Dear Mr Houston,

Thank you for your email of 24^th March 2009 to this Department requesting, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, information relating to the year the British Government ceased providing counter-guerrilla assistance to the Colombian security forces. For the purposes of this request, we have understood the term `counter-guerrilla' to be synonymous with the term `counter-insurgency'.

You should be aware that on 2 April 2009 Mr Lindsay Hoyle MP received a response (copied below) to a Parliamentary Question that was identical to your request. (Official Report: 2 April 2009: Column 1310W)

Colombia: Military Aid

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which year the Government ceased to provide counter-insurgency advice to the Colombian armed forces. [265159]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have been asked to reply.

The UK has not provided specific counter-insurgency assistance to the Columbian armed forces.

In your request, you refer to `the 23/11/99 parliamentary statement made by former Minister John Speller in which he confirms that such assistance was being provided at that time'. By this I assume you mean the holding answer dated 23 November 1999 (copied below: my bold) provided in response to a written question from Dr Tonge MP and included in Hansard on 24 November 1999. (Official Report: 24 Nov 1999 : Column: 115W)

Columbia

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military personnel assistance his Department provides to Colombia; and for what purposes. [99430]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 23 November 1999]: UK military assistance is provided to Colombia to meet specific requests. Examples of training provided over the last ten years include Explosive Ordnance Disposal, search techniques and some assistance to the counter- narcotics authorities. In addition, advisory visits and information exchanges have taken place on operations in urban theatres, counter-guerrilla strategy, and psychiatry. Military assistance offered to the Colombians generally includes human rights elements.

We recognise that this has been interpreted by several groups and individuals as evidence to corroborate allegations in newspapers that HMG provide `assistance' in the area of counter-insurgency. We also recognise the widespread interest in UK defence policy and the activities of the Armed Forces, and that it is wholly appropriate in many cases for the public to understand how, why and what key decisions are taken in these areas. More specifically, this Department recognises the public interest in UK activities in a country where there are allegations of human rights abuses levelled at representatives of the government.

However, I must draw your attention to the fact that Mr Spellar MP only mentioned counter-guerrilla strategy in the context of `advisory visits and information exchanges', and that these were explicitly separated from training in his answer. It has been the policy of successive Governments not to provide counter-guerrilla assistance to the Colombian authorities. We believe that the answer provided by Mr Spellar MP, whilst it is not categorical, does not constitute evidence to contradict this.

In response to your request we have examined our document records. Due to the date of the answer you refer to, and given our position that we do not provide counter-guerrilla assistance to the Colombian security forces, we have included in the scope of this examination all documents relating to any military assistance provided to Colombia since 1997.

As a result of this preliminary search we estimate that, given the quantity of data that we hold within this scope that could contain relevant information, it will take us in excess of 3.5 working days to determine appropriate material and locate, retrieve and extract the information in reference to your request. Therefore, under Section 12 of the Act, your request will not be processed further.

Section 12 of the Act makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for central government is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 working days in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information. The estimate to undertake the work required for your request is in excess of £1195.

You may wish to refine your request by narrowing its scope by being more specific about what information you particularly wish to obtain, including any dates or period of time relevant to the information required. I understand that, in correspondence with the Foreign Office regarding an identical request for information that you submitted to them, that you are `also aware of more recent statements by Ministers that such assistance is no longer being provided'. If you could provide details of these statements then that might enable us to narrow the time-frame and the number of documents in scope.

If you are unhappy with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by contacting the Director of Information Exploitation, 6th Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail [email address] ). Please note that any request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has come to an end.

If you remain unhappy following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate the case until the internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website, http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,