Freedom of Information Request: Reference F0056568

Dear Ms Meadows,

Thank you for your enquiry of 21^st March 2019 regarding the following:

Post-panel feedback sent to the Suffolk Record Office (Suffolk County
Council) following the assessment of their application for “Archive
Service Accreditation” by the Archive Service Accreditation Panel on the 7
March 2019.

This to include the minutes from the meeting of the panel, and the
following feedback:

-  confirmation as to accreditation status;

-  commentary against how the archive service meets the standard at each
requirement level and at each module level;

-  development actions, either required or improvement actions which will
help the archive service better meet the standard and make ongoing
improvements to their service;

-  a series of key findings about the archive service;

-  an overall commentary from the Archive Service Panel;

-  the Archive Service Accreditation assessment report.

We are handling your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
have given it reference number F0056568.

We will respond to you by 18^th April 2019 in accordance with the 20
working-day time period laid down by section 10 of the Act.

For your future reference, The National Archives do not automatically send
acknowledgements for FOI requests. However, if you state that you would
like one in your original request, we would be happy to do so.

You can find out more about Freedom of Information on our website:
[1]www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/foi/

Yours sincerely,

FOI Assessor           

Freedom of Information Centre

Programme Management Office

The National Archives

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Dear Mrs Meadows,

Thank you for your enquiry of 21^st March 2019, in which you asked for the
following information about ˜Post-panel feedback” sent to the Suffolk
Record Office following the assessment of their application for Archive
Service Accreditation by the Archive Service Accreditation Panel on the 7
March 2019.

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act
2000. The FOI Act gives you the right to know whether we hold the
information you want and to have it communicated to you, subject to any
exemptions that may apply.

I can confirm that The National Archives holds information relevant to
your request. We are pleased to be able to provide this information to
you. Please find attached the requested information. These are:

* Archive Service Accreditation Panel 7 March 2019 minutes

* Suffolk RO Accreditation outcome letter

* Suffolk Record Office Accreditation outcome

We are unable to provide you with some of the information you have
requested because it is covered by the exemption at section 31 of the FOI
Act, which exempts information if its disclosure under this Act would,
prejudice (a) the prevention or detection of crime, (b) the apprehension
or prosecution of offenders (c) the administration of justice. For further
information about why this exemption has been applied, please see the
explanatory Annex at the end of this letter.

Some of the information is also covered by the exemption at section 40(2)
of the FOIA. This exempts information about a ‘third party’ (someone other
than the requester), if revealing it would break the terms of Data
Protection Legislation. Data Protection Legislation prevents personal
information from release if it would be unfair or at odds with the reason
why it was collected, or where the subject had officially served notice
that releasing it would cause them damage or distress. Personal
information must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner
as set out by Art. 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).For
further information about why this exemption has been applied please see
the explanatory Annex at the end of this letter.

Additionally, some of the information is also covered by the exemption at
section 41 of the FOIA. This exempts information if (a) it was obtained by
the public authority from any other person (including another public
authority), and (b) the disclosure of the information to the public
(otherwise than under the Act) by the public authority holding it would
constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

In addition, much of the material in the Archive Service Accreditation
Panel 7 March 2019 minutes has been redacted as it is outside of the scope
of your request and does not relate to Suffolk Record Offices.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request or the decision
that has been reached, you have the right to ask for an internal review.
Internal review requests must be submitted within two months of the date
of this response and should be addressed to:

Quality Manager

Programme Management Office

The National Archives

Kew

Richmond

Surrey

TW9 4DU

[1][email address]

Please mark your complaint clearly. You have the right to ask the
Information Commissioner (ICO) to investigate any aspect of your
complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal
complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning her
investigation.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Assessor

Freedom of Information Centre

Programme Management Office

The National Archives

EXPLANATORY ANNEX

Your request in full

Please send me the ˜Post-panel feedback” sent to the Suffolk Record Office
(Suffolk County Council) following the assessment of their application for
˜Archive Service Accreditation" by the Archive Service Accreditation Panel
on the 7 March 2019.

This to include the minutes from the meeting of the panel, and the
following feedback:

-  confirmation as to accreditation status;

-  commentary against how the archive service meets the standard at each
requirement level and at each module level;

-  development actions, either required or improvement actions which will
help the archive service better meet the standard and make ongoing
improvements to their service;

-  series of key findings about the archive service;

-  an overall commentary from the Archive Service Panel;

-  the Archive Service Accreditation assessment report.

Exemptions applied

[Section 31: Law enforcement]

Information that is not exempt information by virtue of section 30 is
exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be
likely to; prejudice (a) the prevention or detection of crime, (b) the
apprehension or prosecution of offenders, and (c) the administration of
justice

Section 31 is a qualified exemption and we are required to conduct a
public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. This means
that after it has been decided that the exemption is engaged, the public
interest in releasing the information must be considered.  If the public
interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in
withholding it then the exemption does not apply and the information must
be released. In the FOI Act there is a presumption that information should
be released unless there are compelling reasons to withhold it.

The public interest test has now been concluded and the balance of the
public interest has been found to fall in favour of withholding
information covered by the section 31(1) (a) exemption. Considerations in
favour of the release of the information included the principle that there
is a public interest in transparency and accountability in disclosing
information. However, release of information about the security
arrangements, staff routes and storage of Suffolk Records Office would
make SRO more vulnerable to crime. As such, release of this information
would be seen to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime by making
SRO more vulnerable to malicious activities. There is an overwhelming
public interest in keeping Suffolk Records Office secure, which would be
served by non-disclosure. This would outweigh any benefits of release. It
has therefore been decided that the balance of the public interest lies
clearly in favour of withholding the material on this occasion.

Further guidance can be found at:

[2]https://ico.org.uk/media/1207/law-enforc...  

[Section 40(2): Personal information where the applicant is not the data
subject]

The Data Protection Legislation prevents personal information from release
if it would be unfair or at odds with the reason why it was collected, or
where the subject has officially served notice that releasing it would
cause them damage or distress.

In this case, the exemption applies because this information represents
the personal information of a junior member of staff at The National
Archives. Publishing the names of junior members of staff is considered an
unfair use of personal data. As such, the names and positions of junior
officials are withheld under section 40(2) of the FOIA.

Further guidance can be found at:

[3]https://ico.org..uk/media/for-organisati...

[Section 41: Information provided in confidence]

Section 41 (1) of the Act exempts information if (a) it was obtained by
the public authority from any other person (including another public
authority), and (b) the disclosure of the information to the public
(otherwise than under the Act) by the public authority holding it would
constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

In this case, the exemption applies because this information has been
obtained in confidence and relates to other archives outside the scope of
this request. Publishing this information would constitute a breach of
confidence actionable by that or any other person.

As such, this information is withheld under section 41 of the FOIA.

Further guidance can be found at:

[4]https://ico.org.uk/media/1432163/informa...
 

If you would like to contact us again regarding
this request, please contact the helpdesk:

via e-mail: By replying to this e-mail
or (020 8876 3444)
Remember to quote your call reference number: F0056568 in any
correspondence, as this will assist us in providing you with a
quick response.

[5]www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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