Jurisdictional and Operational Support Officer, Civil and Family Directorate
HM Courts and Tribunals Service
1.42, 102 Petty France
London, SW1H 9AG
E: Civil&FamilyBusinessSupport@
hmcts.gsi.gov.uk
www.justice.gov.uk
Roger Hayes
mailto:
Our Reference: 93899 / 12th November 2014
Freedom of Information Request
Dear Mr Hayes,
Thank you for your letter of 15th October 2014, in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):
1. Under the FOI provide a copy of the duties of the court Usher, including any difference in duties that may apply between county and crown court ushers.
2. Provide all recorded information that relates to their dress code as public servants and confirm whether or not they are required to wear robes etc.
3. Provide all recorded information that relates to them identifying themselves as being on duty.
4. Confirm how non-public servants can identify them.
Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
I can confirm that the department holds information that you have asked for in relation to the duties of court ushers and their dress code, and I am pleased to provide this to you. For clarity I have divided your request into questions 1 and 3 and questions 2 and 4.
Question 1 & 3
I can confirm that the department holds information that you have asked for in relation to the responsibilities and the duties of court ushers and I am pleased to provide this to you. The duties of a court usher the same for both County and Crown Court Ushers. I have attached to this letter a copy of the Band F Usher competences which outlines the general duties of a court usher and their responsibilities whilst working.
Question 2 & 4
I can confirm that the department holds the information you have asked for in relation to the dress code of ushers as public servants. I have attached to this letter the Conduct Policy which outlines the dress code within the Civil Service. However, there is no standard dress code across the department; therefore the dress code may differ from area to area or even court to court. If you would like to know the dress code (if a dress code is an existence) for a specific area or court you will need to make a further request.
You can also find more information by reading the full text of the Act (available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/contents).
You have the right to appeal our decision if you think it is incorrect. Details can be found in the ‘How to Appeal’ section attached at the end of this letter.
Disclosure Log
You can also view information that the Ministry of Justice has disclosed in response to previous Freedom of Information requests. Responses are anonymised and published on our on-line disclosure log which can be found on the MoJ website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/series/freedom-of-information-disclosure-log
Yours sincerely
M Kumar
How to Appeal
Internal Review
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to an internal review. The handling of your request will be looked at by someone who was not responsible for the original case, and they will make a decision as to whether we answered your request correctly.
If you would like to request a review, please write or send an email within two months of the date of this letter to the Data Access and Compliance Unit at the following address:
Data Access and Compliance Unit (10.34),
Information & Communications Directorate,
Ministry of Justice,
102 Petty France,
London
SW1H 9AJ
E-mail:
Information Commissioner’s Office
If you remain dissatisfied after an internal review decision, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Commissioner is an independent regulator who has the power to direct us to respond to your request differently, if he considers that we have handled it incorrectly.
You can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at the following address:
Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Internet address: http://www.ico.org.uk/