Room 1C/23
100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ
M Boyce
Web /
Date / 12July 2017
Our ref / FOI2017/00266
Yoiur ref:
Dear Mr Boyce
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) Outcome of Internal Review
Thank you for your Internal Review request regarding FOI request FOI 2016 - 00140 in which you asked for the following information from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC):
Could HMRC please let me know how much the Director of Tax Credits Policy currently gets paid annually?
The purpose of an Internal Review is to assess how your FOI request was handled in the first instance and to determine whether the original decision given to you was correct. This is an independent review: I was not involved in the original decision.
Your original request was refused under s21 of the FOIA because the information you requested isreasonably available to you. It was explained to you that HMRC does not have a post with the job title of Director of Tax Credits Policy. You were also informed that s1 of the FOIA applied to your other questions. After careful consideration I have concluded that this response was compliant with the requirements of the FOIA.
Statutory deadline
The statutory deadline for your request was 23 February 2017 and the response was provided on 13 February 2017. The response was therefore compliant with the requirements of the FOIA.
Outcome
It is my assessment that the Information you requested is reasonably accessible to you therefore exempt from disclosure under s21 of the FOIA. In our response to you, a link where you could access the information was provided to becompliant with the provisions of FOIA. I am therefore satisfied that the correction exemption was applied to your request. Section 21 is an absolute exemption, it is therefore not subject to the public interest test.
However, I have found that the Department did not provide a clear explanation of the reasons for the refusal of your request by failing to cite s21 of the FOIA as reason for refusal. This was an oversight.
Other questions you raised in your request do not fall under the FOI regime and werecorrectly treated by the Department as a non-valid FOI request. Section 84 of FOIA states that in order for a request for information to be handled as a FOI request, it must be for recorded information. I assessed the questions to be for an explanation of a policy, opinion or a decision.
In conclusion I am satisfied that the response you received on 13 February 2017 was correct.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied with this response you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The Commissioner is an independent regulator who has the power to direct us to respond to your request differently, if she considers that we have handled it incorrectly.
You can contact the ICO at the following address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team
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