A breach of the DPA 1998 by the DWP?

S. Grove made this Freedom of Information request to Department for Work and Pensions This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Up to September 2012 the DWP mandated jobseekers who were JSA claimants but not in receipt of JSA (so called "NI-only claimants") to the Work Programme (WP) and as "Data Controllers" the DWP sent the personal information of this group to WP providers and/or their subcontractors. What legislation up to September 2012 gave the DWP the legal right to send the personal information/data of "NI-only claimants" to private companies?

Yours faithfully,

S. Grove

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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no-reply@dwp.ecase.co.uk on behalf of DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

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Dear S Grove,

I am writing in response to your request for information, received 18th
January.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'A breach of the DPA 1998 by the DWP?'.

This FOI request has not been completed to a satisfactory level. It is not clear exactly which Act and section allows the DWP to transfer the highly personal details of people who are claimants but not in receipt of job seekers allowance to organisations working for the DWP (who the DWP have contracts in place that do not define any staff vetting).
I want the exact details of the exact sections of the law that allows the DWP to treat individual's personal information with such a low level of care.

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

Yours faithfully,

S. Grove

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
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Dear DWP freedom-of-information-requests,

The whatdotheyknow website has detailed that this request is overdue.

The DWP should be transparent in detailing how it transfers data under data protection legislation, even when the DWP is in a rush to implement systems that will outsource to the private sector the measuring and recording of breaches of benefit(s) conditionality for the purpose of 13-week and 26-week sanctions.

Yours sincerely,

S. Grove

no-reply@dwp.ecase.co.uk on behalf of DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear S Grove,

I am writing in response to your request for information, received 1st
February.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'A breach of the DPA 1998 by the DWP?'.

Section 72 of the Welfare Reform Act permits the Secretary of State to transfer personal information of claimants for the purposes of training. As the DWP knows both Work Programme (WP) providers and their subcontractors had the sole role of monitoring benefit conditionality. This is evidenced by there not being a formal complaint process to the DWP should a benefit claimant consider that they were not receiving suitable training. The complaint process had to be direct to the WP provider, which was most likely staffed by low intelligence low level bullies.
The DWP ceased mandating NI only claimants to the WP in September 2012 most likely due to concerns that overzealous WP providers or their subcontractors were mandating such claimants to work-related activities (WRA), activities that were not a conditionality of their benefit claim and therefore overstepping WP provider authority (the WP provider would have been breaking the law).
Given the DWP knowingly transferred personal data for purposes that were not related to training then this transfer of data would have been a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.
What legislation allowed the DWP to behave in this way?

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

Yours faithfully,

S. Grove

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.
 
By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.
 
[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...
 

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DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

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Dear Mr Grove,

 

Please see attached response to your recent request for an Internal
Review.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Correspondence Team | Contracted Health & Employment Services | Department
for Work and Pensions

 

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Dear DWP Health Services Correspondence,

This FOI request has not been fully answered as the DWP are fully aware that WP providers and their subcontractors work for the DWP as an outsourced means of gathering evidence for sanctions and not for training purposes. The DWP may have stopped mandating NI only claimants to WP providers in September 2012 because the DWP perceived the costs of stopping NI credits to be too high. Due to the low threshold criteria for employment of WP staff (i.e. no contractual requirements made by the DWP for WP providers to fully check the background of staff they employ) the DWP has not protected mandated WP participants from receiving degrading and humiliating treatment by WP providers and their subcontactors and placing benefit(s) claimants in positions were they are unable to complain about the behaviours of WP provider/WP provider subcontractor staff.
The reasons for the DWP ceasing to mandate NI credits only claimants to the Work Program in September 2012 remains a mystery but it appears that the DWP had no right to transfer the data of NI credits only claimants to companies in the private sector.
It is hoped that the DWP as Data Controller have appropriate measures in place to ensure that their Data Processors destroy sensitive personal information about benefit claimants.

Yours sincerely,

S. Grove

DWP Health Services Correspondence, Department for Work and Pensions

1 Attachment

Dear S Grove,

Please see attached our response to your Internal Review request that was originally issued on the 26 March 2019.

You have exhausted the internal complaints process and as explained in our reply if you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision.

If you are not content with how DWP administers the work programme then you could contact the Independent Case Examiner, please follow the link below for further information:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

Yours sincerely

Correspondence Team | Contracted Health & Employment Services | Department for Work and Pensions

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