Working From Home

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Maidstone Borough Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Maidstone Borough Council,

Given Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, ordered all Council Officers back to work on 26th January, 2022 please state the number of officers employed by the Council between 1st March, 2023 and 21st March, 2023 and how many of these were working from home either full time or a hybrid?

Yours faithfully,

Fergus Wilson

Complaints & FOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Thank you for contacting the Information Governance Team at Maidstone
Borough Council.

 

This is an automated response to confirm that your e-mail has been
received.

 

For more information on how we manage requests, and our response times,
please visit our website:

 

• [1]Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulation
Requests
• [2]Complaints
• [3]Data Protection
• [4]Customer Care Policy

  

Regards

 

Information Governance Team

Corporate Insight, Communities and Governance

Maidstone Borough Council, King Street, Maidstone, Kent ME15 6JQ

w [5]www.maidstone.gov.uk

 

To access our digital services please visit
https://maidstone.gov.uk/service Sign up to receive your Council Tax bill
by email https//maidstone.gov.uk/emailbilling We understand the importance
of ensuring that personal data, including sensitive personal data is
always treated lawfully and appropriately and that the rights of
individuals are upheld. We are required to collect, use and hold personal
data about individuals. Data is required for the purposes of carrying out
our statutory obligations, delivering services and meeting the needs of
individuals that we deal with. This includes current, past and prospective
employees, service users, members of the public, Members of the Council,
our business partners and other local authorities or public bodies. To
view our full statement to see how your data will be stored and processed
please visit https://maidstone.gov.uk/dataprotection This email is
confidential. If you receive it by mistake, please advise the sender by
email immediately. Any unauthorised use of the message or attachments is
prohibited. Unless stated otherwise, any opinions are personal and cannot
be attributed to Maidstone Borough Council. Unless a purchase order is
attached this email is not a contract or an order. It is your
responsibility to carry out Virus checks before opening any attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
2. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
3. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
4. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
5. http://www.maidstone.gov.uk/

Complaints & FOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Dear Fergus Wilson

RE: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) ACT REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information. This e-mail is to confirm your request has been received and logged. The reference number for your request is FOI/8962.

We will respond within 20 working days following the date we received your request.

After considering your request, we may refuse to supply some or all of the information under a number of exemptions that exist in legislation. For details of these exemptions, please visit the Information Commissioner’s website: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui....

If you have any queries about this e-mail, please contact us on [Maidstone Borough Council request email]. Please remember to quote the reference above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Information Governance Team
Corporate Insight, Communities and Governance
Maidstone Borough Council, Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone, Kent ME15 6JQ
w www.maidstone.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear Complaints & FOI (MBC),
#
MBC does not know how many Officers are working from home.

It should know.

Yours sincerely,

Fergus Wilson

Complaints & FOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Thank you for contacting the Information Governance Team at Maidstone
Borough Council.

 

This is an automated response to confirm that your e-mail has been
received.

 

For more information on how we manage requests, and our response times,
please visit our website:

 

• [1]Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulation
Requests
• [2]Complaints
• [3]Data Protection
• [4]Customer Care Policy

  

Regards

 

Information Governance Team

Corporate Insight, Communities and Governance

Maidstone Borough Council, King Street, Maidstone, Kent ME15 6JQ

w [5]www.maidstone.gov.uk

 

To access our digital services please visit
https://maidstone.gov.uk/service Sign up to receive your Council Tax bill
by email https//maidstone.gov.uk/emailbilling We understand the importance
of ensuring that personal data, including sensitive personal data is
always treated lawfully and appropriately and that the rights of
individuals are upheld. We are required to collect, use and hold personal
data about individuals. Data is required for the purposes of carrying out
our statutory obligations, delivering services and meeting the needs of
individuals that we deal with. This includes current, past and prospective
employees, service users, members of the public, Members of the Council,
our business partners and other local authorities or public bodies. To
view our full statement to see how your data will be stored and processed
please visit https://maidstone.gov.uk/dataprotection This email is
confidential. If you receive it by mistake, please advise the sender by
email immediately. Any unauthorised use of the message or attachments is
prohibited. Unless stated otherwise, any opinions are personal and cannot
be attributed to Maidstone Borough Council. Unless a purchase order is
attached this email is not a contract or an order. It is your
responsibility to carry out Virus checks before opening any attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
2. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
3. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
4. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
5. http://www.maidstone.gov.uk/

Dear Maidstone Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Maidstone Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Working From Home'.

I cannot accept that MBC does not know how many people are working from home.

Please conduct an Internal Review.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/w...

Yours faithfully,

Fergus Wilson

Complaints & FOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Thank you for contacting the Information Governance Team at Maidstone
Borough Council.

 

This is an automated response to confirm that your e-mail has been
received.

 

For more information on how we manage requests, and our response times,
please visit our website:

 

• [1]Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulation
Requests
• [2]Complaints
• [3]Data Protection
• [4]Customer Care Policy

  

Regards

 

Information Governance Team

Corporate Insight, Communities and Governance

Maidstone Borough Council, King Street, Maidstone, Kent ME15 6JQ

w [5]www.maidstone.gov.uk

 

To access our digital services please visit
https://maidstone.gov.uk/service Sign up to receive your Council Tax bill
by email https//maidstone.gov.uk/emailbilling We understand the importance
of ensuring that personal data, including sensitive personal data is
always treated lawfully and appropriately and that the rights of
individuals are upheld. We are required to collect, use and hold personal
data about individuals. Data is required for the purposes of carrying out
our statutory obligations, delivering services and meeting the needs of
individuals that we deal with. This includes current, past and prospective
employees, service users, members of the public, Members of the Council,
our business partners and other local authorities or public bodies. To
view our full statement to see how your data will be stored and processed
please visit https://maidstone.gov.uk/dataprotection This email is
confidential. If you receive it by mistake, please advise the sender by
email immediately. Any unauthorised use of the message or attachments is
prohibited. Unless stated otherwise, any opinions are personal and cannot
be attributed to Maidstone Borough Council. Unless a purchase order is
attached this email is not a contract or an order. It is your
responsibility to carry out Virus checks before opening any attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
2. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
3. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
4. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
5. http://www.maidstone.gov.uk/

Dear Maidstone Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Maidstone Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Working From Home'.

I am not satisfied with the answer MBC has provided.

It is inconceivable that MBC does not know how many of its staff are ir have been working from home!

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/w...

Yours faithfully,

Fergus Wilson

Complaints & FOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Thank you for contacting the Information Governance Team at Maidstone
Borough Council.

 

This is an automated response to confirm that your e-mail has been
received.

 

For more information on how we manage requests, and our response times,
please visit our website:

 

• [1]Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulation
Requests
• [2]Complaints
• [3]Data Protection
• [4]Customer Care Policy

  

Regards

 

Information Governance Team

Corporate Insight, Communities and Governance

Maidstone Borough Council, King Street, Maidstone, Kent ME15 6JQ

w [5]www.maidstone.gov.uk

 

To access our digital services please visit
https://maidstone.gov.uk/service Sign up to receive your Council Tax bill
by email https//maidstone.gov.uk/emailbilling We understand the importance
of ensuring that personal data, including sensitive personal data is
always treated lawfully and appropriately and that the rights of
individuals are upheld. We are required to collect, use and hold personal
data about individuals. Data is required for the purposes of carrying out
our statutory obligations, delivering services and meeting the needs of
individuals that we deal with. This includes current, past and prospective
employees, service users, members of the public, Members of the Council,
our business partners and other local authorities or public bodies. To
view our full statement to see how your data will be stored and processed
please visit https://maidstone.gov.uk/dataprotection This email is
confidential. If you receive it by mistake, please advise the sender by
email immediately. Any unauthorised use of the message or attachments is
prohibited. Unless stated otherwise, any opinions are personal and cannot
be attributed to Maidstone Borough Council. Unless a purchase order is
attached this email is not a contract or an order. It is your
responsibility to carry out Virus checks before opening any attachments.

References

Visible links
1. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
2. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
3. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
4. https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/primary-se...
5. http://www.maidstone.gov.uk/

Complaints & FOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

Ref: FOI/8962

Dear Fergus Wilson

Thank you for your request for an internal review. I have passed this on to Mid Kent Legal Services to review your request and the response. You will receive a response within 20 working days.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. https://ico.org.uk/

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Team
Corporate Insight, Communities and Governance
Maidstone Borough Council, Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone, Kent ME15 6JQ
w www.maidstone.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Complaints & FOI (MBC), Maidstone Borough Council

2 Attachments

11 July 2023

 

Our Ref: M018426 and FOI/8962

 

Dear Mr Wilson

 

RE: Internal Review of FOI/8962

 

I write further to your request for internal review following the
Council’s response to your request for information.

 

An internal review is a thorough, independent, re-examination of the
Council’s decision in relation to a request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).  Under the Council’s arrangements,
internal reviews are conduct by a Senior Legal Officer from Mid Kent Legal
Services. The review investigates whether your request has been dealt with
in accordance with the relevant information rights legislation. In this
this instance, the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information
held by public authorities. The Act covers any recorded information held
by public authorities that are not subject to the qualified and absolute
exemptions set out throughout the legislation. 

 

The scope of my investigation is to thoroughly assess and review whether
the Council has carried out its obligations according to the above. I have
considered whether exemptions have been correctly applied to your request.

 

Internal Review

As part of the internal review, I have examined the correspondence between
yourself and the Council concerning your request.

 

On the 18 April 2023, you made a request to the Council for the following:

Given Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, ordered all Council Officers back to
work on 26th January, 2022 please state the number of officers employed by
the Council between 1st March, 2023 and 21st March, 2023 and how many of
these were working from home either full time or a hybrid?

 

The Council provided a response to your request on 10 May 2023. You were
provided information in in relation to the number officers employed by the
Council between 1 March 2023 and 21 March 2023. However, the Council
informed you that it does not hold any information as to how many officers
were working from home either full time or a hybrid.

 

The request for Internal Review was made on the 19 May 2023. The Council
accepts that this response has been delay. Please accept my sincere
apologies for the delay as a thorough and complex investigation was
carried as part of this Internal Review.

 

Internal Review

I can confirm I have thoroughly re-examined FOI/8962. This internal review
has considered whether the Council has carried out its obligations in
accordance with the FOIA, UK General Data Protection Regulations.

I have assessed whether the Council holds information on the number of
staff working from home either full time or hybrid between 1 March 2023
and 21 March 2023.

 

Section 84 of FOIA defines the word “information” for the purposes of the
Act as “information recorded in any form”. Therefore, in this instance the
recorded information is mentioned above.

 

To establish whether the Council has a record of this information, the ICO
stipulates that the Council must carry out a reasonable search of its
paper and electronic files. Bromley and others v Information Commissioner
EA/2006/0072 further supports this approach, as well as deciding that it
is acceptable for the ICO to rely on the Council’s searches, provided that
those searches are appropriate and thorough. Therefore, the Council should
search those areas where it is reasonable to expect to find the amount of
staff working from home either full time or hybrid between 1 March 2023
and 21 March 2023.

 

I am advised that the following searches were carried out at the time of
the request:

 

1.          Records of Processing Activities (ROPA). A search of the ROPA
did not locate any entries relating to the amount of staff working from
home either full time or hybrid between 1 March 2023 and 21 March 2023.

 

2.          Human Resources records confirming no information of this type
is recorded by the Council.

 

In addition to the above, the following additional investigations and
searches have been carried out as part of this Internal Review:

 

1.          The Council’s Employment contracts held by Human Resourcing
confirming no information relating to the amount of homeworking or
hybrid   staff during the dates specified in your request.

 

2.          Home Working Risk Assessment Forms confirm no information
relating to the amount of homeworking or hybrid staff during the specified
dates in your request.

 

3.          ICT logs within this scope of FOI/8962. I am advised that
these logs reflect who has accessed the Council’s remote server, but these
are not an accurate reflection on the amount of staff working from home or
hybrid as use of the remote server can be for multiple reasons. This
includes off site meetings or tasks work where staff are not working from
home or hybrid. Therefore, the log is not accurate information on how many
staff have worked from home or hybrid working in the requested
period.      

 

4.          A content search using Microsoft Compliance Centre within the
scope of FOI/8962. I am advised that the search on “working from home
01-21 March 23” identified 284,000 items. It not clear whether any of
these items would contain the information requested. At an estimate of 3
minutes to review each item to whether it is in the scope of a request and
identify the any employees within the scope. The results also did not
identify all staff some staff have not discussed their homeworking or
hybrid arrangements via e-mail, chat or calendars. Given the above, it is
deemed the contents from this search is exempt subject to section 12
Freedom of Information Act 2000 as proceeding with the search would exceed
the cost limit for responding to the request. 

 

I am satisfied that the searches meet the ICO’s criteria of “reasonable
search” and is “appropriate and thorough”. This is because it covers both
meta data and areas one would expect to find any information on the amount
of Council officers working from home between 1 March 2023 and 21 March
2023.

 

I have considered the what the Council means when it states, “no
information held”. Section 3(2) Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides a
definitive definition. s3(2) states:

For the purposes of this Act, information is held by a public authority
if—

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another
person, or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority

 

Given that there has been no record found by its searches, I am satisfied
that the Council meets the meaning of “no information held” on this
occasion. If any information is held on the amount of staff working from
home or hybrid from 1 March to 21 March 2023 it would be subject section
12 FOIA for excessive cost.

 

Additionally, there is no obligation or business requirement for the
Council to have recorded the information you have requested. The law and
relevant guidance produced by the Information Commissioners Office is
clear the Council does not have to create new information for the purposes
of a FOIA request, only to provide information it holds.

 

Outcome of Internal Review

For the reasons set out above, it is my conclusion that the Council has
acted in accordance with its Freedom of Information Act 2000 obligations
on this occasion. Therefore, the original response is upheld.

 

Whilst I appreciate this may not be the response you are seeking; I trust
you understand the reasons for the outcome.

 

The above concludes the internal review process. If you are not content
with the outcome, the Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely

Rob Jarman

Head of Development Management

 

 

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