- Date released
- 14 August 2020
- Request number
- 202007022
- Release of information under
- Freedom of Information Act 2000
Information requested
Please provide me with a copy of your policy on responding to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, including guidelines for ONR staff on responding to requests and 'lines to take'.
Please also provide copies of any guidance provided by BEIS and Ministry of Defence to Office for Nuclear Regulation on disclosing information on nuclear matters
Information released
Copy of ONR’s policy on responding to FOI requests
I confirm that under Section 1 of the FOIA, that we hold information relevant to this part of your request. However, we are refusing your request under section 22 (Information intended for future publication) of the FOIA.
We have considered the public interest test in relation to section 22 (Information intended for future publication) of the FOIA (see ICO Guidance on section 22) for this information.
Factors for release:
- Issues related to the nuclear industry are subject to close scrutiny and debate, there is a public interest in information related to nuclear activities and the release of such information.
- Use of the exemption provides no further information to the public and represents a frustration of ONR’s policy of openness and transparency.
Factors against disclosure:
- The release of this information in advance of formal publication could lead to confusion in the public sphere.
- We are currently preparing our internal Information Requests Guide for external publication on our website. The document is undergoing our standard internal review process in advance of publication. This includes identifying and removing references to named individuals in accordance with our legal obligations under the GDPR, and consideration of accessibility to an external audience by identifying and removing references other internal documents, processes and terminology. Release of the information at this time would therefore not be in the public interest as it may not be compliant with our obligations under GDPR and our external publication standards.
- Disclosing the information requested at this early stage may negatively impact upon our publication timetable. We intend to publish our Information Requests Guide on our website in the near future once our internal review process has been completed.
Conclusion
We have concluded that it is not in the public interest to release this information at this stage, taking into account the fact that we are currently preparing the text of our Information Requests Guide for publication on our website, and that the guide will be available on our website shortly after.
A “guide for managing information requests” has been published since the release of this request. This guide can be downloaded from our website.
2) Guidelines for ONR staff on 'lines to take'
I confirm that under Section 1 of the FOIA, that we do not hold information relevant to this part of your request.
We handle every FOI request we receive on a case-by-case basis. This means that we consider the specific questions and variety of issues put to us in each individual request independently and on its own merits.
3) Copies of any guidance provided by BEIS and Ministry of Defence to Office for Nuclear Regulation on disclosing information on nuclear matters
I confirm that under Section 1 of the FOIA, that we do not hold information relevant to this part of your request.
We process all FOI requests we receive in accordance with our legal obligations set out in the FOIA, and following the relevant guidance available on the ICO website.
Exemptions applied
22
PIT (Public Interest Test) if applicable
Yes, please see above.