Copies of correspondence for CAS-89155 (HO 287/3777/1)

FOI request reference: CAS-95115
Publication date: October 2022

Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, could I please request the following:-
1. Copies of all emails/letters/internal memos/handwritten notes and so forth that have been sent and received in respect of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request I submitted to you via email on 23 June 2022. For ease, the reference number is: CAS-89155-K3P3G6.

Outcome

Information provided

Response

We are writing to you with regard to your follow up enquiry of 6 October (CAS-95115) in which you asked for the following information.

1. Copies of all emails/letters/internal memos/handwritten notes and so forth that have been sent and received in respect of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request I submitted to you via email on 23 June 2022. For ease, the reference number is: CAS-89155-K3P3G6.

Your enquiry has been handled under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000. The FOI Act gives you the right to know whether we hold the information you want and to have it communicated to you, subject to any exemptions which may apply.

I can confirm that The National Archives holds information within the scope of your request and we are pleased to be able to provide this information to you, which comprises one email (in addition to the update emails you have already received).

A small amount of information within this email is considered exempt under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act and has therefore been redacted – personal information of junior officials. Please see the explanatory annex below for more details.

Furthermore some information does not relate to your original FOI request and is consequently considered to be outside the scope of this later request; this has therefore also been redacted.

CAS-89155 – update on your original enquiry

https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/cas-95115-case-assignment-2022-09-29.pdf

We apologise for the delay in processing your original request, which is due to an unprecedented number of FOI requests submitted to The National Archives.

For information you may find it useful to know that the closed extract HO 287/3777/1 is a small file comprising 12 redacted pages. The open parent file (HO 287/3777) is far more substantial and is available to view at The National Archives. If you have not already viewed it we would recommend that you do so, as you will be able to see where the small amount of redacted information appears in the context of the parent file.

You may also be reassured to know that file HO 287/3777/1 has now been reviewed and we hope to have completed your FOI request by the time the next update is due on 2 November 2022, if not before.

We fully acknowledge that the wording of the standard letter template responses sent to you have not been as explanatory or as accurate as they should have been and that these may have given the impression that your request was being progressed, when it had not yet been started.

These responses are the automatic messages that are sent to all requesters every 20 working days whilst cases are active, within the tracking system. We apologise for providing information that was not helpful or in this case accurate. We also apologise for the delay and lateness that has occurred with your request, thus meaning The National Archives has not complied with the timeframes set out in Section 10 of the Act.

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 United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

In this case the exemption applies because the requested material contains information which would identify junior members of staff.

Publishing the names and contact details of junior members of staff is considered an unfair use of personal data. Junior members of staff would have no expectation that information about their positions would be made available in the public domain; to do so would be unfair and contravene the first data protection principle of the Data Protection Act. As such, the names, positions and contact details of junior officials are withheld under Section 40(2) of the FOI Act.

Further guidance about the publication of junior staff names can be found here:
https://ico.org.uk/media/fororganisations/documents/1187/section_40_requests_for_personal_data_about_employees.pdf