B Torvell

[FOI #13847 email]

(by email)

02 July 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Re: Freedom of Information Act requests, references 0506-09 and 0507-09

Thank you for your Freedom of Information requests of 29 June 2009, in which you asked for:

“…the number of visitors (persons not on active duty in the theatre) to FCO 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?”

And

“…the number of visitors (persons not on active duty in the theatre) to FCO stations in Afghanistan for every month since October 2001? How many man hours, broken down by month for every month since October 2001, were spent hosting visitors? ”

Section 12 (4) (a) of the Act states that in circumstances where two or more requests for information are made to us by one person, the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them.

Section 12 (1) of the Act does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit, which for central government is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 working days in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

We estimate that it will take us in excess of 3.5 working days to determine appropriate material and locate, retrieve and extract the information in reference to your request. Therefore, your request will not be processed further.

You may wish to refine your request by narrowing its scope by being more specific about what information you particularly wish to obtain, including any dates or periods of time relevant to the information required. For example, you may wish to specify which stations in Iraq and/or Afghanistan you are interested in over a shorter period of time.

Any refined request you make will be treated as a new request under the Act. We cannot guarantee that any refined request you make would not exceed the appropriate limit.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the rights to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of this letter, and should be addressed to Emma Walpole at [FCO request email].

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commission can be contacted at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. You should contact the Information Commissioner within two months of our final reply.

Yours sincerely,

[signed] Emma Walpole

Emma Walpole (Miss)

Information Rights Team

Information Management Group

Room SG127 Old Admiralty Building

London

SW1A 2PA

Tel: 020 7008 8754

Fax: 020 7008 1114

Email: [FCO request email]

www.fco.gov.uk