Mr Ellis

Re; FOI Request 391

I am writing regarding your request for information, which I received on 4^th March 2009. In that request, you asked us for detailed information on research contracts.

I can confirm that we hold information falling within the description specified in your request. However, we estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £600. The appropriate limit has been specified in regulations and for central Government it is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3½ working days in determining whether the Department holds the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act the Department is not obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing your request further.

If there were any specific contracts you require this information for then we may be able to provide that. Please let me know the details of the contract(s) and I will investigate them individually, however as the total for the period you state exceeds 250 contracts then we are unable to fully answer your request for the reasons stated above.

We can provide details of the Contract Titles, the Supplier and in some cases the Contract Value. The findings from all DWP Research contracts are published so the majority of this information is already in the public domain, however as this is not done until the end of the contract we will provide this information for all contracts to date in a separate response to this.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote any reference number given above in any future communications.

If you are not satisfied with my handling of your request please tell me why within two calendar months of the date of this letter. I will then arrange for someone to conduct an internal review of your request and the handling of it. The review will be conducted by another officer, usually of a more senior grade to me. This person will have taken no part in the original handling of your request. You will be advised you of the reviewing officer's decision in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner to look into the way your request has been handled. Please note that generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first exhausted DWP's own complaints procedure. The Commissioner can be contacted at:

FoI Complaints Resolution

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [email address]

Yours

Kate Callow MCIPS

Senior Commercial and DWP Research Framework Manager

Commercial Support & Knowledge Management

WWEG

Floor 10

Moorfoot

Sheffield

S1 4PQ

Tel 0114 2667 291

[mobile number]

[email address]

(please note I work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday only)