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Reference: 09/75

Dear Mr Reith

I refer to your email of the 20 March in which you refined your request for information relating to the suspension of John Stalker and his removal from the Stalker Sampson inquiry. You have now requested “copies of correspondence, documents, memos etc held by the NIO in relation to the suspension of the former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police John Stalker from duty in 1986 and his removal from the Stalker-Sampson inquiry in Northern Ireland that cover the period 1986-87.” We have interpreted this as only covering material dated within that two year range. I am writing to advise you that the time limit for responding to your request (insert date) needs to be extended.

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 we are obliged to respond to your request within twenty working days. However where an authority has to consider the public interest test under the Act, a short delay is permissible. The public interest test is the consideration by a public authority of whether the public interest in withholding information outweighs the public interest in releasing it.

I can confirm that the Northern Ireland Office does hold information relevant to your request, however we have determined that section 24 (national security); section 27 (international relations), section 31 (law enforcement) and section 36 (conduct of public affairs) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are applicable to this information. When applying these exemptions there is a need to balance whether the public interest in withholding the information you have requested outweighs the public interest in release.

By virtue of section 10(3), when public authorities have to consider the balance of the public interest in relation to a request, they do not have to comply with the request until such time as is reasonable in the circumstances. Due to the need to consider, in all the circumstances of the case, where the balance of the public interest lies in relation to your request, we will not be able to respond to your request in full within twenty working days. I consider that it will take an additional twenty working days in order to reach a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies therefore you will receive a substantive response by 20 May 2009.

We also hold a number of documents which are exempt from disclosure under section 21 (information accessible to applicant by other means) of FOIA. Section 21 is an absolute exemption and therefore does not require the public interest to be considered. By way of assistance the NIO is currently preparing a list of the documents exempt under section 21 and will provide this to you as soon as possible.

If you believe that our final reply is not in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 you may ask for an internal review within two calendar months of the date of our final response. If you request a review you should do so in writing stating the reasons.

If following an internal review you were to remain dissatisfied you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner and ask him to investigate whether the NIO has complied with the terms of the FOIA. You can write to the Information Commissioner at:

The Commissioner will not investigate a complaint unless an internal review procedure has been carried out.

Further details on the role of the Information Commissioner and the handling of appeals can be found at:

If you wish to discuss any of this please contact the Freedom of Information Team using the contact details provided at the top of the page. Please remember to quote your reference in any correspondence.

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Manager

Freedom of Information Team

Northern Ireland Office

Freedom of Information Team

11 Millbank

London

SW1P 4PN

Telephone 020 7210 0840

Email: [NIO request email]