Information Access Team
Shared Services Directorate
2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF
Switchboard 020 7035 4848
E-mail: [email address] Website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk
Mr Derek Canning LLB (Hons)
[FOI #11778 email]
Our Ref: 11946
Date: 20 August 2009
Dear Mr Canning,
I am writing further to my letter of 14 July 2009, regarding your request for an internal
review.
I have now completed a ful review of the handling of your request and of the reasons
behind the decisions taken by the Home Office. This request has been treated on its
own merits and all papers original y considered have been re-considered as part of
the internal review.
The first part of my review concerned the procedural aspects of the handling of your
case. Your request was received by the Department on 11 May 2009. Section 10(1)
of the Freedom of Information Act states:
‘a public authority must comply with section 1(1) promptly and in any event not later
than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt.’
A final response was sent to you by the caseworker on 10 July 2009, a full 43
working days following receipt of your request. The twenty working day deadline is
extendable by virtue of section 10(3) of the Act; however the caseworker is required
to inform the applicant of the qualified exemption under consideration, within the
original deadline, and provide a ‘reasonable’ response date.
A letter explaining that there would be a delay was sent to you on 4 June 2009. Due
to a technical fault this was bounced back to the caseworker and was subsequently
re-sent to you on 6 June 2009. While the letter did provide an expected response
date it did not refer to any exemption being under consideration. As such the failure
to respond to your request within twenty working days represents a breach of section
10(1) of the Act. I apologise on behalf of the Home Office for this breach. The Home
Office takes its responsibilities under the Act seriously. We wil remind the relevant
caseworkers of their responsibility to deal with all requests on time and, where
possible, within the 20 working day limit specified in the Act, notwithstanding any
Public Interest Test (PIT) extensions that may be required.
In the second part of my review I looked at the substantive content of the response
provided to you, and whether this was in compliance with the requirements of the
Act.
In the first part of your request you asked for guidelines relating to how
correspondence from members of the public is handled. In response you were
provided with a link (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/contact-us) to the Home Office
website. The link provided directs the user to a page describing how the Home Office
handles such correspondence, namely that we aim to respond within twenty working
days. It also provides some guidance as to how such a request could be submitted. I
am satisfied that the content of this webpage provides sufficient detail to answer this
part of your request, and is therefore compliant with the requirements of the Act.
Secondly, you asked for details regarding the complaints procedure. The main body
of the response letter sent to you stated that the link also provides this information. A
link to the complaints procedure can be found in the bottom left hand corner of the
page.
Additionally, the caseworker informed you that should you wish to make a complaint
about the handling of your correspondence you should make it in writing to the Head
of the Direct Communications Unit, for whom an address was provided. In the
response sent, the caseworker also provided an email address to which any
complaints could also be directed. Unfortunately this appears to have disappeared
from the letter upon it being published on the relevant ‘whatdotheyknow.com’
webpage. The email address concerned is [Home Office request email].
Again, I am satisfied that the suggestion that you direct any complaint you may have
to the Head of the Direct Communications Unit provides sufficient detail to answer
this part of your request, and is also compliant with the requirements of the Act.
In conclusion, I am therefore satisfied that the response (notwithstanding the delay in
replying) can be considered to be compliant with the requirements of the Act.
Should you remain dissatisfied after this internal review you have the right of
complaint to the Information Commissioner, as established by section 50 of the
Freedom of Information Act. You can write to him at:
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely,
John Bragaglia
Information Access Consultant
