Dear Susan Meadows,
 
Thank you for your information request to The National Archives. We are
handling your request and have given it reference number CAS-70762-T4S2C3.
 
The National Archives has now re-opened to offer reading room services to
pre-booked visitors. Processing of FOI Requests will continue to be
affected, as due to ongoing safety measures only a limited number of our
team are currently able to work on site. Please see our website for the
latest updates on our services and the availability of our collections:
[1]https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/abou...
 
We will update you on the progress of your request by 28/10/2021 23:59.
 
Your request is being processed by The National Archives’ Freedom of
Information Centre. To learn more about the work of the FOI centre please
visit the following webpage: [2]www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/foi/
 
Yours sincerely,
 
The Freedom of Information Centre
Government & Information Rights 
The National Archives
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Dear Mrs. Meadows,

Thank you for your request of 30^th September 2021 for documentation
concerning the accreditation of Suffolk Record Office, since March 2019.

The National Archives has now re-opened to the public. Please visit our
website for any and all updates regarding services [1]here.
 
I am writing to inform you that we are required to conduct a public
interest test in relation to your request and we will let you know the
result of this by 25^th November 2021.

This is because some information within the scope of your request is
covered by section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information 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
which may apply.

Section 43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be
likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person (an
individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal
entity).

When this exemption applies we are required to consider whether it is in
the public interest to release the information.  However, if it is decided
that the public interest would not be served by releasing the information
we will explain the reasons for this.

Some information within scope of your request is also covered by the
exemption at section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This exempts personal
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).

We will let you know the outcome of the public interest test as explained
above.  In the meantime if you have any queries regarding this email
please do not hesitate to contact us.  Remember to quote the reference
number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Assessor
Freedom of Information Centre
Public Access and Government Services Directorate
The National Archives

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Dear Mrs. Meadows,

Thank you for your enquiry of 30^th September 2021 in which you asked for
the documentation concerning the accreditation of Suffolk Record Office,
since 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 which may apply.

I can confirm that The National Archives holds information relevant to
your request and we are pleased to be able to provide you with some of the
information you have requested.

We are unable to provide you with a small amount of information within
these documents as this is covered by exemptions at sections 40(2) and
43(2) of the FOI Act.

Section 40(2) exempts personal information about a ‘third party’ (someone
other than the requester), if revealing it would breach the terms of Data
Protection Legislation.

Section 43(2) exempts information if its disclosure would be likely to
prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person. The section 43(2)
exemption has only been applied to a small amount of information on page
14 of document 1, page 2 of document 5, and page 1 of document 9 (items 6
and 7 only). Please see below for a list of the documents attached to this
email. All other redacted information has been withheld under section
40(2).

For further information about why these exemptions have been applied,
please see the explanatory annex at the end of this letter.

Your request

I request all documentation concerned with the Archive Service
Accreditation of the Suffolk Record Office service (now called 'Suffolk
Archives') produced or received since your awarding of provisional
accreditation in March 2019.

Our response

We have searched our records and found eleven documents to be of relevance
to your request. Please find attached PDF documents of the following:

1. Report on progress in the move from provisional to full accreditation.
2. Suffolk Archives PowerPoint presentation.
3. The minutes of the Archive Service Accreditation Panel relating to
Suffolk Archives.
4. Outcome email from the Archives Service Accreditation provisional
review.
5. Note for the Archives Service Accreditation Panel on the application to
move from a provisional to a full award.
6. Letter attachment to item 4.
7. Correspondence between TNA and Suffolk Archives concerning the move
from Provisional status.
8, 9, 10 & 11. Emails concerning a visit by Jeff James, CEO of The
National Archives, to visit Suffolk Archives in order to present the
accreditation certificate. Please note that this visit did not go ahead
due to the first national lockdown in March 2020.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request or the decision
which 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
Visitor Experience
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
Public Access & Government Services
The National Archives

EXPLANATORY ANNEX

Exemptions applied

Section 40(2): Personal Information where the applicant is not the data
subject
Section 40 exempts personal information about a ‘third party’ (someone
other than the requester), if revealing it would breach 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 the majority of information that is exempt, this exemption applies
because the requested material contains information which would identify
members of staff.

Publishing the names and contact details of junior members of staff is
considered an unfair use of personal data. Junior members of staff would
have no expectation that information about their positions would be made
available in the public domain; to do so would be unfair and contravene
the first data protection principle of the Data Protection Act. As such,
the names, positions and contact details of junior officials are withheld
under section 40 (2) of the FOI Act.

Further guidance about the publication of junior staff names can be
found here:
[2]https://ico.org.uk/media/fororganisation...

The exemption also applies because the requested material contains the
personal and the sensitive personal information of a number of identified
individuals assumed still to be living. These individuals have a
reasonable expectation of privacy which would not include the release of
this information into the public domain by The National Archives during
their lifetime. To do so would be likely to cause damage and/or distress
and would be a breach of the first data protection principle, which is
concerned with the fair, lawful and transparent processing of information
of this kind.

Further guidance on the application of this exemption cab be found here:
[3]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Section 43(2): Commercial Interests
This section exempts information whose disclosure would be likely to
prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person. In this case, the
exemption applies because release would likely prejudice the commercial
interests of Suffolk Archives.

Section 43(2) 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 FOIA 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 43(2) exemption. 

Considerations in favour of the release of the information included a
presumption in favour of openness and transparency, in order to allow
public scrutiny and to demonstrate that public funds are being used in an
efficient and effective way. Furthermore private sector companies engaging
in commercial activities with the public sector must expect some
information about those activities to be disclosed. 

Factors in favour of withholding this information include the
consideration that the release of this information would likely prejudice
Suffolk Archive’s relationship with funding bodies, and its ability as a
public authority to conduct commercial operations.

Furthermore disclosure of this information is also likely to affect
Suffolk Archives’ ability to negotiate contracts in the future and
consequently generate revenue from non-public funds. It is also considered
that disclosure would be likely to deter potential bidders for future
contracts from competing and sharing commercially sensitive information
with them.

As such, release of this information is seen to prejudice the commercial
interests of Suffolk Archives. This would outweigh any benefits of
release. It was therefore decided that the balance of the public interest
lies in favour of withholding the material on this occasion.

Further guidance on the application of this exemption can be found here:
[4]https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi...

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