Response: Appointments by exception between 19 August and 4 July 2024
Published 12 September 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foi2024-00261-appointments-by-exception-between-19-august-and-4-july-2024/response-appointments-by-exception-between-19-august-and-4-july-2024
| Reference number | FOI2024-00261 |
|---|---|
| Date of request | 20August 2024 |
| Date of response | 12 September 2024 |
| Outcome | Information partially disclosed |
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (the department) received the following request for information which we responded to under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA):
A list of all the civil servants who have been appointed under the exceptions process by your department since July 4, 2024. This is to cover up to and including the date of August 19, 2024. The information provided is to include their name, job title, and pay grade.
Our response
We can confirm that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (the department) does hold the information in scope of your request.
We have provided information about the 14 civil servants the department appointed using a permitted exception in the time between (and including) 4 July 2024 and 19 August 2024.
Please note that we have withheld the names of civil servants who are not senior civil servants appointed by permitted exception during this time under Section 40(2) as these are considered personal data. We have also provided generic, rather than specific, role titles to prevent the identify of civil servants who are not senior civil servants.
Table 1: Civil servants appointed by permitted exception between (and including) 4 July and 19 August 2024:
| Name | Generic Job title | Grade (or pay band) |
|---|---|---|
| Emily Middleton | Director General Digital Centre Design | Senior Civil Servant (Pay Band 3) |
| Withheld | Policy Manager (Life Sciences) | Grade 6 |
| Withheld | Policy Manager (Telecoms) | Grade 7 |
| Withheld | Policy Manager (AI) | Grade 7 (Secondee) |
| Withheld | Communications Manager | Grade 7 |
| Withheld | Technical Staff (AI Safety Institute) | Grade 7 |
| Withheld | Technical Staff (Semiconductors) | Grade 7 |
| Withheld | Technical Staff (Science) | Senior Executive Officer |
| Withheld | Technical Staff (AI Safety Institute) | Senior Executive Officer |
| Withheld | Technical Staff (AI Safety Institute) | Senior Executive Officer |
| Withheld | Technical Staff (AI Safety Institute) | Senior Executive Officer |
| Withheld | Technical Staff (AI Safety Institute) | Senior Executive Officer |
| Withheld | Private Secretary | Higher Executive Officer |
| Withheld | Summer Intern | Executive Officer |
| Withheld | Summer Intern | Executive Officer |
Section 40(2): Personal data of third parties
We consider some information to be exempt from release under Section 40(2) of the Act. We are withholding information as this is personal data that may identify a third-party individual. Section 40(2) is engaged because of the condition at section 40(3A) (a), which concerns the personal data of third parties. The department has obligations under data protection legislation and in law generally to protect personal data. This exempts personal data from release if disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. Release would breach the first data protection principle since it would be unlawful and unfair to disclose the information. As section 40 is an absolute exemption, the department is not required to carry out a public interest test.