6 February 2009

Mr S Hardwicke Carruthers

Via email ([FOI #5952 email])

Our ref: CS/09/006/HJP

(Please quote our reference when contacting us)

If telephoning contact Hilary Pook on 020 7217 4734

or if using email send to: [email address]

Dear Mr Hardwicke Carruthers

Request for information

In your email of 13 January 2009, you have asked for copies of all news items that were published on our website prior to June 2008. You say this information is required to “ensure that there is not corporate amnesia.”

Virtually all news items on our previous website referred to investigation reports and other publications. All this material is either already available on our website, or will be shortly as we work backwards to add more investigation reports to the site. (There are already three previous years' plus the current year's reports on the website.) This information is much more readily available on the new website, as there is a `Complaint outcomes' section broken down by subject area, with its own dedicated search facility. Previously, the investigation reports were only accessible via the news items.

I therefore refusing your request on the grounds that the information contained in the news items to which you refer is still available. I can also assure you that there is no `corporate amnesia' in this regard.

If you feel I have not dealt properly with your request, you have the right to appeal and, should you wish to do so, I can supply a copy our internal complaints procedure. You also have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner to determine whether your request has been properly dealt with. You should note however that the Commissioner will not consider any complaint where you have not first exhausted our internal complaints process or where there has been undue delay in contacting him. You will be able to obtain further details of the Information Commissioner's role from the website on www.ico.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely

Hilary Pook

Hilary Pook (Ms)

Communications and Records Manager

LGO 01 (03/08)