FOI reference - FOI-208
Date - 22 December 2023
Request
I’d like to request a list of all of the communications regarding the Israel/Palestine conflict which have been sent internally to staff through email or placed on your organisation’s intranet.
We would also like to have access to all emails from 7th October through onwards using the words “Israel”, “Palestine”, “Hamas” or “Terrorist”.
Response
I confirm that we hold the information you have requested. However, some of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure.
Please find a list of all the communications that contain a reference to the Israel/Palestine conflict that have been issued via internal email or published on our internal intranet. I have also provided copies of these communications (PDF, 5 pages, 3.73MB). Please note the personal information contained within these communications has been redacted in line with section 40 of the FoIA. Further information on this exemption and how we have used it can be found below.
For the second part of your request (PDF, 112 pages, 7.17MB), we have carried out a search of our systems using the search terms provided, and we added the term “IDF” as this is a widely noted term in media reports on the conflict. The searches have found the following types of emails:
- Content related to the monitoring we carry out on global issues that may impact the economy.
- Minor references in emails between staff where personal opinions have been expressed.
- Emails relating to the creation of the internal communications.
As with the first part of your request we have redacted or withheld information that is exempt from disclosure in line with section 40, as well as section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA.
Section 40 – Personal information
This information is exempt from disclosure under section 40 (personal information) of the FoIA. This is because the information constitutes personal data as defined in the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Disclosing this would not comply with the data protection principles set out in the GDPR, in particular the requirement for processing to be fair, lawful and transparent (Article 5 (1)(a)), as well as to comply with one of the lawful bases for processing in Article 6.
Section 44(1)(a) – restricted information under s82 PA04
As we have been given strong powers to demand documents and other information from trustees, employers and others, those powers are also balanced by restrictions on how we disclose the information provided to us. The type of information you have requested would be ‘restricted information’. Restricted information is defined at section 82(4) of the Pensions Act 2004 (PA04) as:
‘…information obtained by the Regulator in the exercise of its functions which relates to the business or other affairs of any person’.
Under section 82(5) of the PA04 it is a criminal offence to disclose such information except as permitted under that Act.
Whilst the FoIA is based on the presumption of releasing information, section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA provides an absolute exemption to the requirement to disclose any information if its disclosure is prohibited by or under any enactment. In this case, section 82 of the PA04 prohibits disclosure and we are unable to disclose the requested information. This exemption is absolute and does not require a public interest assessment be undertaken.