Lucy Spence HM Courts & Tribunals Service London Regional Support Unit 102 Petty France Post Point 9.02 9th Floor London SW1H 9AJ DX 152380 Westminster 8 T 0203334 2915 F 0870 324 0126 Matt Jackson E [email protected] [email protected] www.justice.gov.uk
26 June 2015 Our Ref: IR 97290
Dear Mr Jackson
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) – Outcome of Internal Review
Thank you for your email dated 19 April 2015, in which you asked for an internal review into the way the department handled your request for information under reference: FOI/96584:
I write to request under section 1 Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information relating to national security proceedings in the Employment Tribunal. Specifically I would like to request:
1) The number of directions given by a Minister of the Crown under rules 8, 54 and/or 94 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2001, 2004 and 2013 (respectively) in each year for which records were kept since 18th April 2001. 2) In each year for which records were kept since 18th April 2001 where a direction referred to in (1) above was made, the number of claims where: (i) a Claimant was successful in at least one claim against a Respondent; (ii) and a Claimant was unsuccessful in all claims presented.
For the avoidance of doubt, I do not wish any information to be provided about the subject matter of any of the cases or why any particular direction was made by a Minister of the Crown.
The purpose of an Internal Review is to assess how your Freedom of Information 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.
I have reassessed your case and after careful consideration I have concluded that the initial response that was sent to you was not compliant with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (the Act). An explanation of my decision follows.
The original response was provided to you on 17 February 2015 which was within the Act statutory time limit and confirmed that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) does not hold the information requested. Having carried out a further investigation I have concluded that paper files are kept for a period of 12 months, therefore some information about the claims could have been disclosed to you. It is my view that you should have been provided with a copy of the Record Retention Policy, which I have included below.
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The staff at the Employment Tribunal Office conducted a search of their paper files on 28 May 2015 and confirmed that in the last 12 months there were two cases in which the claimant was unsuccessful and one case where the claimant was successful in cases where a direction under 8.54 and/or 94 of the Employment Tribunals Rules was given.
I believe the response you previously received was incorrect and I have overturned the original decision. Please accept my apologies, and please find enclosed the information that you requested
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
Miss L Spence Operational Support Officer/KILO London Regional Support Unit How to Appeal
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: https://www.ico.org.uk/Global/contact_us