Kanish Patel
Date
4 August 2023
request-987665-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Post Office
100 Wood Street,
London, EC2V 7ER
Classification:
Public
Dear Kanish Patel,
Freedom of Information Request – FOI2023/00312
We are writing in response to your email received by Post Office Limited (“
Post
Office”) on 6 June, which has been dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (“
FOIA”).
In your email you have requested the information shown in bold below:
“
Under Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following
information:
1. Salaries paid to individual employees that are part of the Senior
Leadership Population for the last financial year. (I am happy to receive
this information in bands of £5,000 for salaries less than £150,000);
2. Bonuses paid to individual employees that are part of the Senior
Leadership Population for the last financial year.”
We can confirm that Post Office does hold the information you have requested,
however, this information is being withheld as it falls under the exemption in section
43(2) of the FOIA, which relates to information which would, or would be likely to,
prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority
holding it).
Page 1 of 3
postoffice.co.uk
Post Office Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registered No. 2154540.
Registered Office 100 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7ER
Post Office and the Post Office logo are registered trade marks of Post Office Limited.
The information you requested falls under the exemption in section 43(2) of the
FOIA, as it is commercial information about staff salaries and bonuses. In applying
this exemption, we have had to balance the public interest in withholding the
information against the public interest in disclosure.
We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosure of information concerning
details of employee salaries and bonuses, as this helps promote transparency in
Post Office business and reassurance about the way public money is being spent.
However, there is a strong public interest in withholding the information as it would,
if disclosed, prejudice the commercial interests of Post Office. This is because
disclosing information about senior leader salaries and bonuses, would harm the
negotiation capabilities of Post Office. Salaries and bonuses are determined on a
case-by-case basis and so providing the information you have requested, would
enable competitors of Post Office to have a commercial advantage in such
negotiations. It would therefore not be in the public interest to disclose this
information.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of this response, you do have a right to
request an internal review. You can do this by writing to the address above within
40 working days of receipt of this response stating your reasons for your internal
review request or alternatively, by emailing
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx. If, having requested an internal review by Post Office, you are still not satisfied with
our response you also have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
https://ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely,
Page 2 of 3
postoffice.co.uk
Classification: Public
Information Rights Team
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
https://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/en/governance/access-to-information/access-to-
information/
Post Office Limited is committed to protecting your privacy, information about
how we do this can be found on our website at www.postoffice.co.uk/privacy
Page 3 of 3
postoffice.co.uk
Classification: Public
