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Staff Awards Sponsorship
Source: WhatDoTheyKnow
Authority: Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Status: We're waiting for
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
to read recent responses and update the status.
Imported path: /opt/loancharge/imports/wdtk/requests/staff_awards_sponsorship_2
Open original request on WhatDoTheyKnow
Imported text
SOURCE: WhatDoTheyKnow
SOURCE_URL: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2
TITLE: Staff Awards Sponsorship
AUTHORITY: Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
AUTHORITY_URL: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/body/countess_of_chester_hospital_nhs_foundation_trust
STATUS: We're waiting for
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
to read recent responses and update the status.
REQUEST_SLUG: staff_awards_sponsorship_2
CAPTURED_AT: 2026-05-19T07:08:29+00:00
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ATTACHMENTS:
- FOI_4536.1.pdf | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2/response/1246777/attach/2/FOI%204536.1.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1 | application/pdf | 244203 bytes
- [not downloaded] | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2/response/1246777/attach/html/2/FOI%204536.1.pdf.html | | 0 bytes
- FOI_4536.pdf | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2/response/1246777/attach/3/FOI%204536.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1 | application/pdf | 82858 bytes
- [not downloaded] | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2/response/1246777/attach/html/3/FOI%204536.pdf.html | | 0 bytes
- FOI_4536.docx | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2/response/1430210/attach/2/FOI%204536.docx?cookie_passthrough=1 | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document | 192061 bytes
- [not downloaded] | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2/response/1430210/attach/html/2/FOI%204536.docx.html | | 0 bytes
- FOI_4536_final.pdf | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2/response/1452706/attach/2/FOI%204536%20final.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1 | application/pdf | 162229 bytes
- [not downloaded] | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/staff_awards_sponsorship_2/response/1452706/attach/html/2/FOI%204536%20final.pdf.html | | 0 bytes
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MESSAGE 1 [outgoing]
HEADER: Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
8 September 2018
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust,
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would be interested in any information held by your organisation regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify particular files or documents and it is the departments responsibility to provide the information I require. If you need further clarification please contact me via this website (or email). I would like to request the following information:
I am interested in the sponsorship of your Staff Awards, this year (23rd November 2018) and the preceding one:
1) Please disclose a full list of the sponsors of your Staff Awards and amount of sponsorship received both this year and last year.
2) If available please provide the breakdown in sponsorship per category of award (organisation and amount donated for each category) or prize with monetary value (for each year).
3) Please disclose a copy of the invitation to the Staff Awards for each of the last two years (emails and flyer if available).
4) Please disclose which external organisations had representatives present last year, and that it is known (or intended as of time of writing) will have representatives this year - company name and job title/grade if known please.
5) Please confirm who was eligible to attend last year, and will be eligible to attend this year.
6) If held please disclose attendance numbers last year.
7) Was there a fee to attend, if so how much was this? Were only prize winners and family permitted to attend?
8) Was there an open bar, if so who paid for this? Else was there any discount at the bar due to sponsorship and if so from whom.
9) Please disclose copies of any photographs you hold from the event last year.
I would like the information to be provided by email or on this website in electronic form. If my request is denied in whole or in part I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request. I look forward to your response within 20 working days as outlined by the statute. Many thanks for your assistance with this request.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
================================================================================
MESSAGE 2 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
11 September 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Freedom of information only applies to corporate information; this e-mail confirms receipt of your request for this type of information only.
Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act we will expect to respond to this request in 20 working days. However we are now investigating the nature of the search and the quantity of information requested. If there is a cost involved in collecting the information then we will suspend the period for response until such time as we receive your payment. We will advise you of any such costs.
In accordance with section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 where multiple requests for information are received from one person or by different persons who appear to be acting in together in a single campaign the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them. To this effect your requests for information will be dealt with under the single reference number above.
There are also a number of exemptions which the Act permits with respect to releasing information. The information will be assessed for these exemptions prior to us releasing the information to you. We will advise you if we are unable to provide the information requested.
Please note that a significant amount of information is also available via our Publication Scheme which can be accessed via the Trust’s website
www.coch.nhs.uk
and one of its benefits is that it makes information easily accessible and without charge.
Freedom of Information Officer
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
[
email address
]
show quoted sections
================================================================================
MESSAGE 3 [outgoing]
HEADER: Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
2 October 2018
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
I note this section in your acknowledgement:
"In accordance with section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 where multiple requests for information are received from one person or by different persons who appear to be acting in together in a single campaign the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them. To this effect your requests for information will be dealt with under the single reference number above."
I would request that you process my FOIs separately, however if not I would direct that you please contact me before the deadline asking for a refinement to be made to permit you to comply. You have a statutory duty to help me adjust my request should section 12 be truly engaged and you should not lump unconnected requests together to create a pretence of engagement of this section.
Also, I assume you are only referring to my other request? I say this as I note this section:
"or by different persons who appear to be acting in together in a single campaign the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them."
The second criterion would appear not to apply to my requests at first glance, but I note there is a typo (here 'or by different persons who appear to be acting IN [TYPO] TOGETHER IN a single campaign' ) which suggests this phrase may be bespoke rather than generic - I cannot see this reproduced elsewhere on previous FOIs (but I'll look more carefully). I am hopeful I am reading too much into a simple typo here and, if this is reproduced in other FOIs as part of standard wording you may wish to fix it.
To be clear:
I am making this request on my own and will not have my access rights unjustifiably restricted/curtailed by any attempt to falsely conflate or aggregate my request with any other FOI(s) you may be receiving from other parties - whether or not they are also interested in similar issues. I would view such an assertion as simply a way for the trust attempting to avoid discharging its statutory duties.
For your information, I have heard from a number of locums at your trust directly - many of whom would be fearful of speaking out directly as lack of job security/mutuality of obligations means they could be dismissed immediately on a whim - and I am reading all other related public information disclosed on
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com in
response to FOIs. Where I wish to corroborate this first hand information, or learn more regarding information I find published on www.whatdotheyknow.com I will naturally place further FOIs, if necessary. Obviously I will seek to avoid this, if possible.
I am concerned that the apparently bespoke section of this acknowledgement may be a prelude to attempting to conflate my requests with those of some other requestor or requestors in an attempt to avoid disclosing information not covered by exemptions which ought to be disclosed.
To reduce the number of requests I need to send you it is my intention to continue reading all FOIs placed to your trust through both www.whatdotheyknow.comand your website in an attempt to avoid duplicating the trusts workload, this may mean from time to time that I place a follow up request where I feel more information would be useful about a subject matter of interest in responses provided by the trust.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
================================================================================
MESSAGE 4 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
2 October 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
The Trust acknowledge receipt of your email and will respond in due course.
Freedom of Information Officer,
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
show quoted sections
================================================================================
MESSAGE 5 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
4 October 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
The Trust are working to collate the information requested and expect to respond by close of business 12th October 2018.
Kind regards,
Freedom of Information Officer
Countless of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
show quoted sections
================================================================================
MESSAGE 6 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
9 October 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Attachments
FOI 4536.1.pdf
238K
View
Download
FOI 4536.pdf
80K
View
Download
Hello,
Please find attached the response to your Freedom of Information request.
Kind regards,
Freedom of Information Officer
Countess of Chester Hospital
[
email address
]
show quoted sections
================================================================================
MESSAGE 7 [outgoing]
HEADER: Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
9 October 2018
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust's handling of my FOI request 'Staff Awards Sponsorship'.
Thank you for your response could I please ask you to clarify the answers highlighted below:
Re this question, many thanks for your response which you have interpreted in a slightly different manner from that which was intended:
"1) Please disclose a full list of the sponsors of your Staff Awards and amount of sponsorship received both this year and last year."
Thank you for the list and total, could you please provide the *per organisation* breakdown of the amount of sponsorship received.
Your answer to this question:
"If available please provide the breakdown in sponsorship per category of award (organisation and amount donated for each category) or prize with monetary value (for each year)"
Appears to be potentially wilfully obstructive in the context of a freedom of information act request. You are a specified public body as set out in schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and thus are subject to the act. Answering such questions is a statutory duty and you cannot elect not to answer then direct people to other bodies where you do not wish to answer - especially ones not subject to the FOIA themselves.
Where the cost limit does not apply, the act places you under a LEGAL DUTY to:
1) Confirm/Deny if the information is held (with very few highly specific exceptions)
2) Disclose the information unless subject to an exemption
3) Correctly cite any exemptions and, where qualified, fully disclose the reasoning behind the exemption.
In this response:
"If you require this information then this should be requested directly from the relevant organisation."
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are the relevant organisation, and it is in receipt of a freedom of information act 2000 request for this information. I would very much appreciate if you could please comply with your statutory duty to respond promptly to this request. Ignoring questions you do not wish to answer is unacceptable and would potentially leave you in breach of the Freedom of Information Act.
With respect to the following question:
"Please disclose which external organisations had representatives present last year, and that it is known (or intended as of time of writing) will have representatives this year - company name and job title/grade if known please."
Thank you for the numbers of representatives I would point you out that the company name and job title/grade has been asked for.
With respect to this part of the question on attendance:
"other relevant Trust Staff"
Could you clarify precisely which groups of staff and stakeholders please. Specifically does this mean the trust board/management?
"No open/discounted bar. No alcohol paid for by the trust"
£11.5k is rather a large sum of sponsorship, and I do note that your answer does not cover one specific possibility, which I would appreciate if you could please clarify. You have stated- No alcohol was paid for *by the trust*, was alcohol paid for with the sponsorship/by the sponsors?
Could you also address the highlighted procedural problems either by (preferably) disclosing information or correctly citing exemptions in accordance with the Act:
Re: 'Please disclose copies of any photographs you hold from the event last year.'
1. Being taken by an external party or not is *completely irrelevant* - if the trust holds the information then who took them would not prevent disclosure. It is also very likely that the trust actually engaged the photographer in which case the photos would legally be the trusts property anyway and this appears to be a simple pretext to avoid disclosure.
2. It is not necessary to gain permission to circulate photographs taken at such an event.
3. This same FOI has been placed at several other NHS trusts who received sponsorship at their staff awards all of whom have disclosed this.
Overall comment:
I note that, despite multiple parts of the request have been avoided, or ignored, without any attempt to justify this under the Freedom of Information Act/cite exemptions to explain such omissions. Whilst I am grateful for the information received, I cannot help but feel that there may be a general attempt to evade disclosure of how much each organisation paid with regard to prizes, which staff groups may have benefitted from it most, what £11.5k of sponsorship was sent on, and the job titles of those in attendance. I am hopeful this was simply a rushed job and you will now provide all the information sought and justify any redactions.
I would kindly ask that you please provide the clarifications sought and conduct an internal review. No information should be withheld without citing the exemptions.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
================================================================================
MESSAGE 9 [outgoing]
HEADER: Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
16 November 2018
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Please pass this on to the individual who conducts Freedom of Information Act reviews.
I am writing to highlight that you are in breach of your statutory obligations the Freedom of Information Act 2000 due to failure to respond promptly to the internal review request of 9th October 2018.
This should have occurred within 20 working days as outlined in the statutory timeframe and the Information Commissioner expects a response in all instances by 40 days - although such cases should be exceptional.
38 working days have now elapsed since the request was placed and thus your response is expected, at the latest, by Tuesday next week. We will hold off on referring the Trust for breach of the freedom of information act to the ICO until this date.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
================================================================================
MESSAGE 10 [outgoing]
HEADER: Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
16 November 2018
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
My apologies for the miscalculation I forgot to deduct weekend days. In any case it is now over 20 days and the internal review is response is expected.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
================================================================================
MESSAGE 11 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
5 December 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Freedom of Information request is currently under a Trust internal review and you will receive a response in due course.
Kind Regards,
Freedom of Information Officer
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
show quoted sections
================================================================================
MESSAGE 12 [outgoing]
HEADER: Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
18 August 2019
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
NOTE - RESPONSE REQUIRED BY FRIDAY AND ADDITIONAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST AT THE END OF THIS EMAIL
Whilst I am hopeful that this could be an (albeit inexcusable) simple oversight and that you will rectify the situation as a matter of urgency, this request is now outrageously overdue. This is a gross failure to honor your statutory duties under the Act.
Trusting that this is a simple oversight, I will give you until this Friday to comply before I escalate this matter to the Information Commissioner's Office and inform the Loan Charge All Party Parliamentary Group of my concerns relating to what may potentially be unlawful concealment. I would remind the trust that it is under a statutory duty to reply promptly and ICO guidance and information tribunal case law suggest that a response should have occurred by now in all instances (indeed it should have occurred long ago). I would also point to the trust's failure to request extra time.
If I am forced to escalate this matter to the ICO, which I note others have needed to do before at this trust, I will request that formal decision notices are issued against the trust in respect of its multiple breaches of its statutory duties and that appropriate sanctions to alter what appears to be a repeated pattern of behavior by the trust are put in place.
==============Further Freedom of Information Act Request================
I am interested in exploring further what has happened in relation to the answering of my original FOI request above and therefore, as a further Freedom of Information Act 2000 Request I hereby request:
1. All notes, emails, and both internal and external discussion/other information in a recorded format relating to the answering of the original FOI including subsequent internal review.
2. Specifically all communications with sponsors and their replies are to be considered within scope, and equally all discussions between the Information Governance team and board members, and any other internal departments or external sources relating to the request.
3. The subject, to, from, and date and time fields of all communications are to be considered within the scope of the request as are all attachments to any emails, and as are all email discussions and forwarded emails contained below any email identified.
4. The domain name (the bit that follows the @) can never be personal identifying information as only the username (the part before the @) identifies an individual, and thus must be disclosed in all instances. In respect of senior officials the full name should be disclosed. Job titles should be disclosed in all instances.
All qualified exemptions are to be justified in full with reference to the public interest, and where relevant prejudice tests, where actionable breach of contract is alleged then the date, time, and if relevant subject and email addresses should be disclosed along with the signed and dated non-disclosure agreement it is alleged would form a basis for this. In the unlikely event that clarification is required I would ask that you kindly contact within the statutory 48 hour time-frame.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this email and to respond to my original internal review (a response which as been awaited since December 2018) and for your prompt response within the 20 day time frame to the above follow on request.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
================================================================================
MESSAGE 13 [outgoing]
HEADER: Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
18 August 2019
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Errata - delete statutory before 48 timeframe - it is ICO guidance as best I am aware.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH
================================================================================
MESSAGE 14 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
23 August 2019
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good Afternoon,
The Trust can confirm reciept of your email and will be in contact in due course.
Freedom of Information Officer
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
[
email address
]
show quoted sections
================================================================================
MESSAGE 15 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
12 September 2019
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Attachment
FOI 4536.docx
187K
View
Download
Dear Dr Colin Iain Campbell MBChB FRSPH,
The Trust is conducting an internal review to your Freedom of Information Request. Please see attached update in reference to this.
Kind Regards,
Freedom of Information Officer
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
show quoted sections
================================================================================
MESSAGE 16 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI, Enquiries (COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
18 October 2019
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Attachment
FOI 4536 final.pdf
158K
View
Download
Hello,
Please find attached the response to your Freedom of Information request.
Kind regards,
Freedom of Information Officer
Countess of Chester Hospital
[
email address
]
show quoted sections
================================================================================
ATTACHMENT TEXT EXTRACTION / OCR
================================================================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENT: FOI_4536.1.pdf
TEXT_FILE: FOI_4536.1.pdf.txt
METHOD: pdf_native
OCR_USED: False
PAGES: 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- PDF page 1 ---
Friday 24th November 2017
The Pavilion Suite, Chester Racecourse, Chester, CH1 2LY
~
Drinks Reception between 6:00pm – 6:50pm
Ceremony begins promptly at 7:00pm
Approximate end time 10:30pm followed by live band ‘Pleural Tap’ until 1am
Dress Code
The dress code for the event is ‘Dress to Impress’!
Refreshments
There will be a welcome drink on arrival. There will be a 3 course sit down meal will be provided as part of the
evening. This is a set menu which is on the following page. You can select the vegetarian option if you prefer.
Please contact to identify if you wish to have the vegetarian option or have any other dietary requirements no later
than 17th November 2017.
There is a bar in the Pavilion Suite where you can purchase drinks. You can advance order wine for your table as
appropriate using the wine order list attached to the email and also by using the Wine Order Point on the night. We
encourage you to charge your glasses before the presentation of awards commences at approximately 8:45pm to
avoid distraction.
Cloakroom
There will be a free staffed secure cloakroom available on arrival where you can leave coats/bags. This will be open
throughout the night. You may prefer to get yourselves a drink and find your seats before putting your coat into the
cloakroom.
Raffle
There will be a raffle taking place on the night. Tickets are £1 each and all proceeds go to The Countess Charity.
Please give generously!
Entertainment
There will be a performance by the Countess Choir at the start of the Ceremony. There will be then be live music
following the Awards Ceremony from band ‘Pleural Tap’ until 1am when the bar closes, carriages for 1:30am.
See the band’s website for more information: www.pleuraltap.com/index.html
--- PDF page 2 ---
Parking
The Racecourse has its own complimentary car park called the ‘County Stand’ car park.
There is also a car park available up the road in Trinity Street, in the city centre for those who prefer. Please allow
time for travel and securing a parking space.
A 3 Course Dinner with Set Menu
Drinks Reception
Bucks Fizz or Orange Juice
Starter
Coarse pork, green peppercorn and smoked ham terrine
Apple and ginger puree, mulled wine syrup
Vegetarian Option
Roasted tomato and lentil soup
Chilli, garlic and charred leeks
Main
Roast breast of chicken, buttered fondant potato and thyme jus
creamed sprouts, roasted carrot, parsnip, red onion and chestnuts
Vegetarian Option
Lightly curry roasted butternut squash, cauliflower, spinach and Halloumi tart
Toasted coconut, pomegranate and sultana dressing
Dessert
'Black Forest' chocolate, cookie dough and meringue marquise
Dark cherry compote, white chocolate sauce
Coffee and chocolates
Map of Chester Racecourse
For capacity reasons only those people who have a confirmed place can attend, please do not invite additional
guests to attend with you as there will not be space for them to attend
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENT: FOI_4536.docx
TEXT_FILE: FOI_4536.docx.txt
METHOD: docx
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Dr Campbell,
You have made the following requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘FOIA’) to the Trust:
· An 8 September 2018 FOIA request regarding hospitality and gifts (our reference 4535);
· An 8 September 2018 FOIA request and subsequent internal review request regarding our staff awards (our reference 4536); and
· An 18 August 2019 FOIA request regarding the handling of your request regarding our staff awards (our reference 4536).
I am writing to update you on each of these.
8 September 2018 FOIA request and subsequent Internal Review request regarding our staff awards (our reference 4536)
Your request for internal review is now being considered by the Trust. We are undertaking a thorough re-examination of the original response and handling of the request. We will need some additional time to complete this, including collating relevant information and consider any relevant exemptions. We hope to revert to you with the outcome of this shortly.
8 September 2018 FOIA request regarding hospitality and gifts (our reference 4535)
We cannot see that you were provided with a response to this request. Please confirm if you are still seeking a response to this request.
18 August 2019 FOIA request regarding the handling of your request regarding our staff awards our reference 4536
On 18 August 2019 you requested the following information from the trust under the FOIA:
All notes, emails, and both internal and external discussion/other information in a recorded format relating to the answering of the original FOI including subsequent internal review.
Specifically all communications with sponsors and their replies are to be considered within scope, and equally all discussions between the Information Governance team and board members, and any other internal departments or external sources relating to the request.
The subject, to, from, and date and time fields of all communications are to be considered within the scope of the request as are all attachments to any emails, and as are all email discussions and forwarded emails contained below any email identified.
The domain name (the bit that follows the @) can never be personal identifying information as only the username (the part before the @) identifies an individual, and thus must be disclosed in all instances. In respect of senior officials the full name should be disclosed. Job titles should be disclosed in all instances.
We can confirm that we hold records of the type described in your request.
Under s.12 of the FOIA the trust is not obliged to respond to a request if the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 set out in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 based on a flat hourly rate of £25 an hour for all Trust staff and external consultants. The Trust has decided not to respond to your request on this basis.
Please consider this email as a written refusal notice under s.17(5) of the FOIA. This notice is in relation to your 18 August 2019 FOIA request only.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
Information Commissioner's Office
Customer Contact
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENT: FOI_4536.pdf
TEXT_FILE: FOI_4536.pdf.txt
METHOD: pdf_native
OCR_USED: False
PAGES: 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- PDF page 1 ---
2017
2018
Comments
1) Please disclose a
full list of the
sponsors of your
Staff Awards and
amount of
sponsorship received
both this year and
last year.
Teletracking
Brookson Direct
Copeland
University of Chester
Royal College of Nursing
Allocate
Bevan Brittan
Total - £11,900
There is currently
no event
scheduled for
2018
If available please
provide the
breakdown in
sponsorship per
category of award
(organisation and
amount donated for
each category) or
prize with monetary
value (for each year).
If you require this information then this should be requested
directly from the relevant organisation.
Please disclose a
copy of the invitation
to the Staff Awards
for each of the last
two years (emails
and flyer if available).
Flyer Attached to email
Please disclose which
external
organisations had
representatives
present last year, and
that it is known (or
intended as of time
of writing) will have
representatives this
year - company name
and job title/grade if
known please.
Teletracking – Three
representatives)
Brookson Direct – Three
representatives
University of Chester – Associate Dean,
Director of Pre-Reg Nursing
Royal College of Nursing – Staff side
representative
Allocate – Two
representatives
Bevan Brittan – One representative
Please confirm who
was eligible to attend
last year, and will be
eligible to attend this
year
Staff nominated and selected as finalists
and workplace guest, other relevant Trust
Staff and stakeholders e.g. Patient
Governors
If held please
disclose attendance
numbers last year.
318 confirmed places
Was there a fee to
attend, if so how
much was this? Were
No fee to attend the event
Staff nominated and selected as finalists
and workplace guest, other relevant Trust
--- PDF page 2 ---
only prize winners
and family permitted
to attend?
Staff and stakeholders e.g. Patient
Governors
Was there an open
bar, if so who paid
for this? Else was
there any discount at
the bar due to
sponsorship and if so
from whom
No open or discounted bar
No alcohol paid for by the Trust
Please disclose
copies of any
photographs you
hold from the event
last year.
Photographs taken externally and
permission to circulate outside the
organisation not given by staff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENT: FOI_4536_final.pdf
TEXT_FILE: FOI_4536_final.pdf.txt
METHOD: pdf_native
OCR_USED: False
PAGES: 4
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--- PDF page 1 ---
Our ref: 4536
Dear Dr Campbell,
RE: Freedom of Information Request 4536
I write following your 9 October 2019 request for an internal review of our response to your 8 September 2018
request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘FOIA’) regarding our staff awards. Due to the volume of
information requested and the number of points you raised in your internal review response I enclose a table setting
out in each column:
•
The text of your initial FOIA request dated 8 September 2018;
•
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s (the ‘Trust’s’) initial response to your 8 September
2018 FOIA request;
•
The text of your 9 October 2019 request for an internal review; and
•
The Trust’s response to your internal review either providing further information or giving an explanation of
why further information has not been provided.
Please note that all details provided relate to the trust’s 2017 staff awards.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the
Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire
SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer,
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The Countess of Chester Health Park
Liverpool Road
Chester
CH2 1UL
foi.enquiries@nhs.net
--- PDF page 2 ---
Initial request
Trust’s initial
response
Internal review request
Trust’s internal review response
1) Please
disclose a
full list of the
sponsors of your
Staff Awards and
amount of
sponsorship
received
both this year and
last year.
Teletracking
Brookson Direct
Copeland
University of
Chester
Royal College of
Nursing
Allocate
Bevan Brittan
Total - £11,900
There is currently
no event
scheduled for
2018
Thank you for the list and total, could
you please provide the *per
organisation* breakdown of the amount
of sponsorship received.
Your answer to this question appears to
be potentially wilfully obstructive in the
context of a freedom of information act
request. You are a specified public
body as set out in schedule 1 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
thus are subject to the act. Answering
such questions is a statutory duty and
you cannot elect not to answer then
direct people to other bodies where you
do not wish to answer - especially ones
not subject to the FOIA themselves.
Where the cost limit does not apply, the
act places you under a LEGAL DUTY
to:
1) Confirm/Deny if the information is
held (with very few highly specific
exceptions)
2) Disclose the information unless
subject to an exemption
3) Correctly cite any exemptions and,
where qualified, fully disclose the
reasoning behind the exemption.
Teletracking £4,000
Brookson Direct £3,000
Copeland £1,000
University of Chester £500
Royal College of Nursing £400
Allocate £2,500
Bevan Brittan £500
Total - £11,900
If available please
provide the
breakdown in
sponsorship per
category of award
(organisation and
amount donated
for
each category) or
prize with
monetary
value (for each
year).
If you require this
information then this
should be requested
directly
from
the
relevant
organisation.
Please disclose a
copy of the
invitation
to the Staff
Awards
for each of the
last
two years (emails
and flyer if
available).
Flyer Attached to
email
Flyer Attached to email
Please disclose
which
external
organisations had
representatives
present last year,
and
that it is known
(or
intended as of
time
of writing) will
have
representatives
this
year - company
Teletracking –
Three
representatives)
Brookson Direct –
Three
representatives
University of
Chester – Associate
Dean,
Director of Pre-Reg
Nursing
Royal College of
Nursing – Staff side
representative
Allocate – Two
representatives
Thank you for the numbers of
representatives I would point you out
that the company name and job
title/grade has been asked for.
Teletracking – Three
representatives various roles not all known
Brookson Direct – Three
representatives Managing Director, Senior
Account Manager, Client Services Director
Copeland – Managing Director, other role
not given
University of Chester – Associate Dean,
Director of Pre-Reg Nursing
Royal College of Nursing – Staff side
representative
--- PDF page 3 ---
name
and job title/grade
if
known please.
Bevan Brittan – One
representative
Allocate – Marketing Director, Director of
Customer Success
Bevan Brittan – Associate
Please confirm
who
was eligible to
attend last year,
and will be
eligible to attend
this year
Staff nominated and
selected as finalists
and workplace
guest, other
relevant Trust
Staff and
stakeholders e.g.
Patient
Governors
Could you clarify precisely which
groups of staff and stakeholders
please. Specifically does this mean the
trust board/management?
The following groups of staff were invited:
•
Staff nominated and selected as
finalists who were each allowed to
bring one guest;
•
The board of directors;
•
Governors; and
•
Representatives from the sponsor
organisations detailed in the above
response.
If held please
disclose
attendance
numbers last
year.
318 confirmed
places
318 confirmed places
Was there a fee
to
attend, if so how
much was this?
Were only prize
winners
and family
permitted
to attend?
No fee to attend the
event
Staff nominated and
selected as finalists
and workplace
guest, other
relevant Trust Staff
and stakeholders
e.g. Patient
Governors
Could you clarify precisely which
groups of staff and stakeholders
please. Specifically does this mean the
trust board/management?
There was no fee to attend the event. The
event was attended by the following
categories of staff and stakeholders:
•
Staff nominated and selected as
finalists who were each allowed to
bring one guest;
•
The board of directors;
•
Governors; and
•
Representatives from sponsor
organisations detailed in the above
response.
Was there an
open
bar, if so who
paid
for this? Else was
there any
discount at the
bar due to
sponsorship and
if so from whom
No
open
or
discounted bar
No alcohol paid for
by the Trust
£11.5k is rather a large sum of
sponsorship, and I do note that your
answer does not cover one specific
possibility, which I would appreciate if
you could please clarify. You have
stated- No alcohol was paid for *by the
trust*, was alcohol paid for with the
sponsorship/by the sponsors?
There was no open or discounted bar
provided at the event funded by the trust or
by the event’s sponsors.
However, as is clear from the invitation sent
to you, a welcome drink was provided at the
event.
Please disclose
copies of any
photographs you
hold from the
event
last year.
Photographs taken
externally
and
permission
to
circulate outside the
organisation
not
given by staff.
1. Being taken by an external party or
not is *completely irrelevant* - if the
trust holds the information then who
took them would not prevent disclosure.
It is also very likely that the trust
actually engaged the photographer in
which case the photos would legally be
the trusts property anyway and this
appears to be a simple pretext to avoid
disclosure.
2. It is not necessary to gain permission
to circulate photographs taken at such
an event.
3. This same FOI has been placed at
several other NHS trusts who received
sponsorship at their staff awards all of
whom have disclosed this.
In relation to photographs taken by guests
on their own private devices i.e. by
members of staff attending the event
permission to circulate outside the
organisation was not given and these
photos are not “held” by the trust in
accordance with s.1 of the FOIA.
Photographs taken on behalf of the trust are
publically available on the trust’s Facebook
s and were included in the Spring 2017
edition of the trust’s newsletter ‘Countess
Matters’. The trust therefore considers this
information to already be reasonably
accessible under s.21 of the Freedom Of
Information Act 2000.