1 Horse Guards Road London SW1A 2HQ
Information Rights Unit
Tel: 0207 270 4558
Fax: 0207 270 4861
Mr A J Tosdevin
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
[email address]
Email:
request-3156-
Ref: IRU 8/550
[email address]
21 October 2008
Dear Mr Tosdevin
Freedom of Information Act 2000: Global Financial Crisis
Thank you for your enquiry dated 23 September requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
2. Referring to televised comments of the Prime Minister on 21 September, you
asked for –
copies of all documents created during the period May 1997 to May 2007,
particularly letters to the Chancellor’s opposite numbers in other countries
(notably the US) addressing the need for global measures to tackle inherent
weaknesses in national financial systems, including our own.
3. I confirm that the Treasury holds relevant information for this broad, layered,
request. One of the key sources which the Prime Minister may have had in mind
would have been representations to the IMF. These are already published on our
website at the following link and cover the period 2001 to date. These have
consistently emphasised themes of strengthening the international financial system,
crisis prevention and global corporate accountability.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/5479.htm
4. Also available on the Treasury website are a number speeches that the Prime
Minister made when he was Chancellor between 1997 and 2007 which cover the
themes of international institutional and regulatory reform. These can be found at:
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/speeches.htm
5. I hope that this information satisfies the spirit of your request. To satisfy your
request to the letter would entail an appraisal of a significant proportion of all the
information the Treasury holds. This would exceed the cost limit under the Act, which
for central government this is set at £600 and represents the estimated cost of one
person spending three and a half working days in determining whether the Treasury
holds the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Under
section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act departments are not obliged to comply
with requests in these circumstances.
6. You may wish to submit a narrowed request, although it is not easy for us to
anticipate in what way you would want to narrow. Clearly any such request, even for
a narrower timeframe, would still be subject to assessment against the costs
exemption.
7. If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. It will be helpful to us
if you remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Paul Morran
Information Rights Unit
HM Treasury
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Copy right notice Most documents supplied in response to a Freedom of Information request continue to be protected by copyright. You
are free to use these documents for your information, including for any non-commercial research you may be doing.
Documents can also be used for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication,
would require the permission of the copyright holder. Government officials will have produced most documents supplied
by the Treasury and so the information will be Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright is managed by HMSO and you can find
out details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on <http://www.hmso.gov.uk/copyright/licences/click-use-
home.htm>
Your Rights to Complain under the FOI Act If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request
an review of our decision, you should write within two months of the date of this letter to HM Treasury, Information Rights
Unit, 2/S2, 1 Horse Guards Road, London SW1A 2HQ. email - [HM Treasury request email]
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 Treasury. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
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Document Outline
