Is It a Valid FOI Request?

KILO
Induction

Workbook

What is an FOI?

Is it a Valid FOI Request?

Case Study 1

Request:

The Branch Head

Freedom of Information Act, UK

Ministry of Justice

Data Access & Compliance Unit

10th Floor

Postal Point 10.34

102 Petty France

London

SW1H 9AJ

Dear Sir

We are writing to you from the office of the Central Public Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Mumbai, India. We are responsible for

Administering the Freedom of Information Act regulation in India known as the Right to information Act 2005.

The Freedom of Information Act called the Right to Information Act, 2005 came into force in India from November 2005. this Act envisages transparency within the working of government organisations in India.

In order to improve the implementation of the Right to Information Act in India, we are in the process of studying various systems and procedures adapted by different countries who have already implemented the similar legislation. In this regard we would like to contact you for further information. Kindly forward the name and e-mail ID of the right person to get in contact with. We would highly appreciate co-operation received from you in this matter.

Yours faithfully

xxxxx

Please consider whether this should be treated under the FOIA or as TO Correspondence

What is an FOI?

Is it a Valid FOI Request?

Case Study 2

Request:

Dear Sir/Madam

I would be grateful if you would provide the following information:

During 2011 how many positions of ‘economic advisers’ were filled in your department (whether those posts were new or existing posts which became vacant).
Of all the above positions (both new and vacant ones) how many were made available to:

Only employees of your department
Only full GES (government economic service) members on level transfer.
Only full GES members, on either level transfer or promotion.
Both full and associate GES members
Serving civil servants (in any government department), whether GES members or not.
The general public
Any other sub group

How the positions that were made available outside the GES or your

department (groups D, E, F and G of the previous question) were advertised?

Yours sincerely,

xxxxxx

Please consider whether this should be treated under the FOIA or as TO Correspondence

What is an FOI?

Is it a Valid FOI Request?

Case Study 3

Request:

Hi,

I am interested in the case of Ruth Ellis, the last women to be hanged in the UK in July 1955. My questions are based around the fact that Public Record Office in Kew and the City of London Record Office still keep certain files closed on the matter until 2031.

Could you please tell me:

What did the briefing paper from the Home Secretary at the time, Gwilyn Lloyd-George, or any other person who made this recommendation, state? Why was it recommended that these papers should not be disclosed until 2031 – 76 years later – when this was on the face of it a ‘crime of passion’?

Does the briefing from the Home Secretary make any reference to Ruth Ellis in connection with the Profumo case? If so, how and why?

Was Ruth Ellis interviewed by British Intelligence? Was she known to them and her movement’ monitored by them? If so, how and why?

Am I able to see a copy of the Home Secretary’s briefing paper regarding this case which stated that certain records remain secret until 2031?

I thank you for your assistance and look forward to your reply.

Kind regards

xxxx

Please consider whether this should be treated under the FOIA or as TO Correspondence

What is an FOI?

Is it a Valid FOI Request?

Case Study 4

Request:

Hello

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act I would like to request the following information:

Details of items confiscated from prisoners cells at prisons in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire areas in the last 12 months.

Many thanks

xxxx

Please consider whether this should be treated under the FOIA or as TO Correspondence

Freedom of Information

Case Studies

Case Study 1

Request:

The MoJ has received a request for a copy of the MoJ Disability Equality Scheme 2008-2011.

Background:

The requester is a member of the public, who has submitted several FOI requests in the recent past.

The MoJ has published this information, and its available free of charge on the MoJ website.

Please consider:

Do we hold the information?

What, if any, exemptions apply?

/ Name
Job Title
Business Area
Address
T[insert number]
F[insert number]
E[insert address]

Applicant’s name
Postal or email address
Our Reference:[insert reference] / Date

Case study 1 example response

Freedom of Information Request

Dear Name,

[THIS IS THE TEMPLATE FOR SECTION 21- ABSOLUTE EXEMPTION]Thank you for your letter/fax/email of insert date, in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

“Insert complete request here”

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, but in this case we will not be providing it to you as it is exempt from disclosure.

[KILO: IF YOU ARE RELEASING SOME INFORMATION PLEASE AMEND THE PARAGRAPH ABOVE AS APPROPRIATE]

We are not obliged to provide information if this is reasonably accessible to you by other means (section 21(INSERT SUB SECTION) of the Act. The terms of this exemption in the Freedom of Information Act mean that we do not have to consider whether or not it would be in the public interest for you to have the information.

[KILO: please refer to the following links for further guidance on Section 21: Working Assumptions:

MoJ Section 21 guidance:

ICO guidance:

You can find out more about Section 21 by reading the extract from the Act and some guidance points we consider when applying this exemption, attached at the end of this letter.

You can also find more information by reading the full text of the Act, available at and further guidance

ADVICE & ASSISTANCE: ADVISE WHERE THE INFORMATION CAN BE LOCATED.

However, I am pleased to inform you that you can gain access to the information by [INSERT where the applicant can access the information – e.g. going to the following address:

[n.b. you can consider attaching the information to the response if it is easy to do so].

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.

Yours sincerely

INSERT NAME

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 to the Data Access and Compliance Unit within two months of the data of this letter, at the

following address:

Data Access and Compliance Unit (10.33),

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:

Case Study 2

Request:

The MoJ has received a request for:

Details of the number of complaints lodged against a specific member of staff at HMCTS, and

Which of these complaints were upheld, and what action was taken as a result.

Background:

The requester is a member of the public, who has had previous dealings with HMCS

The HMCS has received five complaints against this member of staff in the past two years (none from the requester), and none of these complaints were upheld.

If you think it should not be disclosed, what are the treasons for this? Would you confirm that you held the information, or would you neither confirm nor deny?

Please consider:

Do we hold the information?

What, if any, exemptions apply?

Are there any other considerations?

/ Name
Job Title
Business Area
Address
T[insert number]
F[insert number]
E[insert address]

Applicant’s name
Postal or email address
Our Reference: [insert reference] / Date

Case Study 2 – Example Response

Freedom of Information Request

DearMr Bloggs,

Thank you for your letter of 27th February 2012, in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

‘Details of the number of complaints lodged against mr Smith of HMCTS, and

Which of these complaints were upheld, and what action was taken as a result.’

Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

I can neither confirm nor deny that the department holds the information that you have asked for. In addition, if the department did hold the information in this case we will not be providing it to you as it is exempt from disclosure.

[KILO: Please provide some context on the information you are disclosing – if applicable]

You can also find more information by reading the full text of the Act (available at and further guidance

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.

Yours sincerely

INSERT NAME

How to Appeal

Internal Review

If you would like to request a review, please write or send an email to the Data Access and Compliance Unit within two months of the data of this letter, at the

following address:

Data Access and Compliance Unit (10.33),

Information & Communications Directorate,

Ministry of Justice,

102 Petty France,

London

SW1H 9AJ

E-mail:

Information Commissioner’s Office

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:

Case Study 3

Request

The MoJ has received a request for:

The details of the locations of CCTV cameras as HMP Manchester and;
Details of which of those cameras are functional, and which are ‘dummy’ cameras.

Background:

The requester is a journalist, so this is a ‘hot topic’ case. Private Office and Press Office have already been alerted to this request.

The Governor at HMP Manchester has raised concerns that any information released could compromise security within the prison.

In your group, consider:

Do we hold this information?

What, if any, exemptions apply?

What would be the Public Interest Arguments for release?

What would be the Public Interest Arguments against release?

/ Name
Job Title
Business Area
Address
T[insert number]
F[insert number]
E[insert address]

Applicant’s name
Postal or email address
Our Reference:[insert reference] / Date

Case Study 3 – Example Response

Freedom of Information Request

Dear Name,

[THIS IS THE TEMPLATE FOR SECTION 31- QUALIFIED EXEMPTION]Thank you for your letter/fax/email of insert date, in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

“Insert complete request here”

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, but in this case we will not be providing it to you as it is exempt from disclosure.

[KILO: IF YOU ARE RELEASING SOME INFORMATION PLEASE AMEND THE PARAGRAPH ABOVE AS APPROPRIATE]

We are not obliged to provide information if its release would prejudice law enforcement. In this case, we believe that releasing the information would be likely to prejudice the INSERT LIMB i.e. administration of justice (section 31(1)(INSERT SUB SECTION) of the Act).

In line with the terms of this exemption in the Freedom of Information Act, we have also considered whether it would be in the public interest for us to provide you with the information, despite the exemption being applicable. In this case, we have concluded that the public interest favours withholding the information.

[KILO: please refer to the following links for further guidance on Section 31: Working Assumptions:

MoJ Section 31 guidance:

ICO guidance:

You can find out more about Section 31 by reading the extract from the Act and some guidance points we consider when applying this exemption, attached at the end of this letter.

You can also find more information by reading the full text of the Act, available at and further guidance

When assessing whether or not it was in the public interest to disclose the information to you, we took into account the following factors:

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

Please detail arguments here in bullet format.

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information

As above

We reached the view that, on balance, the public interest is better served by withholding this information under Section 31[include sub section – if applicable] of the Act at this time.

[KILO: IF YOU ARE PARTIALLY RELEASING INFORMATION – PLEASE REFER TO THIS HERE]

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.

Yours sincerely

INSERT NAME

How to Appeal

Internal Review

If you would like to request a review, please write or send an email to the Data Access and Compliance Unit within two months of the data of this letter, at the

following address:

Data Access and Compliance Unit (10.33),

Information & Communications Directorate,

Ministry of Justice,

102 Petty France,

London

SW1H 9AJ

E-mail:

Information Commissioner’s Office

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:

Case Study 4

Request:

The MoJ has received a request for:

A copy of the Government’s response to the Consultation Paper ‘’Voting Right for Convicted Prisoners Detained within the United Kingdom’’ and;
The number of responses received to the Consultation

Background

The requester is a prisoner, currently detained in HMP Dartmoor

The MoJ has received a number of responses with supporting information and is in the process of finalising the Government’s response to the Consultation.

It is estimated that the response to the Consultation will be approved by early March of next year, and will be published on the MoJ web site in late March of the same year.

Additionally, would you disclose the number of responses received to the Consultation?

In your group please consider

Do we hold the information?

What, if any exemptions apply?

Are there any Public Interest test arguments to consider? If so, what would they be?

/ Name
Job Title
Business Area
Address
T[insert number]
F[insert number]
E[insert address]

Applicant’s name
Postal or email address
Our Reference:[insert reference] / Date

Case Study 4 – Example Response

Freedom of Information Request

Dear Name,

[THIS IS THE TEMPLATE FOR SECTION 22- QUALIFIED EXEMPTION]Thank you for your letter/fax/email of insert date, in which you asked for the following information from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

“Insert complete request here”

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, but in this case we will not be providing it to you as it is exempt from disclosure.

[KILO: IF YOU ARE RELEASING SOME INFORMATION PLEASE AMEND THE PARAGRAPH ABOVE AS APPROPRIATE]

We are not obliged to provide information that is intended for future publication (section 22(INSERT SUB SECTION – if applicable) of the Act).

In line with the terms of this exemption in the Freedom of Information Act, we have also considered whether it would be in the public interest for us to provide you with the information ahead of publication, despite the exemption being applicable. In this case, we have concluded that the public interest favours withholding the information.

[KILO: please refer to the following links for further guidance on Section 22: Working Assumptions:

MoJ Section 22 guidance: