ADDRESSEE ONLY
DOE HR & Organisational Change DivisionMr Harry Harper
Request – / Room 5-28
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Town Parks
BELFAST
BT2 8GB
Telephone: / 028 9054 0207
Email: / Edel.o’
Your reference:
Our reference: / DO2-13-587
Date: 19 November 2013
DearMrHarper
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000
I refer to your request for information dated 31 October 2013.
You have asked how much in total the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) has paid staff in on call/standby allowances since 2010.
I have detailed below the information that can be provided. As requested, the figures are for NIEA staff only, and do not include council staff such as water quality inspectors or water quality officers working on behalf of NIEA.
1. Annual spend within directorate/business unit in NIEA
First of all, you have asked for the annual spend within directorate/business unit in NIEA. The table below details the total annual spend from 2010 to date for NIEA.
2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / TotalNIEA / 7912.90 / 9141.73 / 10607.14 / 5854.54 / 33516.31
TheDepartment is unable to supply the breakdown by directorate / business unit that you have requested under the provisions of Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which prohibits disclosure of information which would breach the data protection principles. This Act requires the personal data to be:-
- Processed in accordance with the rights of the data subjects under the Data Protection Act.
Section 7(4) of the Data Protection Act 1998 states “Where a data controller cannot comply with the request without disclosing information relating to another individual who can be identified from that information, he is not obliged to comply with the request unless:
(a)The other individual has consented to the disclosure of the information to the person making the request; or
(b)It is reasonable in all the circumstances to comply with the request without the consent of the other individual.”
If this information was provided, and combined with the information detailed at point 2 below, we consider that individuals and pay details relating to them would be identifiable.
2. The actual individual number of staff who have received on call/standby allowances since 2010, broken down within directorate/business unit
2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / TotalNIEA, Environmental Crime Unit / 1 / 2 / 6 / 5 / 14
NIEA, Environmental Crime Unit / 1 / 2 / 6 / 5 / 14
NIEA, Environmental Protection Directorate / 17 / 15 / 17 / 14 / 63
NIEA, Water Management Unit / 17 / 15 / 17 / 14 / 63
NIEA, Natural Heritage Directorate / 1 / 1 / 2 / 4
NIEA, Biodiversity Unit / 1 / 1
NIEA, Castlearchdale Country Park / 1 / 1 / 2
NIEA, North West Nature Reserves / 1 / 1
Grand Total / 19 / 18 / 25 / 19 / 81
3. The actual individual number of staff by pay gradewho have received on call/standby allowances since 2010, broken down within directorate/business unit, and amount annually per individual also.
The Department is unable to supply this information broken down as requested for the reasons detailed at point 1. However, I have provided the number of staff by pay grade in NIEA who have received on call/standby allowances since 2010 in the table below.
2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / TotalSenior Principal Scientific Officer / 1 / 1 / 1 / -
Principal Scientific Officer / 2 / 3 / 5 / 1
Senior Scientific Officer / 5 / 4 / 7 / 9
Higher Scientific Officer / 8 / 4 / 8 / 9
Scientific Officer / 3 / 6 / 4 / 0
Total / 19 / 18 / 25 / 19 / 81
Under the terms of the legislation, if you are unhappy with this response you have the right to seek a review by the Department in the first instance, within two calendar months of the date of this letter. If you wish to do so, please write to
Departmental Information Manager
Room 6.20
Department of the Environment
Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
Town Parks
Belfast BT2 8GB
If after such a review you are still unhappy with the response, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner who will undertake an independent review.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Yours sincerely
BEVERLY BEGGS
DOE HR & OCD