Dear Mr Walker

Freedom of Information Act 2000

I am writing in response to your request for the following information:

“Common Purpose Norfolk has use of premises at c/o HMP & YOI

Norwich, Room 1, The Façade, Knox Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 4LU

1. The date when Common Purpose first occupied these premises.

2. How much rent Common Purpose has paid for these premises,

together with copies of all invoices.

3. Who first authorised the use of HMP facilities by Common Purpose.

4. Details of what these Norwich premises are used for.

5. Copies of all correspondence (ie letters, emails and attachments

and transcripts of telephone conversations) between HM Prison

Service and Common Purpose regarding the use of this Norwich

Facility.

6. Copies of all correspondence (ie letters, emails and attachments

and transcripts of telephone conversations) between HM Prison

Service and Common Purpose regarding the use of ANY OTHER HM Prison

Service facility.”

Your request has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as a request for information.

I am sorry for the delay in providing you with this response. By way of explanation, the delay has been caused, in part, by and unusually high volume of requests for information and some legacy issues. I am pleased to say that we have made a number of administrative changes which I hope will improve our service. The Information Commissioner is aware of the difficulties the unit has faced and is monitoring the changes we are implementing to improve the position. Please find below the response to your request.

Questions 1-5

Any agreement for use of office accommodation at HP & YOI Norwich was made on a verbal basis by a former Governor. Therefore, we do not hold any recorded information that relates to your questions numbered 1-5. I can, however, confirm that the verbal agreement for use of premises was rescinded under the current Governing Governor when he took up this position in December 2007.

Question 6

In order to establish whether or not any information is held in relation to this question, the Ministry of Justice would incur disproportionate cost. We would have to contact all establishments in HM Prison Service to see if they hold information as information is not held centrally. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act, the Ministry of Justice is not obliged to comply with any information request where the prescribed costs of supplying you with the information exceed £600. The £600 limit applies to all central government departments and is based on work being carried out at a rate of £25 per hour, which equates to 3½ days work per request. Prescribed costs include those which cover the cost of locating and retrieving information, and preparing our response to you. They do not include considering whether any information is exempt from disclosure, overheads such as heating or lighting, or disbursements such as photocopying or postage.

Although your request would at present be too costly to answer, if you refine it so that it falls under the cost limit we will consider it further. For example, you may wish to request this information in relation to another specific prison. You should however be aware that if you break your request down into a series of smaller requests, we might, depending on the circumstances of the case, decline to answer if the aggregated cost of complying exceeds £600, as permitted by the Fees Regulations.

I am sorry that I have not been able to provide you with the information that you have requested. As part of our obligations under the FOIA, the Ministry of Justice has an independent review process. If you are dissatisfied with this decision, you may write to request an internal review. The internal review will be carried out by someone who did not make the original decision, and they will re-assess how the Department handled the original request.

If you wish to request an internal review, please write to the Data Access and Compliance Unit within two months of the date of this letter, quoting reference 9354, at the following address:

Data Access and Compliance Unit

Information Directorate

Ministry of Justice

1^st Floor

Zone C

102 Petty France

London

SW1H 9AJ

e-mail: [email address]

If you remain dissatisfied after an internal review decision, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office under Section 50 of the FOIA. You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Internet: https://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/contact_us.aspx

Yours sincerely

Janet Preston

Data Access & Compliance Unit