Dear Jonathan Edwards

Further to your recent request for information, please find attached an
acknowledgement letter containing further information of when we will next
write to you.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie

Jamie Jenkins

Rheolwr Gwybodaeth/Information Manager

Gwasanaethau Corfforaethol/Corporate Services

Grŵp yr Ysgrifennydd Parhaol/Permanent Secretary’s Group

Swyddfa’r Prif Weinidog/Office of the First Minister

Llywodraeth Cymru/Welsh Government

Sganiwyd y neges hon am bob feirws hysbys wrth iddi adael Llywodraeth
Cymru. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cymryd o ddifrif yr angen i ddiogelu eich
data. Os cysylltwch â Llywodraeth Cymru, mae ein [1]hysbysiad preifatrwydd
yn esbonio sut rydym yn defnyddio eich gwybodaeth a sut rydym yn diogelu
eich preifatrwydd. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn
anfon ateb yn Gymraeg i ohebiaeth a dderbynnir yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd
gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this
email was scanned for all known viruses. The Welsh Government takes the
protection of your data seriously. If you contact the Welsh Government
then our [2]Privacy Notice explains how we use your information and the
ways in which we protect your privacy. We welcome receiving correspondence
in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be answered in Welsh
and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in responding.

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/”https:/gov.wales/about/welsh-government-privacy-notice/?lang=cy”
2. https://gov.wales/about/welsh-government...

Dear Jonathan Edwards

Further to your recent request for information, please find attached a
refusal letter.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie

Jamie Jenkins

Rheolwr Gwybodaeth/Information Manager

Gwasanaethau Corfforaethol/Corporate Services

Grŵp yr Ysgrifennydd Parhaol/Permanent Secretary’s Group

Swyddfa’r Prif Weinidog/Office of the First Minister

Llywodraeth Cymru/Welsh Government

Sganiwyd y neges hon am bob feirws hysbys wrth iddi adael Llywodraeth
Cymru. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cymryd o ddifrif yr angen i ddiogelu eich
data. Os cysylltwch â Llywodraeth Cymru, mae ein [1]hysbysiad preifatrwydd
yn esbonio sut rydym yn defnyddio eich gwybodaeth a sut rydym yn diogelu
eich preifatrwydd. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn
anfon ateb yn Gymraeg i ohebiaeth a dderbynnir yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd
gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this
email was scanned for all known viruses. The Welsh Government takes the
protection of your data seriously. If you contact the Welsh Government
then our [2]Privacy Notice explains how we use your information and the
ways in which we protect your privacy. We welcome receiving correspondence
in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be answered in Welsh
and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in responding.

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/”https:/gov.wales/about/welsh-government-privacy-notice/?lang=cy”
2. https://gov.wales/about/welsh-government...

Dear Jonathan Edwards,

Thank you for your email.

In order to be a valid request, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the provision of the name of the applicant. Guidance from the Information Commissioner’s office states:
If the requester has used a pseudonym then their request will be invalid. The guidance goes on to say - however, if the name provided is not an obvious pseudonym and the public authority has no reason to believe that a pseudonym is being used, the authority should just accept the name provided at face value. In this instance, the Welsh Government does have reason to believe that a pseudonym is being used.

During 2020, the Welsh Government received a number of requests via the What Do They Know website from a ‘Mrs Trellis’. As the Commissioner’s guidance (in relation to names and valid requests) states “Any variation of the requester’s title or first name combined with their surname (e.g. Mr Smith or John Smith) will be sufficient to meet this requirement” the requests were processed as normal. However, early in 2021 a Welsh Government official raised concerns over the validity of this name, recognising ‘Mrs Trellis’ is a fictional, Welsh comedy character who ‘writes into’ 'I’m Sorry I Haven't A Clue'. On that basis, we informed the requester of our suspicions and that unless proof of identity was forwarded, we would regard all current and future requests using that name as invalid. The letter issued on January 29 in relation to a request for ‘Transport for Wales funding’. No proof of identity was provided. The other requests can be found here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/mrs_...

The Welsh Government is now aware that an account in the name of Jonathan Edwards was set up on What Do They Know in 2021 and the first request from that account was received February 18. A full list of the current requests is here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/jona...

As can be seen, both sets of requests are on a similar set of themes. Of the four requests made to Welsh Government by Jonathan Edwards, three of them are almost complete cut and pastes of requests made previously by Mrs Trellis which we refused. One of the requests from Mrs Trellis on ‘Correspondence between Economy Minister and Tourism’ was followed up by that requester on March 5 where they wrote: “It is disappointing that I have not received a response as, by law, I should have had a response by the 25 February. I appreciate that coronavirus is causing delays but I expect a response soon.”

We responded on March 10 to confirm our position regarding the validity of their name to which we received no response. However, we note that ‘Jonathan Edwards’ then made exactly the same request to Welsh Government on March 10 using the exact wording as the Mrs Trellis request down to the missing full stop at the end.

The standard of legal proof in civil proceedings is the ‘balance of probabilities’. In applying that balance to the above evidence, Welsh Government has come to the reasonable conclusion that Mrs Trellis and Jonathan Edwards are in fact the same person. Using the same balance of probabilities, Welsh Government further believes that if a requester has used a pseudonym once then it is reasonable to suspect that they have done so again. On that basis, following the Commissioner’s guidance, we are refusing your request(s) as invalid.

As per our previous correspondence, we would be happy to process them if proof of identity could be provided. Alternately, we would of course also comply with any investigation by the Commissioner.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie
Jamie Jenkins
Rheolwr Gwybodaeth/Information Manager
Gwasanaethau Corfforaethol/Corporate Services

Grŵp yr Ysgrifennydd Parhaol/Permanent Secretary’s Group
Swyddfa’r Prif Weinidog/Office of the First Minister

Llywodraeth Cymru/Welsh Government

show quoted sections

Dear Jonathan Edwards 

Further to your recent request for information, please find attached a
final disclosure letter.

Yours sincerely,

Jamie

Jamie Jenkins

Rheolwr Gwybodaeth/Information Manager

Gwasanaethau Corfforaethol/Corporate Services

Grŵp yr Ysgrifennydd Parhaol/Permanent Secretary’s Group

Swyddfa’r Prif Weinidog/Office of the First Minister

Llywodraeth Cymru/Welsh Government

Sganiwyd y neges hon am bob feirws hysbys wrth iddi adael Llywodraeth
Cymru. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cymryd o ddifrif yr angen i ddiogelu eich
data. Os cysylltwch â Llywodraeth Cymru, mae ein [1]hysbysiad preifatrwydd
yn esbonio sut rydym yn defnyddio eich gwybodaeth a sut rydym yn diogelu
eich preifatrwydd. Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn
anfon ateb yn Gymraeg i ohebiaeth a dderbynnir yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd
gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. On leaving the Welsh Government this
email was scanned for all known viruses. The Welsh Government takes the
protection of your data seriously. If you contact the Welsh Government
then our [2]Privacy Notice explains how we use your information and the
ways in which we protect your privacy. We welcome receiving correspondence
in Welsh. Any correspondence received in Welsh will be answered in Welsh
and corresponding in Welsh will not lead to a delay in responding.

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/”https:/gov.wales/about/welsh-government-privacy-notice/?lang=cy”
2. https://gov.wales/about/welsh-government...