Consular Directorate
WH4.2 King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2PA
Tel: 020 7 008 0921
Our reference: FOI 0054-10/CONS 05-10
Fax: 020 7008 0426
www.fco.gov.uk
15 February 2010
E-mail: [email address]
Mr Steve Martin
By e-mail:
[FOI #27117 email] Dear Mr Martin,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST
Thank you for your e-mail of 17 January to the Information Rights Team in which you requested
information about incidents at international airports under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA or
Act). Your request stated:
“Please provide information on the number of reports received by British embassies, consulates or
other relevant British authorities, of thefts from or interference with baggage checked in at
international airports outside of the United Kingdom by British citizens.”
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not hold centrally data on thefts or interference
with baggage reported by British nationals whilst at international airports.
However, in the event that such incidents were reported to a British mission overseas, they would be
recorded on COMPASS, our global consular assistance database. It is possible to search and extract
data from COMPASS by selecting a pre-existing attribute, such as country or type of assistance case,
however, there is no category for theft or incidents at airports. Given this, we could only identify such
cases by searching each database entry in a general category, such as advice or self-help. There are
hundreds of cases recorded each month and each of these may have a number of attached notes.
We, therefore, believe that the time taken to such the database for cases relating specifically to
incidents of thefts at airports, even for a one-month period, would exceed the cost limit under Section
12 of the Act.
As you may be aware, the FCO is not obliged to comply with requests for information where the cost
of dealing with them would be likely to exceed 'an appropriate limit'. Section 12 of the FOIA allows
public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed
the appropriate limit. The limit has been specified in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection
(Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. For central government, the appropriate limit is set at
£600. This figure represents the estimated cost of one or more persons spending 3½ working days in
determining whether the government department concerned holds the information, and to find,
retrieve and extract the relevant material.
You may wish to narrow the scope of your request to bring it within the appropriate limit. For example,
you could specify certain countries and/or a specific time frame for the information. Whilst there is no
guarantee that a search would yield any useful information, we would like to be as helpful as possible
and would be happy to consider a reformulated request.
If you have any queries about this letter, or are unhappy with the service you have received in relation
to your request and wish to make a complaint, you should write to Rosaleen Wotton at the above
address within 40 days of this reply. If necessary, we will conduct an internal review of how we
handled your request. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data
Protection Act 1998 (which may be viewed at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk). Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK
Government Departments and public authorities.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to
the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a
decision unless you have exhausted the complaint procedure provided by the FCO. The ICO can be
contacted at The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
[signed]
Louise Edwards
Strategy, Communications and Training Group
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data
Protection Act 1998 (which may be viewed at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk). Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK
Government Departments and public authorities.
