Basic Income for Care Leavers

30 March 2022

 

Dear

Complaint in respect of Request for Information – reference ATISN 16095

Thank you for your request which was received on 17 March 2022. You have asked:

For our decision to withhold information under S.35 FOI Act 2000 exemption in our original response dated 17 March, to be verified by an Internal Review.

I can confirm that I have undertaken an Internal Review and I am satisfied that the original response you received on 17 March provides the information that is available to be shared. The information withheld under S.35 of the FOI Act 2000 still stands.

The release of the information complies with Section 35(1)(a) Public interest arguments in favour of maintaining the exemption Public exposure could deter from full candid and proper deliberation of policy formulation and development, including the exploration of all options.   Civil servants and subject experts need to be able to engage in the free and frank discussion of all the policy options internally, to expose their merits and demerits and their possible implications as appropriate. Premature disclosure of information protected under section 35 could prejudice the neutrality of civil servants when working collaboratively with those involved in the pilot. There are potential risks of prejudicing those strong and important relationships by disclosing information at this time that we deem as sensitive and not fit for potential publication.

If you remain dissatisfied with this response you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner at: 

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: casework@ico.gsi.gov.uk

Also, if you think that there has been maladministration in dealing with your request, you have the option to make a complaint to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales who can be contacted at:

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales 
1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae 
Pencoed 
Bridgend 
CF35 5LJ 

Telephone: 0845 6010987 (local rate) 
Email: ask@ombudsman-wales.org.uk

Yours Sincerely

 

Sandie Green
Head of Education and Public Services Legislation Branch

 

 

 

17 March 2022

                           
Dear

FOI Request - ATISN 16095 - WJ - Basic Income for Care Leavers - 17-02-2022

Information requested

Thank you for your request which I received on 17 February 2022.  You asked for the:

• Provision of the cost v benefit analysis undertaken by Welsh Government officials to demonstrate value for money in regards to the Basic Income pilot.

I can confirm Welsh Government holds information of this description. Certain  information is exempt under section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act – information accessible to the applicant by other means.

Information regarding the budget for the Basic Income Pilot is in the public domain and can be found here Final Budget 2022 to 2023 | GOV.WALES  

The Programme for Government 2021-2026 https://gov.wales/programme-government and Social Justice Ministers written statement published on 16 February https://gov.wales/written-statement-basic-income-pilot-care-leavers-wales provide more detail on the intended benefits of the basic income pilot. 

The purpose of the pilot is to test against the stated benefits of basic income, such as addressing poverty and unemployment and improving health and financial wellbeing.

The Welsh Government uses and holds data from a number of sources in the ongoing development of the Basic Income Pilot and in the consideration of the costs and benefits. However, for the reasons provided in Annex A I have decided that this information is exempt from disclosure under section 35 of the Freedom of Information Act and is therefore withheld.

Next steps

If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response.  Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at:

Information Rights Unit, 
Welsh Government,
Cathays Park, 
Cardiff, 
CF10 3NQ 

or Email: Freedom.ofinformation@gov.wales

Please remember to quote the ATISN reference number above.   

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:  Information Commissioner’s Office,

Wycliffe House, 
Water Lane, 
Wilmslow, 
Cheshire, 
SK9 5AF.

However, please note that the Commissioner will not normally investigate a complaint until it has been through our own internal review process.

Regarding the Basic Income Pilot, I can confirm the Welsh Government is fully committed to supporting those living in poverty, ensuring they receive adequate financial support so that everyone in Wales can live happy and healthy lives.

We strongly believe that care leavers have a right to be properly supported as they develop into independent young adults. Yet too many young people leaving care continue to face significant barriers to achieving a successful transition into adulthood that, in turn, make them more vulnerable to poverty.

The reason we propose working with this cohort over any other groups who typically face poverty and other forms of disadvantage, is to understand the unique challenges care leavers themselves face and whether extending the time they are supported could have a positive impact on their entry into adulthood.  We will use these insights to test how cash payments and system re-engineering could better help them to live the kind of lives they want to lead.

The payment of £1,600 is broadly in line with the real living wage and will interact with the tax and benefits system. We intend this level of payment to make a significant and positive change to participant’s lives.

I would also like to provide reassurance that, once commenced, the Basic Income Pilot for care leavers will be subject to thorough evaluation. More detailed information will be made available to the public as part of this evaluation process.

Yours sincerely

 

 

Annex A

This Annex sets out the reasons for the engagement of section 35 of the Freedom of Information Act and our subsequent consideration of the Public Interest Test. 

The Freedom of information Act provides a right for anyone to ask a public authority to make requested information available to the wider public. As the release of requested information is to the world, not just the requester, public authorities need to consider the effects of making the information freely available to everybody. Any personal interest the requester has for accessing the information cannot override those wider considerations.

I have decided to withhold the following information: 

•           relating to costs and benefits in regards to the Basic Income pilot

Section 35(1) states (inter alia):

(1)    Information held by a government department or by [F1the Welsh Assembly Government] is exempt information if it relates to:
     (a)    the formulation or development of government policy,

The information captured by the request relates to the formulation and development of the Basic Income Pilot, and includes: the scope of the pilot, payment level, and costings.

Section 35 is a public interest tested exemptions. This means that in order to withhold information under it, it has to be shown that the public interest in withholding is greater than the public interest in releasing.

Public interest arguments in favour of disclosure

The Welsh Government acknowledges the general principle of openness and transparency that release of this information would engender. Further, we recognise that this is a new area of policy and will be of interest to many people in Wales.  

Since the announcement of the Basic Income Pilot for Care Leavers there has been significant interest. This has included how the pilot may inform or influence the development of any future possible policy on Universal Basic Income (as opposed to using basic income as a mechanism to support a specific target group).

Public interest arguments in favour of withholding

We recognise that transparency and openness in the Welsh Government’s policy-making process improves public trust, however, we consider that it is important for ministers and officials to be able to have a safe space to undertake discussions and develop ideas. Releasing information at this point would be likely to prejudice the policy development and affect Welsh Governments ability to deliver the pilot.

We take the view that the section 35 exemption is intended to ensure that the possibility of public exposure does not deter from full, candid and proper deliberation of policy formulation and development.

Civil servants and subject experts need to be able to engage in the free and frank discussion of all the policy options internally, to expose their merits and demerits and their possible implications as appropriate. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the content of such discussion will be disclosed in the near future. Premature disclosure of information protected under section 35 could prejudice good working relationships, the neutrality of civil servants.

Also, disclosure of the documents relating to the methodology used in formulating a Welsh Government response is considered as being a qualitative assessment exchanged between ministries of government for the purpose of the formulation and development of policy report. Therefore, carries the risk that the content might be misinterpreted and as such disclosure would not provide the clarity that the public require.

In conclusion it is within the wider publics’ interest to withhold the information related to this request in order to provide the government with a safe space to develop the pilot. To that end we believe the balance of public interest favours the withholding of the information and that it should be exempted from release under s35 of the FOIA.