Dear Mr Walker

Freedom of Information Request F2009-209

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 4 September 2009 about Common Purpose courses. You asked for the following information:

1. The names and ranks/grades of all employees in DFID who are Common Purpose 'graduates'. You defined Common Purpose 'graduate' as people who have passed the advanced Common Purpose courses.

2. The total expenditure by DFID on Common Purpose courses for each year from 1997 to 2009 to date together with a copy of the invoice for each Common Purpose course paid for by DFID.

I can confirm that DFID has no record of any expenditure on Common Purpose courses in any year from 1997 to date. I can, therefore, also confirm that no DFID employees have become Common Purpose graduates through attending a course funded by DFID since 1997.

It is, however, still possible that some DFID employees are Common Purpose graduates and that we might hold information relevant to this part of your request. However, as this information is not held centrally, we estimate that the cost of establishing whether we hold it and then locating, retrieving and extracting it would exceed the FOI cost ceiling of £600. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 we are not obliged to comply with this part of your request and we will not be processing it any further. I should also point out that it is likely that we would consider any information of this nature to be exempt from release under Section 40 (personal information) of the Freedom of Information Act.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me quoting reference F2009-209.

If you are unhappy with the service we have provided and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to Openness Unit at the address shown above or e-mail [DFID request email]

If you do make a complaint and are not content with the outcome, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted DFID's complaints procedure. You can contact the Information Commissioner at the following address:

The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,

Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Helen Kennedy

Openness Unit

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