Please supply emails and meeting summaries regarding the NZ Localities Dataset
Richard Clark made this Official Information request to Land Information New Zealand
The request was successful.
From: Richard Clark
Dear Land Information New Zealand,
Please supply any emails and dates/summaries of meetings between LINZ and FENZ (Fire Emergency New Zealand) on the subject of the NZ Localities dataset since the start of 2016.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Clark
From: LINZ Customer Support
Land Information New Zealand
Good Afternoon
Thank you for your enquiry, I have forwarded this to Ministerial
Services and they will respond to you directly.
Kind regards
Hannah
Land Information New Zealand
0800 665 463
Hours of Support: 0700 to 1730 - Monday to Friday
[1][email address]
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From: Ministerial Support
Land Information New Zealand
Dear Richard
Thank you for your official information request received on Tuesday, 28
January 2020.
We will provide a response to your request as soon as possible, and no
later than Wednesday, 26 February 2020, which is 20 working days after
LINZ received your request.
Regards,
Christopher Fletcher
Advisor | Ministerial Support & Official Correspondence
Policy and Overseas Investment
E [email address]
Wellington Office, Level 7, Radio New Zealand House, 155 The Terrace
PO Box 5501, Wellington 6145, New Zealand | T 04 460 0110
W [1]www.linz.govt.nz | [2]data.linz.govt.nz
[3]http://www.linz.govt.nz/sites/default/fi...
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From: Ministerial Support
Land Information New Zealand
Hi Richard
Please refer to the attached letter.
Regards
Pete Hill
Principal Advisor
Ministerial Support and Official Correspondence
E [email address] | DDI +64 4 460 2784 | M +64 27 235 8389
Wellington Office, Level 7, Radio New Zealand House, 155 The Terrace
PO Box 5501, Wellington 6145, New Zealand | T 04 462 4490
W [1]www.linz.govt.nz | [2]data.linz.govt.nz
[3]cid:image001.png@01D419EB.CB1161F0
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Andrew Ecclestone left an annotation ()
PS - It's more likely that it's the 'emails on this subject' element of your request that is causing LINZ to reach for the 'substantial collation and research' ground for refusal. This might be plausible if officials have not been diligent in adding emails to the Objective EDRMS (and there aren't tools that automatically add them). However, if - for the sake of argument - LINZ's email is run on MS Exchange and Outlook, then it wouldn't be unreasonable for the department to use the 'legal hold' tools available to help with discovery of emails on the topic that remain on the Exchange server but haven't been saved into Objective.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/Exchang...
If LINZ run their email on an alternative platform, I'd be surprised if their aren't comparable tools to those linked to above.
Richard Clark left an annotation ()
I have contacted LINZ as requested to set up a call. Given the advice above and my own impression of how difficult this should be, I have not yet agreed that the request does actually need further clarification but there may be minor changes that can be made that don't impact my actual goal.
I'm also interested in the Resilience dataset programme anyway.
Richard Clark left an annotation ()
Had a good positive conversation with a representative of the LINZ team, we covered a lot of stuff but for the purposes of the OIA it was clear that I had made a request that would cover a lot of administrivia as well by accident (operational checks of the dataset for specific addresses and things). This was not my intent and I have no use for that. I am clarifying my request slightly to request "on the subject of licensing and publishing the NZ localities dataset" instead, which will avoid the operational data while still getting me what I need.
From: Richard Clark
Dear Ministerial Support,
Thank you for your call today to understand my request and give background from your side, it was a great conversation and very positive. Much appreciated.
On the basis of that conversation I would like to clarify my original request. My original request stated:
"Please supply any emails and dates/summaries of meetings between LINZ and FENZ (Fire Emergency New Zealand) on the subject of the NZ Localities dataset since the start of 2016."
I would like to clarify this instead as:
"Please supply any emails and dates/summaries of meetings between LINZ and FENZ (Fire Emergency New Zealand) on the subject of the licensing and publishing of the NZ Localities dataset since the start of 2016."
Note the added "licensing and publishing" to the subject.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Clark
From: Ministerial Support
Land Information New Zealand
Dear Richard
Thank you for clarifying your official information request; we received
the clarification on Thursday, 13 February 2020. Following this
clarification, we will continue processing your request.
As per the Official Information Act [s15(1AA)] you can expect to receive a
decision regarding your request no later than Thursday, 12 March 2020,
which is 20 working days after LINZ received your clarification.
Please be assured that we will provide a response prior to Thursday, 12
March 2020, if possible.
Regards,
Chris Fletcher
Christopher Fletcher
Advisor | Ministerial Support & Official Correspondence
Policy and Overseas Investment
E [email address]
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From: Ministerial Support
Land Information New Zealand
Dear Richard
Please find attached LINZ’s response to your request for information.
Due to the large number of attachments we will send this response in
multiple emails.
Regards,
Kylie Marriner
Senior Advisor | Ministerial Support & Official Correspondence
Policy and Overseas Investment
Land Information New Zealand
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From: Ministerial Support
Land Information New Zealand
Dear Richard
Please find attached LINZ’s response to your request for information.
Regards,
Kylie Marriner
Senior Advisor | Ministerial Support & Official Correspondence
Policy and Overseas Investment
Land Information New Zealand
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From: Ministerial Support
Land Information New Zealand
Dear Richard
Please find attached LINZ’s response to your request for information.
Regards,
Kylie Marriner
Senior Advisor | Ministerial Support & Official Correspondence
Policy and Overseas Investment
Land Information New Zealand
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From: Ministerial Support
Land Information New Zealand
Dear Richard
Please find attached LINZ’s response to your request for information.
Regards,
Kylie Marriner
Senior Advisor | Ministerial Support & Official Correspondence
Policy and Overseas Investment
Land Information New Zealand
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Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Andrew Ecclestone left an annotation ()
Hi Richard,
LINZ are claiming that asking for details of meetings about this dataset over the last 4 years (2016-2019 inclusive) is too broad, and that unless you narrow the scope of your request, they'll refuse it under the section of the OIA relating to 'substantial collation and research'. I am sceptical about this claim for a couple of reasons. First, because I doubt there have been so many meetings that the volume of material comes remotely near what the Ombudsman would consider 'substantial'. Second, because any government agency that is compliant with the requirements of the Public Records Act 2005 should have a filing system that enables the information on this topic to be easily retrieved for their own business purposes. If I were a new official working in LINZ and had to take over responsibility for this issue, I'd expect the department's electronic records management system to have a specific reference number/name for all records on this topic. I'd also expect any system to have sufficiently good search capabilities as to enable documents on this topic to be found even if they had been filed outside the designated 'folder' for this topic. In this regard, you might want to take a look at the Ombudsman's report on his assessment of LINZ's OIA practices and system, in particular page 42 (in the PDF version), which comments on the department's information management capabilities and practices https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso...
So, I'd contest the need to narrow the scope of your request, and if they then refuse it under s. 18(f), challenge the refusal to the Ombudsman, quoting the Ombudsman's own assessment of LINZ and its apparently good ability to find information. For example LINZ haven't even told you how many documents or records are responsive to the scope of your search before trying to get you to narrow it. If you complain to the Ombudsman, LINZ will have to provide this information to him, and the law empowers him to send an investigator to go and conduct their own search of LINZ's EDRMS.
In particular, before making a complaint, or clarifying (narrowing) your request to LINZ, you should read the Ombudsman's guidance on this topic: https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso...
You may want to make a supplementary OIA request or two, seeking information about how LINZ's corporate records (such as these inter-agency liaisons) are structured within its Objective EDRMS, the file number/name for records on this topic etc.
Cheers,
Andrew
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