Napo has received a response to a request for information it made under the Freedom of Information Act in May. The union asked the MoJ for full details of the results of Test Gates 1-3 insofar as they provide:-
- an assessment of the Trusts' implementation of the new operational processes;
- identification of any areas where action or contingency plans are needed;
- an in-depth understanding of the risk profile for the Department; and
- an assessment of business readiness for 1 June 2014
In particular, the request asked for information on the level of preparedness of multi-trust areas, ICT issues and pay, allowances and other HR data for those transferring to the NPS and about how this related to staff allocation against predicted caseloads/workloads. Additionally, Napo requested a copy of the terms of contracts upon which expressions of interest have been requested of bidders for each of the CRCs.
The response was much as could have been anticipated, with the Ministry maintinging that releasing the infomation requested would it its view 'affect the delivery of effective central government and other public services', and that it was therefore not obliged ot provide it. Additionally they said that they had assessed whether it was 'in the public interest' to disclose the information despite the above 'exemption' and that in their view it was not.
Napo firmly believes this issue is in the public interest and will continue to press this issue both directly with the MOPJ and through parliamentarians!