Request
For each FOI/EIR request for information and each request for internal review referred by The National Archives to the Cabinet Office FOI Clearing House between 1 January 2021 and 31 January 2021 inclusive please supply:
(1) The completed Clearing House Referral Form as sent to the Clearing House (Note: the form itself has been published by the Cabinet Office [1])
(2) Where the following information has not been provided on the Referral Form or where the Referral Form was not used to make the referral, please provide:
(a) The date on which the request for information or for internal review which led to the referral was received by the department
(b) The text of the request
(c) Confirmation of whether the referral related to a request for information or a request for internal review
(d) The reason for the referral and the Clearing House trigger engaged
(e) The date on which the referral was made to the Clearing House
(f) The date or dates on which the Clearing House responded to the department
(g) The date on which the department provided a substantive response to the applicant
(h) If held, the name of the organisation for whom the applicant was working or on whose behalf the request was made
(3) Any further information about the request or the applicant provided to the Clearing House which does not appear on the Referral Form.
Please note that this request does not seek details of the ICO or tribunal cases referred to the Clearing House or the advice provided by the Clearing House to the Department.
Outcome
Some information provided
Response
(1) The completed Clearing House Referral Form as sent to the Clearing House (Note: the form itself has been published by the Cabinet Office [1])
The National Archives did not utilise a referral form when consulting the Cabinet Office’s FOI Clearing House in relation to the cases documented below.
(2) Where the following information has not been provided on the Referral Form or where the Referral Form was not used to make the referral, please provide:
(a) The date on which the request for information or for internal review which led to the referral was received by the department
(b) The text of the request
(c) Confirmation of whether the referral related to a request for information or a request for internal review
(d) The reason for the referral and the Clearing House trigger engaged
(e) The date on which the referral was made to the Clearing House
(f) The date or dates on which the Clearing House responded to the department
(g) The date on which the department provided a substantive response to the applicant
(h) If held, the name of the organisation for whom the applicant was working or on whose behalf the request was made
The National Archives received three requests in which a referral to the Cabinet Office’s Clearing House Team was made in January 2021. Please find the requested details of these cases below.
TNA request reference: CAS-66503-L2F0H7
(a) The date on which the request for information or for internal review which led to the referral was received by the department: 21/12/2020
(b) The text of the request: I would like to find out more about your organisations adoption of AI and Digital Transformation. Please see below a list of questions that hopefully you can help me with under the FOI ACT.
AI & Digital Transformation
Do you currently have any AI enabled chatbots engaging with Citizens directly? If not, do you intend to introduce this in the next 12 months? If you are looking to introduce AI enabled chatbots in the next 12 months, then please advise us on who is best to contact regarding this. (Name, Job Title and Email address) Do you currently have a live webchat to engage with Citizens live on your website? If not, do you intend to introduce this in the next 12 months? If you are looking to introduce live Webchat in the next 12 months, then please advise us on who is best to contact regarding this. (Name, Job Title and Email address)
[Name and contact details of requester withheld under section 40(2)]
(c) Confirmation of whether the referral related to a request for information or a request for internal review: The enquiry constituted a request for information under the FOI Act
(d) The reason for the referral and the Clearing House trigger engaged: The enquiry constituted a ‘round robin’ request
(e) The date on which the referral was made to the Clearing House: 05/01/2021
(f) The date or dates on which the Clearing House responded to the department: 05/01/2021
(g) The date on which the department provided a substantive response to the applicant: 07/01/2021
(h) If held, the name of the organisation for whom the applicant was working or on whose behalf the request was made: Information not held
TNA request reference: CAS-66466-K9J0Z0
(a) The date on which the request for information or for internal review which led to the referral was received by the department: 17/12/2020
(b) The text of the request:
Dear National Archives,
Which Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Finance system do you currently use?
What is the value & expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
Which Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System do you currently use?
What is the value & expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
Which Supply Chain Management (SCM) System do you currently use?
What is the value & expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
Which Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Scenario Planning or Strategic Modelling system do you currently use?
What is the value & expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
Which Human Capital Management (HCM) or HR system do you currently use?
What is the value & expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
Which Analytics or Business Intelligence systems do you currently use?
What is the value & expiry date of your current contract/licence? What are the extension options?
Do you have any plans to migrate to a fully integrated, fully cloud based back-office system in the next two years?
Yours faithfully,
Robin Nicholas Barter
(c) Confirmation of whether the referral related to a request for information or a request for internal review: The enquiry constituted a request for information under the FOI Act
(d) The reason for the referral and the Clearing House trigger engaged: The enquiry constituted a suspected ‘round robin’ request
(e) The date on which the referral was made to the Clearing House: 05/01/2021
(f) The date or dates on which the Clearing House responded to the department: 06/01/2021 and 07/01/2021
(g) The date on which the department provided a substantive response to the applicant: 07/01/2021
(h) If held, the name of the organisation for whom the applicant was working or on whose behalf the request was made: Information not held
TNA request reference: CAS-66467-R0P0B7
(a) The date on which the request for information or for internal review which led to the referral was received by the department: 14/12/2020
(b) The text of the request:
Hello
Please can you process a Freedom of Information (FOI).
Please can you confirm the person responsible for IT/Information Security. Different organisations have different job titles for this responsibility, I’ve listed below the possible job titles:
Manager or Head for IT, Cyber, Information Security, IT Security, Information Governance
or CIO (Chief Information Officer) or CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) Please can you provide name, job title, email, direct phone number/mobile number. Please provide information via email.
Thank you
[Name and contact details of requester withheld under section 40(2)]
(c) Confirmation of whether the referral related to a request for information or a request for internal review: The enquiry constituted a request for information under the FOI Act
(d) The reason for the referral and the Clearing House trigger engaged: The enquiry constituted a ‘round robin’ request
(e) The date on which the referral was made to the Clearing House: 05/01/2021
(f) The date or dates on which the Clearing House responded to the department: 06/01/2021
(g) The date on which the department provided a substantive response to the applicant: 07/01/2021
(h) If held, the name of the organisation for whom the applicant was working or on whose behalf the request was made: Information not held
(3) Any further information about the request or the applicant provided to the Clearing House which does not appear on the Referral Form.
In the case of CAS-66503-L2F0H7 and CAS-66467-R0P0B7 no further information concerning the requests or the applicants was provided to the FOI Clearing House. In the case of CAS-66466-K9J0Z0 the requester’s name was provided to the FOI Clearing House in order to verify that the enquiry was a ‘round robin’ request.
EXPLANATORY ANNEX
Exemptions applied
Section 40(2): Personal Information where the applicant is not the data subject
Section 40 exempts personal information about a ‘third party’ (someone other than the requester), if revealing it would breach the terms of Data Protection Legislation. Data Protection Legislation prevents personal information from release if it would be unfair or at odds with the reason why it was collected, or where the subject had officially served notice that releasing it would cause them damage or distress. Personal information must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner as set out by Art. 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In this case the exemption applies because the requested material contains the personal information of a number of identified individuals assumed still to be living. These individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy which would not include the release of this information into the public domain by The National Archives during their lifetime. To do so would be likely to cause damage and/or distress and would be a breach of the first data protection principle, which is concerned with the fair, lawful and transparent processing of information of this kind.
Section 40(2) has not been utilised to withhold the name of the requester from case CAS-66466-K9J0Z0 as this information is not considered personal data as it has already been released into the public domain via the Whatdotheyknow website.
Further guidance on the application of this exemption cab be found here:
Section 40: Personal Information | ICO.org.uk