From J9 POLOPS 10A

Reference: 29-06-2009-114417-001

4 August 2009

Dear B Torvell,

Request for Information

Thank you for your correspondence dated 29 June 2009 regarding visitors to Iraq, which is considered to be a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. I am responding on behalf of the information holders.

You asked:

What is the number of visitors (persons not on active duty in the

theatre) to MoD stations in Iraq for every month since March 2003?

How many man hours, broken down by month for every month since

March 2003, were spent hosting visitors?

Under Section 12 of the FOI Act, public authorities are not obliged to answer any request exceeding the prescribed cost limit, which for central government is set at £600 and equates to 24 hours of effort. Whilst the information you ask for may be held in archive, it has been estimated that it would take longer than 24 hours to locate and retrieve this information.

If you are not satisfied with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by contacting the Head of Corporate Information, 6th Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail [email address]). Please note that any request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has come to an end.

If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your case until the MOD internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website, http://www.ico.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely,

J9 POLOPS 10A

Freedom of Information

J9 Policy Division

Permanent Joint Headquarters (UK)

Email: [email address]