NFRS 2022 49 - Stonewall

You asked for:

1. Confirm whether your organisation applied to be part of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index in A) 2018 (for 2019), B) 2019 (for 2020) or C) 2021(for 2022) (NB the index was suspended in 2020/21 because of Covid)
2. Give details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall in 2018, 2019,2020 and 2021 whether or not as payment for goods or services.
3. State whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewallscheme in the future, and if so which.

   If the answer to any part of 1 is yes please supply:

4. Any application you made in 2018/19 or 2019/20 or 2021/22 to be included on Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index, including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please redact personal details if necessary.
5. Any feedback you received in 2018/19 or 2019/20 or 2021/22 from Stonewall in relation to either application or programme. This must include the priorities or objectives written by your organisation’s representative at the end of the feedback form (under the heading ‘Priorities for the year ahead’ in 2019; ‘Your priorities’ in 2020).

Our Response:

1. Confirm whether your organisation applied to be part of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index in A) 2018 (for 2019), B) 2019 (for 2020) or C) 2021 (for 2022) (NB the index was suspended in 2020/21 because of Covid)

   Answer: -

   1. Yes
   2. No Information Held, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services did not submit an application for this period.
   3. Yes
2. Give details of the total amount of money you paid to Stonewall in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 whether or not as payment for goods or services.

   Answer: - The information requested has been deemed exempt by virtue of section 21(1) Information reasonably accessible by other means, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

   21. Information accessible to applicant by other means.

   1. Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise than under section 1 is exempt information.
   2. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1)—
      1. Information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though it is accessible only on payment, and
      2. Information is to be taken to be reasonably accessible to the applicant if it is information which the public authority or any other person is obliged by or under any enactment to communicate (otherwise than by making the information available for inspection) to members of the public on request, whether free of charge or on payment.
   3. For the purposes of subsection (1), information which is held by a public authority and does not fall within subsection (2)(b) is not to be regarded as reasonably accessible to the applicant merely because the information is available from the public authority itself on request, unless the information is made available in accordance with the authority’s publication scheme and any payment required is specified in, or determined in accordance with, the scheme.

   Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is categorised as an Absolute and Class Based type exemption and therefore does not require a public interest test to be carried nor must Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service articulate the harm in disclosure.

   The information requested can be accessed at Expenditure over £250

3. State whether you intend to continue your membership of any Stonewall scheme in the future, and if so which.

   Answer: - Extract from Strategic Inclusion Board Minutes 17th December 2021.

   “Stonewall – Option 1 was agreed (to pause the Service’s membership of Stonewall and allow some flexibility of how it focuses its efforts and how assessment of its equality performance takes place).”

4. Any application you made in 2018/19 or 2019/20 or 2021/22 to be included on Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index, including any attachments or appendices to those applications. Please redact personal details if necessary.

   Answer: - Please refer to the attached documents

   Please be advised some of the information is deem exempt by virtue of the following section 36(2)(c) Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs, section 40(2) Personal Information and section 43(2) Commercial Interests of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

   36. Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs.

   (2) Information to which this section applies is exempt information if, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, disclosure of the information under this Act—

   • (c) would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.

   Section 36 is a Qualified and Prejudice based exemption and therefore requires that the public authority carry out a public interest test and is to evidence the harm in disclosure.

   40. Personal information.

   (2) Any information to which a request for information relates is also exempt information if—

   1. it constitutes personal data which does not fall within subsection (1), and
   2. the first, second or third condition below is satisfied.

   (3A) The first condition is that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act—

   1. would contravene any of the data protection principles, or
   2. would do so if the exemptions in section 24(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018 (manual unstructured data held by public authorities) were disregarded.

   (3B) The second condition is that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene Article 21 of the GDPR (general processing: right to object to processing).

   (4A) The third condition is that—

   1. on a request under Article 15(1) of the GDPR (general processing: right of access by the data subject) for access to personal data, the information would be withheld in reliance on provision made by or under section 15, 16 or 26 of, or Schedule 2, 3 or 4 to, the Data Protection Act 2018, or
   2. on a request under section 45(1)(b) of that Act (law enforcement processing: right of access by the data subject), the information would be withheld in reliance on subsection (4) of that section.

   Section 40 is an Absolute and Class based exemption and therefore does not require a public interest test to be carried out nor does the organisation need to evidence the harm in disclosure.

   43. Commercial interests.

   (2) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).

   Section 43 is a Qualified and Class based exemption and therefore requires that the public authority carry out a public interest test but is not obligated to evidence the harm in disclosure.

5. Any feedback you received in 2018/19 or 2019/20 or 2021/22 from Stonewall in relation to either application or programme. This must include the priorities or objectives written by your organisation’s representative at the end of the feedback form (under the heading ‘Priorities for the year ahead’ in 2019; ‘Your priorities’ in 2020).

   Answer: - Please refer the attached documentation located relating to feedback received for both the 2019 and 2022 applications.

36. Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs.

Overall Harm

It is recognised that there is a general public interest in the disclosure of information to ensure, for example: transparency, accountability, accessibility and proper scrutiny of a public authorities actions. Some weight must always be given to the general principle of achieving accountability and transparency through the disclosure of information held by public authorities. However, it must also be considered that any such disclosure should not run counter to a public’s vested interest in ensuring a public authority is not unduly undermined or prevented from carrying out part or all of its function. The Freedom of Information Act is purpose blind and a FOI release to any one person is treated as a release to the world at large, therefore the release of an internal email addresses would therefore risk undue interference in Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s ability to deliver key functions because there is a real risk that staff may be contacted by the public regardless of whether they have legitimate business with the department. There is real potential for the disruption of legitimate business within the NFRS specifically the release be used as a target by hackers or ‘denial of service’ attacks. Inadvertent public use of these email addresses would also mean a significantly delayed response to their queries. It would also entail disruption to the department’s ability to deliver its function as non-public facing staff would be forced to deal with public queries.

Public Interest Test

Factors in Favour of Disclosure:

There is a public interest in increased transparency and accountability of public authorities. Contributing to the public’s understanding of matters which affect people’s lives which helps improve accessibility and the confidence that the public has in the Fire and Rescue Service. The release of email addresses provide pathways for the public to engage and seek resolutions to queries and a more effective service.

Factors in Favour of Withholding:

The Freedom of Information Act is purpose blind and a FOI release to one person is treated as a release to the world at large therefore the release of an internal email addresses would therefore risk undue interference in Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s ability to deliver key functions because there is a real risk that staff may be contacted by the public regardless of whether they have legitimate business with the department. There is real potential for the disruption of legitimate business within the NFRS specifically the release be used as a target by hackers or ‘denial of service’ attacks. Inadvertent public use of these email addresses would also mean a significantly delayed response to their queries. It would also entail disruption to the department’s ability to deliver its function as non-public facing staff would be forced to deal with public queries.

Balance Test

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service considers that there is a public interest in increased transparency and accountability of public authorities. Contributing to more engagement and a more effective service. However, the public interest in disclosing that information is very slight as it would add very little in terms of accountability for public transparency. As the information relates specifically to an internal email address not designed for use by the public for to facilitate public engagement therefore, release of an internal email addresses would risk undue interference in Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s ability to deliver key functions because there is a real risk that staff may be contacted by the public regardless of whether they have legitimate business with the department. There is real potential for the disruption of legitimate business within the NFRS specifically the release be used as a target by hackers or ‘denial of service’ attacks. Inadvertent public use of these email addresses would also mean a significantly delayed response to their queries. It would also entail disruption to the department’s ability to deliver its function as non-public facing staff would be forced to deal with public queries. Therefore the balance of the public interest weighs heavily in favour of maintaining the exemption.

Overall Harm

It is recognised that there is a general public interest in the disclosure of commercial information to ensure, for example: transparency in the accountability of public funds; proper scrutiny of a public authorities actions; and the effective use of public money. However, where disclosure would make it less likely that companies or individuals would provide the department with information in the future or where disclosure would make it more difficult for individuals to be able to conduct commercial transactions, or have future dealings with public bodies, without fear of suffering commercially as a result, these are factors that may weigh in favour of non-disclosure. Those who join Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme pays a membership fee per year to Stonewall that entitles them to bespoke feedback on the university’s application form, training materials and sector exclusive resources such as newsletters and one to-one guidance from their experts concerning best practice. Disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of Stonewall as it provides these services on payment of a membership fee. Stonewall is selling a service through its membership scheme. The requested information would mean providing information without it having been paid for which could be detrimental to Stonewall’s commercial interests.

Public Interest Test

Factors in Favour of Disclosure:

There is a public interest in increased transparency and accountability of public authorities. Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has been a member of the Diversity Champions Programme during the period outlined within the request. Stonewall provides detailed feedback on their applications, noting how the employer could better meet its criteria. Participants pay a fee to join the programme.

It is well known that Stonewall has an established track record of campaigning on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and it is a well-known brand both inside and outside that community. This is to such an extent that it boasts a significant brand reputation when offering training, guidance and even accreditation. Stonewall’s track record as an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights (especially during its early years, when the rights of LGBTQ+ people were not widely recognised or respected) is its unique selling point. Therefore when organisations choose to sign up to Stonewall’s schemes, they are not only signing up to bring their policies into line with Stonewall’s targets, they are signing up to associate themselves with Stonewall’s influential brand. Associating with that brand (Diversity Champions members are permitted to use the Stonewall-associated logo on their promotional materials) may give employers an advantage when recruiting and retaining staff –particularly staff within the LGBTQ+ community.

It has been noted that the scheme has attracted controversy in 2021 when Ofcom decided to withdraw from the Diversity Champions Programme citing a “risk of perceived bias”. A number of public authorities such as Channel 4, Ofsted, the Cabinet Office and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission have also withdrawn from the Diversity Champions Programme saying that it no longer represents value for money.

Furthermore, there have been concerns raised by members of the public rightly or wrongly that Stonewall has the ability to exert undue influence on public bodies. Stonewall is a charity, it is a charity with a specific agenda to promote and whilst many may well agree with that agenda, it is not one that is universally accepted. Moreover, even those organisations which do enjoy broad support should not expect their actions to go free from scrutiny. There therefore a strong public interest in such a scheme being transparent so that it is clear how the scheme operates and what effect it is having on the organisations concerned.

Factors in Favour of Withholding:

The disclosure of certain commercially sensitive information that forms part of Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s application to Stonewall to become a Diversity Champion and the resultant feedback provided by Stonewall would, or would be likely to give other organisations an advantage in areas such as marketing and intellectual property allowing those competitors to reap the benefits of the work others have contributed to both financially in terms of development and would, or would be likely to devalue the services that Stonewall offers and thereby undermine the confidence of the public in their services.

To disclose the information would make it less likely that companies or individuals would provide the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services with information in the future or would make it more difficult for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services to conduct commercial transactions, or have future dealings with other suppliers without those suppliers having fear of suffering commercially as a result. This would make it more difficult for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services to recruit or retain those who would or could provide exemplary skillsets. Such a disadvantage would be detrimental to the Service’s ability to perform its statutory duties and thereby undermine the confidence of the public in their in the Service as a whole.

The feedback and material received from Stonewall was provided as part of the membership benefits and against a fee that organisations pay to Stonewall. Disclosing the feedback/ advice received would, or would be likely to have an impact on the commercial interest of the third party (Stonewall).

The disclosure of these documents therefore would, or would be likely to have an impact on Stonewall’s ability to participate competitively given increasingly competitive nature of the sector.

Balance Test

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service have considered the commercial interests of third parties and the benefit to the public for the release of this information. We also considered the impact that this may also have on future business relationships. In considering this case and the details required, we consider that the public interest in favour of disclosing such information is outweighed by the obligation to protect the commercial interests of third parties. We have therefore taken the decision to withhold the information.