly
available on the parliamentary website here:
[3]http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiti....

 

As the information you request is reasonably accessible to you otherwise
than under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), your request is
refused. In refusing your request the House is applying the exemption set
out in section 21 (1) and (2) (a) of the FOIA.  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 and Information Team, House of
Commons, London SW1A 0AA or [4][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,
[5]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Sarah Price

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

 

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Dear FOI Commons,

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

Dear FOI Commons,

Thank you for the links - but there does not appear to be anything on the calendar for December.

Are there any dates on in file -which can be put in a response to this request?

I'm thinking of those without access to the Internet, who may be interested in attending - and will need adanvace notice.

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

FOI Commons, House of Commons

1 Attachment

Dear [Name Removed],

 

 

Freedom of Information request F16-448 - clarification

 

Thank you for your further query about our response to your request which
we received on 10 October 2016.   With reference to the pre-appointment
meetings for the new Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) which
will be held by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs
Committee (PACAC), you asked again about pre-appointment meeting dates.

 

The information provided in our response was correct at the date of your
request, therefore we have discharged our responsibilities under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) in this matter. We also advised you
that, once future dates had been agreed they would be advertised on the
Committee’s web pages, and provided you with the link.

 

Whilst we understand that you may be keen to attend any such future event,
we would suggest that it is not an appropriate use of either the FOIA or
the resources of this public authority to keep repeating your request in
this manner.  On this occasion we have treated this follow-up as a
clarification, but future requests of a substantially similar nature may
be considered repetitious in accordance with section 14 (2) of the FOIA.

 

Lastly, you mentioned that you were asking us to list the future dates for
the sake of those without access to the Internet, although how they would
then be able to access this from the WDTK website is unclear.  We would
like to reassure you that anyone with interest in the work of the
Committee can also contact them directly by phone or post, and the
committee staff will help them with their queries.  This is especially
appropriate for ‘business as usual’ queries such as information relating
to public access to Committee meetings.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

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

 

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Dear FOI Commons,

Thank you but , as you point out, there appeared to be nothing relevant to my request on the site at the time of the request.

As you will know, FOIA a pertains to data held at the time of the request - and not that which may be held in the future.
Although I appreciate assistance to the internet site.

So I am satisfied that you have responded to me by stating that there was absolutely no data held on file about the scope of the request ( appointment hearing) on the date requested - as no date had been arranged internally.

:::

However, there still doesn't appear to be anything relevant on the site to which you directed me - therefore the clarification.

In addition, I may be mistaken - but I found that I could only search one day at a time, which isn't very helpful to the public, so it was reasonable to wonder if I was on the right link. And ask if there was something I had missed.

::

In addition, you state

' Whilst we understand that you may be keen to attend any such future event'

You may not be aware of the FOIAct but requests are supposedly 'requester blind', in that they equally pertain to ANY member if the public.

And therefore I cannot construe how you came by your 'understanding' of my personal circumstances, since I had not any such interest in my request.

But since you have applied your response to me personally, I will inform you that my intention has never been to attend the event. I will just be passing on the information.

You may also be unaware that blind - and some older people - may not have access to the Internet themselves - and prefer to receive information verbally.

Yours sincerely,

[Name Removed]

[Name Removed] (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

For anyone following this -this appears to be the correct t link in answer to this request:

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commo...

[Name Removed] (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Just shocks me that the responder:
1. didn't provide the PACAC calendar link
2. knows my intended personal movements
3. yet seems to have absolutely no idea that some country people live in 'Not spots' and can't get the Internet..
4. And that not all absolutely physically fit and ensconced in situations - such as wi-fi connected Central London offices.

Fiona Watts left an annotation ()

Well, its just more evidence and further confirmation of the arrogance and out-of-touch culture displayed by those people who are supposed to be "Public Servants"; unless Parliament has been taken over by the Private Sector too?

The next problem is that folk employed as Public Servants are clueless about UK data laws. (I should know! I received very little training on UK Data Laws in my 20 decades of public service)

We have a cruel costly panto ahead of us ... but thank you JT Oakley for warning those of us who refuse to be continually mislead and hoodwinked.

 #lawcommipo
@magnacarta300

[Name Removed] (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Yes. It's sad that unprofessional criticism of the requester creeps into the response.

- It's a if those in central London cannot comprehend that anyone might have a different situation.

As for Not Spots - It's a real situation in Wales. Even the government is making public pronouncements on it.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/wales...