Received: 13 November 2024

1. I wish for you to provide me with the salary details of the PFEW CEO Mr Krishna

2. Please also provide me with a copy of all expenses Mr Krishna has been provided with and a copy of all ancillary items provided as part of his position (i.e. Vehicle etc) since he took up the role.

3. Furthermore please provide me with the details of the process which was followed in order to create the CEO position and whom proposed it and who (if any) voted for it along with a copy of all the consultations with members with regards to the CEO position and also the details (figures not personal) of how many other people were allowed or invited to apply for the role.

Responded: 15 January 2025

1. The PFEW holds data relating to the salary details of its Chief Executive Officer ("CEO"), but withholds it under Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"): 'information intended for future publication'. 

i) The PFEW decided that, in the interests of transparency, it would be appropriate to publish the details of its CEO's salary, alongside details of the salary ranges of other senior members of staff within the organisation.  

ii) The PFEW is currently in the process of determining what information to publish in this regard, and in particular which other individuals' compensation details to publish alongside this information, and which other contextual information. The precise information to be published has not yet been determined, nor has the date for publication.  

iii) The requested information therefore falls within the scope of Section 22, and accordingly the PFEW is required to determine whether it would be "reasonable in all the circumstances that the information should be withheld from disclosure until the date [of publication]". 

iv) The PFEW considers that it is reasonable to withhold the requested information until it is formally published. This is on the basis that: 

     a) The PFEW intends to publish the requested information alongside other information, including the salary ranges of other senior members of staff and other contextual information. The PFEW believes that it is reasonable to withhold the requested information until such time as it has been determined what information to publish alongside this, and that the PFEW should be given appropriate time to determine this.  

     b) Furthermore, it is reasonable for the PFEW to control the publication of information, out of fairness to those whose information is due to be revealed.  

     c) The PFEW does not rely on the exemption in Section 40 of FOIA (personal information) in response to the request, yet this exemption remains a live consideration.  A request for details of the CEO's salary is undoubtedly a request for personal data relating to that individual within the meaning of Article 4(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation ("UK GDPR") (as supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2018). Information about other individuals' salaries also constitutes their personal data.  Whilst there is an ongoing process within the PFEW to determine the process for publishing details of salaries, it would be unfair to those individuals to disclose such details until that process has taken its proper course. 

v) Accordingly, the PFEW considers that the grounds for withholding the requested information under Section 22 are made out.  

2. Please find the expenses for Quarter 1 of 2024: nb-expense-reporting-q1-2024.pdf. The remaining expenses will be published simultaneously with the accounts. 

The PFEW holds data relating to the remaining expenses details of its Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and other senior members of staff within the organisation. However, PFEW withholds this data under Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"): 'information intended for future publication'.   

 i) The PFEW has decided that, in the interests of transparency, it would be appropriate to publish the details of its CEO's expenses, alongside details of the expenses of other senior members of staff within the organisation at the same time as the accounts are published. 

 ii) The PFEW has decided that, in the interests of transparency, it would be appropriate to publish the details of its CEO's salary, alongside details of the salary ranges of other senior members of staff within the organisation.    

 iii) The PFEW is currently in the process of determining what information to publish in this regard, and in particular which other individuals' compensation details to publish alongside this information, and which other contextual information. The precise information to be published has not yet been determined, nor has the date for publication.    

iv) Therefore, the requested information falls within the scope of Section 22, and accordingly the PFEW is required to determine whether it would be "reasonable in all the circumstances that the information should be withheld from disclosure until the date [of publication]".   

 v) The PFEW considers that it is reasonable to withhold the requested information until it is formally published. This is on the basis that:   

     a) The PFEW intends to publish the requested information alongside other information, including the salary ranges of other senior members of staff and other contextual information. The PFEW believes that it is reasonable to withhold the requested information until such time as it has been determined what information to publish alongside this, and that the PFEW should be given appropriate time to determine this. 

     b) Furthermore, it is reasonable for the PFEW to control the publication of information, out of fairness to those whose information is due to be revealed.    

     c) The PFEW does not rely on the exemption in Section 40 of FOIA (personal information) in response to the request, yet this exemption remains a live consideration.  A request for details of the CEO's salary is undoubtedly a request for personal data relating to that individual within the meaning of Article 4(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation ("UK GDPR") (as supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2018). Information about other individuals' salaries also constitutes their personal data.  Whilst there is an ongoing process within the PFEW to determine the process for publishing details of salaries, it would be unfair to those individuals to disclose such details until that process has taken its proper course.   

vi) Accordingly, the PFEW considers that the grounds for withholding the requested information under Section 22 are made out.    

3. The CEO was appointed by the National Board. This was a variation from the then titled role of Chief Operations Officer ("COO") to CEO and as such it was not a new vacancy and therefore it was not advertised and there were no other applicants.