Information Rights Team

Information Management Service

Room No: 4th Floor, Seacole Buidling, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

Fax 0207 035 0739 Direct Line 0207 035 4252

E-mail [email address] www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Our Ref 10860

Your Ref

Date 29 January 2009

Dear Mr Perrin

I am writing further to my correspondence of 8^th January and in response to your request of the same date for an Internal Review of the Home Office's handling of your Freedom of Information (FOI) request of 4^th December about the effectiveness and suitability of television adverts and campaigns. You had indicated that you were concerned at the length of time being taken to provide a full response to your request.

Although you should now have received a full reply to this request I have nonetheless continued to consider the issues raised by your internal review. Your original request was received by the Home Office on 4^th December 2008. Section 10(1) of the Act states:

`a public authority must comply with section 1(1) promptly and in any event not later than the twentieth working day following the date of receipt.'

In order to comply with the 20 working day limit specified you should have been provided with a full response to your request on 6^th January 2009. In the event, you were sent a full response to your request on 20 January 2009, 10 working days outside the standard deadline.

The 20 working day limit specified in section 10(1) of the Act can be extended where necessary under section 10(3), if a qualified exemption requiring the conducting of a public interest test is under consideration. In order to extend the deadline in accordance with section 10(3) the authority must inform the applicant of this fact within the 20 working day deadline and provide him/her with a revised response deadline “that is reasonable in the circumstances”. However in this case no qualified exemptions were engaged and under consideration, and therefore there were no grounds to extend the deadline under this provision. I therefore conclude the Home Office breached section 10 of the FOI Act, and I apologise for this.

I have discussed the handling of the case with the caseworker. A response had been produced within time, but this was not signed off until 19 January hence the delay in sending it to you. Although it would not have altered the fact that section 10(1) was breached it would have been useful had you been sent the email of 13 January when the deadline was passed, so that you were at least provided with an update on progress.

The Home Office is committed to providing full responses to FOI requests within the 20 working day limit specified by section 10(1); or alternatively and where necessary within a reasonable period where the deadline is legitimately extended under section 10(3) to allow for consideration of the public interest test. Although there are occasions, where for genuine reasons, this is not always possible I recognise that this request could, and should, have been completed within 20 working days. I have reminded the unit which handled your request of the need to correspond with the applicant in a timely and efficient manner, and in accordance with the FOI Act.

I hope however that you were satisfied with the content of the response that you were ultimately sent on 20 January, but should be dissatisfied with it I can arrange for it to be reviewed. My review has concentrated solely on the issues raised in your email of 8^th January.

Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome of this procedural review you have a further right of complaint to the Information Commissioner, as established by section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. You can write to him at:

The Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

or submit your concerns online at: www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Martin Riddle

Information Rights Caseworker

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The Constitution Unit, a research body at University College London, is carrying out an independent evaluative study of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in co-operation with a number of public authorities, including the Home Office. An important part of the evaluation process is gathering the experiences and opinions of FOI requesters like you. Any information you provide will be handled in accordance with the privacy policy explained in the survey.

If you would like to take part in this study, please click the following link to be taken directly to the survey http://tinyurl.com/58zq2f Or, if you prefer, contact Ben Worthy at [email address] or on 020 7679 4974 to ask more about the study.

If you have filled this survey out before, we invite you to fill it out again in light of the recent response to your request.

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WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC

Mr Paul Perrin

'[FOI #4510 email]'