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Subject: FINAL FOI 0485-08 MR A SKENE

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DocumentDate: 07 July 2008

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FromInd: Robert Alexander

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GOVERNMENT HOSPITALITY

LANCASTER HOUSE, ST JAMES'S, LONDON SW1A 1BB

TELEPHONE : 020-7008 8517

FACSIMILE : 020-7008 8526

7 July 2008

Our ref: FOI 0485-08

Mr Alex Skene

[FOI #251 email]

Dear Mr Skene ,

Freedom of Information Request

I am writing in response to your email of 16 May, following my letter of 14 May. In that letter, which was in response to your enquiry 0354-08, I advised that the information you requested was exempt from disclosure under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000.

You have suggested that some information relating to prices, stock quantities and tasting notes might be excluded from the list to facilitate its release. We take the view that this would be prejudicial to the commercial interests of Government Hospitality and our suppliers, and is exempt from disclosure under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act.

This exemption requires the application of a public interest test. One of the main factors in favour of release of the information is the public interest in transparency in the expenditure of public funds. Against this is the potential for the commercial interests of suppliers and the public authority to be damaged.

You are correct that the Information Commissioner does offer guidance that "the strength of the public interest test relating to commercial interests diminishes with time", in most areas. However, the wine cellar is a singular case within government, as the majority of its stock acquires value and therefore increases in its commercial attractiveness, the longer it is held.

.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to Jackie Barson, Deputy Director of Protocol.

If you are not content with the outcome your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Alexander

Robert M O'D Alexander

Head of Government Hospitality

Protocol Directorate

[email address]