Social Care

The request was partially successful.

Dear Common Council of the City of London,

Can you please provide the following information:

Who is the Head of IT? Please provide the full name, job title, email address and the phone number.

Who is the Social Care System Manager? Please provide the full name, job title, email address and the phone number.

Who are the Heads of Social Care Finance? Please provide the full names, job titles, email addresses and the phone numbers.

Who is the Lead Social Worker? Please provide the full name, job title, email address and the phone number.

Thank you in advance for answering the questions.

Yours faithfully,

Ethen Clarke

COL - EB - Information Officer, Common Council of the City of London

Dear Sir / Madam,
 
Thank you for your email of 8 February 2017 to the City of London (CoL).
 
The CoL would like to check that your request is a valid request under the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
 
Please note that section 8 of the FOIA states as follows:
 
"8.—(1) In this Act any reference to a 'request for information' is a
reference to such a request which—
… (b) states the name of the applicant …"
 
For further guidance, please see the guidance “Recognising a request made
under the Freedom of Information Act (Section 8)” (version 1, 26 Feb
2014), published on the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office
(ICO) at: [1]http://www.ico.org.uk/.
 
You will see that the ICO states that “the intention of the legislation is
for the requester to provide their real name … For a request to be valid,
the requester must provide enough of their real name to give anyone
reading that request a reasonable indication of their identity”, and that
“the absence of a real name would make it technically invalid under
Section 8(1)(b)” of the FOIA. …
 
As the ICO indicates, without any distinguishing identity in the form of a
proper name, it is clear that applicants could, over time, circumvent the
section 12 and section 14(1) provisions of the Act.
 
The guidance also states that, to be valid under Section 8, “the request
must state the real name of the party on whose behalf the agent is acting
… A request which only includes the real name of the agent will be
invalid”. So, if you are acting on behalf of another party, we shall also
need the real name of that person, company or organisation.
 
Once we have received from you either confirmation that ‘Ethen Clarke’ is
your real name, or, if it is not, you have provided your real name, and
confirmation that you are not acting on behalf of anyone else, or the name
of the person, company or organisation on whose behalf you may be acting,
we can progress your request as a valid request.
 
Finally, please note that the ICO states in “The Guide to Freedom of
Information” (version 4.6.10, 13 May 2016), that “…you [the authority
receiving the request] may decide to check their [an applicant’s] identity
if it is clear they are using a pseudonym”. We reserve the right to do
this should we consider that a pseudonym is being used. This has been
reiterated by the ICO in its guidance, “Consideration of requests without
reference to the identity or motives of the applicant” (version 1, 5 March
2015): “It will therefore be permissible for a public authority to enquire
about the identity of a requester if it has reason to believe that they
haven’t provided their real name”. The guidance can be found on the ICO’s
website.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Information Officer
Comptroller & City Solicitor’s Department
City of London
Tel: 020-7332 1209
[2]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
 
 
 

show quoted sections

Dear COL - EB - Information Officer,

This is a confirmation that Ethen Clarke is my real name and I am not acting on behalf of anyone else.

Could you please kindly provide the answers to my request.

Yours sincerely,

Ethen Clarke

COL - EB - Information Officer, Common Council of the City of London

Dear Ethen Clarke,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 (FOIA) – REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The City of London (CoL) acknowledges receipt of your request for information of 8 February; and your confirmation of 13 February that Ethan Clarke is your real name and that you are not acting on behalf of any other party.

Public authorities are required to respond to requests within the statutory timescale of 20 working days beginning from the first working day after they receive a request. The Act does not always require public authorities to disclose the information which they hold.

The FOIA applies to the CoL as a local authority, police authority and port health authority. The CoL is the local and police authority for the “Square Mile”, ie the historic City of London, and not for London as a whole. Please see the following page containing a link to a map (Explore the City), which shows the local authority area covered by the CoL:
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/maps/Pag....
The CoL does have some functions, including Port Health Authority functions, which extend beyond the City boundary. For further information please see: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk<http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk>.

Yours sincerely,

Information Officer
Comptroller & City Solicitor’s Department
City of London
Tel: 020-7332 1209
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk<http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk>

show quoted sections

McLaughlin, Sharon, Common Council of the City of London

2 Attachments

Dear Ethen Clarke

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

 

Following receipt of your request for information on 8 February and your
subsequent confirmation received on 13 February 2017 and our
acknowledgement of 13 February 2017, the City of London (CoL) responds as
follows:

 

Can you please provide the following information:

 

Who is the Head of IT? Please provide the full name, job title, email
address and the phone number.

 

Sean Green, IT Director, [1][email address]. For direct
contact phone number, please see the exemptions cited below.

 

Who is the Social Care System Manager? Please provide the full name, job
title, email address and the phone number.

 

Please see the exemptions cited below.

 

Who are the Heads of Social Care Finance? Please provide the full names,
job titles, email addresses and the phone numbers.

 

Please see the exemptions cited below.

 

Who is the Lead Social Worker? Please provide the full name, job title,
email address and the phone number.

 

Mr Chris Pelham, Assistant Director – People,
[2][email address], 020 7332 1636.

 

This response acts as a partial refusal notice, in accordance with section
17 of the FOIA. The CoL applies the FOIA s40(2) exemption ('personal
information'), because it considers that a breach of the data protection
principles under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) would occur through
disclosure of staff names (below divisional head level) and direct contact
details, except where these are already routinely in the public domain (in
which case, they have been provided, above).

 

The CoL considers that Principle 1 of the DPA would be breached by
disclosure, ie the principle of fair and lawful processing. There is no
general expectation by staff, other than the most senior managers, that
their place of work should be automatically disclosed following FOI
requests, which requests we legally have to treat as being in effect a
disclosure to the public at large. It is also one of the reasons why our
website gives only a few name contacts (being mainly limited to
departmental managers), and why, usually, generic rather than individual
email contact addresses are provided on our website. Ultimately it is the
top management which holds responsibility in any organisation for
corporate decisions.

 

We consider that where someone works, and who is their employer, is
personal information, just as such employment details would be considered
in the private sector. The Information Tribunal has upheld this view,
stating that "to release the name of an individual’s employer would be to
release significant personal data" (Appeal Number EA/2007/0058), and hence
could be a breach of the DPA. The Information Commissioner, in Decision
Notice FS50184497, stated that he could see no public interest arguments
in support of wholesale disclosure of names and direct contact details of
public sector staff.

 

The CoL does not consider that it is legitimate that the public should
automatically know the name of and be able to contact directly any public
sector employee, simply because that employee is paid, whole or in part,
from the public purse. The CoL considers on the contrary that it is
necessary to pay due respect to the privacy of employees in the public
sector. We do not consider that, because a body receives public funding to
a greater or lesser degree, its employees automatically forfeit rights of
privacy.

 

It is also the case that there is always going to be some level of staff
turnover, with employees either leaving the organisation or moving to a
different role or department. Therefore it is far more practical to simply
disclose generic information for service areas as these are less likely to
change as often, if at all.

 

We also do not consider that the information that a particular named
individual is a public sector employee of a particular named public
authority is information which in itself would constitute information of
general public interest. On the contrary, in relation to the vast majority
of public sector employees, such information is manifestly of no general
public interest.

 

Please note that a public authority has to consider a disclosure under the
FOIA as a disclosure to the world. We note the Information Tribunal’s
statement that “Disclosure under [the] FOIA is effectively an unlimited
disclosure to the public as a whole, without conditions” (Information
Tribunal Appeal Decision EA/2006/0011 & 0013), which was also referred to
by the Information Commissioner (Information Commissioner's Decision
Notice FS 50294078). We would therefore have to consider disclosure of the
names as a public overriding of the DPA.

 

In conclusion, with regard to this exemption, the CoL does not see any
legitimate interests in the public routinely having access to this
information, and considers that disclosure would not pay due respect to
the rights and freedoms of the data subjects, ie in this instance the
members of staff. The CoL does not consider that there are any conditions
under Schedule 2 of the DPA (which Schedule concerns conditions under
Principle 1 for processing personal information) which would permit
disclosure.

 

In addition, with regard to your request for contact numbers and direct
(in the sense of personalised) email addresses of staff, the CoL would,
except in so far as they are already disclosed on the CoL website, also
usually apply the FOIA section 36(2)(c) exemption, ie information the
disclosure of which is "likely ... to prejudice ... the effective conduct
of public affairs". The CoL considers that it would prejudice its
operations to provide to the public through the FOIA the direct phone
numbers and direct email addresses for its staff, in that it could result
in a distraction to their core work to receive such direct contact on the
scale which could result from disclosure of such details under the FOIA.
As noted above, a public authority legally has to consider a disclosure
under the FOIA as being in effect a disclosure to the public at large.
This is why the CoL provides generic contact details (please see below);
and why it has a corporate Contact Centre which directs calls as necessary
to relevant officers.

 

The Information Commissioner has stated, in Decision Notice FS50184497,
that where “The council already has an adequate system in place for
fielding incoming telephone calls and correspondence and for ensuring that
these are directed to the most appropriate member of staff [lines] of
contact outside that system are superfluous.” We consider that this
applies to the CoL. The Decision also stated that the “release of
employees’ details into the public domain is likely to attract blanket
targeting of those employees by commercial organisations for marketing
purposes. The cumulative distraction caused to council staff would have a
detrimental impact on efficiency and service levels to the public”.

 

The application of the exemption is, under section 36(2) of the FOIA,
subject to the approval of "a qualified person". Under the FOIA the
"qualified person" within local authorities has been designated as being
the Monitoring Officer. In the CoL, the City Solicitor (whose full title
is 'Comptroller and City Solicitor') is the Monitoring Officer.

 

The CoL has not approached the Monitoring Officer for his view on using
this exemption in response to your request on this occasion, but if you
would prefer us to for completeness, we will do so. We would note here,
though, that we consider that our position of non-disclosure of this
information is supported by the Information Tribunal in an Appeal Decision
(Ref: EA/2006/0027), which concluded that direct contact details of staff
other than those already in the public domain should not be disclosed. 

 

As mentioned, the Information Commissioner, in Decision Notice FS50184497,
following the lead of the Tribunal, gave further arguments in support of
non-disclosure, concluding, as mentioned, that the Commissioner could see
no public interest arguments in wholesale disclosure of names and contact
details of public sector staff, and that the section 36 exemption was
engaged in relation to requests for direct contact details.

 

The abovementioned decisions by the Commissioner and Tribunal have never
been overturned.

 

Finally, we note that the website of the Information Commissioner's Office
(ICO) itself shows an extremely limited disclosure of employee names, to a
degree which implies a high threshold for the unlimited publication of
such information in relation to a public authority which falls within the
scope of the FOIA.

 

We hope that the following information will be helpful.

 

For phone enquiries to the CoL generally, including the IT Division,
please contact the Contact Centre on 020-7606 3030.

 

The following generic contact details can be used for Social Services:

 

Adult Services

Service Manager, Adult Services

[3][email address]

020 7332 1224

 

Children Services

Service Manager, Children’s Social Care

[4][email address]

020 7332 3621

 

Commissioning and contracts – all social care

Commissioning Manager

[5][email address]

0207 332 1224

 

In spite of the application of exemptions, we hope that this response is
of assistance.

 

If you wish to make a complaint about the way the CoL has managed your
enquiry, please make your complaint in writing to email address:
[6][email address]. For a link to the CoL’s FOI complaints
procedure, please visit the following page:
[7]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Feedback, at the end of which is located the
FOI complaints procedure. If, having used the CoL’s FOI Complaints
Procedure, you are still dissatisfied, you may request the Information
Commissioner to investigate. Please contact: Information Commissioner,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Telephone:
(01625) 545700.  Website: [8]http://www.ico.org.uk/.

 

The FOIA applies to the CoL as a local authority, police authority and
port health authority.

 

The CoL holds the copyright in this communication. Its supply does not
give a right to re-use in a way that would infringe that copyright, for
example, by making copies, publishing and issuing copies to the public or
to any other person. Brief extracts of any of the material may be
reproduced under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 (sections 29 and 30) for the purposes of research for
non-commercial purposes, private study, criticism, review and news
reporting, subject to an acknowledgement of the copyright owner.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

[9]http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporati... Business Support Manager | 
Commissioning and
Partnerships Division 

City of London Corporation
|Telephone 020 7332 3498|
[10]www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

 

[11]haveyoursay2017_02

 

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