Government Hospitality Cellar stock list
Dear Sir,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST
Please could you provide the following:
1. current stock list of the Government Hospitality Cellar at Lancaster House
2. Details of the most recent additions to the cellar in 2008.
I would like the information in electronic format if possible.
Yours faithfully,
Alex Skene
Dear Mr Skene
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. It has been passed to
the relevant section within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to deal
with. They will be in touch with you should your request need
clarification.
We received your request on 22 April 2008 and will aim to respond within
20 working days.
Yours
Lynsey Hughes
Information Management Group
Information Rights Team
Dear Mr Skene
Please find attached the reply to your query about the Government Wine
Cellar.
Yours sincerely,
Robert M O'D Alexander
Head of Government Hospitality
Protocol Directorate
020-7008 8517
<<FOI GOVERNMENT HOSPITALITY WINE CELLAR.doc>>
Lancaster House, Stable Yard, St James's, London SW1A 1BB
Government Hospitality
1908 - 2008
Celebrating 100 Years of Service to Government
Visit our blogs at [1]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk
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Dear Mr Alexander,
Many thanks for your reply. I'm very disappointed that you were unable to release any information about the current stock list of the Government Wine Cellar.
Based on your reasons in favour of non-disclosure, I would be happy to receive the stock list without the following details if it means that the information provided would fall outside the Section 43 exemption:
# Number of bottles held of each wine
# Price paid per bottle
# Tasting notes
This would allow a simple list of wine held to be made public without prejudicing any commercial interests.
Please also bear in mind that according to guidance published by the Information Commissioner, the strength of the public interest test relating to commercial interests diminishes with time, so information relating to stock acquired many years ago should be not be relied upon by the exemption and should preferably be disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Skene
Dear Mr Skene
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. Your request was only
received by the Information Management Group on the 12 June 2008. Robert
Alexander was unable to forward your request onto us sooner, as he has
been on leave. For future reference, you can send any new FOI requests to
our departmental inbox, [GHACPW request email] This inbox is checked on a
daily basis. Your requests has been passed to the relevant section within
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to deal with. They will be in touch
with you should your request need clarification.
We will be treating your request as received on 12 June 2008 and will aim
to respond within 20 working days.
Yours
Samuel Osei-Wusu
Information Rights Team
<<Final Reply FOI 0485-08 Mr A Skene.doc>>
Robert M O'D Alexander
Head of Government Hospitality
Protocol Directorate
020-7008 8517
Lancaster House, Stable Yard, St James's, London SW1A 1BB
Government Hospitality
1908 - 2008
Celebrating 100 Years of Service to Government
Visit our blogs at [1]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk
References
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2. http://www.fco.gov.uk/
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Dear Mr Alexander
Many thanks for your mail of 7th July.
I would be very grateful if you would forward this mail to Jackie Barson as I would like to initiate an internal review of my Freedom of Information request.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Skene
* * * * *
Dear Ms Barson
I wish to request an Internal Review of my FOI request dated 15th May 2008 (refs FOI 0485-08 & 0354-08. All correspondence relating to this request can be followed at <<http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/go...>>.
Please take the following into consideration when carrying out the review:
1) The Refusal Notice of 7th July did not adequately re-assess my revised information request. This was for the stock list with the "offending" Section 43 data redacted as indicated in the previous Refusal Notice of 15th May. No further information was provided in the new refusal as to why this information was exempt.
Regarding this, I would also like to point out that I did not suggest that "some information relating to prices, stock quantities and tasting notes might be excluded from the list to facilitate its release" - I requested that all information regarding the above be redacted.
2) There was a failure to provide due assistance and advice as per the Secretary of State's Code of Practice and Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act.
<<http://www.dca.gov.uk/foi/reference/impr...>>
"Appropriate assistance in this instance might include
- providing an outline of the different kinds of information which might meet the terms of the request;
- providing access to detailed catalogues and indexes, where these are available, to help the applicant ascertain the nature and extent of the information held by the authority;"
3) The Refusal Notice referred to Section 43 - I am assuming that Section 43(2) was applied.
From the DCA's guidance:
<<http://www.dca.gov.uk/foi/guidance/exgui...>>
"3.1 In order to decide whether or not disclosure could prejudice commercial interests it is necessary to identify:
- the interests themselves and how disclosure might prejudice them, and
- whose interests they are"
In the Refusal Notice of 7th July:
* the interests were not defined
* the identity/ies of whose interests they belong to were not defined
4) Consultation with third parties.
From the ICO's guidance:
<<http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...>> (Section G.a, p10)
"In order to determine whether the disclosure of information would prejudice a commercial interest, a public authority should, in accordance with the Secretary of State’s Code of Practice, consult with the parties likely to be affected by any disclosure."
In the Refusal Notice of 7th July, there was no mention of consultation with third parties to allow publication of the information.
I would like to draw your attention again to the Secretary of State's Code of Practice:
<<http://www.dca.gov.uk/foi/reference/impr...>>
"30. Where information to be disclosed relates to a number of third parties, or the interests of a number of third parties may be affected by a disclosure, and those parties have a representative organisation which can express views on behalf of those parties, the authority may consider whether it would be sufficient to notify or consult with that representative organisation. If there is no representative organisation, the authority may consider that it would be sufficient to notify or consult with a representative sample of the third parties in question."
5) I would finally like to draw your attention to a similar Advisory Committee involved in purchasing assets that give pleasure to many, and are often used in conjunction with hospitality and entertaining. The Government Art Committee acquires many works of art for presentation in Government buildings (including the FCO building in London), and it freely and openly publishes the acquisition costs for each item to the public <<http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/informatio...>>. It also offers a searchable database of all the items in their collection. There are many parallels to be drawn between the Fine Art and the Wine Trade market - small number of market participants (galleries -vs- merchants), wide diversity of items (paintings & sculptures -vs- viticulturists & grape types). I would argue that a precedent has been set in making the requested information public.
I therefore formally request that you review the decision to withhold the information and disclose it without further delay.
I would also be very grateful if you could acknowledge your receipt of this request.
Yours sincerely
Alex Skene
Dear Mr Skene
Thank you for your email. We will be treating your letter as a request for
an internal review of your Freedom of information requests, 0354-08 and
0485-08. It has been passed to the relevant department within the Foreeign
and Commonwealth Office to deal with. They will be in touch with you with
an outcome.
Yours sincerely
Samuel Osei-Wusu
Information Rights Team
Dear Mr Osei-Wusu,
I would be very grateful if you could provide an update on my FOI Internal Review (original FOI requests refs 0354-08 and 0485-08 [1]), and a proposed target date for its completion - the ICO considers that 20 working days is a reasonable target [2], and this has now passed.
[1] original correspondence - <<http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/go...>>
[2] ICO Guidance - <<http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...>>
Kind regards,
Alex Skene
Dear Mr Skene,
My colleagues in our Information Management Group have sent me a copy of
your e-mail of 15th August, requesting an update on the progress of the
Internal Review of your FOI requests about the Government Hospitality Wine
Cellar. I am coordinating the Internal Review on behalf of Jackie Barson
who is on leave at present.
We do aim to meet the ICO's recommendation that Internal Reviews should be
completed within 20 working days whenever possible. In this case the
review has taken longer than I would have anticipated, but I am confident
that we will be able to issue the report of the IR before the end of this
month. If I think there will be a further delay, I will let you know as
soon as possible.
Yours,
Andrew Partridge
Open Government Liaison Officer (OGLO)
Protocol Directorate
Room 1/69
Old Admiralty Building
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Tel: 020 7008 0993 (FTN 8008 0993)
[email address]
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Dear Mr Partridge,
re Internal Review of my FOI requests about the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar
I have yet to receive a response from yourself about the above Internal Review - please could you confirm whether you've already replied and emails have perhaps not successfully been delivered? If this is the case please can you re-send any correspondence.
Otherwise it appears that your end-August target for completion of the above Internal Review is very overdue, so I would be very grateful if you could provide me with an update as to the reasons for the ongoing delay, and your new target date for completion.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Skene
Dear Mr Skene,
Thank you for your message of 03 October, in which you requested an update
on the Internal Review of your FOI request earlier this year.
I am sorry that it has taken longer than I had originally anticipated for
the review to be completed. The review has now been completed and I am
waiting to receive the approval of senior management here before our reply
issues to you. I anticipate being able to release our reply before the
end of next week (17th October) but if there is any further delay I will
let you know as soon as possible.
Yours,
Andrew Partridge
Andrew Partridge
Open Government Liaison Officer (OGLO)
Protocol Directorate
Room 1/69
Old Admiralty Building
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Tel: 020 7008 0993 (FTN 8008 0993)
[email address]
Visit our blogs at [1]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk
***********************************************************************************
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Please note that all messages sent and received by members of the Foreign
& Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be automatically
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Dear Mr Partridge,
re Internal Review of my FOI requests about the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar
Following on from your email of 10 October, I was wondering if you had a revised date for the completion of the Internal Review as nearly two weeks have passed since your previous target date.
Regards,
Alex Skene
Dear Mr Skene,
I regret that we are not yet in a position to finalise the internal review
of your request on the GH cellar stocks. I am still waiting for final
approval of my report. With apologies for the delay, I will try and have
the report despatched to you by 21 November at the latest, and hopefully
earlier. I will contact you as soon as I am able to do so.
Yours,
Andrew Partridge
Dear Mr Partridge,
re Internal Review of my FOI requests about the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar
It is nearly 6 months since I requested an internal review of my FOI requests, well in excess of your target 20 working days, and there have been no further updates since your mail of 7th November. A complaint has been submitted to the Information Commissioner.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Skene
Dear Mr Skene,
Thank you for your e-mail of 16th December, and for your notification that
you are lodging a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office
regarding the delay in receiving our reply to your request for an Internal
Review of the handling of your original FOI request.
I am sorry that I have not been in touch with you since my e-mail of 7th
November, to keep you updated on progress regarding the Internal Review.
Because of the complexity of the issue and the importance which we attach
to ensuring that the request is comprehensively reviewed, we are in the
process of consulting a wide range of stake-holders. This is necessarily
taking time and we will not be in a position to update you on further
progress until the New Year.
Please be assured that we are giving the Internal Review of your request
our full attention, and I will write to you again on or before 10th
January 2009 to update you further on progress.
Best regards,
Andy Partridge
Andrew Partridge
Open Government Liaison Officer
Protocol Directorate
[email address]
* email: [email address] ( tel: +44 (0) 207 008 0993 ( fax:
+44 (0) 207 008 0978 ) ftn: 8008 0993 : url: www.fco.gov.uk
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Dear Mr Partridge,
Thank you for your letter of 17 December. Please could you let me know the current status of the internal review?
Yours sincerely,
Alex Skene
For the attention of Jim Dunn
Dear Mr Dunn,
Please see the attached letter about case reference FS50226727
Yours,
Andy Partridge
Andrew Partridge
Open Government Liaison Officer
Protocol Directorate
[email address]
* email: [email address] ( tel: +44 (0) 207 008 0993 ( fax:
+44 (0) 207 008 0978 ) ftn: 8008 0993 : url: www.fco.gov.uk
<<Partridge to Dunn final version 27 January.doc.pdf>>
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Mr Skene,
I am trying to email the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's reply to you.
However as it is a large PDF document (12MB) I am having some trouble
sending this to you.
Could you please confirm that you are happy to receive this document by
fax, and if so, your fax number.
Thanks
Reena
Reena Chudasama
PA/Director & Deputy Director
Protocol Directorate
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Old Admiralty Building
SW1A 2PA
Tel: 020 7008 0989Â Â (FTN: 8008 0989)
Fax: 020 7008 1024Â (FTN: 8008 1024)
Visit our blogs at [1]http://blogs.fco.gov.ukÂ
***********************************************************************************
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Please note that all messages sent and received by members of the Foreign
& Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be automatically
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Dear Reena,
Unfortunately I don't have a fax machine, and would prefer to receive documents in electronic format. Is there any chance you could zip (compress) the file and email? Otherwise, I could arrange to send you a blank CD to record it to for return by post.
There is another option available - you can directly upload the file to this address:
[upload url]
Best wishes,
Alex Skene
Mr Skene,
Thank you for your quick reply.
The reply is ready to send to you, unfortunately due to our FCO IT system
I will not able to compress the document today. I will need to speak to
our IT department first thing in the morning and I will attempt to send
you the reply again by email tomorrow.
Thanks
Reena
020 7008 0989
Visit our blogs at [1]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk
Please see attached letter from Jackie Barson, Deputy Director of Protocol.
Grateful if you could confirm receipt.
Thanks
Reena
Reena Chudasama
PA/Director and Deputy Director
Protocol Directorate
OAB 1/55
Tel: 020 7008 0989 (FTN: 8008 0989)
Fax: 020 7008 1024 (FTN: 8008 1024)
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Alex Skene left an annotation ()
OCR'ed text from letter follows:
===============================
From: Deputy Director Protocol and Assistant Marshal of the Diplomatic COVPS Protocol Directorate
Room l/56
Old Admiralty Building
London SWIA 2PA
Thank you for your e-mail of 8 July, in which you requested an internal review of the decision, conveyed to you in Robert Alexander’s letter of 7 July, not to disclose details of the stock list of the Government Hospitality wine cellar. I am sorry it has taken so long to provide you with a substantive reply. This is due to the length of time needed for detailed examination of the public interest issues involved. In response to your request for an internal review, we have also considered further what information we can release to give you more details of the general contents of the cellar, without compromising commercial interests in the way that your request for a redacted stock list would.
Search for Information
All of the data which was covered by your request is retained in electronic form in Government Hospitality (GH). I am satisfied that a reasonable search of the data was carried out in relation to your request.
Use of exemptions
I am satisfied that the withheld information was covered by Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000, which covers Commercial Interests. Section 43(2) states: "2. Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it). The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section l(l)(a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice the interests mentioned in subsection (2). "
Use of this exemption requires the application of a public interest test. As Mr Alexander mentioned in his reply of 14 May, 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 the relevant public authority to be damaged, and the interests of its suppliers.
I consider that the public interest is best served by withholding the redacted version of the stock list in the form you have asked for. This is because disclosure is likely to affect adversely Government Hospitality’s relationship with its suppliers, which enables them to obtain significant price discounting on a confidential basis. Releasing stock and pricing details of sales to GH in the London wine market is very likely to be picked up by other wine-purchasers, and could result in pressures on the suppliers which might lead them to end their discounting arrangements with us. As a public authority, GH has a duty to achieve the best possible value for money, and I believe that the value for money arrangements we have would be compromised by the disclosure of the stock details you have requested.
In addition to the pricing factors mentioned above, which you have indicated you were happy to forego, releasing information on the individual wines and vintages that have been purchased by GH might cause undue influence in the wine market. It is quite likely that release of information about a wine that has been purchased for the Government cellar could significantly affect sales of that product.
In your review request of 8 July, you indicated that you felt that Mr Alexander's reply of the 7 July did not adequately re-assess your revised request for information (paragraph l). We have examined very carefully whether providing you with a redacted stock list along the lines you suggested might be possible. We have concluded that the form of redacted list which you asked for would have an adverse impact on the commercial interests of both GH's suppliers and of GH itself, above all the ability to acquire wine for the government in a way which achieves best value for money. Because wines are purveyed exclusively by particular suppliers, and vintages are finite in quantity, releasing information in the way you requested (albeit redacted) would still have an impact in the wider wine market which we believe would adversely affect the commercial interests of the government and our suppliers.
However, we have given detailed thought to what information it might be possible to release without compromising our ability to acquire wines on a good value for money basis. We are reviewing how some information on the current stock list might be released in the near future (early 2009) in such a way that illustrates the current stock held, without compromising Government Hospitality’s interests or those of its suppliers. We will contact you again on this issue before the end of February.
I would also like to note that, whilst we believe that the commercial interests of the
government and its suppliers would be adversely affected by releasing detailed information on the current cellar stock list, we would have no difficulty with releasing details on wine that has been used for government hospitality — for example, an FOI request framed around what wines from the Government cellar were served during a particular year.
Turning to paragraph 2 of your letter of 16 May, you indicated that you felt that there had been a failure to provide due assistance, in accordance with the Secretary of State's Code of Practice. I am sorry you have received this impression. I would like to reassure you that we take our duty under the FoI Act very seriously. In his original reply to you, Mr Alexander gave you some details of recent purchases. I can assure you that there is no other "catalogue or index" from which you might draw different kinds of information. However, you may be aware that the Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine does publish edited versions of its minutes, under the FOI Publication Scheme, and that the Parliamentary Gazette Hansard contains details of many replies to questions posed about the GH cellar. You may wish to consult these sources of information.
The query you raise in your paragraph 3) about Section 43 (2) and the definition of whose interests are at risk has already been addressed above. For clarification, we consider that if the confidential relationship that Government Hospitality has with suppliers is undermined then the government’s future ability to acquire wine at good value for money would be jeopardised.
In your paragraph 4) you say that no mention was made in Mr Alexander's response of 7 July to any consultation with third parties. In the wake of your and other FOI enquiries in 2008, Mr Alexander had an opportunity to consult with several of the suppliers in July. They endorsed the view that release of the information requested would be damaging to both Government Hospitality and the interests of its suppliers. This issue has also been considered in some detail by the Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine, which has expressed its view that releasing the information you requested would damage the ability of GH to achieve value for money in the future.
In your paragraph 5), you have drawn a comparison between the publication by the
Government Art Collection (GAC) of its catalogue of artworks, and the stock-list of the government wine cellar. I do not believe that this represents a valid comparison, nor sets a precedent in this case. The purchases carried out by Government Hospitality are small-scale, year-on-year acquisitions to replenish the diminishing stock of a working cellar. The stock is purchased when young and less expensive. This enables GH to provide wines of good quality for the guests of the Government when fully ready, often after many years’ cellarage. The items purchased are part of a renewable resource; their purpose is to be consumed at the optimum point in their maturation, and provide value for money for government entertainment. The wines are not classified as assets by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the National Audit Office, and will not be held in perpetuity, as is the case with the GAC. As explained above, it is because the Government needs to regularly replenish its wine stocks at rates which provide good value for money that we do not consider it in the public interest to disclose the stock list, principally because of the damage it would do to relations with our suppliers.
I have concluded that the arguments listed above, coupled with the reasons given in Mr Alexander’s letter to you of 15 May, outweigh the public interest in this case. While we recognise there is a public interest in seeing the government attains value for money in its purchases, we do not believe that the public interest is served by undermining the ability of government to pursue value for money thereafter.
If you are not content with the outcome of this internal review you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 SAF
Jackie Barson
Dear Mr Skene,
In her letter of 10th February, the Deputy Director of Protocol, Jackie
Barson, explained that further thought was being given to the possibility
of releasing more information on the contents of the GH cellar. Ms Barson
undertook to write to you again before the end of February if possible.
She has asked me to write to you to explain that the process is still
on-going, but the work involved and the complexity of the issues means
that we will not be able to meet the end-February deadline. Ms Barson has
asked me to apologise for this delay, but to reassure you that we very
much hope to be in a position to write to you again in the next few weeks
with some further information on the cellar.
Thank you again for your patience and understanding.
Yours,
Andy Partridge
Andrew Partridge
Open Government Liaison Officer
Protocol Directorate
Room 1/69
Old Admiralty Building
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Tel: 020 7008 0993 (FTN 8008 0993)
[email address]
Visit our blogs at [1]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk
***********************************************************************************
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advice and [3]http://blogs.fco.gov.uk to read our blogs.
Please note that all messages sent and received by members of the Foreign
& Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be automatically
logged, monitored and/or recorded in accordance with the
Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of
Communications) Regulations 2000. We keep and use information in line with
the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to
other UK government departments and public authorities.
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Mr Skene,
Please find attached reply from Jackie Barson.
Reena Chudasama| PA/Director & Deputy Director Protocol
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office | Old Admiralty Building | London
SW1A 2PA |email: [email address] | tel +44 (0)20 7008 0989
| FTN: 8008 0989 | fax: +44 (0)20 7008 1024 | [1]www.fco.gov.uk
***********************************************************************************
Visit [2]http://www.fco.gov.uk for British foreign policy news and travel
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Please note that all messages sent and received by members of the Foreign
& Commonwealth Office and its missions overseas may be automatically
logged, monitored and/or recorded in accordance with the
Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of
Communications) Regulations 2000. We keep and use information in line with
the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to
other UK government departments and public authorities.
***********************************************************************************
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John Cross left an annotation ()
Blogged about this here: http://confirm-or-deny.blogspot.com/2009...
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Alex Skene left an annotation ()
Text of complaint made to Information Commissioner:
-------------
Dear Sir/Madam
I wish to make a complaint under section 50 of the FOIA about the time it has taken the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to carry out an internal review for a FOI request I made to the Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine relating to their stock list. Their contact details are:
http://foi.fco.gov.uk/en/access-informat...
The Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine
The Head of Government Hospitality
Lancaster House
St James's
London SW1A 1BB
The original FOI request was submitted via the WhatDoTheyKnow.com site on 21st April 2008, re-submitted on the 15th May (asking for fewer exempt details), and the public authority rejected my request on 7 July. I submitted a request for internal review on the 8th July, which was acknowledged on the same date.
A full set of correspondence can be found here: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/go...
They state that they aim to carry out internal reviews within 20 working days (as per your guidance), however they have so far taken over 5 months. I would be very grateful if you could intervene, as I don't believe they have dealt with my complaint properly in line with your guidance, or with Part VI of the Secretary of State's Section 45 Code of Practice.
Your faithfully,
Alex Skene