Alternatives to Detention (A2D) Millbank premises/project (UKBA 23/05/09)

Dear Sir or Madam,

With regards the specific Alternatives to Detention (A2D) Millbank
[1] premises/project, can you provide a copy of the following
information:

1) A copy of the evaluation report [2]

1.1) Names of the individuals and organisations that produced the
report

1.2) Names of the independent consultants [3] currently looking at
this report and the names of the organisations they represent or
work with.

1.3) Full details of the costs thus far incurred to produce this
evaluation report

1.4) Full details of the costs associated with the work of the
independent consultants.

As other A2D projects are being set up throughout the UK, I
consider it is in the Public Interest to disclose a full copy of
the evaluation report, as would enable Public funds to be better
used for the other A2D projects currently being devised and
implemented. Lessons could also be learnt on how to effectively set
up such projects and openly research alternatives. Particularly
taking account of the following comments:

"I think the view I hear from men in the field is
that that pilot was not really properly set up in
the first place and its evaluation and the
conclusions need to be challenged"

Uncorrected Oral Evidence Sir Al Aynsley-Green 10 March 2009
Children's Rights
Joint Committee on Human Rights
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa...

2) A summary of and copies of all Contracts awarded or tendered
for, that are in anyway connected to the Alternatives to Detention
(A2D) Millbank [1] premises/project.

Many public authorities release their contracts with private
vendors in line with the Freedom of Information Act. The exemption
for commercial interest under the Act (section 43) is a qualified
exemption, which means information can only be withheld if it is in
the public’s interest. The public have an interest in knowing the
terms of contracts awarded by public authorities, whether or not
public money changes hands immediately.

If you are relying on section 41 (the exemption for legal breach of
confidence) then I would like to know the following:

· When these confidentiality agreements were agreed

· All correspondence and email in which these confidentiality
agreements were discussed.

· The precise wording of the confidentiality agreements

References:

[1] Review of the Alternative to Detention (A2D) Project
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco...

[2] "On this Millbank pilot you said you were disappointed; has it
been evaluated and has that evaluation report been published,
because it is not really a pilot unless you do both of those
things, is it, it is just a secret experiment otherwise."
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa...

[3] "The report is being looked at now by some independent
consultants"
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa...

: Your correspondence :

Please ensure that any of your general correspondence,
acknowledgements or holding letters etc are included or
cut-and-pasted into the body of the email messages, using plain
text, rather than as attachments. As this will mean your
correspondence is much easier to access, read and respond to.

: Accessibility :

When providing any information disclosures please provide it in the
original unrestricted format such as:

a. MS Word .doc or Rich Text Text .rtf format or equivalent
(suitable for disclosure of email messages)

b.Spreadsheets in MS Excel .xls format or equivalent

c.Presentations in MS Powerpoint .ppt format or equivalent

or converted to Portable Document Format (PDF), ONLY if none of the
above formats are available

if you only have a paper version (hard copy) available, please
provide a Digital Photo Copier Scanned version in PDF format. If
you do provide disclosures in PDF from a Digital Photo Copier Scan,
please state that you have done so because no other format, such as
a, b or c above, are available.

If you need to redact text elements of any disclosure can you
please ensure that the rest of text based information remains
accessible to a Screen Reader.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader>

Please ensure any electronic disclosures are absolutely free of any
Document Restrictions and Encryption or Passwords, as this is
likely to render them less usable on a general basis and more
specifically, inaccessible to Assistive Technology.

Please do not send any information in compilation archive formats,
such as .zip.

Providing correspondence and disclosed information via these means
will help ensure that text based information is accessible for use
with a Screen Reader or a Magnifier for none text based information
and will prevent any further and separate representations under the
Disability Discrimination Act. If you are unable to meet these
reasonably practicable accessibility requests please state why and
provide a copy of any internal information, such as a policy relied
upon that would explain such a decision.

Yours faithfully,

Cassidy, J

Dear Sir or Madam,

This request is currently overdue a response from UK Border Agency.
By law, the response had to be prompt but no later than 23 June
2009

Yours sincerely,

Cassidy, J