The tight Italian defence formation at the DWP
The recent post about Sloggers finding private job-fillers less than helpful (but more than willing to scam the DWP) has precipitated a steady stream of email information coming to jawslog@gmail.com.
Below is a Freedom of Information (FOI) response from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on this very subject:
’06 February 2012
Annex A
Dear S ——,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request which we received on 23 January 2012. In that request, you asked:
I would be grateful if you would provide the names of all organizations who have provided work boost placements, work experience, or other unpaid work activity to customers of Seetec within Contract Package Area 4 (East London) within the past 12 months. In cases where a subcontractor to Seetec was involved, please note which subcontractor or subcontractors were involved with each organization.
The information you request is being withheld under Section 43 of the FOI Act which relates to the commercial interests of both the Department and those delivering services on our behalf. I
consider that the exemption applies because it is intended to protect the ability of the Department to obtain goods or services on the best possible commercial terms and to protect the legitimate commercial interests of our suppliers. I maintain that the information you seek falls into this category.
As required by the Act in respect of the Section 43 exemption, I have also considered whether the balance of the public interest comes down in favour of not complying with your request. I consider that there is no overarching public interest argument in favour of releasing this
information for the following reasons:
The release of the information as requested could potentially damage the commercial interests of organisations providing work placements and inhibit or limit the ability of the Department to obtain the best services to help people make the transition into work.’
Only a civil servant would use that amount of words to say “No”. But of course, in classic Orwellian crypto-soviet style, the letter-base contains this classic:
Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act
If you are not happy with this response you may request an internal review by e-mailing freedom-of-information- [email address] or by writing to DWP, Central FoI Team, 5th Floor The Adelphi, 1-11, John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT. Any review request should be submitted within two months of the date of this letter.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have
exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF www.ico.gov.uk
Or put another way, ‘If you want to waste your time taking this further, we have plenty of people employed on full, inflation-proof pensions dedicated to helping you’.
In’t the FOI Act brirriant, eh?
Yesterday at The Slog: Michael Spencer joins the Bankers Defence Front
The Slog 