 |
 |
Hi I suggest that if Bert or Jane wanted to do this, or to offer an abridged account, that you would also run it by me before posting to the list (as I am apparently responsible in being the 'publisher') Cheers :o) Mark (list owner) -----Original Message----- From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Allan Sutherland Sent: 10 October 2009 15:51 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Its's official GEO does not want Disabled Peoples' Movement and allies to access Sir Bert's and Lady Campbell's resignation letters... What are they hiding? I suggest that you approach Sir Bert and Lady Campbell and ask them to make copies of their letters available for publication on this list. Best wishes Allan Sutherland ----- Original Message ----- From: "Colin REvell" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2009 12:54 PM Subject: Its's official GEO does not want Disabled Peoples' Movement and allies to access Sir Bert's and Lady Campbell's resignation letters... What are they hiding? Government Equalities Office Corporate Services 9/F8 Eland House Bressenden Place London SW1E 5DU T 020 7944 0843 E [log in to unmask] www.equalities.gov.uk 8 October 2009 Our Ref: GEO/09/FOI/000049 Your Ref: Dear Mr Revell, I am writing in response to your request for an internal review of the GEO's refusal to disclose information you requested on 7 August 2009 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I apologise for being a day late in responding. You requested copies of the resignation letters of Sir Bert Massie and Baroness Jane Campbell as Commissioners of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. You then requested a review of the decision on the grounds that it was out of order, and that Sir Bert's letter had already been obtained by Channel 4 News. I have been asked to undertake the internal review as a senior official in the GEO unconnected with the original decision. In the light of the grounds of your request, I have considered (a) whether the original decision was reasonable and (b) whether the fact that one of the resignation letters may have been available to Channel 4 News, or indeed to other media sources, changes the situation and hence the disclosure decision. On the first question, refusal to disclose the letters was justified by reference to Section 36 of the FoI Act as releasing them would adversely affect the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. Moreover, the public interest in withholding the information was considered to outweigh the public interest in releasing it, because Ministers rely on open and honest discussions with Commissioners. I have considered these arguments, which I believe are legitimate. Ministers are responsible for the oversight of the Commission and need to be able to have free and frank discussions with all Commissioners so that for instance development of policy, running of the Commission and particular performance issues can be discussed within a non-public space. If these were to be subject to disclosure, information would be liable to be passed on in a much more guarded way which might result in failure to consider Commissioners' views properly and take action on them accordingly. On the second question, I am unclear whether Channel 4 News did indeed obtain a copy of Sir Bert's letter, but I am aware that at least one other organisation - Disability Now - claimed to have seen the letter, and a number of other media sources also quoted from it. As far as I am aware however, this was not as a result of authorised disclosure by Sir Bert, but resulted from leaks. The fact that leaks of such correspondence may occur does not affect the need for open and honest discussion between Ministers and Commissioners, and to disclose correspondence with the Commissioners - including letters which the relevant Commissioners might not wish to become public - simply because they had already leaked into the public domain would just have the effect of appearing to reward and justify unauthorised disclosure. For these reasons therefore, I agree with the original decision to withhold disclosure of the letters. As before of course, it remains the prerogative of the authors of the correspondence to release their letters directly, should they wish to do so. If you are not content with the outcome of this internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. You can contact The Information Commissioner at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF Yours sincerely Charles M Ramsden Deputy Director Colin Revell _________________________________________________________________ Learn how to add other email accounts to Hotmail in 3 easy steps. http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/167688463/direct/01/ ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internal Virus Database is out of date. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.106 / Virus Database: 270.13.71/2335 - Release Date: 30/08/2009 06:36 ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page. ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.