SUBJECT: PLEASE READ: acknowledgement / response to your request

Thank you for your request. We have to respond to Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) requests within 20 working days and as soon as is reasonably
practicable. You will therefore hear back from us as soon as possible.

However, please note that if your request relates to the following, this
email acts as a response to your request and you will not receive further
correspondence from us.

Information relating to Norfolk County Council:

If your request relates to any of the following, you should refer your
request to Norfolk County Council
[1]https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/what-we-do-an...,
as they are responsible for these services:

·      Roads and Transport – potholes, road safety

·      Education and Learning - schools

·      Care, support and health – adult social care, blue badges

·      Children and Families – adoption

·      Libraries, local history and archives

·      Trading Standards

Information that is published on our website:

If your request relates to the following information, I should advise that
this information is exempt under Section 21 (1) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, as the information is reasonably accessible via our
website:
[2]https://www.southnorfolkandbroadland.gov...

·      Council Budgets - refer to our Budget Books
·      Contracts - refer to the Council’s Contract Register
·      Business Rates - refer to details about all Business Rate
accounts
·      Staff - refer to the Senior Structure Chart
·      Money spent - refer to data relating to spending over £250
·      Public Health Funerals Refer to Public Funerals page

In accordance with the FOIA this email acts as a Refusal Notice.  In terms
of the exemption, you have a right of appeal against our decision.  In the
first instance this appeal must be internal, and you can email
[3][Broadland District Council request email]  to request a review.

Please do not reply to this message - replies to this message are routed
to an unmonitored mailbox.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/what-we-do-an...
2. https://www.southnorfolkandbroadland.gov...
3. mailto:[broadland%20district%20council%20request%20email]

Dear [Name Removed]

I refer to your Freedom of Information request to which I am now in a
position to respond.  Please note, this response is on behalf of both
South Norfolk and Broadland District Councils as we operate a single staff
team, covering both Councils.

Under section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am
advising you that the Council does not hold the information you have
requested regarding British Muslims being recruited since 2010.

This is because we do not collate this information when employing a new
member of staff.  We do ask applicants to complete an optional statement
to confirm their ethnicity/religious beliefs etc but this is not stored
with the application.  Once employed, we do ask staff to complete a survey
on our HR system, but again this is optional. 

In addition, our HR records for this type of data only go back to 2020, so
I have only been able to check back this far.

Having checked the records since 2020, I can confirm that we do have a
small number of cases where this data has been completed and individuals
have identified themselves as British Muslims. However, due to the small
numbers involved, I consider these details are exempt from disclosure
under Section 40(2) of the FOIA as the information is personal data as an
individual could be identified from the information. Disclosure of this
personal data would contravene the first data protection principle of the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), that being Principle (a) –
lawfulness, fairness and transparency.

We consider that due to the nature of the information involved, for very
few individuals, and that it could be attributed to an individual, this
would constitute unfair processing of the data. In this case we consider
that any individual would expect for this information to remain
confidential and not released to the public. The Council is only permitted
to disclose personal data if to do so would be fair, lawful and
transparent. Therefore, the requirements of this exemption are met and we
are unable to disclose this information.

If for whatever reason you wish to get back to me, please feel free to do
so. In particular if you are unhappy with how your request was handled
please let me know and I will explain how you can request an internal
review of our decision. 

Please quote SFOI 22-101 and BFOI 22-118 in any further correspondence
concerning this request.

Regards

Sue

Sue White
Senior Governance and Deputy Monitoring Officer
t  01508 533800 e [email address]  

[1]Broadland District Council Logo [4]South Norfolk Council Logo
[2]Facebook Logo [3]Twitter Logo [5]Facebook Logo [6]Twitter Logo

This email and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may
be confidential. If they come to you in error you must take no action
based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please advise the
sender by replying to this email immediately and then delete the original
from your computer. Unless this email relates to Broadland District
Council or South Norfolk Council business it will be regarded by the
council as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the
councils. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions
or disputes that may arise. We have taken steps to ensure that this email
and any attachments are free from known viruses but in keeping with good
computing practice, you should ensure they are virus free. Emails sent
from and received by members and employees of Broadland District Council
and South Norfolk Council may be monitored. 

show quoted sections

SUBJECT: PLEASE READ: acknowledgement / response to your request

Thank you for your request. We have to respond to Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) requests within 20 working days and as soon as is reasonably
practicable. You will therefore hear back from us as soon as possible.

However, please note that if your request relates to the following, this
email acts as a response to your request and you will not receive further
correspondence from us.

Information relating to Norfolk County Council:

If your request relates to any of the following, you should refer your
request to Norfolk County Council
[1]https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/what-we-do-an...,
as they are responsible for these services:

·      Roads and Transport – potholes, road safety

·      Education and Learning - schools

·      Care, support and health – adult social care, blue badges

·      Children and Families – adoption

·      Libraries, local history and archives

·      Trading Standards

Information that is published on our website:

If your request relates to the following information, I should advise that
this information is exempt under Section 21 (1) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, as the information is reasonably accessible via our
website:
[2]https://www.southnorfolkandbroadland.gov...

·      Council Budgets - refer to our Budget Books
·      Contracts - refer to the Council’s Contract Register
·      Business Rates - refer to details about all Business Rate
accounts
·      Staff - refer to the Senior Structure Chart
·      Money spent - refer to data relating to spending over £250
·      Public Health Funerals Refer to Public Funerals page

In accordance with the FOIA this email acts as a Refusal Notice.  In terms
of the exemption, you have a right of appeal against our decision.  In the
first instance this appeal must be internal, and you can email
[3][Broadland District Council request email]  to request a review.

Please do not reply to this message - replies to this message are routed
to an unmonitored mailbox.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/what-we-do-an...
2. https://www.southnorfolkandbroadland.gov...
3. mailto:[broadland%20district%20council%20request%20email]

Dear [Name Removed]

Thank you for your email.

I thought it might be useful for me to clarify the reason why the Council
does not hold this data, prior to 2020.

Prior to 2020, Broadland District Council retained its HR records in paper
format only.  The paper Staff Application Form, which applicants were
required to complete, did not request any details regarding religion. 
Similarly, after successful recruitment, the Council did not request any
information regarding religion.  

In January 2020, the Council merged its staff team with South Norfolk
Council and our new, joint application form contains optional questions
around the religious beliefs of applicants, as detailed in my earlier
response. 

Therefore, I can confirm that we do not hold any data, prior to 2020,
regarding British Muslims recruited to the Council.

I hope this helps to clarify the position.

Regards

Sue

Sue White
Senior Governance and Deputy Monitoring Officer
t  01508 533800 e [email address]  

[1]Broadland District Council Logo [4]South Norfolk Council Logo
[2]Facebook Logo [3]Twitter Logo [5]Facebook Logo [6]Twitter Logo

This email and any attachments are intended for the addressee only and may
be confidential. If they come to you in error you must take no action
based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please advise the
sender by replying to this email immediately and then delete the original
from your computer. Unless this email relates to Broadland District
Council or South Norfolk Council business it will be regarded by the
council as personal and will not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the
councils. The sender will have sole responsibility for any legal actions
or disputes that may arise. We have taken steps to ensure that this email
and any attachments are free from known viruses but in keeping with good
computing practice, you should ensure they are virus free. Emails sent
from and received by members and employees of Broadland District Council
and South Norfolk Council may be monitored. 

show quoted sections