Dear Ms Daley 
 
Please see below an amended version of the previous email I sent to you.
 
Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 23 February 2009. 
 
The FOI Act obliges us to respond to requests promptly and in any case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. However, when a qualified exemption is engaged and the public interest test is being considered, the Act allows the time for response to be longer than 20 working days, and a full response must be provided within such time as is reasonable in all circumstances of the case. We do, of course, aim to make all decisions within 20 working days, including in cases where we need to consider where the public interest lies in respect of a request.  In this case, however, we have not yet reached a decision on where the balance of the public interest test lies. 

In your case we estimate that it will take an additional 20 working days to take a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies. Therefore, we plan to let you have a response by 21 April 2009. It if appears that it will take longer than this to reach a conclusion, we will keep you informed. 

The specific exemptions which are engaged in relation to your request are: 

- Section 23 - Information supplied by - or relating to - bodies dealing with security matters; 

- Section 26 - Defence;

- Section 27 - International Relations; 

 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 to The Information Rights Team. Please note any request for an internal review must be submitted within 40 working days from the date our response was issued.

 If you are not content with the outcome of our complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by The Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. 

 

If you have any queries about this letter please contact me. 

 Kind regards

Catherine Shaw

 

Catherine Shaw | Assistant Desk Officer Andean Section | South America Team | Americas Directorate  | Foreign and Commonwealth Office | WH2.323 | King Charles Street  London SW1A 2AH

 

* e-mail: xxxxxxxxx.xxxx@xxx.xxx.xx  ( tel: 020 7 008 2606  2 fax: 020 7 008 4276  ) ftn: 8008 2606 8 www.fco.gov.uk

 

______________

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Maire Daley [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx]

Sent: 25 March 2009 08:45

To: Bruce Grenney

Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Agenda of Kim Howells' visit to Colombia in November/December 2007

Dear Sir or Madam,

I made a FOI request on February 23rd 2009 which can be seen at:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/agenda_of_kim_howells_visit_to_c

I understand that under the Freedom of Information Act a response

was due by March 24th. It would therefore appear that the FCO is in

breach of the law and I would appreciate an answer immediately.

I have also sent a copy of this message to my local MP.

Yours sincerely,

Maire Daley

-----Original Message-----

Dear Maire

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. It has been

passed to the relevant section within the Foreign and Commonwealth

Office to deal with. They will be in touch with you should your

request need clarification.

We received your request on 23 February 2009 and will aim to

respond within 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

Information Rights Foreign & Commonwealth Office email: [FCO

request email] ... visit our blogs at http://blogs.fco.gov.uk

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