Dear Mr Tyes

Internal Review- Freedom of Information Request

I write in response to the Internal Review request you made on 8 April 2009 in relation to a Freedom of Information request dated 7 March 2009. Your Internal Review has been handed to me as I deal with Internal Reviews relating to the Prison Service. Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoIA), although I am aware that your request has been subject to some delay and I am sorry that you have had to wait longer than anticipated for a response.

I have conducted an Internal Review of your case and I hope my conclusions offer you some clarification as to the status of your information request.

Your initial request concerned information on a range of issues about prisoners cells; the parental status of prisoners and; prisoners family history. During the internal review I learned that some of the information you requested was not held in a suitable format as it was held in different parts of the Ministry of Justice. Therefore, some of the delay you have experienced can be attributed to the time caseworkers have spent collating and converting information into a readable format.

In addition, the department dealing with your FoI request has been subject to some internal changes in the last few months, whereby two departments have combined into one. As a result there have been some legacy issues of which the department has sought to address and we now hope any future FoI requests can be dealt with more efficiently.

As I am sure you are aware, we are under a duty to respond to FoIA requests within 20 days, with an extension permitted if certain criteria apply. These deadlines are indiscriminate in that we must work to the deadline whether a request involves one or, as is your case, three questions. In light of this, we have been working very hard to provide you with the information you requested, as quickly as possible. I am aware the deadline has passed in this instance but, I am pleased to inform you that your case is now almost complete and I hope that we can send you a response in the near future.

If you are dissatisfied with the result of your Internal Review, 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

Hannah Wright

Data Access & Compliance Unit